The Pig Market - Week Three Waiver Adds
Week Three is officially in the books! Here are some names that caught my eye this weekend...
The art of trading lies in timing and opportunity…
- Leonardo Fibonacci, mathematician
Welcome, my friends, to the Pig Market. Here, CFF manager frantically scour the streets—inspecting each and every merchant carefully in hopes of unearthing a hidden volume pig, or engaging in hellacious bidding for the fattest pigs at auction. A place where savvy buyers prove their mettle with extreme cunning, and first-timers unload their entire wallets on the latest cochon-du-jour.
I promised in my offseason content that I’d have you covered for waiver wire information each week and I plan to make good on that promise with yet another series (how many is it now? I’ve lost count…). Here, I will highlight players that I think are notable and that are also not highly rostered in standard leagues; or are not known commodities already. I’ll try to provide at least a few names at each position group per week.
This edition is initially being released as a paid product, but the full post will be made free and fully available to all on Tuesday morning (Sept. 19). For those who want early access, you can do so by being a paid subscriber.
QB
(Miami of Ohio) Brett Gabbert — Gabbert has now strung together two solid performances in a row—throwing four pass TDs in Week Two vs. UMass and three vs. Cincinnati on Saturday. In four-point passing TD formats, those numbers are good for 25.4 and 29.35 points, respectively. The Redhawks get a favourable match up this week vs. FCS program Delaware State, which — dare I say — is perhaps too easy. The concern here being that even for a MAC team, this contest might be too lopsided to really require Gabbert to thread the needle. Even still, he looks like a solid producer at QB and is about to embark on the fabled MACtion schedule. I actually mentioned Gabbert in the MAC Daddy Series as a potential comeback player this season; he looks on track to hit that marker thus far.
(Georgia Tech) Haynes King — Surely not, right? The guy who transferred out of Texas A&M because he couldn’t hack it? That’s right, Haynes King is producing like a stud right now, and — our previous biases aside — we must acknowledge that. King has failed to score less than 28 points in his three games so far, which includes contests vs. Louisville, South Carolina State (FCS), and Ole Miss. The last performance in particular stands out to me, where King threw over 300 yards, two passing scores, and accumulated 43 rushing yards and another score on the ground vs. SEC foe Ole Miss. That netted him a cool 33.55 points (his best output of the season so far). King plays at Wake Forest this weekend, which offers another intriguing match up for him to possibly devour.
(ULLAF) Zeon Chriss — This might be a temporary buy, but freshman QB Zeon Chriss looked fantastic in relief of injured QB Ben Wooldridge, who suffered a foot injury in the first quarter of this game. Chriss proved to be a dynamic rusher on Saturday, rushing only six times for 103 yards and two scores. He also passed for a score on a 14/20 completion ratio, accounting for over 170 yards. Without further details on Wooldridge’s return timeline as I write this article, Chriss is a name you might want to monitor this week. I wouldn’t break the bank in pursuit of him, but he does have a nice matchup coming up vs UB.
(Boston College) Thomas Castellanos — Last week Wyoming’s RB Harrison Waylee vowed that the Cowboys would “give everything” against Texas; well, it seems BC also got the memo in their contest vs. FSU. The Eagles nearly pulled off the upset on Saturday, and a key driving factor behind their uprising against the Seminoles was their QB Castellanos. TC (not to be confused with renowned actor Tom Cruise), now has put together three solid performances for the Eagles, failing to score less than 25 points thus far. His best game of the season, however, came on Saturday vs. FSU. TC not only ran for 95 yards and a score, but also showed his potential as a passer, crossing the 300 yard threshold and converting another score (33.75 points). The Eagles get Louisville next week, who — coincidently — were a previous opponent of one of the other names covered here (King). Based on Haynes King’s performance that week (28.95 points), it would appear Castellanos should be in for another good day.
(Rice) JT Daniels — Time for me to eat some crow (kind of). I didn’t write about Daniels last week, but I did list him under the ‘Fool’s Gold’ section. The reason being that we have a lot of data on Daniels at this point, and one good performance against a poor Houston team doesn’t supersede everything we’ve seen before. Well, Daniels now has two good performances in a row, and something that needs to be considered is that he might have finally found the right level of play for his talent. We can look at his last two opponents (Houston and Texas State, respectively) and snicker, but the teams he’ll be playing this season in-conference are in that range of talent. If he’s going to continue to hit around 28 FPG, then why not grab him?
Other notable names: Brayden Fowler Nicolosi (Colorado State)
RB
(Rutgers) Kyle Monangai — Monangai will undoubtedly be one of the hottest names on the wire this week. After breaking out a week ago (28 carries, 165 yards and a score vs. Temple), understandably—many CFF managers were in ‘wait and see’ mode. After all, it was his teammate—freshman Jashon Benjamin, who paced the Scarlett Knights in carries in Week One with 20. However, now we have back-to-back data points from Monangai where he’s been the lead back and produced at an elite level. This past Saturday, he carried the ball 16 times for 143 yards and three scores (33.6 points). That was music to my ears as a shareholder in the 24-team league I’m in. A word of caution, however, is that Rutgers may struggle more in-conference. It will be tough to replicate this performance next week vs. Michigan, but after that they get FCS program Wagner. Wisconsin in Week Five doesn’t appear to be as daunting as previously thought, and then they have a nice stretch with MSU and Indiana before their BYE week. So there’s definitely some value here, but I wouldn’t expect Monangai to be a plug-and-play guy right away this week.
