National Football League

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 9 - ALL IN ON MARTAVIS BRYANT

Published Oct. 28, 2014 1:16 p.m. ET

Ryan Fowler

Martavis Bryant’s fantasy football ownership is about to soar on FOXSports.com. Currently owned in only 2.3 percent of leagues, a quick glance back at Week 8’s waiver wire column would have provided owners a jump on the inevitable Bryant bandwagon. Why was it inevitable? Check out these stats:

Hell, Skee-Lo stands 5-foot-8 – Pittsburgh could line him up in the slot! Sure, Heath Miller stands 6-foot-5, but due to offensive line issues, he’s needed in pass protection more than catching targets from Roethlisberger. When Mike Wallace left for Miami, Big Ben lost his red zone target. This past August, Roethlisberger compared Bryant to the role Plaxico Burress played in the Steelers’ offense a decade ago. He sees the potential and backed it up by targeting the 6-foot-4 Bryant 12 times in his first two games with three of those looks good for six points.

To get to this point, Bryant – like so many college athletes – had to overcome personal adversity. According to this 2010 article, Bryant, once considered the 10th-best receiver in the nation – fell one high school credit shy of college eligibility and joining Clemson his true-freshman season. So, he was forced to enroll in military school until his grades came up. Playing opposite Sammy Watkins, Bryant racked up 61 receptions for 1,354 yards with 13 touchdowns in three seasons. To imagine what he would have posted without Watkins in the picture is scary.

Here’s Nolan Nawrocki’s NFL Draft Profile on Bryant:

Strengths

Weaknesses

If not for a separated shoulder in the Steelers’ preseason finale against the Panthers, Bryant may have started the season on the active roster and the incredibly addictive what-if fantasy football scenarios can play out from there.

Theo Riddick

In two games where Reggie Bush was out and/or Calvin Johnson was out or acting as a decoy, Riddick’s role ranked only behind Golden Tate in the Lions’ passing game. Riddick racked up 149 receiving yards with two touchdowns in those two games over the past three weeks. The team claims even with Bush back in the mix, Riddick will remain a target in the offense. So, while that’s good news for Riddick investors in deeper fantasy leagues, Bush and Joique Bell’s fantasy value becomes a tad murkier the rest of the season with a three-headed monster and BYE week to consider.

Jonas Gray

I don’t care how confusing the Patriots’ running back by committee is, you can’t ignore 17 carries for 86 yards in Week 8 with slim pickens’ on the waiver wire. Could I see Shane Vereen erupting for 20-plus fantasy points in Week 9 against the Broncos? Hell, yeah! Could I see Gray finishing with seven carries for 35 yards? Damn, straight! Could I see Brandon Bolden vulturing a carry from inside the two yard line? Absofrickinlutely! Pick up Gray and stash him on your bench – see what develops over the next few games.

Charles Sims

You want to sound like you know your stuff around the water cooler? (Why am I asking so many questions this week?) Drop Sims name this week as a potential fantasy football sleeper the rest of the season. The Buccaneers rookie running back out of West Virginia underwent ankle surgery in August. Prior to hitting the shelf, he appeared in limited preseason action and finished with six carries for 13 yards with three receptions for 32 yards. The reason for Sims’ waiver wire recognition is simple, Doug Martin isn’t cutting it (2.9 YPR, one TD) and has been mentioned as trade bait and Bobby Rainey / Sims could create a new timeshare under the Lovie Smith regime. Sims’ waiver wire priority should be higher in PPR leagues.

Allen Robinson

Beall mentioned it in his Week 8 Five Takeaways and I’ll reiterate the point, Robinson should already be owned in PPR leagues. Over the last four weeks, Robinson has posted 60.1 fantasy points – 16th-best among fantasy receivers in PPR formats. His 37 targets – right behind T.Y. Hilton’s 40 - rank ninth in the league during that same stretch. Robinson has also scored in back-to-back games while competing against Cecil Shorts for targets each week.

Travaris Cadet

… Cadet has caught 19 passes for 169 yards with a touchdown and a fumble lost.

Andrew Hawkins

… Hawkins has caught 15 passes (27 targets) for 226 yards with a touchdown and that includes goose eggs against the Steelers.

Brandon LaFell

…. LaFell has caught 20 passes (27 targets) for 297 yards with three touchdowns. Julian Edelman saw only four targets last week against the Bears suggesting LaFell could continue to cut into his workload.

Andre Holmes

… Holmes has caught 20 of 32 passes for 298 yards with four touchdowns. Yeah, buy that stock.

Odell Beckham Jr. (3 games)

… Beckham has caught 10 of 16 passes with three touchdowns. My favorite part is the Giants play the Jaguars, Titans, Redskins and Rams Weeks 13-16.

Denard Robinson (2 games)

…. Robinson has rushed 40 times for 235 yards with a touchdown. If you remove his two longest runs, he’s still averaging 4.5 yards per rush. I still can’t believe this is playing out in Jacksonville.

Kenny Britt

Brian Quick is out for the season and somebody – namely Britt and Jared Cook – become the favorite to lead the team in targets the rest of the way. Lance Kendericks does have red zone appeal, too.