Overspend for these Week 8 Fantasy Football FAAB Players: Tua Tagovailoa, Alexander Mattison, Jauan Jennings and Jonnu Smith
Identifying waiver wire options who you should consider overspending for in week 8.
Most weeks, I’ve been putting together stories on overvalued FAAB players. This week, I’m going to switch it up and mention one quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end who you should overspend for going into week 8.
I kept the QB, WR and TE to players rostered in under 50% of leagues, while I had to expand to 70% to get my RB.
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Overspend for Tua Tagovailoa
According to FantasySP data, Tagovailoa is rostered in just 42% of leagues right now. That makes sense because he’s been out several weeks with a concussion.
In the opening game of the season, Tagovailoa threw for 338 yards and a touchdown. He was a top-10 fantasy QB, which is something fantasy owners have been accustomed to over the years with Tua.
In week 2, things didn’t go as smoothly for Tagovailoa. He had just 145 passing yards, a touchdown and three interceptions before suffering his concussion.
The Dolphins’ offense is stacked, with players like Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and De'Von Achane. The offense has struggled without Tagovailoa around, but the Dolphins’ offense is a fantasy powerhouse when everyone is healthy, and that’s why I wouldn’t mind throwing a decent amount of my FAAB at Tua.
In Daniel Hepner’s FAAB story, he wrote that a conservative bid for Tagovailoa was $1-2, an aggressive bid was $3-4 and a desperation bid was $6. He also mentioned earlier in the story that fantasy owners who haven’t spent much FAAB yet can increase those numbers a little bit.
In leagues where Tua is available, he’s going to be a hot commodity this week. He’s a weekly streaming option, but on the upper end of things. Sure, there’s some risk involved with his concussion history, but if your fantasy QB play has been subpar this season, why not take a chance on Tagovailoa? He’s a good enough fantasy option to potentially turn a middling fantasy team into a playoff and title contender.
Without knowing how much FAAB you’ve spent, I don’t want to put a number on the amount I’d potentially spend on Tagovailoa, but in the right circumstances, throwing a good portion of your remaining budget at him makes a lot of sense to me.
Overspend for Alexander Mattison
Mattison is rostered in about 70% of leagues right now, and that should climb a good way before week 8 kicks off.
In week 7, Mattison rushed 23 times for 92 yards and added 31 receiving yards on three catches and targets. He’s been serving as the Raiders’ lead back with Zamir White banged up, but even with White back this week, Mattison led the charge.
The Raiders’ offense is a mess right now, but it’s not often you’ll have a chance to add a No. 1 back at this point of the season. That’s why I have Mattison as a player to overspend on in FAAB leagues.
He’s got a mix of favorable and tough matchups coming up, but because he can add a bit as a pass catcher, I like Mattison as a flex option most weeks. At the very worst, you have a RB to plug in if you are dealing with several players on byes, or if you have players miss games with injuries.
Hepner has a conservative bid for Mattison being $1-2, an aggressive bid of $3-4 and a desperation bid of $6. I wouldn’t mind tacking on some money to those marks to acquire Mattison.
It’s not a move that’s likely going to win your league on its own, but it should at least strengthen your fantasy roster and give you a little more wiggle room in case things get tough later in the season.
You really can never have too many fantasy backs on your team, and even if Mattison is more of an add and stash fantasy player, I think it’s one to heavily consider if he’s available in your league. I don’t mind spending a bit to acquire him in a FAAB league, as there likely won’t be too many other RB situations like this the rest of the season.
Overspend for Jauan Jennings
Jenning was a hot waiver wire add earlier in the season after a monster game, but has seen his own percentage dip to 46 now. He’s going to be back on the rise after the season-ending injury to Brandon Aiyuk, and with Deebo Samuel Sr. and George Kittle each battling injuries. Ricky Pearsall could be swapped in this scenario if Jennings is already taken in your league.
Jennings missed week 7 with a hip injury, but has 404 yards and three touchdowns on 25 receptions and 36 targets this season. Those are great numbers, but when you take away his 11-catch, 175-yard, three-touchdown performance in week 3, Jennings looks like a low-end flex option at best.
Jennings has been targeted at least four times in every game he’s played, and with Aiyuk now out of the picture, you’d expect his targets to go up a bit. I wouldn’t be expecting any more monster showings from him, but he’s definitely in the weekly starting conversation now, especially if Kittle or Samuel were to miss additional time.
Hepner has conservative bids for Jennings and Pearsall at $3-4, high end bids of $6-8 and desperation bids of $11. I like those numbers a lot, but for those of you that rostered Aiyuk, or maybe had Chris Godwin or another top-end fantasy wideout go down with an injury, spending some more FAAB isn’t a bad choice.
I wouldn’t put all my eggs in the Jennings or Pearsall basket, but there aren’t too many more promising waiver wire targets out there at wide receiver, and there might not be the remainder of the season. So why not throw a few extra bucks at Jennings, or Pearsall?
Overspend for Jonnu Smith
Smith makes this list mostly because of the return of Tagovailoa, but also because Smith has been trending up as a fantasy player. He’s rostered in just 3% of leagues, so just about every reader has a chance to nab Smith for the second half of the season.
Smith is coming off a 96-yard performance in week 7. He scored a touchdown and hauled in all seven of his targets.
Smith had 62 yards on five catches and eight targets back in week 5. He also had 53 yards on six grabs and seven targets with Tagovailoa in week 2.
Hill, Waddle and Achane steal a lot of the offensive headlines when Tagovailoa is around, but there’s still room for a player like Smith to produce. I wouldn’t expect repeat performances of week 7, but averaging 40-60 yards and scoring an occasional touchdown is fantasy TE production a lot of owners are desperately searching for right now.
If you haven’t gotten good fantasy TE production all season, or simply have an option roster spot to play with, why not go for it with Smith? He could really explode with Tagovailoa back in the lineup, and he’s already been trending in the right direction.
Smith has fantasy success in his NFL career, and could be your answer to your tight end position for the remainder of the season. Don’t spend just a few bucks on Smith and miss out on him, overspend and get yourself a possible starter for the rest of the season!