(TCU) Emani Bailey — Bailey has quietly been anointed as a freshly made volume pig these past two weeks. He now has back to back games of 20+ touches against FCS program Nichols State and Houston, respectively. This past weekend was the headliner for his performances thus far, with 23 carries for 126 yards and a score, plus three catches on three targets for another 23 yards. This is a program that fed now-NFL RB Kendre Miller at a pretty strong level last year, resulting in him crossing the 1000-yard threshold. Granted that was under a different OC, but it appears early on that they plan to use Bailey in a similar capacity. If available on your wire, this is a player I’d prioritize this week with a matchup vs. SMU incoming this weekend.
(Kent State) Gavin Garcia — Garcia is one that I really should have paid more attention to in weeks one and two. My guy posted back-to-back performances of 18 carries in each contest, a promising sign for when the Golden Flashes reach in-conference play. I wasn’t dissuaded from that notion on Saturday, when Kent State played OOC opponent Central Connecticut (FCS). Garcia toted the pigskin a cool 21 times for 125 yards and two TDs (~25 points). Interestingly, I drew a parallel last week with Miami of Ohio’s Rashad Amos to last year’s Sieh Bangura, but that logic might actually point to Garcia being this year’s Bangura. RB Xavier Williams also looks to be somewhat involved, but this might be a team that is running the ball so much that Garcia will still get his in-conference. The only concern here being that this team is projected to be very bad, even in the MAC, which generally hinders the RB production.
(UMass) Kay’Ron Adams — Adams is another one that’s been quietly anointed as a freshly made volume pig for the Minutemen. In his last four games, Adams has 15, 14, 20, and 28 touches. Not only is the average good (19.25 touches per game) but the trend appears to be moving in the right direction also. Adams currently averages 16.4 FPG, with a total of 366 rushing yards and 3 TDs on the season so far. The concern with a player like this, however, is usually the schedule. The Minutemen get back-to-back rough outings vs. Toledo and Penn State two weeks from now, and play at Army after their BYE week in Week Nine. But outside of that — I have to say — this schedule is not so bad. Their next two opponents are New Mexico and Arkansas State. I don’t see any reason why Adams wouldn’t be able to net around 15 FPs in those games. Even in a game where UMass got blown out (Auburn beat them 59-14), Adams still salvaged 10.1 points. It appears that the volume has locked him into a safe floor.
(Cal) Isaiah Ifanse (temporary) — This one is only temporary while Cal RB Jayden Ott remains sidelined. This is another instance where I’ll have to eat some crow—I put Ifense on the Fool’s Gold list in Week One, but that actually isn’t the reason. I was vocal about short selling Jayden Ott this offseason due to the new OC’s track record of committees in the past. In the end, we might still see that materialize now with Ifanse’s emergence. However — in the short term — if Ott remains out, Ifanse looks to be a player they could lean on. Again, keeping in mind the opponents here (North Texas in Week One, Idaho in Week Three), he probably won’t average 6.2 yards per carry in PAC-12 play, but he makes an intriguing option if you’re stuck at the position this week with a matchup vs. Washington incoming.
(BYU) LJ Martin — There’s probably no-one in the CFF space more happy than I am that Martin has seemingly ascended in his true freshman season with the BYU program. I drafted him in the dynasty league I’m in, but suspected that he’d be — at best — the RB2 behind transfer Aiden Robbins. It seems that Martin has accelerated past my expected timeline, as he was named the starting RB before Saturday’s contest vs. SEC opponent Arkansas. He carried the rock 23 times for 77 yards and two scores, plus caught two passes on two targets for 11 yards (22.8 points). This type of performance is promising for his prospects in B12 play, and if BYU continues to ride him, he could be a big-time buy on the wire right now. Post publication addition: it should be noted that Robbins has been said to be less than 100% right now, which probably played a role in Martin getting the start. This will be a situation to monitor going forward.
(Indiana) Jaylin Lucas — This is more of a wait and see thing for me, and also a play only if you’re truly desperate. While the carry volume is problematic (11 is his season-high so far), the pass-game usage is intriguing. He finished last game vs. Louisville with 10 targets, of which he caught all 10 for 98 yards and a score. I suspect he will fizzle out in B10 play, but let’s see what happens…
WR
(Georgia State) Robert Lewis — Lewis was listed under the ‘other notable’ names section of previous Pig Market articles, but I think he deserves an expanded write-up now. He exploded on Saturday (much to my dismay, my opponent in the GPI had him rostered) for 220 yards and two scores on seven targets (he caught six). He has not been targeted less than six times in a game thus far this season, and he has scored at least once in each game. He now has a total of four scores in three games played, and — despite Georgia State’s run heavy preference — looks to be a key feature in that offence. He’s a must buy if still available. Bidding will be expensive, I suspect.
