With the fantasy football regular season coming to an end, setting up your bench for the playoff gauntlet should be your top priority. You have spent 13 agonizing weeks waiting for players such as Marvin Mims and Skyy Moore to have breakout games and become fantasy superstars, and it is time to move on.
It was time to move on weeks ago, but until now, we haven’t found viable candidates to replace them. With many teams officially falling out of playoff contention, we are now seeing coaches afford greater opportunities to their youngsters in an effort to see what they truly bring to the table at the NFL level. Their teams may not find success, but we as fantasy managers will as target shares and touches increase.
The Panthers are eliminated from the playoffs, and with changes at the coaching level, there is just one place for them to look: toward the future. Chris Tabor may not be the head coach in 2024, but he has clearly been instructed to audition the youngsters so management can formulate a proper draft plan for next year.
Jonathan Mingo has been playing at least 90 percent of the snaps since Week 6, but it wasn’t until the past two weeks that he’s become the target leader of this receiving corps.
The Panthers are not building their future on the back of 33-year-old Adam Thielen, and they obviously have no further interest in Terrace Marshall Jr. That puts Mingo front-and-center, and his 16 targets, which he’s turned into 10 catches for 128 yards over the past two games, are exactly what you are looking for in a playoff bench stash.
With upcoming matchups against struggling secondaries for the Saints, Falcons, Packers and Jaguars, he could end up a sneaky flex play for a championship fantasy team.
The Giants are in a similar situation, and rookie receiver Jalin Hyatt should be rostered in every league right now. Whether it’s cult icon Tommy DeVito or veteran Tyrod Taylor under center, Hyatt should be a focal point of any Giants passing attack moving forward.
He saw an increase to his snap count last week and led the team in targets. The results were fantastic, as Hyatt posted the first career 100-yard game. The team knows what they have in guys like Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson. They know they need to see if Hyatt can deliver for them in upcoming seasons, so expect to see more in Week 14 and beyond.
Stacking your bench for the playoffs should be your primary focus at this time. Forget about what may have been back in August and pay attention to what is happening now. Follow the snaps and the targets, and they will lead you to the path of fantasy points and a championship in the end.
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Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to Fantasy-Alarm.com for all your fantasy football advice.