As you get ready for the fantasy football playoffs, how you manage your roster and your waiver-wire claims is more important than ever.
Not only should your bench include handcuffs to your running backs, but you should also be looking to add players who are ready to prove themselves now with immediate touches.
You should be tracking every injury, finding out who is ready to take that next step and who can help you run the gauntlet that is the fantasy playoffs.
With Houston wide receiver Tank Dell out for the season with a broken fibula, the Texans’ receivers are the perfect place to start.
Nothing has been more enjoyable in the fantasy realm than watching rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud lead this Texans team to a 7-5 record and usher them into playoff contention. He has been an absolute star, and has an outstanding on-field rapport with each of his pass-catchers.
Nico Collins is on his way to his first 1,000-yard season and is establishing career-best numbers here in his third full season. But watching Stroud jell with fellow rookie Dell has been a revelation.
Dell ranks second in receiving yards and yards per game, while ranking first in both yards per catch and receiving touchdowns among all rookies. Replacing what he brings to the team each week might be difficult, but as a fantasy manager you only need to replace his targets and yards, which should be easy.
Both Robert Woods and Noah Brown should be your immediate targets when looking for receiving help.
With Dell out, Woods will move to the outside and assume the Z-receiver job, and Brown is expected to take the majority of his snaps out of the slot in three-receiver sets. We witnessed something similar back in Weeks 9 and 10 when both Collins and Woods missed time.
Working out of the slot, Brown had back-to-back 100-yard efforts with one touchdown. Though it came at Woods’ expense that time, we’ve also seen Woods garner a decent target share when afforded the opportunity.
The upcoming schedule for the Texans looks beneficial for the fantasy playoffs — they have two meetings with the defensively challenged Titans, as well as meetings against both the Jets and the Browns.
Though the Jets and Browns both have strong cover-corners, their offenses are a complete mess and will end up with far too many three-and-outs, which keeps the defense on the field and tired. Fantasy WRs on offenses with strong passing attacks have done fine against both of them.
Betting on the NFL?
You have four or five weeks to pull out all the stops in order to win your fantasy championship.
When an opportunity like adding Texans receivers knocks, you open the door. This may not be the last knock before the playoffs finish, but if you don’t act now that finish might come earlier than expected for your team.
Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to Fantasy-Alarm.com for all your fantasy football advice.
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