FLEX Finder Week 5: Freerolling with Rachaad White and Michael Carter
We had some big stands last week on FLEX Finder, we nailed Zach Charbonnet, we became the first fantasy football column in recorded history to successfully believe in Kyle Pitts! We called the Woody Marks surge! Maybe someone else hacked the column and recommended Hunter Renfrow, who can say?
Once again, my rules for this weekly article:
1) I will not recommend quarterbacks — you're on your own there.
2) I will not recommend any running back who costs more than $5,000, wideout who costs more than $4,500, or tight end that costs more than $4,000 in DraftKings’ DFS Slate— I just figured this was an easy cutoff for what a FLEX really is.
3) I consider any player who garners over 50 yards or scores a victory for the column — anything more you get out of that, well, great for you. Let's set expectations low because we are combing for outliers.
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▶ Running Backs
Rachaad White, TB — $4,700
One of two running backs I eventually consider a freeroll this week, White was priced before the full extent of Bucky Irving's injury was known. On Tuesday, Irving was seeking additional medical opinions. On Wednesday, Irving was spotted in a boot to protect what appears to be a foot or ankle injury. On Thursday, Irving will be frozen in carbonite.
White stumbles into a full-time workload assuming Irving's injury is as bad as it looks. It does come against a game Seahawks defense, and you might want to zag away from it in an actual DFS contest. But as far as "what volume can $4,700 get me?" there's not likely to be a better answer this week.
Rhamondre Stevenson, NE — $4,800
Everybody hates running back committees, and everybody especially hates Patriots running back committees, so I'm glad Mike Vrabel is playing up to his standards by making everyone hate him.
The truth about three-men running back committees is: They're bad. But as far as situations in which you'd want to use the definite lead back — someone Vrabel has essentially said he's happy to use despite fumbling twice a week — we have a game with a 50.5 over/under that has climbed since open. We also have a Bills run defense that is third-from-the-bottom in DVOA, ahead of only the Titans and Giants. The Saints ran for 189 yards last week and had two different running backs average 4.7 yards per carry or better.
Given the circumstances, I like Stevenson to find pay dirt.
Michael Carter, ARI — $4,000
This one's going to require a bit of explanation, but the circumstances are similar to White's: Carter is a freeroll who is here because Trey Benson's injury was swept under the rug after Arizona played on Thursday Night. Adam Schefter reported he was "in question" for Week 5.
Theo Mackie of the Arizona Republic wrote a post about this situation on Monday, and posited that it would be Carter, not third-down back Emari Demercado, who would be the lead back if Benson sits. As Woody Marks showed last week, you can make quite a living off "guy who is starting against the Tennessee Titans as the projected lead back."
Kendre Miller, NO, $4,400
One of those aforementioned backs who tore up the Bills run defense on Sunday, Miller is gifted with an even juicier matchup against a Giants team that is dead-last in run defense DVOA and allowed Omarion Hampton to pillage them on the ground last week.
My problem with Miller, and the reason he's the lowest on this list, is simply that I don't fully trust that he'll have a huge workload yet. Alvin Kamara has franchise running back credentials and guys like that don't usually get mothballed without extenuating circumstances. Kamara also ran well against the Bills.
Miller, thus, has a lower ceiling than some of these FLEX plays, but both the matchup and his current form lead me to believe he can do a lot even in a small sample of plays. And, hey, it's not exactly unreasonable to believe the Saints look at what happened on Sunday and decide to give him more of the snaps. I don't believe it will happen, but it is in the realm of possibility.
Matthew Berry▶ Wide receivers
Darius Slayton, NYG, $4,300
If you look at what happened when Malik Nabers missed time last year, it is Slayton, not Wan'Dale Robinson, who steps into a major role. Slayton put up 8/122/1 against the Seahawks in Week 5 of last year sans Nabers, and had a 6/57 line on 11 targets against the Bengals.
I think the Jaxson Dart experience is different enough that I wouldn't necessarily count on things staying that similar in 2025. But I do think Slayton is the preferred pick-up here to Robinson and I find him an interesting play against the Saints in a matchup that I think has some potential to be more of a shootout than the 41.5 over/under shows.
