NFL

Fantasy Football Mailbag: Thursday 10/20/16

Can you start Jamaal Charles and Spencer Ware in a bind? And is Cameron Meredith a smart start on Thursday?

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 Brandon.Gdula@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 Rocky:

Eddie Lacy owner who grabbed Knile Davis on waivers. Couple questions for this week. Is he worth a start right away against Chicago? Because of various factors, I pretty much have to start an rb at flex this week in my .5 ppr league, so starting 3 rbs. My other rb’s are Charles, Ware, Jacquizz, Yeldon, and Gio. My second question is because of the matchup and KC loving to run, I’m thinking of using both Charles and Ware against the Saints. Good idea? Bad idea? Which 3 to go with? Thanks.

That's a tough situation, Rocky, but I think I'm with you on Jamaal Charles and Spencer Ware this week against the New Orleans Saints, who are the worst run defense in the league according to our metrics. It's just too tough to trust Knile Davis tonight, considering that Ty Montgomery could lead the Green Bay Packers in backfield touches.

Our projections suggest considering Giovani Bernard and Jacquizz Rodgers over Ware, but I'd be fine rolling out both Kansas City Chiefs backs and Rodgers given the predicament and the enticing matchup.

Email submission from Deven:

Who is the best play this week: Jordan Matthews, Cameron Meredith, or Robert Woods?

I'll assume half-PPR here just to help cover our bases. Though I have an initial favorite, let's check our projections. We have Jordan Matthews projected for 9.5 points in a tough matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. Robert Woods is at 9.4 half-PPR points against the Miami Dolphins.

My initial preference, Cameron Meredith, is pegged for 12.4 half-PPR points against the Packers tonight. Meredith ranks 13th among receivers in target market share over the past three games, per our DFS tools, which is actually lower than Woods, who is 11th, but if you were to combine Meredith and Kevin White's targets, which isn't that unreasonable because they've played pretty much entirely without one another, you'd have the NFL's leader in targets.

Go with Meredith against a Packers defense that ranks 20th against the pass, even on a short week.

Email submission from Jonathan:

Need your advice on a trade offer I'm mulling over. I'm in a 12 team, PPR league. I was offered Amari Cooper, Kyle Rudolph, and Derrick Henry for Marvin Jones, Dennis Pitta, and L Murray. Thoughts?

I would take that deal for a few reasons, Jonathan.

Firstly, Marvin Jones is trending the wrong way and should be a player you try to sell. Dennis Pitta is a fine tight end option, but he's far from a must-keep. And Latavius Murray should be more involved in the offense, but he might not be, given his usage earlier in the season. He maxed out at 62% of the Oakland Raiders' offensive carries in a single game this year, and that was back in Week 1. We can't trust that he'll be anything more than just another back in that offense.

On the flip side, Amari Cooper is fifth in target market share over his past three games among receivers, and Kyle Rudolph is fifth among tight ends. Rudolph also has a position-best 45.45% of his team's red zone targets in his past three games.

Basically, this is an upgrade at receiver and tight end and probably not that big of a knock at running back. I'd be for this deal given the recent involvement of Cooper and Rudolph.

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