🏈 The Jon Gruden experiment ends
Monday Night Miracles, Resignations, Waivers, and the newest fantasy platform.
Good morning.
What a weekend, and what a game last night. We saw a Kyle Pitts explosion, Kadarius Toney breakout, Monday Night Miracles, and Jon Gruden’s emails...
The best part? The incredible feedback from all of you. Thank you - You are the best.
We’ve got a Jon Gruden update, the waivers of the week, and some big news.
Let’s get into it:
Week 6 Waiver Gems
The waiver wire grows in importance every week - we now have 5 weeks of info (and plenty of injuries) to evaluate players. Last week, we begged you to pick up Dawson Knox and Kadarius Toney.
Here’s what we said about Knox:
If you listened, congrats. If not, there’s still hope:
Kadarius Toney
Toney was our guy last week - and he outperformed our expectations, finishing with 10 catches for 189 yards, despite leaving the game twice (injury (which we'll monitor) and ejected for channeling his inner Tyson Fury).
The Giants have been decimated by injuries and Toney is the most talented player healthy: expect 10-12 targets per game. He’s a game-changing talent with the ball in his hands and enters WR2 territory. The danger is a possible team-mandated suspension or injury, which could make him easier to grab off waivers.
Not sold?
Rhamondre Stevenson
After going absolutely bonkers this preseason, Rhamondre spent the early part of the season in Bill Belichick’s doghouse (after fumbling Week 1). On Sunday he saw 11 touches, had a touchdown (called back), and didn’t fumble.
Two points:
Volume is king in fantasy football, and Rhamondre could see a MASSIVE workload. Damien Harris left the game, James White is on the IR, and Stevenson just has to beat Brandon Bolden. While Harris looks like he’ll be active Week 6, we always over-prepare.
Rhamondre was an underrated prospect with elite comparisons:
Dan Arnold
In just his second week with the team, Arnold led the Jaguars in targets, catches, and yards. Without D.J. Chark, and with rookie Trevor Lawrence targeting TE’s at such a high clip, Arnold’s role should continue to grow. The Jags gave a CB drafted in the top 10 for Arnold and a 3rd. They have big plans for him.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Darrel Williams: CEH suffered a knee injury Sunday and is expected to sideline him for multiple weeks. Williams won’t see huge volume (splitting with Jerrick McKinnon) but will get the goal-line work.
Devontae Booker: If you need an RB, Booker is your RB2 fill-in. Saquon shouldn’t miss more than two weeks, so don’t go crazy, but Booker will see all the volume in this backfield.
Geno Smith: What if Geno’s good? Worth a shot if you need a backup QB.
Alex Collins: Edwin Porras of Fantasy Points wrote that Chris Carson is likely dealing with an arthritic condition, which means this issue isn’t going away any time soon and could flare up again.
Khalil Herbert: Herbert surprisingly finished with more snaps (34 to 31), carries (18 to 16), and rushing yards (75 to 64) than Damien Williams. This is a committee, with Williams taking the goal line work.
Amon-Ra St. Brown: Jared Goff is feeding St. Brown, with 16 combined targets for 13/135 receiving in the past 2 weeks.
The stock market, but for fantasy football
I’ve always tried to make money in the stock market, but don’t know much about businesses (and hate reading balance sheets).
If only there was a stock market for fantasy football…
Prediction Strike would like a word
The team at Prediction Strike finally built what I’ve been waiting for: a stock market for fantasy football. I found these guys and reached out to learn more 👇
Here’s how it works:
You buy a “share” of a player who you think outscores their projections
If the player beats projections, the value of the share goes up
You can buy or sell players at any time
Think of it like your dynasty team having actual monetary value that changes each week
I asked Prediction Strike to give you all a discount code (HUDDLE) - click here to check out their iPhone app and get a free share when you deposit $20 or more. Andriod here.
They went above and beyond. As big fans of the newsletter, they even offered to sponsor the Morning Huddle! Highly recommend checking out Prediction Strike (go see how high Kadarius Toney’s stock went up (and why he’s still a buy)).
Jon Gruden is GONE
Yesterday, the New York Times released new emails that led to Gruden’s resignation. The emails featured Gruden using a homophobic slur to describe commissioner Roger Goodell, his complaints about the league hiring female referees, and his disgust at the St. Louis Rams drafting openly gay pass rusher Michael Sam.
In today’s climate, the chances of Gruden holding his job were slim - Late last night, Gruden informed the team of his resignation. It’s unlikely Gruden ever coaches again after lasting less than 3.5 years into his 10-year, $100 million contract.
The Raiders subsequently promoted assistant coach and special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia to interim head coach. You can read about Bisaccia’s background here.
Quick Slants
Injuries, injuries, and more injuries
Kenny Golladay suffered a hyperextended knee Sunday and will miss Week 6.
Trey Lance suffered a sprained knee in Week 5. 49ers have a bye this week, and we expect Jimmy Garoppolo to win his job back. Droppable.
The report on Saquon Barkley (low ankle sprain) "was better than it could have been," but Joe Judge gave no timetable for his return.
Tua Tagaviola (ribs) is throwing again and hopes to return next week. Can’t come soon enough for the 1-4 Dolphins.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire will miss a few weeks with an MCL sprain.
Juju Smith-Schuster and Maxx Williams are both expected to miss the remainder of the NFL season after suffering brutal injuries.
Tweet of the Day
We love Dan Campbell. Does any team deserve a W more than the Lions?
Thanks for joining me this morning, and thank you to Prediction Strike. If you’ve ever enjoyed investing in stocks, imagine how fun it will be to invest in fantasy football players…
Even better news? Prediction Strike launched their biggest promotion ever: a deposit match program where users get up to 100 free shares. Promo code: HUDDLE.
Can’t wait to see you all tomorrow, when I feature the best comments and ideas from the survey.
Also - what was the best Monday Night Miracle you saw yesterday?
- Jake
The Morning Huddle: an (almost) daily newsletter full of fantasy football news, memes, and stats - giving you the edge to win titles and the laughs to enjoy every minute of it.
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Very happy to see you guys using sponsors. Keep up the GREAT work and thank you for all your effort.