Feels unlikely as all heck, but here we are, Week 10 of the 2024 NFL season, and we’re already seeing teams making business decisions for 2025 and beyond. Trevor Lawrence has a banged up shoulder and might not play the rest of the year. Dak Prescott’s hamstring injury might have trickle-down effects on the other Cowboys skill-players. But, luckily, Keaton Mitchell is back for Thursday Night Football!
Point being—feels a bit early for teams to be waving the white flag, but the parity in playoff chances for some of these divisional duds is legitimately massive. We’re beyond the NFL trade deadline; we’re halfway through the season. The sample size is laid bare for these organizations.
This is the time of year when stashing becomes as important as ever. Many of us remember the 2018 run when we stashed Brashad Perriman and Jameis Winston, who both carried us to fantasy titles.
Let’s start thinking about our benches, now, as parts of our roster equally important to our lineups. We have to evaluate team situation just as much as we do advanced opportunity metrics for unsung players.
Stash ‘Em
Demarcus Robinson, WR, Los Angeles Rams (18.3% rostered)
Aha! We’d been wondering all year long who’d emerge in the absence of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. Not many of us expected Demarcus Robinson—grizzled vet known best for his time as a role player on the Mahomes-era Kansas City Chiefs—to eclipse Jordan Whittington, Tyler Johnson, and TuTu Atwell combined. But that’s just because none of us were familiar with Robinson’s route-running prowess and catchpoint efficiency.
Four touchdowns in two games from Matthew Stafford is a legitimate endorsement from a quarterback known for delivering week-to-week strikes to his most dependable wideouts. Nacua’s knee is not all the way healthy, and Kupp’s ankles will always be liabilities moving forward.
Get Demarcus Robinson on your bench, and remember his name.
Trey Benson and Emari Demercado, RB, Arizona Cardinals (16.1 and 0.8% rostered, respectively)
This is less about James Conner’s potential for injury than it is about a Cardinals offense on the rise. We saw just what Benson and Demercado can do, given the opportunity, behind an ascending Cardinals offensive line. And though the passing attack may remain inconsistent with Murray at the helm, defenses have to respect the run game.
James Conner is the lead dog, and I’m not whatsoever concerned about his concussion/finger injury being long-term. But he’s a physical runner, and the Cardinals might be looking for more opportunities to spell him going forward if he keeps needing trainer attention in games.
Benson would probably represent the 1A option, here, but Demercado isn’t bad to stash, either.
Jalen Coker, WR, Carolina Panthers (3.4% rostered)
Same deal as Keaton Mitchell. Can you folks not hear me? Or, for that matter, my colleague Zach Thompson, who’s been writing about Coker since Week 7.
Coker headlined last week’s Top five players to stash before NFL Week 9 in my Five for Five series on Friday:
He’s not just a stash for this week; he’s a potential smash start. Coker was on this list last week, as well, and for good reason: he finished Week 8 with six targets, four receptions, 78 yards and a touchdown.
And he’s still this widely available?
I get it. Bryce Young is no good. But Coker is an absolute monster. Check out Zach Thompson’s article on him this week (both for the stats and for the nutso highlight reel).
I truly think he belongs on every standard-sized-league roster. If he’s on your waivers, get him now. And start him at FLEX this week confidently.
2-36-0 is not a great line against a reeling Saints defense. That’s what he logged in Week 9. But he’s a talent, and the Panthers are going to start getting into let’s-see-what-we-have-for-the-future mode sooner than later. Coker represents part of that future opposite Xavier Legette.
Honorable mention: Adam Thielen, WR, Carolina Panthers. Coker’s younger and more explosive. But, who knows? Bryce and Thielen seemed to have something going there before Thielen hit IR. Legette is a little too owned for this list, and will likely be the alpha. But Thielen’s veteran savvy might be just what Young needs.
Gus Edwards, RB, Los Angeles Chargers (21.0% rostered)
Kimani Vidal still has a chance to be a consistently-dynamic playmaker for this Chargers team down the stretch. But, make no mistake: when Gus Edwards comes back, he’ll be in on short-yardage packages.
The Chargers are 5-3. The offensive line is lathered up, and the defense is inspired, living up to its charge of holding opponents to possessions bereft of scores. Center Bradley Bozeman (with a 58.5% double-team percentage!) has allowed a staggering 7.0% QBP% per dropback, and rookie RT Joe Alt has only allowed 9.2% in the same figure.
Barring an injury to the front, this is an offense that’s going to gain momentum as other teams start to soften. Gus Edwards will grab some touchdowns from your FLEX spot.
Quentin Johnston, WR, Los Angeles Chargers (38.9% rostered)
I included him on my Top five players to stash before NFL Week 9 list last week, and he scored two touchdowns against mostly blown coverages by the Cleveland Browns defense. He should not be less than 50% owned. This is not the Chargers offense of yore.
He was 20% rostered then. He only rose 18% after waivers this week. And, I’m telling you: as the winter goes on, Herbert will throw more.
Here’s all of what I said about QJ before last week’s game:
News just broke that Johnston is off the injury report and will play Sunday against the Browns. We know exactly what sort of talent he can be in this 2024 Chargers offense when he’s healthy. Go beat your league to picking him up. Ladd McConkey’s and Will Dissly’s emergence as solid pass-catchers over the middle for Justin Herbert is only going to open up the vertical game more.
I like Johnston’s upside more than I do Josh Palmer’s.
Brenton Strange, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars (2.8% rostered)
The Jaguars seem to be throwing in the towel early this year, and whether that’s a result of Trevor Lawrence considering his options for the future as his shoulder convalesces is up in the air. Trevor’s decision could likely be itself a result of a locker room energy that signals total surrender.
So what of the oft-and-already-this-season-injured Evan Engram? What happens to skill players when their quarterbacks and front offices begin seeing the writing on the wall, and make week-to-week personnel decisions based on preserving the future.
What we know is this: Engram misses games, and his quarterback is injured. If Jacksonville starts seeing what they might have for the future, I’d expect Strange to see more opportunities in the passing game. He might, potentially, become a weekly TE streamer down the fantasy stretch, here.
Keaton Mitchell, RB, Baltimore Ravens (4.1% rostered)
One more time for the people in back. He’s Justice Hill with a Mario mushroom on the best offense in the league. He only occupies an IR slot. He’s coming back for Thursday Night Football against the Bengals.
Let’s act like we’ve been here before and get Mitchell on our rosters.
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