Welcome to Week 8 of the 2023 Footballguys Roundtable. Our intrepid panel of fantasy pundits discusses and debates four topics every week. We split the conversation into separate features.
This week's roundtable features these four topics:
- Rams and Cardinals Backfields
- Every Week/Bye Week/Fluke Week
- Quit/Don't Quit (see below)
- Either/Or: The RB Edition
Let's roll.
Quit/Don't Quit
Matt Waldman: Consider this list of players for the two questions below...
A: Presuming you have the luxury of one roster spot to wait on one player with a high ceiling of potential in a re-draft format, who are you keeping as long as possible?
B: Presuming you have one of these players from this list to dump to make room for a free-agent addition to your roster, which one is the easiest to part with?
Daniel Harms: Presuming you have the luxury of one roster spot to wait on one player with a high ceiling of potential in a re-draft format, Dalton Kincaid showed the talent and target-earning ability that his predraft profile suggested he had. He will have a window to be the number-two target-getter in the offense, with the Bills sputtering and searching for an answer. Josh Allen is still an elite quarterback to be tied to, and Kincaid is the guy I want to bet on.
Presuming you have one of these players from this list to dump to make room for a free-agent addition to your roster, Gerald Everett has been the starting tight end for the Chargers for the last two seasons and hasn’t been a consistent fantasy option. He’s not a tight end I’m worried about burning me on the waiver wire.
Zareh Kantzabedian: Presuming you have the luxury of one roster spot to wait on one player with a high ceiling of potential in a re-draft format, I'm considering each player's highest ceiling, given their current roster environment. With that said, Tank Dell's ceiling can be so much higher. Dell was beginning to carve out a significant role before being injured. He's on an offense with a quarterback who's hit the ground running, and Dell is the Houston Texans' deep threat. The Texans' remaining schedule vs opposing secondaries is soft. Dell should feast.
Presuming you have one of these players from this list to dump to make room for a free-agent addition to your roster, Gerald Everett is the most viable candidate to cut. Tight ends ranked outside of the top three are a dime a dozen. Managers are better off playing the position week to week.
Jeff Bell: Presuming you have the luxury of one roster spot to wait on one player with a high ceiling of potential in a re-draft format, I'm rolling with Dalton Kincaid. The Week 7 breakout and subsequent injury to Dawson Knox colors this selection heavily. When a back-end TE1 only requires nine PPR points per game, a player with the potential to deliver 15-point outings without the benefit of a touchdown routinely is gold. No one else on this list has the ceiling to meaningfully impact a lineup the same over the second half of this year.
Presuming you have one of these players from this list to dump to make room for a free-agent addition to your roster, Geno Smith is droppable in one-quarterback formats. He has one top-12 week and needs to hit lineups in that format. Since late in 2022, it seems the shine is off Smith’s star-crossed run, and the team is now doing their best to cover his deficiencies. At 4-2, the Seahawks have little incentive to change what is working.
Will Grant: Presuming you have the luxury of one roster spot to wait on one player with a high ceiling of potential in a re-draft format, I want Tank Dell. He has had a couple of bad games, posting just 4 receptions for 73 yards over the last two weeks. But he also had two solid games the week before, with a combined 17 targets for 12 receptions, 217 yards, and 2 touchdowns. As a rookie taken in the third round, you would expect a couple of bad games here or there, but it's definitely not a reason to quit on Dell. Give him some time and see if he bounces back.
Presuming you have one of these players from this list to dump to make room for a free-agent addition to your roster, Gerald Everett looks like the easiest name to drop from the list above despite a touchdown in each of his past two games. Everett is currently the 17th-ranked fantasy TE, meaning most leagues will have at least one or two waiver-wire tight ends with better stats than Everett has posted this season. Even worse - Everett injured his quadriceps in the Kansas City game and could not return. If you have a hot waiver-wire target this week, I am not concerned about cutting Everett to make room.
Andy Hicks: Presuming you have the luxury of one roster spot to wait on one player with a high ceiling of potential in a re-draft format, Najee Harris is my choice. Harris is getting about 70% of the rushing attempts for the Steelers as they discover their seasons' identity. The rushing attempts should increase as we head toward winter football, especially with an average passing game. Jaylen Warren complements Harris rather than supplants his workload.
Presuming you have one of these players from this list to dump to make room for a free-agent addition to your roster, a quadriceps issue for Gerald Everett makes this an even easier choice. Everett has a touchdown in each of the last two games, which, given the dearth of talent at tight end would make this a harder call. After the first five games of the season, Everett ranked outside the top 30 tight ends. Similar or better players should be on the waiver wire.
Joey Wright: Presuming you have the luxury of one roster spot to wait on one player with a high ceiling of potential in a re-draft format, am not parting ways with Dalton Kincaid if I have an extra roster spot. He may even be a start-worthy tight end now with the news of an uncertain timetable for a Dawson Knox return. Last week against the Patriots, Kincaid hauled in all 8 of his targets for 85 yards. Let us hope last week was the first step to the second rookie tight-end breakout of 2023. Chalk it up to positional scarcity and presumed fantasy production, but I'm waiting for Kincaid.
Presuming you have one of these players from this list to dump to make room for a free-agent addition to your roster, Geno Smith is the answer. Quarterback has been a very deep position in redraft for the last decade, and playing the matchups is truly a winning strategy.
Looking at the rest of the season schedule, outside of a Week 10 matchup against the Washington Commanders, the schedule for Smith is very daunting. The road ahead includes a matchup this week against the Baltimore Ravens and two matchups against the San Francisco 49ers. If you relied on Smith to help get you to your fantasy championship, I would be looking for better streaming options.
Jason Wood: Presuming you have the luxury of one roster spot to wait on one player with a high ceiling of potential in a re-draft format, Dalton Kincaid is the choice, without question. The Bills have one of the league's best offenses, and all the key pieces, including quarterback Josh Allen, are signed long-term.
Kincaid was their priority addition and was considered one of the final missing pieces. Incumbent Dawson Knox suffered a serious injury in Week 7, further accelerating Kincaid's integration. While Kincaid hasn't been an immediate fantasy star like rookie counterpart Sam LaPorta, history tells us that most of the best tight ends in history break out after a slow rookie season. Kincaid's draft pedigree as a potential game-breaking receiver can't be forgotten because he's had a slow first two months.
Presuming you have one of these players from this list to dump to make room for a free-agent addition to your roster, Gerald Everett is a non-factor. He's averaging 7.7 PPR points, which groups him among a big swatch of touchdown-dependent tight ends. There are currently 13 tight ends averaging between 6 and 8 fantasy points per week. Everett is 29 and will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason. There's a good chance this will be his final year as an NFL starter.
Matt Montgomery: Presuming you have the luxury of one roster spot to wait on one player with a high ceiling of potential in a re-draft format, Dalton Kincaid is almost a must-start since the news of Dawson Knox’s injury. He has wide receiver skills and an elite quarterback on an offense known for pushing the ball downfield. He will be an elite red-zone threat moving forward.
Presuming you have one of these players from this list to dump to make room for a free-agent addition to your roster, Geno Smith is the answer. It appears that now that teams have a year of seeing Smith, he no longer has that upside we saw last season. There are times when the best backup quarterback is on the waiver wire, and if you want to add a quality free agent to your team, a backup quarterback isn’t going to hurt your stomach letting go.
Waldman: If you'd like to see the rest of the topics, once again, you can find them here:
Thanks, and good luck this week!