Here's the news, if you have Odell Beckham Jr., you are in luck. He's about to take off this week. I don't have any inside information or a glimpse into the mind of Ben McAdoo or anything like that. (If I did have a glimpse into his mind, I would want to see what his thoughts were about his mustache. That's not a slam. Dude, I'm rocking a neck beard, so I'm not one to talk. I'm just curious about it is all. Because I don't think the neck beard looks sweet. Actually, I do. It's awesome. However, I've veered well off topic here.)
But here is the point: History has shown that once I've traded a player, he goes absolutely bonkers.
Need further proof? I had to deal Jordan Howard in my Second City League this week. I thought I was stacked at running back with Le'Veon Bell, Devontae Booker, Spencer Ware, Jacquizz Rodgers and Terrance West. So I dealt him for Donte Moncrief (who I originally had drafted but had to release at some point). And you know what happened to Howard this week. It's that weird position where you are excited the real team you support is crushing the overrated Vikings, but you're super morose because you could have had him on your fantasy team.
While I'm on the subject, they often say some of the best deals are the ones you never make. Which is kind of true, because I offered Akbar Derek Carr in our NFL Fantasy League and not only did he turn it down (when he needed a quarterback and had streamed Alex Smith), but he counter offered a ridiculous, lopsided deal that somebody had to be in his ear helping him with because it was a very un-Akbar thing to do. It should also be pointed out had Akbar accepted the deal I gave him (I think it was for Michael Thomas), he would have beaten me head-to-head to end my five-year winning streak against him. (He's never beaten me in fantasy.)
So obviously Carr went straight banana-pants because he thought I traded him. And likewise, OBJ will have a game because I dealt him to MJD. (Didn't want to do it, but I had to because I couldn't afford so many people on a bye last week.) The devious upshot here is I still have OBJ in my League of Record and a few other spots, so I will still benefit from this fantasy sacrifice.
All of that being said, be ready for a huge game and you're welcome.
One other thing. I don't often put Thursday night guys on this list because this gets shared over the weekend. I will say Austin Hooper is a great play this week. As an added bonus, I won't remove this if this prediction tanks. I did it last week in Like/dislike. I predicted a huge game for Allen Robinson and left it in there over the weekend. Thankfully, plenty of folks were understanding and asked me how I even had a job. Which is par for the course. (Hey, I made the stupid prediction. And seven points from AR doesn't seem so [expletive] right now. Amirite?)
All right, let's get to the sleepers.
Rank's 11 Sleepers, Week 9
QB: Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins
QB: Case Keenum, Los Angeles Rams
QB: Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers
RB: Charcandrick West, Kansas City Chiefs
RB: DuJuan Harris, San Francisco 49ers
WR: Donte Moncrief, Indianapolis Colts
WR: Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs
WR: Corey Coleman, WR, Cleveland Browns
WR: Kenny Britt, WR, Los Angeles Rams
TE: Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions
D/ST: Miami Dolphins
Ryan Tannehill, QB, Miami Dolphins
I'm a little apprehensive about this because Ryan Tannehill. He's burned us before. Plus, the momentum pre-bye week sometimes will come crashing down because the players have very limited practice schedules. But in this instance, I'm going to believe in Adam Gase. And really, it's all about a lack of options. Like when you forget to download some movies for a flight, and you realize the only one left on your device is "Two Night Stand" which certainly isn't a bad movie, but probably not what you would choose to watch. And then there's the weird question about nudity and if you should watch movies like that on a plane. I used to watch "Entourage" on planes and then thought better of it. Even though I was wedged into a corner.
This is like a car rental option. Like you get to the counter and you're like "What's available?" Sure, I would like to take something at least a little bit fun. But if all you have to offer me is the Ford Aspire, then you do what you have to do. The matchup against the Saints is almost too good to pass up. Though, we've been burned by this before. Kind of like the time I did rent an Aspire years ago and got two flats. Which I should have expected because the tires were about as thick as the tires on a beach cruiser.
Donte Moncrief, WR, Indianapolis Colts
I know it's a little disingenuous to be all, "Hey remember that guy who scored a touchdown last week? Yeah, he'll be good again." I don't ever want to be that guy. But I do think it's important to point out Moncrief's production was not a fluke. He was the most targeted receiver of the bunch. And to think, he had a touchdown called back which would have made it a monster game. T.Y. Hilton suffered an injury during the game, which means Moncrief could be an even bigger monster this week.
Eric Ebron, TE, Detroit Lions
Obviously you would want to have the tight end on the other side, Kyle Rudolph (the Doyle Rules). But that's cool. I mean, if he's there, grab him obviously. He's not though, is he? That's what I figured. I'd take Ebron over Dennis Pitta this week. Look at what the Bears did to the Vikings on Monday night. So I wouldn't fear playing any of your Lions starters this week. This could be the old "this is the week the Vikings put it together" week but I'm not so sure. I feel like the Vikings are going through a swoon similar to what the Falcons went through last year. In fact, I would imagine we'll be saying stuff like "Hey, the Vikings started 5-0 last year before they finished out of the playoffs." All right, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. But the Vikings don't look that strong.
Miami Dolphins D/ST
I know, it's tough to trust the Dolphins. But I like the opportunity here. And odds are the Dallas Cowboys are not available. The Packers would be another spicy play here, too. Mostly because the Colts turn the ball over more than people think. You'd also have to be a loon if you went with the Raiders D/ST.
Be sure to watch "Fantasy and Friends" at 6 p.m. ET on NFL Network, Monday-Wednesday and Friday. (Sorry, the Thursday night game preempts us. But you can be a part of the show by going to NFL.com/fantasyandfriends. Also follow Adam Rank on Twitter @adamrank.
Follow Adam Rank on Twitter @adamrank