Best Buys

Guys in Week that are poised to break out in Week 3 or beyond and carry nice value in fantasy

Zamir White (RB) Las Vegas Raiders:

Coming off of two lackluster performances, to say the least, is a guy who is likely to see more opportunity as this season progresses, Zamir White. Antonio Pierce himself has said he wants Zamir White to touch the ball twenty times a game. That could mean volume that directly translates into touchdown opportunities as this offense is slowly beginning to find its footing in the 2024 NFL season. Beginning the season against an improved front from the Los Angeles Chargers and the Baltimore Ravens front are two matchups that are pretty tough for a running back to produce in. Especially when you factor in that Jim Harbaugh is coaching up a Chargers front that’s loaded with talented guys. Moving forward Zamir White is going to find his stride and supply Gardner Minshew, the NFL’s leader in completion percentage currently, much needed balance in the Raiders offense. A journeyman could always use a nice run game and Minshew is no exception. It’s incredibly hard to imagine that Davante Addams and Brock Bowers can shoulder 80% of the offensive production in Las Vegas. If this team is going to go places they will need Zamir to show up. His price is currently at its lowest point and if you want to store him as RB depth or throw him in against a demoralized Panthers squad then now is the time to capitalize on his discount. Before the season he got some buzz and the start he’s had to the season truly couldn’t be worse, especially when he coughed up the football against the Chargers. Antonio Pierce has stood by him time and time again, which is another promising sign when evaluating an RB market today in which no one is safe. You can talk about Alexander Mattison if you’d like to propose a counter argument, but he just isn’t good outside of fulfilling a backup role. 

Tank Dell (WR) Houston Texans:

With CJ Stroud lighting up any defense lined up across from him and a Texans offense that has a nuclear ceiling comes a player that has disappointed many, Tank Dell. I wouldn’t panic based on the usage Tank has seen so far this year and with his current price tag you could lock down your WR2 or flex position for cheap. He still has the elite game speed that saw him break away from defenders and receive deep balls from Stroud last season and so far he hasn’t been needed to win games. Houston owned the Colts on the ground and Nico couldn’t be shadowed by anyone on their roster in week one. Then in week two the Bears isolated Tyrique Stevenson on Nico Collins and he got obliterated leading to Stroud looking his way all night. Dell, in this game, was missed twice on comeback routes on the outside and dropped a ball he lost in the light while running up the seam. The opportunities are going to present themselves in the passing game for the Houston Texans moving forward. Nico is balling right now, but there is no way he sustains this insane level of play for an entire season. I have next to no faith in Diggs when it comes to catching the deep ball nowadays as he lacks speed at age 30. The only way Dell fades into the WR3 range in this offense is if Diggs runs routes so crisply that Stroud feeds him nine targets a game and he comes down with seven, which ain’t happening. Even though people are clowning Dell currently I think that may be a big mistake as the season progresses. The guy was shot, broke his leg in half, and is reintegrating himself into an offense that just added a former superstar outside WR to their passing attack. Give him a second to catch his full stride. Watching him last year was a treat and in two to three weeks Tank won’t even be mentioned as a buy low candidate in fantasy football. Make fun of me now, but it won’t be so funny once he gets on the same page with CJ like he did last year. 

I’d put Sam Laporta on this list, but no one is dumb enough to trade him given the immense draft capital league owners put into the man

Dalton Kincaid (TE) Buffalo Bills:

The usage he got this week was promising especially when factoring in the notion that the Thursday game was out of reach upon the first snap of the game this week. Kincaid in games that are tight might be huge for the Bills passing game and at a position in fantasy that has little to no success to start the season he is worth the gamble. If you could trade someone for Kincaid, maybe giving up another piece alongside a mid tier tight end, then I might explore that route. Kincaid, especially down the stretch come playoff time when the games get cold and yards are harder to come by might be alongside James Cook as the Bills top option in the offense. It’s either him or Coleman who’s another guy that got affected severely by the way Thursday Night Football’s game script unfolded. You can take your shot at either one of them with me personally expecting Coleman to come up huge when the games matter, but it is undeniable that Kincaid could be a league winner if the Bills end up in a tight race with the New York Jets for the AFC East. Maybe people in your league have become impatient with the lack of production Kincaid has given them as a late fourth or early fifth round draft pick and you can cause a stir in your fantasy group chat by fleecing another leaguemate. This year’s landscape is shaping up to have Brock Bowers, Sam Laporta, and Trey McBride as the year’s top options.

