Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire

Happy Tuesday Fantasy Footballers. This job comes with its perks, like getting to interact with all of you and help you win your weeks. It also comes with its downs, getting roasted for suggestions. Well good thing I have thick skin because after my public roasting last week on suggesting Mitchell Trubisky over the likes of Andy Dalton and Blake Bortles, Trubisky went on to put up a phenomenal 316 yards and 3 touchdowns, on the way to 33 fantasy points in 6 point touchdown leagues. Okay, so Jameis Winston outscored him by a few points, but if you started Mitch, I doubt you are complaining too much. All joking aside, I have enjoyed the fun it has been to interact with all of you and I continue to look forward to it as the season heads towards the half way point. That’s crazy. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was sitting in front of my TV after church, waiting for the first kick on Sunday of Week 1, and now I am watching the second half of the Packers vs 49ers at the end of Week 6.

Also, since we are talking about haters, I figured I would let you in on a little tidbit from my week. So, along with this gig, I also teach 3rd grade. It’s great, and kids really do say the darnedest things. I live in an area where soccer and Fortnite are king, but as an avid football lover and supporter, I am constantly trying to influence my students to watch game. Literally, every Thursday, the last thing I tell my students is that they need to ask their parents if they can watch Thursday Night Football. As I said this the other day, one of my students came to me and said, “Mr. Dean, you know my dad says that football is not a man’s sport.” I laughed it off, because of course, she is wrong, and just as I will continue to push the envelopes on my waiver suggestions, I will do the same for force feeding my students the weekly reminder to watch the NFL.

Now, the bye weeks are hitting heavy this week with the Packers, Raiders, Seahawks, and Steelers all on bye. With stars such as Aaron Rodgers, Antonio Brown, Amari Cooper (kidding), and many others on vacation next week, a lot of you are probably looking for some help. I’m here to help. Here we go!

Priority Adds

QB – Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears (29% Owned)

Guess who’s back…back again…Mitch is back… Okay, okay enough of that. Look, I told you to pick him up last week and only 5% of you did as he was just 24% owned last week. This week he faces New England….NEW ENGLAND. You know, that team that just gave up chunk play after chunk play to the Kansas City Chiefs through the air? Trubisky is in a position to EAT this week! If you have any of the bye week QBs, look no further. Heck, at this point he may turn into a weekly option. The weapons around him are just clicking right now. Taylor Gabriel is taking the top off, while Tarik Cohen is grabbing short passes and trotting them downfield. Not to mention Allen Robinson and Trey Burton. This offense is suddenly loaded with sizzling talent. Grab him for the bye week blues, keep him for the matchups.

FAAB: 12%

RB – Marlon Mack, Indianapolis Colts (26% Owned)

The running back waiver market is slim this week, I’ll admit. But this guy stands out to me. In Marlon Mack’s return from a hamstring injury, he rumbled as the Colts early down back to the tune of 12 carries for 89 yards. Mack has been the long expected starter for the colts since he came in the league, but he has been hampered by injuries, bad coaching, and bad quarterback play. If he can stay healthy, he could be a great addition to any fantasy squad as Andrew Luck’s early down running back. He won’t be handling the passing downs more than likely, but he has a good chance of falling into the end zone most weeks.

FAAB: 18%

WR – Taylor Gabriel, Chicago Bears (22% Owned)

Can you tell that I like the Bears offense lately? Along with the breakout of Trubisky, his favorite deep threat, Taylor Gabriel, has turned into the Chicago version of DeSean Jackson. Consistently burning his assignments, Gabriel followed up his 7/104/2 game with a 5/110 game coming out of the bye. Now going against a team that got absolutely hammered over the top, the Patriots have no shot at containing Gabriel this week. He is an instant flex play in all formats, especially with so many players on bye this week as Trubisky looks his way down the field often in what should be a shootout with the over/under set at 49.5.

FAAB: 15%

TE – Ricky Seals-Jones, Arizona Cardinals (21% owned)

Usually, bad quarterback play spells disaster for an offense…that is, unless you play the tight end position. Ricky Seals-Jones has quietly been targeted a consistently high amount, totaling 6 targets in 4 of 6 games. That is a nice floor when it comes to the paper thin tight end position this season. Sure, two weeks ago he went 0/6 on those targets, but that isn’t his fault. He showed what he can do with 6 targets in Week 6 with 5/69 yards and should continue to be the cuddly safety blanket for Josh Rosen. Grab him as a bye week filler and you may keep him around with how abysmal this position is this season.

FAAB: 8%

Wildcard of the Week

WR – Jermaine Kearse, New York Jets (1% owned)

Quincy Enunwa was having a stellar season until he went down with a high ankle sprain this week. A void has now been left as the slot receiver and safety net for rookie Sam Darnold and it is a spot that Kearse is all too familiar with. He turned 10 targets into 9/94 this week in relief of Enunwa and I think more of the same is coming until he returns from the injury. Another great thing is that the Jets don’t have a bye until week 11 so he can be a multi-week fill in at the position. I’m grabbing him this week and I think you will find yourself kicking yourself if you don’t, especially if you need a WR for the next few weeks because of byes like I do. You could definitely do worse with a dart throw, and it won’t cost you much at all.

FAAB: 2%