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Marcas Grant: I wouldn't be so worried about Randall Cobb. It's been frustrating to watch the young wideout struggle with an injury and facing extra attention from opposing defenses, but he has a full bye week to recover and he still has Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback. Eddie Lacy is a different story. Hopefully the bye week helps heal his ankle injury, but there is the issue of his schedule. The next four games include contests against the Broncos, Panthers and Vikings and the late season slate features the surprisingly stout Raiders and a championship week matchup against the Cardinals. If he's healthy, it's a tough stretch. If he's not healthy, it's nearly impossible.
M.G.: You're not going to want to hear this, but you're going to have to suck it up and ride this out. Lacy is too talented to just give up on -- especially since you likely drafted him early in the first round. That last fact also makes it hard to trade him. Right now, no one is going to give you anything close to commensurate value for him. It's not that no one will take him, but if you're offering him everyone knows you're desperate to deal him. I'd try to low-ball you as well. For the time being, you'll need to hold on to Lacy and hope things get better.
M.G.: See what I'm saying? This is what it's come to for Eddie Lacy. People are using him as a throw-in for trades. That's essentially giving him away. Don't do this. And don't do this deal. Robinson could end up as a top 10 fantasy receiver this season and I refuse to believe that Lacy will continue to be as bad as he has been so far. Todd Gurley is an amazing talent who could end up as a fantasy star for years to come, but you're giving up far too much in this deal.
M.G.: I think Freddie Mercury said it best when he wrote "No no no no no no no." The "decline" you reference has meant two games in the past four with fewer than 18 points. So far, the Cardinals signal-caller has had a floor of about 16 points. You have to feel pretty good about that. I'm a big fan of Bortles, but he his tendency to throw picks in bunches can be Staffordesque and that dud game is coming. The flow of the Jaguars offense almost demands it. That doesn't mean Bortles isn't worth an add off the waiver wire. You'll need someone to cover Carson Palmer's bye week. I just wouldn't ditch Palmer to make that move.
M.G.: The only way I would make that move is if I was forced to roll with Kirk Cousins and Peyton Manning (yeah, I said it) at quarterback. Otherwise, you can probably cobble together a decent group of streaming QBs from week to week. Brady has been outstanding this season, but he's not really worth giving up a potential workhorse running back and the current top receiver in football for -- even with A.J. Green coming back the other way. The quarterback position is just far too deep right now.
M.G.: If you're 5-1 right now you're not needing a whole lot of help, but I don't mind getting IDP questions. The beauty of many IDP leagues is that there is always a ton of talent available on the waiver wire. In most cases, a middle linebacker is going to be your best option since they're in the midst of all the action and there are plenty of players at that spot that don't have a lot of name recognition but are playmakers. Preston Brown (BUF) and Telvin Smith (JAX) are a couple of guys that are available in plenty of leagues. If you need to go a little deeper, check out guys like Uani' Unga (NYG), Hau'oli Kikaha (NO) or Michael Wilhoite (SF). begin shameless self-promotion Plus, you can always visit my weekly IDP column, Reading the Defense. end shameless self-promotion
M.G.: This is a deal I would make. I'm a huge fan of Steve Smith Sr. on the field (please never, ever leave us Triple-S), but I worry about his longterm production from a fantasy standpoint. Similarly, the NFL.com Fantasy Stronghold has been on Team Tyrod since the preseason. But you're not wrong about Luck's schedule. He still has one trip left through the putrid AFC South plus games against the Buccaneers and Steelers. So far this season, Luck hasn't looked like the quarterback we expected, but last week's game against the Patriots showed that he can still be a fantasy stud. Bank on talent to win out in this situation and Luck (and the Colts offense) has plenty of it.
M.G.:Derek Carrier was a nice deep waiver wire play a couple of weeks ago, but he's got a tough matchup this week against the Bucs. Plus Jordan Reed could return, which could scuttle his value. Jordan Cameron has been too inconsistent to consider him in a mediocre matchup while Charles Clay has become a bigger part of the Bills passing game -- especially with Sammy Watkins at less than 100 percent. Hey ... this question has a kicker kicker! Chandler Catanzaro has a really great matchup on paper, but I have more confidence in Carson Palmer leading his team to touchdowns than I do Matt Cassel. I'd much rather have my kicker lining up for field goals than extra points. I'd roll with Dan Bailey this week.
M.G.: I'd drop Knile Davis for nothing. Forget about what Charcandrick West did on the field last week, he still looks to be the primary running back going forward. It's hard enough to try to rely on a secondary running back, but a secondary running back playing in the least inspiring offense in the NFL is a no go for me. Meanwhile what we saw from Frank Gore last week means Bradshaw's perceived value is sinking quickly. Still with a dearth of running backs available, it's worth giving the veteran back playing in a (supposedly) high-powered offense a spot on your roster. If if doesn't work out, you can always cut him and you haven't lost much. Sorta like you're doing with Knile Davis.
Sorry. Talking about the Kansas City offense tends to make me a drowsy. Jamaal Charles is gone and Jeremy Maclin is looking like a longshot to play as he goes through the league's concussion protocol. That leaves you with Travis Kelce and not much else. At least the Dolphins will have to figure out how to slow down Arian Foster and DeAndre Hopkins. As long as the Steelers can cover a five-yard out, they should be okay this week. Since we're talking about streaming defenses, give the Vikings a look against the turnover-prone Lions this week. They're available in an overwhelming majority of NFL.com leagues.
Bonus question:
M.G.: I know this theory about Luke turning to the Dark Side has been picking up steam ever since the new Force Awakens trailer hit the public consciousness. I'm not buying it. I'm going with my own person theory that Darth Sidious in a Larry King-like maneuver fathered a child in the remote part of the empire who is now driven to avenge his estranged father's death and continue his work to conquer the universe. Soon we will all know the real name of Kylo Ren and it will be ... Oswaldo Palpatine. But I could be making this whole thing up.
Double bonus question:
M.G.: 5. Anakin Skywalker; 4. Luke Skywalker; 3. Mace Windu; 2. Obi-Wan Kenobi; 1. Yoda
Wake up and watch with the world. The NFL is live on Yahoo. For the first time ever the NFL is streaming a live game on Yahoo. Bills vs. Jaguars live from London, Sunday October 25th 9:30 am ET.
Marcas Grant is a fantasy editor for NFL.com and a man who consistently makes beer runs in less than 12 parsecs. Tweet him anything about Star Wars or fantasy football questions @MarcasG.
