Happy Halloween!🎃

It’s a night filled with fear and horror, so it’s fitting that we’ll be watching the Jets tonight.

But while you’re stuffing your face with candy and watching Aaron Rodgers destroy a franchise before your very eyes, we’ve got some fantasy football trends to help you uncover which players are tricks, and which ones are treats.

AROUND THE LEAGUE 🚨

Anthony Richardson Benched

The Colts have benched 2nd-year QB Anthony Richardson after just 10 career starts. He’s been brutal as a passer, ranking 222nd in completion rate (50%) among the 225 QBs with 250+ dropbacks since 2000, per The Ringer’s Austin Gayle. That’s lower than busts like JaMarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf, and just above Tim Tebow, who finished his career as a TE.

He’s also probably the first QB ever to tap out of a game because he was “tired”. Not a great look…

For now, it’ll be Joe Flacco under center for Indy, which is great news for their receiving corps. More on that later…

Diontae Johnson Traded to Baltimore

In other news around the NFL, WR Diontae Johnson has been traded to the Baltimore Ravens for a late round pick swap. It’ll take time to see what kind of role Johnson settles into, but this is at least a slight knock against the stocks of Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and Rashod Bateman. Meanwhile, Xavier Legette becomes Carolina’s clearcut WR1, and fellow rookie Jalen Coker should see a bump in targets, too.

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MARKET TRENDS 🧐

Running Back

🚀 Tyrone Tracy > Devin Singletary. Tracy is the new RB1 in New York after carrying the ball 20 times for 145 yards and one TD with a healthy Singletary back in the lineup. He’s averaging 16.4 fantasy points per game as a starter, which would be good for RB11 in PPG, per David J. Gautieri, and hasn’t even fully tapped into his receiving potential yet (don’t forget he was a WR in college). He’s entered must-start territory as a solid RB2 in fantasy lineups.

📈 The Chase Brown takeover continues. He’s now played 50%+ of snaps in three straight games and has 15+ opportunities in each of his last contests. Meanwhile, Zack Moss hasn’t eclipsed 3.0+ yards per carry since Week 3, per Joe Orrico.

💰 Buy D’Andre Swift and Joe Mixon. They’re absolutely killing it this year, so they may be hard to acquire. But at the same time, they don’t have the name value of some other highly ranked RBs.

Swift has scored 18+ PPR points in four straight games and is the RB3 in PPG. Meanwhile, Joe Mixon is the RB2 in PPG and has rushed for 100+ yards and at least one TD in every game he’s been healthy this year.

✋ Hold Nick Chubb. He saw a lot more work in his second week back from injury:

While he has a tough matchup against the Chargers this weekend, expect him to take a leap after the bye when he takes on a soft Saints run defense. If you have him on your roster, hold on tight. If you don’t, try to buy low.

👀 De’Von Achane is PPR dream. He's now scored 23.0, 29.5, and 26.7 PPR points in three games where Tua Tagovailoa has started this season and has scored more fantasy PPR points from purely receiving production (65.4) than Jaylen Waddle (57.4), per FantasyLife’s Ian Hartitz.

📉 Sell Jonathan Taylor. Many people are buying Colts players now with the news of Anthony Richardson’s benching. But Indy has the toughest schedule for RBs, per FantasyPros’ strength of schedule tool. His name gets people’s attention, so it’s worth seeing what you can get in return.

Wide Receiver

📈 Life is good for Colts WRs. With Joe Flacco taking over, expect the Josh Downs breakout to continue — and hopefully a bounceback for Michael Pittman Jr. is on the horizon, too.

💰 Buy Khalil Shakir. You would think the addition of Amari Cooper would’ve hurt Shakir, but in the two games since the trade, he’s finished as the WR10 and WR18 with a 23.9% target share, 3.07 yards per route run, and a 30.4% first-read share, per FantasyPros’ Derek Brown. He should continue to find success as Buffalo’s slot receiver with Cooper and Keon Coleman manning the perimeter.

