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It is often said that you don’t win a fantasy football championship at your draft, you win it with your in-season work.
Weekly lineup decisions and savvy waiver wire claims are the keys to a title because no matter how well you drafted, injuries are going to play a major factor. Just ask the person who drafted Joe Burrow, and if that’s you, ask yourself what you’re going to do about it.
Watching Burrow leave Sunday’s game against the Jaguars was a depressing scene for fantasy managers. Not only did they lose their starting quarterback, but many of them actually drafted him to pair with their first-round pick, Ja’Marr Chase.
Chase is a dynamic receiver who often transcends matchups, and when Burrow went down in 2023, he still racked up over 1,200 yards and seven touchdowns that season. We might not love Jake Browning taking over in Cincinnati, but he knows the system and the players. Chase will be fine. But who is now quarterbacking your fantasy team?
Though you can certainly add Browning and stay the course with your Bengals stack, there are probably better, more experienced QBs sitting on your waiver wire. Your first stop should be Daniel Jones.
No one wants to admit it, but Danny Dimes could be your season’s savior. He has the rushing upside everyone covets, he poaches touchdowns near the goal line and has strong receiving weapons at his disposal. The Colts are also playing a fairly soft schedule with all their matchups against the AFC South remaining, plus other games against the Raiders, Cardinals, Steelers and Falcons.
Ideal? No. That would have been Burrow, but Dimes fits the need.
Old standbys like Geno Smith, Matthew Stafford and Trevor Lawrence are also available. They will have their good games and their bad ones. No one is shaking pompoms about using them each week, but they all have strong job security and given their weapons and schemes, each has some element of upside. If Dimes is not attainable and you don’t want to stream the position, this is where you need to live.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) rolls out during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. APIf you don’t mind streaming and simply want to take it week by week, there are some interesting offerings. This week, Michael Penix Jr. leads the Falcons into Carolina, a winless brigade incapable of stopping the run, yet which also allows roughly 200 passing yards per game.
Sam Darnold might not be the sexy play, but the Seahawks host the Saints, and they’re worse than the Panthers. Of course, you could even try Aaron Rodgers, who takes on a Patriots team that got housed by the Raiders in Week 1 and gave up 27 points to a hapless Dolphins team.
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Obviously, you want to add a player who has the ability to carry your team the rest of the way. But this is a game of matchups, and the injury bug is still hungry. It won’t leave you alone just because it’s got Burrow’s toe in its mouth. This is what is waiting for you at the corner of Waivers and Desperation.
Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football news and advice.
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