NFL

Fantasy Football Mailbag: Thursday 10/13/16

Alex Smith has a juicy schedule coming up, so should we be adding him in season-long fantasy football? And can we trust Willie Snead in Week 6 after the New Orleans Saints' bye week?

Fantasy football research never stops, and roles change drastically from one week to the next. That's where our fantasy football mailbag comes into play.

Have a question about a certain player, team, strategy, or anything football? Shoot us a question on Twitter or send an email to Jim.Sannes@FanDuel.com, and we can talk anything fantasy football related -- even daily fantasy football.

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Now, let's answer some questions.

Email submission from John Swan:

Looking for a QB to help Kirk Cousins for the rest of the season and maybe for Week 6. Leaning towards Winston, but Smith, Mariota, Hoyer, Wentz, Prescott, and Flacco are also available. Thoughts?

Given the matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles this week, you're right to want an alternative to Kirk Cousins. Dak Prescott's a great choice, but with his bye week just around the corner, it's hard not to fall in love with Alex Smith's schedule.

Over the next three weeks, the Kansas City Chiefs will face three teams that rank 27th or lower against the pass, according to numberFire's metrics. They follow that up with home games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a road game against the Carolina Panthers in between. The Panthers' game is the only one in which Smith won't have a rock solid floor, and he's almost in a good enough spot where you could justify dropping Cousins outright. There's just a lot to love in what lies ahead for Smith.

Smith isn't the world's most exciting quarterback. But he does already have two top-12 weekly scoring finishes this year, and he had seven such finishes last year. He's a consistent option, and the Chiefs have enviable matchups over the upcoming stretch. You could do a lot worse for a guy who may be available on your waiver wire.


With the New Orleans Saints at home, Willie Snead's pretty much a lock in every lineup where he's available.

Before going down with a toe injury, Snead had a 20.5% target market share in the Saints' offense, second behind just Brandin Cooks. Getting a guy seeing that volume in a Drew Brees-led offense at home is impossible to pass up, especially now that Snead has had an additional week to recover from the injury.


Given that he played just four snaps in Week 5, you can safely drop Kenneth Dixon for now, though you'll want to add him back once you have the roster space to do so. As for tight ends, Jason Witten would hold the slight edge here over Charles Clay.

Witten's ceiling is wholly unappealing due to the types of routes he runs, but you know he'll at least be involved in the offense. He has a 22.5% target market share for the season, tops on the team, and he has 10 red zone targets. Witten is strictly a floor play, but he does give you at least guaranteed points.

If you're in a position where you need to make up ground, though, then Clay would likely be the superior choice. The Buffalo Bills are facing the up-tempo San Francisco 49ers, which means the Bills will run more plays than they usually do. Even if they don't throw on a high percentage of their plays, they'll have the ball enough to get additional volume to the passing game. Clay had just two targets in Week 3 with Sammy Watkins out of the lineup, which makes you worry about his floor, but he does have a higher ceiling than that of Witten and is in play if you need a fill-in.


With Antonio Gates back in the lineup for the San Diego Chargers, Hunter Henry's floor and ceiling both take a hit. Those aren't really concerns for Zach Ertz.

Ertz was disappointing in his first week back, netting just three targets in what appeared to be a juicy matchup. But prior to that game, he had at least seven targets in five straight games, including the season opener. Washington ranks 28th against the pass, according to numberFire's metrics, and the Eagles should be able to move the ball through the air against them. Ertz may have had a dud last week, but he's worthy of a roster spot again on Sunday.

Want to have your questions answered in our mailbag? Submit your questions by tweeting @numberFire or sending an email to Jim.Sannes@FanDuel.com.