Jayden Reed (WR) Green Bay Packers:

Although he has an explosive week one performance, maybe if Malik Willis plays a few more games then his stock can tank drastically. Reed came into week one as a member of the Green Bay Packers wide receiving carousel and just dominated the Philadelphia Eagles all night long. I know their secondary is young and isn’t phenomenal currently, but Reed’s speed and highlight reel plays were unreal. Reed seems like the best big play generator in this offense and when Jordan Love comes back I fully expect him to be peppered with down the field opportunities as well as the patented Packers jet sweeps that gave him plenty of open field last year to capitalize on. Reed has been an underrated player in his career considering just how productive he was on an MSU team that was laughably bad with Payton Thorne as his QB. With Christian Watson being unable to stay healthy and Dontayvion Wicks dealing with bouts of inconsistency from time to time I think after this week against the Titans, if he doesn’t put up numbers, you should look to target him as a locked and loaded flex option for the rest of the season. In a high powered passing attack with the balance of Jacobs running the football, I see Reed getting a healthy target share while not fearing his other competition as consistently being able to take production from him

Bucky Irving (RB) Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

I can’t even tell you how much faith I’ve put into this guy. It’s honestly impossible to put into words. With Rachaad White sustaining an injury after facing Detroit and in an offense that has seen its offensive line play drastically improve is an explosive young running back, Bucky Irving. White has looked pretty putrid on the ground from an efficiency standpoint and Todd Bowles himself has talked about his tandem of RBs as a backfield that will be split. What happens if Bucky Irving gets the nod and White misses a game? If he impresses and puts up a 100 yard scrimmage game you might be looking at a potential league winning running back down the road. He looks like he is shot out of a cannon when he accelerates to the edge and when Bucky Irving makes cuts he keeps such a low center of gravity that defenses in position still might not be able to stop him. I haven’t even mentioned how in college with Bo Nix as his offense’s distributor he was primarily known as a pass catching back. He has elite upside on the ground and elite upside when it comes to creating yards after the catch in the Buccaneers passing attack. He hasn’t even been used in their passing attack, yet is still seen as merely a handicap running back. For his price tag he is an easy buy that might not cost you anything if the GM that has him in your league already has a solid running back room or is desperate for a depth WR piece. This guy has been on my radar since the draft and I have him rostered in every one of my leagues for this purpose. 

Nick Chubb (RB) Cleveland Browns:

He may be nothing after an awful injury last season, but I’m willing to bet on Batman here. He has never once in his career been an inefficient back and with Cleveland’s atrocity of a passing offense he’s going to be fed the rock. He is the heartbeat of the Browns organization and the RB room around him is far from ideal with serviceable journeyman D’Onta Foreman splitting touches alongside the 10.2 fantasy point lock, Jerome Ford. If Chubb comes back and nukes you have an automatic flex if needed or an insane RB depth piece, but your window is closing. This guy never escaped the first two rounds of fantasy football drafts and those who picked him around pick 100 are believing in the comeback story, but might be impatient at this very moment. When he nears his return to the gridiron his price will automatically shoot up, so this just may be your last week to convince a leaguemate that he should throw Chubb in along with a WR swap. If this offensive line’s health improves and Chubb is back to form then his services might be necessary to give the Browns any shot at a playoff berth. If he does come back and averages five yards a carry, willing this team into contention, then I might just shed a tear. Running back is such a weak position in terms of security, which is why I have three of them on my buy low list.

Josh Downs (WR) Indianapolis Colts:

Listen up before it is too late. Josh Downs is the sneakiest fantasy add this week before Sunday. I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again Downs is needed in this offense. Adonai Mitchell has dropped passes left and right while the passing game is trying to get going in Indy, so insert Downs. He is rostered in just 9% of leagues so if your buddy has him you could practically give him a bag of cheez-itz and he’d accept that. I think the Bears are a prime matchup for Richardson to look his way although he hasn’t played a down in 2024. This is due to the Bears having a nice secondary and likely shadowing WR1 Michael Pittman with their exceptional corner Jaylon Johnson. To beat the Bears the recipe for success must run through the quick passing game to complement the ground and pound scheme they have. The ground game might struggle a bit against a formidable front seven for Chicago, which means Richardson has to find someone to get the football to. Richardson is such a wildly unpredictable player so far in his short NFL career, but he’s eager to get it going and has a competitive fire that can help him fight through early mistakes. Downs is the definition of a boom or bust guy in fantasy, but at flex in a PPR format he could be a nice asset when having favorable matchups throughout the year. Downs seems incredibly underrated for a guy that produced as much as he did in his rookie season even with the ankle injury that has sidelined him through two weeks of action. The price is right, scoop him up now before he produces and flies off waivers.