Some stash sweets, some stash weed, here at Roto Street Journal, we stash away fantasy assets. Last week I told you to get ahead of the crowd by adding Chargers rookie sensation Justin Herbert, whose ownership has now jumped up to 75% coming off the bye. Heading into week 7, there are a few players who deserve to be tucked away on your bench before the vultures in your league have a chance to get their greasy talons on them.
For those unfamiliar, the goal of Sneaky Stashes is to get ahead of the waiver wire. By identifying valuable players before they break out, we can avoid dipping into that precious FAAB budget or getting beat out by someone with higher priority on waivers. However your league handles it, we get a leg up by stashing fantasy assets on our bench before they become hot commodities. The players featured below are prospects who either have juicy matchups awaiting them in the weeks ahead, have immense talent that is primed to break out sooner or later, or possibly a combination of both.
Nonetheless, the guys you’ll see on Sneaky Stashes are players we recommend considering if you have dead weight at the end of your bench.
Criteria for sneaky stashes require players to be available in 40% or more of Yahoo leagues.
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Week 8 Bye Weeks: Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Football Team
RB — Giovani Bernard — Cincinnati Bengals
Week 8 Matchup: vs Tennessee Titans
Available in 63% of leagues
A stash-and-stream candidate, Bernard will get the start against Cleveland this week with Joe Mixon ruled out. Rotoworld reported that Mixon “could potentially be looking at a multi-week absence,” in which case Bernard’s value increases beyond this Sunday. Samaje Perine and Trayveon Williams are expected to work in behind Bernard, who isn’t likely to see Mixon’s hefty workload, but will see 15 to 20 touches nonetheless. Even if you don’t plan to use him this week, Bernard and the Bengals face an exploitable Titans defense in week 8 that is allowing the second highest yards per carry (5.1) in the NFL.
QB — Teddy Bridgewater — Carolina Panthers
Week 8 Matchup: vs Atlanta Falcons
Available in 57% of leagues
For those who have Kyler Murray, Deshaun Watson or Gardner Minshew, or if you’re just in the business of streaming quarterbacks, you’d be wise to go ahead and pick up Bridgewater. The first-year Panther has been as matchup predictable as it gets. He averages over 22 points per game in his three matchups against the Falcons, Cardinals, and Raiders, and 10.9 points in three games against the more stingy Buccaneers, Chargers and Bears pass defenses. Next week, Bridgewater and the Panthers are at home to face a Falcons defense that has given up the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.
QB — Tua Tagovailoa — Miami Dolphins
Week 8 Matchup: vs Los Angeles Rams
Available in 72% of leagues
It’s Tua Time. Head coach Brian Flores named Tagovailoa the starter when Miami comes off their bye in week 8. We’ve already seen one rookie quarterback find fantasy success in Justin Herbert, who is eighth in points per game among quarterbacks. Tagovailoa, taken one spot ahead of Herbert in April’s draft, has the same capability. He’s a mobile quarterback who displayed pin-point accuracy and a quick release at Alabama. In an offense that enabled Ryan Fitzpatrick to top 20 fantasy points four times this season, Tua is worth stashing away.
WR — Tim Patrick — Denver Broncos
Week 8 Matchup: vs Los Angeles Chargers
Available in 75% of leagues
Wide receiver-needy teams could do a lot worse than Patrick, who has topped 100 yards in each of his past two games and has 15 targets over that time. Drew Lock returning as the team’s starting quarterback bodes well for an offense that will push the ball down the field. While Jerry Jeudy may have more long-term potential, Patrick has out-snapped him in every game this season, and his 6’4″ frame makes him the bigger redzone target. Denver’s schedule is nothing to be scared of either, with an upcoming slate of KC, LAC, ATL, LV, MIA and NO.
