The trade deadline has come and gone, but it is good ol’ fashioned injuries that have created most of this article. Puka Nacua, Rhamondre Stevenson, Jaylin Noel and Michael Wilson have left plenty of volume on the table for their backups and, in one case, returning stars. The only major fantasy football players that changed teams were the Colts receivers Josh Downs and Keenan Allen, leaving a nice little floating pair of question marks over their entire offense.

Rules for this weekly article:

1) I will not recommend quarterbacks — There are plenty of good ones. 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 — 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.

▶ Running Backs

Omarion Hampton, LAC -- $4,900 – I don’t exactly love Hampton’s role, and the fact that he’s fallen far enough to be in this column is a dark sign. Still, the Ravens are starting Jacoby Brissett, and Hampton is coming off a 13/60 game against the Texans. The Ravens don’t have an extraordinary run defense. I don’t love the play, but it feels like one of the safer FLEX spots of the week.

Corey Kiner, NE -- $4,700 – With Rhamondre Stevenson lost to a knee injury and TreVeyon Henderson dealing with a terrifying-sounding neurological problem, Kiner is suddenly next man up for the Patriots in a game with a 50.5 over/under overseas against the Lions. Kiner had already begun to butt in on carries, and my guess is he’ll get the bulk of the work here.

Audric Estime, NO -- $4,500 – Please disregard this pick if Travis Etienne manages to play this week off injured reserve, but I like Estime’s odds of continuing to hog carries alongside Alvin Kamara. The Panthers have demonstrated this year that they are capable of getting absolutely torched in the run game, and their lack of healthy good cornerbacks leaves them stuck in passive coverages and box structures.

Emmett Johnson, KC -- $4,700 – Trading for Josh Downs should help the Chiefs pass catchers have a better floor than they’ve had most of the season, but the NFL does not often provide one-week integration plans for non-quarterbacks. Johnson has now scored in back-to-back games and will also get a small share of the Kenneth Walker workload, while the reeling Falcons do not exactly qualify as a scary test as the Chiefs are road favorites.

▶ Wide receivers

Konata Mumpfield, LAR -- $4,000 – In the wake of Puka Nacua’s knee injury, we must ask ourselves questions such as “Which Rams receivers are still alive?” and “Do we really want to know the answer to this question?” Since they won’t let us unretire Az-Zahir Hakim, we feel compelled to note that Mumpfield looks likely to benefit from Nacua’s injury.

Tank Dell, HOU -- $3,900 – Texans receivers’ snap counts are important things to keep in mind, but the targets are what we want. Dell had nine and was always a favorite C.J. Stroud target before his devastating knee injury. I don’t necessarily want to say that I’m happy his snap count is low, but I do think it’s been a bit overblown. Dell looks good even if he and Stroud are still working on some timing. The Texans pass offense looks good. The Texans running game is theoretical. Don’t expect WR1 stuff, but WR3 is in the range of possibilities.

Savion Williams, GB -- $3,900 – I know this is a weird spot to pick on given the Vikings defense, but the Packers pass offense absolutely has proven they can dunk on anyone – they even did officially dunk on the Vikings defense in Week 1 – and you know there will be downfield shots. I’d love to see Williams used more in that area, but the screen game is another important constraint against Minnesota’s blitzing style and I expect the targets to keep coming after last week’s touchdown. No Josh Jacobs could further tilt targets towards the gadget player as well.

Ashton Dulin, IND -- $3,100 – If you want to feel disgusting – and I mean absolutely disgusting – look at the Colts wideout room right now after Josh Downs and Keenan Allen were dispatched to other areas of the globe. Someone, believe it or not, will be required to catch the ball against the Dolphins. Tyler Warren can’t have all the targets. Dulin was the offseason WR3 and broke a 55-yard touchdown on a screen against the Cowboys last week. The Dolphins will be starting Kyle McCord at quarterback. It’s a free country and you can do what you want, but someone must catch the ball for the Colts in a game they are favored to win.

Reggie Virgil, ARI -- $3,400 – Another documented case of “someone here has to catch a football.” Virgil was the only non-Trey McBride Cardinals receiver who is still healthy that had more than two targets last week. Simi Fehoko figures to be the other starting outside receiver, Devin Duvernay has been a punt returner for the better part of a decade now, and Harrison Wallace III is a 23-year-old UDFA who was waived at last cuts and saw no takers. The practice squad is full of potential elevations, but most of them are names that haven’t been relevant in a long time. (Phillip Dorsett still being around is incredible.) The Rams will speed up Carson Beck’s clock and try to do what they can to take away McBride. These are all reasons to believe someone will do something here. And for all we know, maybe Virgil is that person.

▶ Tight ends

Chig Okonkwo, WAS -- $3,800 – We haven’t exactly seen The Chigassance hit yet, but 6/56 against the Rams was a good look for the highly-paid free-agent signing and he’s certainly been more involved than Antonio Williams so far after Terry McLaurin’s injury. The Giants allow 8.5 passes to tight ends per game, a top-10 rate in the league, per FTN’s numbers.

Darnell Washington, PIT -- $3,200 – The Bengals continue to be the cure for the common tight end line and the two Steelers tight ends combined for 97 yards against them in Week 3. With it feeling like the Steelers are generally looking Washington’s way come end zone time, I think he’s probably the play over the more reliable Pat Freiermuth, though both could ultimately get there.