Stay tuned later today for this week’s episode of the Upper Hand Fantasy Podcast! Faraz and Zach answer some of the most pressing questions from the Instagram community, talk buys and sells ahead of Week 10, and recap everything you need to know from the moves that went down at the trade deadline!

• Bengals swing a deal to acquire former Bears RB Khalil Herbert in trade, add depth to backfield with Zack Moss out

  • Well, the Chase Brown bell-cow usage era was fun while it lasted – all three days of it. On the heels of Brown’s 32-touch, 157-yard performance this past weekend against the Raiders, the Bengals picked up the odd man out in Chicago’s backfield: Khalil Herbert. From a real-life management perspective, adding some proven depth behind Chase Brown makes a ton of sense for Cincinnati; the only other remotely meaningful name on the depth chart was Trayveon Henderson before the deal. And the truth is, from a fantasy perspective, the move isn’t as bad as it might have seemed originally. As much as we’d like to see Chase Brown continue to rack up 30 touches a game, that type of workload just isn’t sustainable over a 17-game season. Herbert can be the change of pace back to keep Brown fresh for the stretch run while not usurping his workload to the point where Brown gets a significant downgrade. Herbert profiles more as a between the tackles runner without a whole lot to offer in pass protection, which should help keep Brown on the fields in situations like 3rd down, two minute, etc. The other good news for Brown: his role was already trending up in recent weeks, peaking at 67% of the rushing attempts in the backfield even with Zack Moss healthy before his injury. Even if Herbert works into the offense quickly, Brown should continue to be the primary running back for the Bengals in most situations – barring an epic collapse, of course.

• Cowboys trade 2025 4th-round pick to Panthers in exchange for WR Jonathan Mingo & 2025 7th-round pick

  • It’s the latest instance of Jerry Jones getting worked on the trade block, and the second time in two years that he’s shipped off a high Day 3 pick to take on a project (the other being Trey Lance). With quarterback Dak Prescott already off to IR with a hamstring injury that will keep him out for at least the next four games, the move frankly doesn’t make any sense for the Cowboys. Cooper Rush is set to be the starter into December, the team is sitting at 3-5, and the odds of a great American comeback from America’s team are already in the toilet. There are real concerns around Rush’s ability to sustain Ceedee Lamb as a fantasy-relevant player, and Lamb is a first-team All-Pro caliber pass catcher. A reclamation project like Mingo – who granted, leaves a Panthers situation that was about as disastrous as any since he entered the league two years ago – isn’t likely to bolster the Cowboys passing game or fantasy teams alike in any meaningful way. Adding to the head scratching going on in the wake of the move is the fact that Brandin Cooks could be ready to return from IR soon, which could further bury Mingo down the depth chart. For what it’s worth, he was an intriguing talent coming out of the 2023 draft class – however, he’s reeled in just one pass for one yard over his pas four games. Fantasy managers shouldn’t consider shelling out any valuable FAAB on him at this point, let alone a fourth-round pick in real life.

Bears Passing Offense is Riding the Roller Coaster

• It’s getting pretty tough to figure out which Bears WR is going to come through for fantasy at this point. Since their Week 7 bye, DJ Moore has had a 23% target share, with no Top-36 performance. Keenan Allen has had a 29% target share, with no Top-36 performance. Rome Odunze has had a 23% target share, but is the WR19 overall for this week so far. Moore has had only one Top-24 finish this season, and we can say the same about Keenan Allen. We can say the same about Odunze, who now has his 2nd Top-24 finish of the season. Very hard to trust right now overall, but Odunze seems like the guy who should be prioritized at this point by the Bears offensive staff.

Jahmyr Gibbs Comes Back Down to Earth

• Gibbs’ talent is unquestionable, but his role is. He came through as the overall RB9 in Week 8, but he did it on only 40% of snaps and 12 touches. On Sunday, he had 12 touches again, but this time on only 36% of snaps. He’s responsible for only 40% of the rushing attempts and he’s running a route on only 30% of Jared Goff’s dropbacks. The fact that he’s so talented is why he’s holding you down, and he should be in lineups, but the role isn’t great. Hopefully he can get back to his 54% of snaps and 52% route participation he was getting before Week 8 at the very least. Regardless, he’s an every-week lineup lock due to the talent and consistency.

Colts Offense Sputters Across the Board Against Minnesota

• Joe Flacco and the offense, including Jonathan Taylor and the run game, couldn’t get anything going against the Vikings. For this matchup, the Colts decided to change their gameplan in this game to run a ton of 12-personnel (2-TE sets) instead of the 11-personnel they’ve been running all season. As a result, Josh Downs only ran a route on 67% of Flacco’s dropbacks. Still, Downs received a target on a whopping 45% of his routes, and it resulted in a 33% overall target share. Downs overproduced on his opportunities in this game, so keep starting him as a WR2; we should expect the Colts to revert back to 3-WR sets moving forward.

Chargers Passing Offense Gets an Upgrade

• The Chargers went from having one of the lowest expected pass rates before their bye to one of the highest after their bye three weeks ago. This has made Justin Herbert a Top-10 fantasy QB over the last two weeks (pending MNF). He’s thrown two TDs in each of the past two games, and has averaged more than 300 yards passing over their last three. This is great for Ladd McConkey, whose team-leading 24% target share this season can turn into volume worth chasing. Quentin Johnston also will benefit; he has two Top-10 finishes this year on his 19% target share for the season.

Read the Full Week 9 Takeaways Post!