Free Agent Friday: Devontae Booker and Hunter Henry

These past few weeks I’ve written a decent amount about mostly unowned fantasy commodities Devontae Booker and Hunter Henry.  These past few days I’ve received more questions about these two players than possibly anyone else.  So it’s worth highlighting again.

Heading into yesterday’s game, Booker had been cutting increasingly into C.J. Anderson’s snaps and touches.  Although C.J. reclaimed snap dominance last night, Booker was the clearly better RB.  C.J. has enjoyed only five 12+ point fantasy days (standard scoring) since 2014.  Think about that.  His 3.5 YPC this season would cause alarm in a pass-friendly offense.  The only reason he’s still viewed as an RB1 in many circles (for example, all three CBS Sports experts ranked him in the top 12 this week) is because of memories of 2014, and because Denver is run-heavy.

I’ve also pushed Booker hard on my Winners and Whiners podcast, including at the end of this week’s segment: http://www.wralsportsfan.com/nfl/audio/16110749/.  Unowned in 70% of ESPN leagues, he’s on the verge of being a dependable RB3 with enormous upside if he overtakes C.J.

Meanwhile, Antonio Gates’ return was meaningless from a fantasy perspective.  As discussed often these past 20-25 days, Henry has been a must-own TE and a dynasty steal.  This is the end of the NFL road for Gates; Rivers has found his new favorite TE target—and clearly one of his favorite targets in general.  I’ve made an exception in my league, keeping two TEs (Henry and Zach Ertz) with an eye toward trading one.  Yes, Henry (owned in less than half of ESPN leagues) is a reason to burn a roster spot on a second TE.

My latest WRAL SportsFan column highlights Booker and other undervalued players this week: http://www.wralsportsfan.com/week-6-is-when-fantasy-cellar-dwellers-can-turn-it-all-around/16113487/.

Happy Friday, everyone.