Don’t let a fat Kelvin Benjamin eat up your valuable bench space! He has enough “All You Can Eat Prime Rib” at Golden Corral to fill his ample gut.
Instead, be forward-thinking and stash some upside. At Roto Street Journal, we call these style of players “Penny Stock Stashes” — they can be acquired for no cost, yet explode into season-changers.
Here are Three Fantasy Football Stashes, available in over 80% of Yahoo Leagues, that could emerge as true difference-makers. Stash them today, before they explode tomorrow and cost you all your FAAB or a priority Waiver Wire Pickup.
Three Fantasy Football Stashes + 1 Bonus Update
1) Jakeem Grant (MIA – WR, 10% owned)
With explosive speed and creative usage, Grant often draws Tyreek Hill comparisons — and not just because he used to catch passes from Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech. In the span of three weeks, Grant has:
- Exploded for a 102 Yard Kickoff Return
- Sliced through the defense on an impressive 18 yard shovel-pass score
- Gotten deep for a 52 yard bomb TD
Grant also has similar measurables and style of play to the Kansas City Star. As his NFL.com Scouting Report notes:
“Eye-popping long speed. Athletic with outstanding play speed and not just a straight-line “track guy”. Can access the nitrous out of his breaks and leave defenders with recovery work to do. Speed outs, whip routes and drags will always be open. Subtle but shifty in space and shows ability to find daylight if help doesn’t come flying in after the catch.”
Thus far, the Tyreek-esque speed is immediately apparent. Grant’s 4.38 wheels translate well on the field, where he operates seemingly at another gear than nearly everyone else. Grant can both blow past coverage for the deep ball, and rip off huge gains when afforded space.
This makes Grant is a near-perfect fit for Adam Gase‘s YAC-centric offense. As already flashed with Grant in 2018, Gase loves utilizing screens, creative runs, shovel passes, and short routes to get his playmakers in space and let them do their thing. Similar, again, to Tyreek’s usage under Andy Reid.
As a rookie, Hill flashed his scoring ability early on, and then exploded midseason when afforded the volume. Following a Week 7 injury to Jeremy Maclin, Hill became a ~40% snap player… and rode this to WR6 Value the rest of way. Hill ultimately scored 12 TDs on the season, and became a Stretch Run Hero for many owners.
After breaking open the contest with Oakland, Grant could see his usage to begin creeping up. Either way, it’s only a matter time — whether if it’s because he’s making weekly highlight reel plays, or Devante Parker‘s vagina never heals.
Simply put, Grant offers sneaky immediate usability, and a limitless long-term ceiling. If you have bench trash, cut and stash now!
2) Dallas Goedert (PHI – TE, 13% owned)
In Carson Wentz‘s 2018 return, rookie TE Dallas Goedert was both highly involved and highly effective. Despite narrowly trailing fellow seam-stretcher Zach Ertz in targets (10-7), Goedert tied him with a team-leading 73 yards while leading the team with 7 receptions and hauling in Wentz’s only score.
Wentz often looked to Goedert when pressured and on the run, while showing immense trust in his new weapon by throwing to him in tight, contested windows and on third-downs. A specimen at 6’5″, 256 lbs with the speed to work all three levels of the field, Goedert led all draft-eligible TEs in PFF’s yards per route run (2.94).
Moreover, he’s a former basketball player who has incredible ball skills and body control to go up and over defenders, while excelling at using his massive frame to “box out” defenders. He was used as a moveable chess piece in college, logging 33% of his snaps in the slot or out wide, and has been deployed similarly by Doug Pederson to begin his career.
Recall – the Eagles traded up ahead of the TE-needy Cowboys to take Goedert, highlighting how much they covet him. He flashed all preseason, racking up a 9-149-TD stat line while being labeled by beat writers as an “immediate red-zone threat.”
Though he may struggle to find this much weekly volume, especially when Alshon Jeffery returns, Goedert’s play and usage in Wentz’s return were both extremely encouraging. At such a thin position, Goedert is usable for the TE-desperate as long as Jeffery’s inactive, and would be a weekly Top-5 option if Ertz misses time.
3) Taywan Taylor (WR – TEN, 3% owned)
Taylor has already been a featured “Penny Stock” after his 4 catch, 95 yard, 2 TD eruption in Preseason Week 2. With Rishard Matthews walking away from the Titans this week, Taylor may finally see the usage to truly erupt. He’s logged just 34% of snaps thus far, but could see this number skyrocket, affording the explosive weapon more chances to flash his game-changing ability.
In our Matt LaFleur breakdown, we raved about Taylor’s limitless ceiling in the new OC’s screen-heavy, vertical-based attack. This was flashed on his 18-yard catch-and-run TD where he made numerous men miss on his way to the end zone.
Indeed, Taylor’s at the mercy of Marcus Mariota‘s injured arm. This could ultimately play into his favor, with LaFleur dialing up the shorter catch-and-run opportunities in which Taylor thrives. Taylor was extremely explosive in college, with a game very similar to Robert Woods who thrived under LaFleur last season. He has stuttering quicks and is dangerous on the short routes out of the slot, yet can plant-and-go vertically as well. Now, more than ever, LaFleur could undoubtedly capitalize on this versatility, as Taylor thrived on bubble screens, jet sweeps, and designed short YAC plays — all staples in this creative attack.
Moving forward, Taylor could provide a handful of week-winning swings, with season-changing upside if he can carve out a meaningful weekly target share — perfectly plausible with the Tennessee Target Totem Pole more wide-open than ever before.
Bonus Stash- Dez Bryant (17%, WR – FA)
Unsure if you should drop a particular bench slug for one of these upside plays? Hit up @RotoStreetWolf with Add/Drop Questions. Or send in your question during The Fantasy Tailgate – Sunday’s Ultimate Sit / Start Pregame, LIVE @ 11am EST on Facebook.
