ššWeek 7 Waiver Wire Report and What to Make of the Ravens RB Room
Who will be worth rostering and playing this week from the Baltimore Backfield.
QB
Tua Tagovailoa | MIA
Tua was decent on paper in his return. Considering he was without 3 of his top 4 WRs, a point performance 21 point performance isnāt terrible in his first game back. On the other side of the coin, Tua was against the lowly Jaguars. If youāre still in need of a QB due to Russell Wilson being placed on the IR and other bye weeks, Tua can be a solid stream against Atlanta this week.
Jameis Winston | NO
Winston is very risk reward so far this season. He may explode give you a 25 point game or he may give you a lowly 13 point game. Winston is coming off a bye and has a favorable matchup against Seattle and his next few weeks are favorable also against Tampa, Atlanta, and Tennessee. Even if you donāt start him this week, he may be a worthwhile stash as a backup QB if your QB1 has a bye in the coming weeks.
RB
DāErnest Johnson | CLE
If youāre in need of a running back DāEarnest Johnson should be in line for some work. A short week has Nick Chubb already out and Kareem Hunt likely unavailable also so if youāre going to stream him youāll need to decide quickly. Remember to play him in a RB slot, not a Flex slot to maximize his usage.
Rashaad Penny | SEA
Carson is on the IR, Alex Collins is hurt now too and according to Pete Carroll, Rashaad Penny is āfull speed, ready to roll.ā Well for his sake and for the sake of the Seahawks, he better be. The former first round pick has been a disappointment throughout his career so far, mostly due to injuries and being stuck behind Chris Carson, but has as good an opportunity as ever to resurrect himself from the graveyard of busts. If you have an open spot on your roster to stash someone he may be worth adding and playing in deeper leagues if Collins canāt go against the Saints.
WR
Rashod Bateman | BAL
I mentioned him a few weeks ago when he was first eligible to return. Heās back now and while he didnāt make a splash in his first game from a fantasy standpoint he showed a TON of promise. He only played 6 fewer snaps than Hollywood Brown and saw only one fewer target than either Brown or Mark Andrews who lead the team with 6 each. The Ravens play the Bengals this week which is a favorable matchup and are on a bye next week. Itās hard to justify picking up someone if you arenāt playing them that week when they have a bye the next but if you are willing to stash him a few weeks the payoff could be big.
The Raven backfield has been a mess all year. Donāt get me wrong, players have been very productive out of that backfield but itās a game of Russian Roulette trying to figure out which one. So Iāll break down each of the 4 candidates and give my opinion on them and give you the % of leagueās theyāre available in.
Latavius Murray | 41.4%
Heās been the most consistent of all the Ravens RBs this season thus far which truth be told isnāt saying much. Heās score >8 points in all but 1 game, has lead the team in snaps the last 3 weeks and has been active in all games played. However his ceiling has been really limited with only one game with more than 11 touches so there isnāt a ton of upside unless there are more injuries to the Ravens decimated backfield. Heās the best option in deeper leagues simply because heās the most reliable of the bunch but he also presents the least amount of upside.
TyāSon Williams | 78.7%
Maybe one of the more shocking healthy scratches in recent memory is TyāSon Williams. He lead the team in snaps through the first 3 games of the season and looked well on his way to possibly being this yearās James Robinson or Antonio Gibson. Then a disappointing week 3 was followed by Williams being ditched entirely. If you own Williams, give up. The upside here is that if Murray does miss time with his injury it gives Williams a chance to prove the coaching staff that weeks 1 and 2 werenāt a fluke but will he even be on the active roster? Or see enough of the field. Williams stock is tanking hard and Iād rather have a player on the rise, like one of our next two RBs
LeVeon Bell | 91.1%
Iād rather have LeVeon Bell than Williams at this point. Bell barely out snapped Freeman in his second game active for the Ravens and didnāt see any targets but did receive two red zone touches compared to Murrayās just one. Itās close between Williams and Bell since their fateās seem to be tied, if Williams is inactive itās because Bell is. If Bell can get more involved he could be serviceable in fantasy. However while I have Bell barely above Williams, heās not my top option among the three. Bell also was just signed to the active roster earlier today so expect him to stick around.
Devonta Freeman | 95.9%
Yes I have Freeman over Bell and Williams and hereās why. Freeman received 4 red zone touches last week, one shy of Murrayās single game season high, he was the activated by the Ravens before Bell was and unlike Williams he wasnāt a healthy scratch to make the space for Bell. He is also involved in the passing game unlike Bell. Bell has received 1 target since making the active roster while Freeman has gotten 6, all in the last 2 games. Heās had the most opportunity of any Ravens RB not named Murray and heās made the most of it, averaging the most yards per carry at 5.9, greater than Murrayās 3.6 and over double Bellās 2.4.
All in all personally Iād only want Murray on my roster right now. If he is out this week, Iād look for a worthwhile stash play or add Freeman/Bell in deeper leagues if I need a warm body. Otherwise until I see a bigger workload from Freeman or consistent game status from Williams or Bell Iām not rostering outside of the deepest of leagues.