Troy Franklin, DEN, $4,000
You don't want to throw against Quinyon Mitchell. He allowed two receptions for six yards last week, per PFF data. He also spent a lot of the preseason learning to travel, and when the threat is as obvious as Courtland Sutton has become, I think it's clear which member of the passing game the Eagles will be looking to take away.
But there were huge gainers against the Eagles last week — a 77-yard Emeka Egbuka touchdown — and Franklin's profile fits that well. If I could tell you that Bo Nix was going to hit the throw, I'd be more confident in this pick. But if I could tell you that Nix was going to hit the throw, Franklin would cost $5,000. What I can tell you is that Franklin has 27 targets in four games and Sutton has ... also 27 targets in four games.
Kendrick Bourne, SF, $3,500
An absolutely disgusting play in what looks destined to be a brutal Thursday Night game. The 49ers have in question (as of this writing) Brock Purdy, Jauan Jennings, and Ricky Pearsall. I have major doubts that Purdy (who floated plenty of balls and looked rather not ready last week) and Pearsall will play. Jennings is such a warrior I refuse to count him out but he's got to be playing at 60 percent or less right now.
So we might have Mac Jones and Christian McCaffrey in search of someone else to supplement an offense. Am I suggesting that Bourne is good? No. Am I suggesting that Bourne's targets are going to yield touchdowns? Not really, though the Rams cornerbacks are gettable. All I'm saying is: If the Rams are going to put up points on a Nick Bosa-less 49ers defense, someone must catch footballs. Bourne may be someone.
Malik Washington, MIA, $3,900
What do we make of the post-Tyreek Hill Dolphins receiver room? Nick Westbrook-Ikhine took more snaps in Hill's absence, but Washington has generally been the more targeted receiver and thus is someone I'm willing to chase.
Carolina's defense has looked absolutely abysmal for every game this year when they haven't played the Falcons. Washington is shifty and has speed. There's some chance the Dolphins just bottle up this game and run the ball, but as long as Carolina's throwing, I think Washington has a shot to hit a big play and should find enough targets to gain our requisite target yardage anyway.
Jalen Tolbert, DAL, $3,600
Through two weeks it has been Tolbert, not Kevontae Turpin, who has been the main recipient of snaps in CeeDee Lamb's absence. Tolbert played 56 of Dallas' 69 (nice) snaps last week, while Turpin played only 42.
If it were up to me, Turpin would play more. He's more electric and exciting with the ball in his hands. But he plays a major special teams role and it seems like Dallas doesn't want to mess with that. We know the Cowboys will play shootouts thanks to their defense and we know that Tolbert has 4/61 and 3/24 in a limited stretch in Week 3. The Jets defense is, frankly, struggling to adjust to what new coach Aaron Glenn is asking of it. They made Tua Tagovailoa look like the quarterback we saw a few years ago on Monday Night Football. I bet they can make Dak Prescott look like Peyton Manning. And the Cowboys might need those points.
Denny Carter▶ Tight ends
Brenton Strange, JAX, $3,600
Pop quiz: Who leads the Jaguars in targets the last two weeks? It's Brian Thomas, surely, the No. 1 receiver. No, he has 13 — or exactly the same number that Parker Washington has. No, it is Strange, with back-to-back seven-target games, leading the charge for the Jaguars.
It's very cute that the Jaguars defense turned a bunch of turnovers into wins against bad offenses in Houstonand (banged up) San Francisco. I bet Kansas City with a healthier version of Xavier Worthy will not be so kind. Strange has a larger share of this passing offense than the raw yardage totals say, and if the Jaguars are actually forced to throw, I think he could have a huge game.
Tommy Tremble, CAR, $2,900
When someone hacked my column and advocated for starting Hunter Renfrow last week, the justification was that someone besides Tetairoa McMillan would have to catch the football to keep up with New England's offense. And someone did. It just was Tremble rather than Renfrow. Tremble tied for a game-high eight targets, producing a 5/42/1 line.
I don't think the Panthers' defense is suddenly in a better place. There's no magical player they're getting back that's going to fix this. It's going to be a problem. Tremble has historically succeeded when Ja'Tavion Sanders has been out. We're going back to the well for this price against the Dolphins.