(Boise State) Eric McAlister — This is a pleasant surprise as I wasn’t expecting much from Taylen Green’s arm this year. We know BSU can run the football with the best of them, but few among us suspected that there’d be enough pass volume to support an elite CFF WR. I won’t go as far as to call McAlister elite just yet (prior to Saturday his output numbers were pretty pedestrian), but he is a player on my radar now. Against North Dakota (FCS), McAlister secured six catches (8 targets) for 143 yards and two scores (32.3 points). Even though he wasn’t notably productive in his first two games, a stat that stood out to me was his 15(!) targets in Week One vs. Washington. I wouldn’t want to plug him immediately in the lineup just yet, but he’s a guy I’ll put in a few claims for this week.
(ODU) Javon Harvey — ODU’s Harvey has seemingly emerged from whatever off-field issue/mystery injury/college hijinks induced slumber that was ailing him. After being touted as a potential league winning late round WR in the offseason *cough cough, looking at you, VP*, Harvey appeared to be making good on that promise on Saturday. After only playing one snap the week before (on special teams), Harvey torched the Wake Forest secondary with 166 yards and a score. While the output is great, I would have liked to see more involvement in the offence—Harvey was only targeted five times, catching three of those. I imagine in most leagues whoever drafted him likely discarded him by now, so he’s a guy that if you can afford to stash with a wait-and-see note pending, might be worthwhile.
(Ole Miss) Jordan Watkins — Another potential temporary name, Watkins is yet another player that I secured in the 24-team dynasty league I’m in (I believe I drafted him in like the 30th something round…). While Zakhari Franklin and Tre Harris remain sidelined, Watkins appears to holding his own as the go-to guy in the WR room thus far. He has yet to score less than 11 FPs in a game, and is averaging 6.33 targets per game. While Franklin’s been out all season, Harris played in game one and sparingly in game two. I think Watkins is a safe floor guy with the other two out this weekend vs. a strong but not unbeatable Alabama defence.
TE
(Purdue) Max Klare — Purdue’s redshirt freshman Klare is a name you need to know not just this season but going forward. The Boilermaker playmaker now has nine and seven targets in back-to-back weeks vs. Virginia Tech and Syracuse. Of those targets he’s caught a total of 13 passes in the last two games, netting him 64 and 65 yards, respectively.
(Arkansas) Luke Hasz — Another freshman (this one’s a true freshman) appears to be coming on in Arkansas’ Luke Hasz. The target volume won’t blow you away (just yet), but he’s been quietly productive with the opportunities he’s been given. On Saturday he caught four of his five targets for 78 yards and a score vs. BYU. His is a name worth monitoring going forward, but not a guy I’d plug into the lineup just yet.
(Kansas State) Ben Sinnott — Generally I try to avoid putting players that you probably already know are valuable in these write-ups. I’ve also included Sinott before as an ‘other notable names’ entry. If he’s still available, you should get him if you need a TE. He’s not good every week, but he is pretty good every other week, it seems.
(Colorado) Michael Harrison — This is an intriguing name because he appears to be a hybrid WR/TE for the Buffs. Saturday night’s contest vs. CSU was the first I’d ever heard of him, but the redshirt sophomore stood out as he found the end zone twice on seven catches (7 targets) and 76 yards. Granted, this game turned into a scoring bonanza late as it went into double over time (to the dismay of us east coast watchers…). Prior to Saturday, he had seen three targets in each of his first two games, scoring 3.2 and 4.5 points. He’s not a guy I’d put a waiver for in just yet, just a name I thought I’d mention to keep an eye on.
Fool’s Gold
(North Texas) WR Roderic Burns — Burns had a breakout performance on Saturday with 11 catches on 14 targets for 134 yards (24.4 points). However, this is the first we’ve seen of this extended usage, so let’s just wait and see how it plays out. There’s also Jay Maclin who has been the TD merchant for this team in their first two games.
(UConn) RB Devontae Houston — Houston had a nice stat line on Saturday with 19 carries for 126 yards and a receiving score (23.3 points). However, like Burns, this is the first we’ve seen of this type of usage, and there are still other notable names in that backfield to contend with (e.g., Victor Rosa).
(Auburn) QB Payton Thorne — The MSU transfer torched the Samford (FCS) defence on Saturday with over 280 passing yards, a passing score, 123 yards rushing, and two more scores on the ground (38.4 points). In the end, I think we can be fairly certain that Thorne is unlikely to do anything remotely similar to this in SEC play.
(Temple) RB Joquez Smith — Temple’s freshman tailback had himself a day on Saturday vs. FCS program Norfolk State. He accumulated 142 yards on the ground with a score on 15 carries. The obvious caveats being: 1) this was vs. an FCS program and 2) this was the first we’ve seen of this type of usage for Smith.
What position are you prioritizing the most this week?
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