A few quick hits on deep-league sleepers for those of you with long benches in 12, 14, or 16-man leagues.
1) The Dallas Backfield
More than likely, Joseph Randle and Lance Dunbar are already owned. But with the news coming out of Dallas today that Christine Michael got reps with the first team this week, I think he’s a must-add in deep formats. Fill your bench with upside is the well-known mantra for fantasy owners, and Michael behind the Dallas O-Line has win-your-league potential. If you need RB help here’s a few names I’d drop for him: Torrey Smith, Andre Johnson, Breshad Perriman, any TE outside the top-12.
2) The Miami Backfield
Another interesting flier to me is Jonas Gray. He averaged over 5 YPC in his debut, toting the rock 9 times for 49 yards. Miller has been underwhelming and injured and I can certainly imagine multiple scenarios where Gray is a valuable fantasy asset. Deep league/long bench add for me.
3) Bush is Back
Reggie Bush should return to action this week and the 49ers acquired him with the intent to make him an important part of their offense. Obviously, Carlos Hyde remains “the guy” but I could see Bush having deep league value and even more so in PPR and half-point PPR formats. Definitely worth a speculative add, and if you’re especially thin at RB I’d use the same rough “drop list” given above to help you get an idea of what value I expect him to have as the season progresses.
4) Don’t give up on Agholor
I’ve seen Nelson Agholor dropped in two 12-team leagues this week. Remember: it was Agholor, not Jordan Matthews, who saw Revis Island in week 3. Sometimes, it takes rookies time to really produce. I like him in the second half of the season and believe he is still a “hold” in 12+team leagues. Despite his goose egg against the Jets, Agholor was on the field for over 90% of the Eagles offensive snaps last week. The catches will come.