Most common players on eliminated teams from Week 8 in Yahoo Fantasy Guillotine Leagues — plus FAB waiver wire advice

https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/most-common-players-on-eliminated-teams-from-week-8-in-yahoo-fantasy-guillotine-leagues--plus-fab-waiver-wire-advice-212610524.html

Eight weeks are in the books, which means eight managers in your Yahoo Fantasy Guillotine Leagues presented by Liquid Death are no longer around. It’s a wicked game, isn’t it? Of course, it’s wickedly fun when you’re on the good side of things.

Every week I’ll examine the most common NFL players on those cut teams and try to figure out where the puck is headed. I will also offer some FAB advice ($1,000 cap is the Yahoo default), but please remember this area is highly context-sensitive and manager-specific.

Waiver strategy in Guillotine Leagues

I initially used this space to talk up the long game. I like to trust myself (and my depth) in the early weeks, and take heart that it’s not that difficult to beat just one team when the league is still large.

But the rules continue to shift. Eight of your opponents are checked out for the year. And it’s another big bye week — four teams don’t play this week. And of course the injuries keep coming in the NFL, part of why these games are so challenging, and downright cruel at times.

[Eliminated or looking for more fun? There’s still time to join or create another Yahoo Fantasy Guillotine League]

Understanding FAB recommendations

I’ll still offer bidding in three buckets, and you’ll need to season the recommendations to taste. You know your context and league habits better than an outsider would. But just know the immediacy has stepped up a bit. I still think it’s a mistake to spend all of your money in the present — the wire gets stronger and stronger in every passing week — but I also understand the gravity at hand. So don’t be afraid to get in there with some competitive bids.

My weekly FAB recommendations will come in three buckets:

Proactive: This means you highly covet this player, perhaps might even need this player. I realize these offers might not win if someone in your league is lighting money on fire, but as described above, that can be a short-sighted mistake in this format. With the bye weeks in full gear, I would consider a proactive bid more than I did previously.

Reactive: This means you desire the player but the cost has to make sense for your short- or long-term strategy.

Keep Them Honest: This is an offer that is not designed to win, but might surprisingly land a player if your opponents are distracted by other talent available or unexpectedly passive that week. I often compare notes with other experienced Guillotine League players and we’re surprised at how often the Keep Them Honest bids actually win (this is also a portable strategy for regular season-long leagues; you never know when strange market behavior will come about).

Finally, understand that the FAB recommendations are with the assumption that you won’t be making offers for every available player.

Week 8’s top-10 players on eliminated teams

Let’s examine the most-cut players and formulate some bidding strategy.

1. Baker Mayfield (on 22% of eliminated teams)

Mayfield wasn’t needed to do much at New Orleans, in part because his defense was dominating the game. But the cluster injuries to the Tampa Bay offense might be catching up to Mayfield, too. He’s also on bye in Week 9.

FAB Recommendations:

$100 proactive
$65 reactive
$15-20 keep them honest

2. Jake Ferguson (21%)

After six fantastic (and remarkably consistent) games in a row, Ferguson picked a bad time to toast a bagel. He should rebound against Arizona, but a Week 10 bye has to be considered in this format. The CeeDee Lamb return also trims Ferguson’s goal-line equity.

FAB Recommendations:

$115 proactive
$75 reactive
$25-30 keep them honest

3. Dak Prescott (20%)

Denver’s defense showed up against Dallas, and when the Cowboys fell far behind, they took Prescott out of harm’s way — a prudent move in real life, but denying us garbage time. But Dallas remains a bankable fantasy carnival most weeks, though as we mentioned above, the Week 10 bye is also in the mix.

FAB Recommendations:

$120 proactive
$80 reactive
$30-40 keep them honest

4. Bijan Robinson (19%)

I’m like you — I expected Robinson to run for a zillion yards against that lousy Miami defense. But we all underestimated Kirk Cousins’s ability to unplug an offense. Get back soon, Michael Penix Jr. Robinson remains a dynamic, dominant player.

FAB Recommendations:

$300 proactive
$225 reactive
$100-120 keep them honest

5. Jaxon Smith-Njigba (16%)
6. Drake London (15%)
10. Jahmyr Gibbs (14%)

Note: Trey McBride (14%), Amon-Ra St. Brown (14%) and Davante Adams (14%) were 11-13 on the list of most common players on eliminated teams, respectively.

We’ll batch these guys together because the story is the same — none of them played in Week 8 and their managers often paid the price. London was a late injury scratch, while everyone else was on bye. Given that London already had his bye, too, at least these players can be staples for your roster going forward. Adams will have to once again share with Puka Nacua, of course.

FAB Recommendations for JSN:

$240 proactive
$185 reactive
$100 keep them honest

FAB Recommendations for London:

$160 proactive
$95 reactive
$55 keep them honest

FAB Recommendations for Gibbs:

$270 proactive
$205 reactive
$145 keep them honest

FAB Recommendations for McBride:

$240 proactive
$185 reactive
$100 keep them honest

FAB Recommendations for St. Brown:

$220 proactive
$165 reactive
$90 keep them honest

FAB Recommendations for Adams:

$135 proactive
$65 reactive
$45 keep them honest

7. Jordan Mason (14%)

The backfield was crowded with Aaron Jones Sr. returning, and it’s unclear how well this offense will function moving forward with inexperienced QB J.J. McCarthy. We’re almost to the point of the year where Guillotine League rosters become superteams, making players like Mason just depth holds or outright cuts. Again, this format is much different than a traditional managed league.

FAB Recommendations:

$40 proactive
$15 reactive
$2-4 keep them honest

8, Rachaad White (14%)

The volume was fine but he did surprisingly little with it against a lowly New Orleans defense. Now comes the bye week, and Bucky Irving will eventually return. White was a useful Guillotine League piece for a while, but that time might be done, barring an Irving injury setback.

FAB Recommendations:

$20 proactive
$8 reactive
$1-2 keep them honest

9. Christian McCaffrey (14%)

Houston’s outstanding defense suffocated the 49ers for three hours, holding McCaffrey under 100 total yards for the first time all year. McCaffrey also had a season-low three catches and his four-game touchdown streak was snapped. CMC’s forward schedule is a mixed bag, but he should do well against the Giants in Week 9. Remember he also has a Week 14 bye upcoming.

FAB Recommendations:

$250 proactive
$295 reactive
$140 keep them honest

https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/most-common-players-on-eliminated-teams-from-week-8-in-yahoo-fantasy-guillotine-leagues--plus-fab-waiver-wire-advice-212610524.html