With the NFL over, football addicts have turned to the AAF for their fix. I’ve watched the entirety or parts of all 12 games so far and am entirely rooting for the league to have success. Fanball is offering DFS games for AAF, so I’ll have a short weekly piece highlighting some of my favorite plays at QB, RB, and WR. Fanball doesn’t force you to use a TE with a starting lineup of QB-RB-WR-FLEX-FLEX-FLEX, and the AAF hasn’t displayed any real playmaking TEs outside of Anthony Denham.
QUARTERBACK
John Wolford vs. Atlanta Legends — Wolford injured his back on the opening series of the third quarter last week against the Stallions and missed essentially the entire second half. He tried to loosen up on the sideline but didn’t have full range of motion. Wolford, however, practiced Wednesday and is well on track to be ready for this one at home against the league-worst Legends. Atlanta will be trekking across the country as massive 13.5-point underdogs. The Legends are fifth among eight teams in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks. Garrett Gilbert set this defense ablaze in Week 1 with 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Luis Perez was unable to do much against Atlanta on the road in Week 3, but his receivers again let him down, though he was able to toss a couple two-point conversions after Trent Richardson scored three times on the ground. Wolford is one of the two or three best passers in this league with a strong supporting cast. Wolford is just way too cheap on Fanball at $5,700, sixth-highest among quarterbacks. He’s a strong cash-game play and tournament option with players likely off him more than normal due to his injury last week. The Hotshots’ implied team total of 27.5 points is by the week’s highest.
Luis Perez vs. San Antonio Commanders — Perez has yet to throw a touchdown through three games, but just watching the games, he’s very clearly in the top half of the league when it comes to starting quarterbacks. Perez simply is getting zero help from his supporting cast. Iron pass-catchers have dropped an AAF-high 10 passes, with No. 1 WR Quinton Patton being a regular in that department. Patton can do everything well except catch the ball, which led to his downfall and ultimate washout when it came to the NFL. It might be affecting Perez’s game. Among full-time starters, Perez is still top-three in adjusted completion percentage and now gets his easiest matchup of the season at home against a Commanders defense that has been getting shredded every which way. San Antonio is dead last in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks. The Fleet’s Philip Nelson had his way with this unit in Week 3, going 17-of-25 for 193 yards and a couple touchdowns. In Week 2, Garrett Gilbert dropped the hammer on the Commanders, completing 19-of-28 balls for 393 yards and two scores. And back in Week 1, Nelson and Mike Bercovici combined to complete 20-of-35 passes for 244 yards. They tossed three picks, however, as Bercovici was mercifully benched along the way. This is an attackable spot for Perez; he just needs his wideouts to hold up their end of the bargain. Perez is the cheapest starting quarterback on Fanball at $5,400. I’m going back to the well. Trent Richardson is going to get his on the ground, but there’s enough meat on the bone here.
RUNNING BACK
Trent Richardson vs. San Antonio Commanders — Richardson has been the Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott, etc. of the AAF through three weeks. He’s scored six touchdowns rushing already and is the definition of a workhorse, handling over 70% of the Iron’s running back touches. If you haven’t been playing Richardson, odds are you haven’t been winning in fantasy AAF the last couple weeks. Not only is Richardson scoring the touchdowns, he’s also the one getting the two-point conversions. Richardson is sixth among all running backs with 145 rushing yards, but literally 109.8% of his yards have come after contact. He’s getting hit almost as soon as he takes the handoff. Through my eyes, it looks like Richardson is getting better by the week; he looked more agile and ran with more power last Sunday against Atlanta. This week’s opponent, the Commanders, are fifth in fantasy points allowed to running backs and just got steamrolled by the San Diego Fleet’s one-two punch of Ja’Quan Gardner and Terrell Watson to the tune of 195 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries. In Week 2, D’Ernest Johnson of the Apollos parlayed his 8-57 rushing line against the Commanders into the starting job in Week 3. And back in the opener, the Fleet’s Gardner averaged 6.9 YPC on eight totes. This is another smash spot for Richardson at home with the Iron as seven-point favorites. Richardson’s salary still hasn’t caught up with his production at Fanball at $7,600.
