Things are getting real. With just three weeks left in the fantasy regular season, the mad scramble for the playoffs is on. Let’s just try not to lose our minds and do anything crazy, like let’s say, ripping off someone’s helmet and beating them with it?
All jokes aside, the moves we do or don’t make over these final few weeks have the potential to win us our league or leave us looking forward to next year. It’s time we stuff our benches with as much talent as possible for a run to the championship.
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 breakout 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.
To get our Stock Watches, Weekly Rankings and Podcast episodes directly on your iPhone, download our brand-new app in the App Store.
Week 12 Byes: Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans
Criteria for sneaky stashes requires players be available in 40% or more of ESPN leagues.
Jacob Hollister — Available in 85.8% of leagues
TE — Seattle Seahawks
Week 12 Matchup: at Philadelphia Eagles
Is your tight end situation not so tight? Yeah, same here. While the Seahawks’ bye will prevent Hollister from being able to help you this weekend, it has also kept his ownership down, leaving him available in a vast majority of leagues. Hollister has established himself as Seattle’s go-to tight end after Will Dissly went down with injury. The former Patriot has played over 78% of the snaps each of the past two weeks and accumulated 16 targets, 12 catches, 99 yards and three touchdowns during that time. At a position that is often so dependent on touchdowns, Hollister’s emergence as a priority endzone target for Russell Wilson is what’s key here. No one throws to the endzone more than Wilson, and the two have shown a good connection in that area of the field. Fellow tight end Ed Dickson is expected to return in week 12 from IR, but it’s hard to imagine the Seahawks would suddenly abandon the Wilson to Hollister rapport that has built over the last few weeks. “I think Jacob is going to be a tremendous asset for us going down there. I don’t think this is any fluke or anything,” said head coach Pete Carroll.
DeVante Parker — Available in 55.3% of leagues
WR — Miami Dolphins
Week 12 Matchup: at Cleveland Browns
Parker saw 10 targets in the Dolphins’ first game without Preston Williams. Miami’s offense now runs through Parker, who should continue to see a high volume of targets on a team that figures to be trailing a lot. Ryan Fitzpatrick is not afraid to make the kind of risky throws that can often lead to big plays. From weeks 13 through 16, the Dolphins face the leaky secondaries of the Eagles, Jets, Giants and Bengals. Parker, who is having the best season of his career, will provide FLEX to WR2 value over the final month of the season.
Derrius Guice — Available in 54.2% of leagues
RB — Washington Redskins
Week 12 Matchup: vs Detroit Lions
Guice returns to the field Sunday for the first time since week 1. Let’s tamper our expectation in his initial game back. Washington faces a Jets defense that has allowed the fewest yards per carry in the NFL (3.0). I expect the team to simply get Guice’s feet wet, and try to get their young running back through a game healthy for once. If he can do that, Guice figures to gain more of a hold on the Redskins’ run game as season goes along, overtaking the role of lead ‘back Adrian Peterson. While Washington’s offense isn’t much to get excited about, their upcoming schedule bodes well for rushing production. Guice has favorable matchups against the Lions, Panthers, Packers and Giants down the stretch.
Cuffing Season
Wayne Gallman — Available in 93% of leagues
RB — New York Giants
Week 12 Matchup: at Chicago Bears
While Saquon Barkley has denied it, rumors are swirling that he could be shut down for the season. The Giants’ prized running back rushed back from an injury that was supposed to sideline him for six to eight weeks in roughly two. He clearly hasn’t been the same player since and is coming off a game in which he gained just one yard on 13 carries. At 2-8, what does New York gain out of playing an injured and ineffective Barkley? Gallman notched 63 yards and a score on the ground while adding six catches for 55 yards and a touchdown through the air in his week 4 start following Barkley’s injury. If you can afford to drop someone on your bench, adding Gallman now may pay off huge should the Giants decide to ice Barkley. New York faces some run vulnerable defenses down the stretch, including the Bears, Packers, Dolphins and Redskins.
Alexander Mattison — Available in 78.7% of leagues
RB — Minnesota Vikings
Week 12 Matchup: Bye
I’m sure I sound like a broken record at this point, but it’s handcuffing season, and Mattison is the most valuable handcuff in fantasy football. The reasons being: A) Mattison is talented; B) the Viking have an effective, run-heavy offensive scheme; C) Dalvin Cook has missed significant time with injury in each of his first two seasons. If Cook remains healthy, Mattison will become a losing scratch off ticket that you crumple up and throw away. But hey, you didn’t pay much for it anyway. Got to play to win, baby!
