Earlier this week, we saw the Eagles and Texans, who had desperate needs at wide receiver, make necessary moves at the trade deadline. These additions should help both teams down the stretch but also have fantasy football ramifications.
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The resurgent Houston Texans, who lost speedy wideout and fantasy football stud Will Fuller to a torn ACL last week, acquired veteran Demaryius Thomas from the Denver Broncos for a couple of draft picks.
Losing Fuller for the rest of the season is a huge blow not only to the Texans but also to fantasy football owners. In seven games this season, he had 32 receptions (45 targets) for 503 yards and four touchdowns.
Fuller missed the first game of the season with a hamstring injury but picked up where he left off last season with quarterback Deshaun Watson. The Watson-Fuller combination was one of the best in fantasy football last year and it continued as the wide receiver had three-straight games with a touchdown (Weeks 2-5).
The former Notre Dame standout was a great play at the FLEX spot this season and depending on your roster, a very solid WR2. In those three games, where he had a touchdown, Fuller posted 17.3, 16.1, and 10.9 fantasy points, according to Pro Football Reference.
Thomas will now have the tall task of filling in the void left by Fuller. Luckily, for the 30-year-old, his first game is against the Broncos.
This season, Thomas saw his production drop significantly in Denver with the emergence of rookie wide receiver Courtland Sutton. He only had 36 receptions (56 targets) for 402 yards and three touchdowns.
In fact, his only 100-yard receiving game to this point came in Week 5 against the New York Jets (5 recs for 105 yards and 1 TD). Coincidentally, that was his best game this season from a fantasy football perspective too (16.5 points).
Therefore, should you start Thomas against his former team? It’s honestly a toss-up.
Through eight weeks, the Broncos’ defense is giving up on average 23.1 fantasy points to wide receivers. In last week’s game against the Chiefs, Denver did not have an answer for Sammy Watkins, who had eight receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns.
In terms of fantasy football, Watkins scored a season-high 22.7 points. While Thomas might not have the same type of skills like Watkins, he is worth considering as a low-tier WR2 option.
As previously mentioned, the Broncos were not the only team to make a move at the deadline for a wide receiver. The Eagles also joined in on the fray, acquiring veteran Golden Tate from the Detroit Lions for a 2019 third-round pick.
Since Mike Wallace went down with a fractured fibula in Week 2, the Eagles have lacked another outside presence opposite of Alshon Jeffery. Tate might not be the typical vertical threat that fans were hoping for, but he will cause issues for opposing secondaries.
This season, the 30-year-old wide receiver has 44 receptions (69 targets) for 517 yards and three touchdowns. But when it comes to fantasy football, Tate has not scored a lot of points in the last three weeks. However, this could potentially change when the Eagles take on the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10.
Back in Week 4, Tate had a ridiculous performance against Dallas, where he had eight receptions for 132 yards and touchdowns. This equaled out to a career-high 25.2 fantasy points scored.
Although we should not expect Tate to duplicate this same performance in Week 10, he could be a great fantasy play for the rest of the season. Unlike in Detroit, Tate has a better quarterback (Carson Wentz) and is surrounded by better weapons, where defenses have to focus on other players.
It should be interesting to see how both of these acquisitions help their respective teams and make an impact in fantasy football.