Jhurell Pressley vs. Atlanta Legends — Pressley had a big season opener against the Stallions at home, totaling 94 yards, one touchdown, and a two-point conversion on 19 touches in the easy win. He still saw double-digit touches in Week 2 against the Express, but Pressley’s 12 carries that day were second on the team to Tim Cook’s 13. Things swung back to Pressley’s favor in Week 3, leading the team with 11 touches, but amassing just 37 scoreless yards. It didn’t help the offense at all when John Wolford missed the entire second half with a back issue. Wolford is expected back for this one. And Pressley has handled 50% of the Hotshots’ running back touches, just one of four AAF backs to handle at least 50% of his team’s backfield work. This sets up beautifully for Pressley to bust his little slump. The Hotshots are massive 13.5-point home favorites, and that has been the one thing to look at for RB success the last two weeks. Ja’Quan Gardner’s Fleet smashed the Legends at home in Week 2, and Gardner was the key to the slate with a 15-104-2 rushing line. And last week, it was D’Ernest Johnson as a massive home favorite against the Express, and he answered with 97 yards and one score on 15 touches. It’s Pressley’s turn. The only concern here is the Hotshots still seem to have a bit of a committee backfield, as Cook and Justin Stockton see snaps. Cook could easily rebound and play the closer role, so Pressley certainly carries some risk. His $5,000 price, however, mitigates that a bit and makes Pressley a more palatable play.
Terrell Watson at Memphis Express — Teammate Ja’Quan Gardner has been the highlight-maker out of the Fleet backfield, but Watson has quietly played really well and has out-snapped Gardner in back-to-back games after playing 60% of the downs last Sunday against the Commanders. Watson has 27 carries for 122 yards (4.52 YPC) and a pair of two-point conversions Weeks 2-3. He’s also dominating red-zone and third-down work for the Fleet. Everything points to Watson being the more reliable fantasy player, but Gardner has ripped off long runs for touchdowns the last couple weeks. Watson at $4,900 is a far better use of salary than paying all the way up to $7,000 for Gardner. The Express are allowing the second-most fantasy points to running backs, and the Fleet come to Memphis as six-point favorites. (Personally, I think this game will be much closer with the Express even having an outright shot to win after benching Christian Hackenberg for Zach Mettenberger.) Watson having the reliable red-zone and third-down roles makes him even safer should this one get lopsided for the Fleet. The Fleet’s implied total of 23.5 points in the week’s second-highest. The San Diego backfield is arguably the most settled behind the Iron. It’s a reliable two-man show.
Sherman Badie vs. San Diego Fleet — Signed off the street just days before the Express took on the Apollos last week, Badie played 10 snaps, with eight of those coming in the second half. Badie absolutely tore it up when on the field, turning nine touches into 75 scoreless yards while averaging a robust 7.4 YPC on eight totes. Badie is a slender 5’11/194 with 4.39 wheels, and the speed showed last week. He certainly earned more playing time and was bumped up to No. 2 on this week’s official depth chart, passing Terrence Magee as Zac Stacy’s top backup. Stacy is still the top dog here, but his leash could grow shorter if Badie keeps it up and Stacy doesn’t get it going in Week 4. Badie is best served for tournaments, but the field at Fanball is so weak, that I think playing Badie in cash is even doable. The Fleet have played stout run defense, but Trey Williams of the Commanders had a big game against them last week. Badie has been the subject of many tweets by Express supporters and beat writers this week. He should have a floor of 5-8 touches with upside for more.
WIDE RECEIVER
Rashad Ross vs. Atlanta Legends — Ross is only an option should John Wolford (back) be able to play, which is the expectation. Ross had a 6-51-1 line in the first half last week against the Stallions, catching a one-yard touchdown on a clearout play at the goal line, his fourth score of the season. When Wolford got hurt on the opening series of the third quarter, Ross never caught another ball when Trevor Knight came into the game. Pro Football Focus’ Jeff Ratcliffe does a great job with a WR/CB matchups chart, and Hotshots slot man Ross, who runs 90% of his routes inside, gets a dream matchup against Legends nickel CB Carlos Merritt, who I’ve frankly never even heard of. Merritt is PFF’s second-worst corner among the 24 predicted starters. Ross can win over the top or he can beat corners in the short areas in space. He’s scored two short scores and two long ones through three weeks. Ross should again dominate targets in this one with No. 2 WR Richard Mullaney expected to miss another game to injury. Ross is the top wideout play of Week 4 for a Hotshots team with the highest implied total of the week at 27.5 points.
De’Mornay Pierson-El vs. Orlando Apollos — Pierson-El dominated targets in the first half of the Stallions’ season opener before Josh Woodrum got hurt. And with Woodrum back under center last week, it was Pierson-El again who drew the eye of his quarterback. The slot man only played about half of the offensive snaps but paced the team with eight targets, catching all eight for 90 yards and a touchdown. Pierson-El has 13 targets in the two games Woodrum has started, by far the most on the Stallions. Mentioned above is Ross’ mouthwatering individual matchup. Pierson-El has a similar draw against Apollos nickel CB Bryce Canady. Outside CB Keith Reaser is easily the top cover man in this league, so that could filter even more looks to the inside for Salt Lake. In Week 2, Commanders slot man DeMarcus Ayers led the team in receiving with 5-80 on eight targets versus Orlando. Pierson-El’s price has jumped way up to $6,200 at Fanball, but he’s playing in the game with the week’s highest total and potentially in a spot where the Stallions will be chasing points in catchup mode.
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