This article and analysis was written by our friends at RosterWatch.
Welcome back, RotoBallers. We are happy to be sharing another article from our friends at RosterWatch. In case you are not familiar, you should be! RosterWatch is one of the industry's leading resources for year-round NFL and fantasy football analysis, led by a group of great people. You can find them on the SiriusXM Fantasy Sports channel throughout the year.
Today, they are here to provide you with sneaky zero-dollar pickups you can add to your roster today that may be of great value down the road. The idea is to identify players that have a plausible path to be the high-priced free agent in the coming weeks. The bottom of your fantasy roster should always be used to cycle through high upside pickups that can easily be cut to speculate on another player. Heading into Week 12 of the fantasy football season, and preparing for a playoff run, we are focused on players with sneaky upside.
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Seattle Seahawks Defense
38% rostered
Rosterwatch’s Byron Lambert beats the drum this time of year to “consolidate your roster.” Adding a DST that you can use in future weeks is exactly that kind of roster move. As we just wrote in the into, it is time to cut your backup QBs, WRs, and TEs that will be unlikely to crack your starting lineup. It IS time to pick up DSTs that you plan to start in the fantasy playoffs.
Some of the marginal real-life DSTs, like Seattle, may be good starts in fantasy football mainly due to their matchup. Teams facing bad offensive lines or below-average QBs are ideal targets.
Seattle Seahawks are 38% rostered so there is a decent chance they are available in your league. With many teams making moves to patch holes this week, it is possible that a team holding Seattle, cuts them. It is time to pick them up for a zero dollar bid. Seattle’s upcoming schedule is:
- Week 13 vs Giants
- Week 14 vs Jets
- Week 15 vs WFT
Jalen Hurts - QB, Philadelphia Eagles
1% rostered
We wrote about Hurts in last week's column. He is still only 1% rostered so it makes sense to underline him this week. It is obvious Carson Wentz is not playing well. Anecdotally, it looks like Wentz is giving it his all. He's scrambling under duress, diving headfirst to try to make plays, but he is far from the player who had MVP chatter a few years ago. His efficiency stats are below average with a 6.2 yards per attempt (YPA) on the season. Another half of poor play and the team may give Jalen Hurts a try.
We saw Miami bench Tua Tagovailoa for ineffectiveness in week 11. The NFL has always been a copycat league, and there is serious bench risk for Wentz from here forward. As a reminder, Hurts had off the charts rushing numbers as a QB last year at Oklahoma. Hurts rushed for an eye-popping 1,298 yards and 20 rushing TD. Hurts has true league tilting upside even in one QB leagues. Sharp fantasy football players should find a way to roster him for a zero dollar bid.
Brian Hill - RB, Atlanta Falcons
7% rostered
If you told us that Todd Gurley would be healthy and not miss any games through week 12 of the NFL season back in August, there is little doubt his ADP would have been in the second round of fantasy drafts, instead of a middling third-round pick. Gurley’s injury history was the driving force to his consensus ranking. Though Gurley has amazingly stayed upright so far, his injury history has not changed, and this is an excellent time to roster his backup, Brian Hill.
Hill actually out-snapped Todd Gurley in the Falcons’ loss last week. If you are a team that has a plausible path to a championship, adding Hill for a Zero Dollar bid makes a ton of sense. The Falcons have a nice matchup with Kansas City in Week 16. It is easy to see Hill as a player we are projecting for double-digit touches in that game regardless of Gurley’s health. Should Todd Gurley’s injury luck run out, Hill is a top 20 RB right away.
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This column was provided to RotoBaller by RosterWatch, www.rosterwatch.com. The author of this column is Alan Seslowsky (@alanseslowsky).