When you walk into someone’s dining room, chances are you would notice a difference if it is dressed with furniture from Baccarat or the set from the window at the local Rooms To Go.
A living room populated by Fendi Casa pieces is going to look different than one cobbled together from a sale at Big Lots.
Obviously, luxury items are not the same as bargain deals. But most people can’t always have luxury — in the real world or the fantasy realm.
At least in the fantasy community, everyone gets a chance to shop in the Bergdorf or Neiman equivalents — the early rounds of fantasy drafts.
Maybe you might even find the Saks Off Fifth — getting Kyren Williams or C.J. Stroud or Trey McBride off waivers early in the season.
But this late in the year? The Nordstrom and Bloomies fantasy stores are closed. You’re now shopping at the fantasy version of T.J. Maxx or Dollar General.
Alas, you get what you pay for. Even options that look nice often fall apart as soon as you put them to use — like a couple of players from the woebegone Panthers who are going to be high on the available list on some waiver wires this week: Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Mingo.
Mingo has gotten little attention this season, for good reason. He has averaged just 6.3 per week in PPR, and his QB (Bryce Young) is terrible. The only thing that has changed is Mingo received a season-high 10 targets this past week. Normally that kind of volume draws attention, but most players aren’t on offenses that are this bad.
Those targets resulted in six catches for 69 yards. That is fine, not awful. And his 12.9 point PPR outing does represent two straight double-digit weeks (after 10.0 last week), which gives him a grand total of three double-digit weeks on the season. The other eight games tell the rest of the story: Mingo is not a reliable fantasy option.
Yet, if his volume stays consistent, what it will do is ruin any possible Adam Thielen resurgence. Thielen averaged 19.9 over the first seven games, but just 8.0 since. If a chunk of his potential targets are now going to Mingo, neither one is usable.
Hubbard, who is not as widely available, is more complex. He had a whopping 25 carries Sunday and produced his first 100-yard game of the season, to go with two touchdowns. The 22.4 in PPR was his second straight 20-plus game.
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All of that is great, right? Sure. But conditions were terrible this past week, with heavy rain at Tampa Bay dictating a reliance on the running game. And Carolina’s next two games are against the Saints and Falcons — the 11th- and second-stingiest vs. opposing fantasy RBs. We aren’t expecting Hubbard’s production to continue.
So leave Mingo on waivers. Keep Thielen and Hubbard on your bench, if you keep Thielen at all. Just because the discount store has items in the bargain bin doesn’t mean you have to buy them.
Shots in dark
Ezekiel Elliott RB, Patriots
For however long Rhamondre Stevenson is out with an ankle injury, Zeke will become the focal point of the Pats’ running game — such as it is. Elliott will be a good depth piece on your bench based on volume alone.
Tyjae Spears RB, Titans
Derrick Henry dodged concussion protocol despite leaving Sunday’s game. He is a quality end-of-bench depth piece or must-handcuff for anyone who has Henry.
Jayden Reed WR, Packers
Reed has been the best Packers fantasy WR since Week 7, and he should get a boost for as long as Christian Watson (hamstring) is out.
Elijah Moore WR, Browns
Even with bad QB play, if Moore gets 12 targets a week — which he got Sunday, and could repeat if Amari Cooper misses time with an injury to his ribs — then that is an amount of volume we can’t ignore.
Dark futures
Justin Herbert QB, Chargers
Despite weekly high ceiling, can’t ignore that he has four absolute duds in the past seven games. His 17.4 fantasy points per game since Week 7 ranks 15th among QBs.
Devin Singletary RB, Texans
Hum-drum Dameon Pierce surprisingly returned to his lead role, then produced hum-drum results. Looks like Singletary is back to a situational role despite his superior play while Pierce was sidelined.
Diontae Johnson WR, Steelers
Let’s pretend we can further downgrade anyone involved in the Steelers passing game, then apply that imaginary downgrade to Johnson. We have even less confidence in QB Mitch Trubisky the rest of the fantasy season than we did QB Kenny Pickett.
Alex Pierce WR, Colts
If there is going to be a second WR from the Colts roster, behind Michael Pittman Jr., who emerges as fantasy viable, we still have our money on Josh Downs, despite Pierce’s big Week 13.