💰 Buy low on Jaylen Waddle. Tua’s return to the lineup was great for the Dolphins offense, but Waddle still produced just 8.5 PPR points. Managers are probably fed up with him by now, so try swooping in with a lowball offer and see what happens. Miami has a couple potential shootouts on the way with games against the Bills and Rams, so better statlines could be coming soon.

📉 Sell high on Cedric Tillman. I know, I know. You just blew a ton of FAAB on him. And while Tillman might be the next alpha in Cleveland, his schedule gets a whole lot tougher after this week…

Even if he is a stud, he’s likely to be limited by these tough matchups. So if you can get a good return from someone who might’ve juuust missed out on him on waivers, take the deal.

😬 George Pickens has the worst luck:

🤫 Stash Jalen Coker. The Panthers’ rookie WR will see a huge uptick in usage following the trade of Diontae Johnson. He’s a big slot receiver at 6’3” 216 lbs, and in limited action thus far, he’s 3rd among rookie WRs in PFF receiving grade and 7th in yards per route run, per @DevyEusuf.

This week, he takes on a Saints D that’s allowed the 8th-most fantasy points per game and 3rd-most receiving yards per game to slot receivers, so pick him up before he’s in all the waiver wire articles next week.

QB / TE

💰 Buy Bo Nix. He’s the QB3 over the last month, averaging 21.7 PPG. And as we mentioned in Tuesday’s waiver wire newsletter, he’s 4th in expected fantasy points per game (20.5) among QBs this season — higher than Lamar Jackson (20.4), Jayden Daniels (19.1), and Josh Allen (18.1), per David J. Gautieri.

😎 Baker Mayfield is legit. He’s currently the fantasy QB2 while leading the NFL with 21 TDs, ranking 2nd in yards, and 3rd in completion rate. And what’s been most impressive is his consistency:

Speaking of Bucs…

🚀 Cade Otton to the Moon! He’s Mayfield’s new favorite target following the losses of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin:

💰 Buy Evan Engram. He’s been excellent since his return from injury, yet his name doesn’t quite hold the same cachet as other big-name TEs. If you can find a way to acquire him, you’re likely getting a steal. Especially now that Christian Kirk is out for the year:

📉 Sell Sam LaPorta. Somehow, in a game where Jared Goff threw for just 85 yards, LaPorta had his best performance of the season. The TE caught six passes for 48 yards and one TD while earning a 33.3% target share. The problem is, when Jameson Williams is in the lineup this season, LaPorta’s target share plummets to 9.9%, per Frank Ammirante. Sell high based on his name value and recent performance.

QUICK SLANTS 👀

📖 Read Ian Hartitz of FantasyLife’s Week 8 Sheesh Report. On the list is Calvin Ridley, who decided to turn left into oncoming traffic instead of just running straight into the end zone:

📖 Read Morgan Rode of FantasySP’s Preview of Texans @ Jets tonight. Rode breaks down the key players at each position and lets you know who to start and who to sit.

📖 Read Steven Ruiz of The Ringer’s breakdown of Anthony Richardson’s benching, where he uses film clips and eye-opening stats to compare Joe Flacco to Richardson and highlight the consequences of this benching.

🎙️ Listen to Rest-Of-Season Wide Receiver Tiers and Rankings from the Footballguys Fantasy Football Show, where Dave Kluge, Alfredo Brown and Victoria Geary provide perspective on what’s been a down year for the position.

🎙 Listen to Panthers rookie WR Xavier Legette talk about his eating habits. You’ll never guess how he says “asparagus” and “allergic”😂:

📺 Watch Andrew Siciliano and Nathan Zegura get emotional in the Browns’ radio booth after the team’s win against Baltimore. The team’s play-by-play announcer since 1999, Jim Donovan, had just passed away the day before the game after a long battle with cancer.🙏

TWEET OF THE DAY

Have a spooktacular night!👻

See you Sunday.

- Marcus