From teachers to students, coaches to hall monitors, fantasy football has infiltrated City High, as well as high schools and workplaces across the country. All teams are drafted now and participants may have made some acquisitions from the waiver wire already. 

I’m here to help you out. We’ll go through replacements for your injured players and MUST PICKS to swoop in on now. FYI, being a high schooler and not a forty-year-old man I play PPR, so I will cover with PPR statistics and takes on players.

There were some big names that went down this weekend, especially in the QB spot. So that’s where we’ll start. “Big” Ben Roethlisberger is Done (capital D for effect). I repeat Done for the season. Most Fantasy enthusiasts know that by now and if this is the first you’ve heard of it, go ahead and click the big bad DROP button for him. In other news, the Giants are finally making the call and are starting Daniel Jones over veteran Eli Manning this week. We’ll see how it pans out for Jones, but in the meantime, you should probably DROP Manning and at the very least make sure you’re not starting him.

Stay focused, we’re not done yet. Drew Brees is also injured, he hurt his throwing hand and is out for most likely six-plus weeks. Don’t feel compelled to pick up the Saints backup Teddy Bridgewater just yet. Bridgewater was underwhelming after filling in for Brees midgame, throwing 17-30 and 165 yards. 

Now you may be wondering who to start at QB. You should have a backup QB drafted already, but there might be some sleepers out there just now waking up who could be better options. First and Foremost, Lamar Jackson. It might be too late, but if you are in a lowly active league ADD this man now. In just two games he’s thrown over 590 yards and hit seven targets in the endzone. He also added this week in his infamous “Running Back” game with 120 yards on the ground. Another potential waiver PICK up is Josh Allen. Allen impressed us with his run game in his rookie season and already has two rushing touchdowns. Add on his 507 throwing yards from the first two games this year and he is another dual-threat. The Bills are 2-0 and a big part of that is due to this man. 

  Now to the most important position for its lack of depth and unpredictability. RB. One big name to be worried about at the running back position and that’s the Steel Curtain’s, James Conner. But Conner owners shouldn’t panic just yet. Head Coach Mike Tomlin wouldn’t say if Conner was expected to get full snaps Sunday, but Conner reassured us (yes “us,” James was my second-round pick this year) he would not miss the game. Just in case, if you hadn’t cuffed him already, pick up backup running back Jaylen Samuels. Samuels is known as the number two guy in Pittsburgh and if Conner’s assessment is incorrect Jaylen will dominate touches.

WR’s in PPR have much depth and are a lot more predictable, the main reason I have RB as the most important position. Deandre Hopkins practice reps are being managed this week, nothing to be worried about, just to be monitored. Michael Gallup avoided structural damage and will have surgery on his meniscus, he hopes to be back within a month. Hold on to Michael Gallup who is impressing in his sophomore season with the Cowboys, posting thirteen rec for 226 yards already this season. Dallas might go shopping for more WR to fill Gallup’s vacancy, look out for that. PICKUPS for this week here are Nelson Agholor and Curtis Samuel. Agholor exploded this past week with 107 rec yards and a TD, he had an almost game blowing drop but redeemed himself with a 43-yard catch on 4th and 14, the Eagles lost the game, but nonetheless points are points, and he had 24 in most leagues.

In the last four years, there have been four-five dominating Tight Ends that score top WR like points. After those four to five, there is a huge dropoff to the point where the TE’s aren’t even good for eight points weekly. One of the top TE’s, Gronk, retired this past year leaving the other couple elite TEs at the top of their category. Such as Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and Zach Ertz. There were no devastating injuries at the tight end position exclusively, but feel free to check the QB injured list at the top of the article, and take those into account for how those TE’s will score. Expect Vance McDonald and Jared Cook’s numbers to falter due to Brees and Roethlisberger going down. (Hopefully, Engram’s numbers won’t fall too much because his QB situation was strategically chosen). LOOK RIGHT NOW and see if Mark Andrews is still available in your league no matter who you have at Tight End. Andrews has been part of Lamar Jackson’s explosive start this season with 8 rec, 100+ yds, and a TD both games this season. Again, no matter who you have at TE, you can even PICK him up as a FLEX option, he’s that good. 

There isn’t a proven method to picking or starting kickers, the best kickers team might just score four touchdowns, leaving that kicker with only PAT’s, and four points. There is a strategy to defense, and it’s my personal one. Pick up a D/ST each week that’s playing a weak team. If not that, NEVER start a D/ST that’s playing a team with a strong offense. That rule of thumb has steered me right many a time, so I stick to it to this day.