Fantasy Football / NFL
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- Written by Tad Bukowski
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- Written by Jason Evans and David Biggs
We’re now through 10 weeks of the NFL season and if your team resembles the one that you drafted, then count yourself among the lucky few. For the rest of us, swapping players out due to ineffectiveness and injury is the only way to fill out the roster. Tonight we’ll look at several players who are being moved up the depth chart to replaced players who have been injured and will be out several weeks, or players who are just ineffective, or both!
Duke Johnson (RB-HOU) – David Johnson was put on the IR before last week’s game, paving the way for Duke Johnson (no relation) to take over the backfield. Unfortunately for Duke, his team could only muster 7 points and he did not do much with his 14 carries. Going forward for at least the next couple of weeks, I do expect Duke’s usage to remain a consistent 15-20 touches per week. This season he is averaging only 3.1 yards per carry, down from last year’s 4.9 and his career average of 4.3. David Johnson was only averaging 4.0 yards per carry this season anyways, so it’s not like he was lighting up the world. While David is out, Duke’s only real challenge to carries will come from Deshaun Watson, who has 25 carries over the last 3 weeks. Getting Duke in the lineup next week against the Patriots isn’t a bad idea, and getting him in the following week against the Lions is essential. After that, they play Indy twice, separated by a game in Chicago, so you’re going to want to look elsewhere until his week 16 matchup against Cincy.
Giovani Bernard (RB-CIN) – Joe Mixon has now missed 3 straight games with his foot injury, suffered against the Colts back in week 6. Each week we get the standard ‘Mixon didn’t practice’ blurb from all the Bengals beat reporters. Zac Taylor has been cautious in general about injuries on the team, bringing people like A.J. Green and Geno Atkins back up to speed slowly, and I expect more of the same here. As of today, Mixon is not practicing or even out on the rehab field – makes me wonder if he’s headed for the IR since the Bengals are way out of the playoff picture and they just signed him to a large extension. Fine for dynasty squads, not so great for your redraft league where you most likely selected Mixon as a top-10 RB. Meanwhile, Giovani Bernard has been the 10th highest scoring RB in half-PPR from weeks 7-10, and that is including the Bengals’ week 9 bye week where he was just playing Madden and smokin’ a joint. Shhh… don’t tell anyone I told you. Washington is middle of the road against RBs, but Bernard is a multi-faceted threat on a team that is going to dump off to him more than normal. He can be started with confidence this week. The issues here to worry about, of course, are Joe Mixon coming back this week, or even soon, which seems unlikely according to my magic-8-ball, and also 2nd year RB Trayveon Williams capturing some of Bernard’s work. Williams was able to turn 5 rushes into 22 yards against the Steelers in week 10 and looked fresh out there. He should, those are first 5 carries he’s ever had in the NFL since he sustained a foot injury in a 2019 preseason game. Woohoo!
Salvon Ahmed (RB-MIA) – Salvon Ahmed has only appeared in 2 NFL games in his career. Last week, and Week 9 in Arizona. Last week he did see a healthy 21 carry game, turning it into 85 yards and a touchdown. Ahmed finds himself atop a depth chart that features an injured Matt Breida, a useless DeAndre Washington, and Patrick Laird, who hasn’t even been in on 20% of Miami’s snaps in a single game this season. Couple that with Jordan Howard being cut, and apparently Salvon Ahmed is second UDFA in Florida to be given the top spot of a backfield. He should be featured heavily in most games for now, considering a frequent run game is always a good compliment to a rookie QB. Ahmed may need to fight for carries with Myles Gaskin when he returns from IR and Matt Breida if he ever finds his way back into the lineup. Until then, Ahmed is the first option in the running game on the team, and could retain that spot with another strong performance this week against Denver, who gave up 20+ points to 2 different backs on the Raiders last week.
Michael Pittman (WR-IND) – Who’s the WR1 on the Colts? Because you would think it was T.Y. Hilton. And that’s what his grandma thought before the season started as well, but it looks like 2nd round rookie Michael Pittman is making a good case for the job. Last week he caught 7 of 8 targets for 101 yards and rushed once for 21 yards. Meanwhile, Hilton has yet to break 70 yards or score a TD in any game so far this year. Yikes. After being drafted this year, experts (myself included) had Pittman behind both Hilton and 2019 2nd rounder Parris Campbell, who injured his PCL in week 2 and may be back later this season but has yet to practice. Since Hilton has underperformed and Campbell has been unavailable, I think it’s time to call Pittman a surprise WR1 who should enjoy the lion’s share of targets going forward. I don’t see Zach Pascal as competition here, and the only 40% owned (in Fleaflicker) Pittman is a steal right now that could help you win the ‘ship.
Jameis Winston (QB-NO) – Last week Drew Brees went down, and he went down very hard. Brees looked every bit his age when he was sacked on a play that ultimately fractured several ribs and collapsed his lung. Brees will be out, conservatively, for a few weeks, and possibly for the rest of the regular season. This leads us to examine the Saints interesting QB group. Everybody knows about their favorite gadget player, Taysom Hill, but Hill does not seem to be in line to start and play every snap at QB considering he did not do so last year. When Brees went down in 2019, it was Teddy Bridgewater, and not Hill, who started 5 games in Brees’s absence. This time around, I expect that replacement to be Jameis Winston. Right now, the Saints need to jumpstart their downfield passing game, and Winston is the perfect QB to do that. Last week, Winston was just getting his feet under him, going 6 for 10 for 63 yards, but I expect last year’s passing yardage leader to do a lot more than that against the Falcons next week. Sure it’s partly because Winston is actually an NFL QB and Taysom Hill is still just a gadget player, but I also like the fact that the Falcons are giving up the most points to opposing QBs. Their opponent the following week, Denver, is nothing special against the pass, and then they get the Falcons again in Week 13. If you’re a QB streamer, or in a 2 QB league, then Jameis Winston should be in your starting lineup this week. Now, you just need to pay attention to the news in case the Saints throw in the towel on the year and start Hill.
Jakeem Grant (WR-MIA) – Preston Williams suffered a knee injury in week 9 against the Cardinals and was put on IR. Granted, Williams wasn’t providing earth-shaking production at the position, but he has scored 4 TDs and has been an integral part of the Dolphins’ passing attack throughout the season. With Tua Tagovailoa taking over under center the offense has looked different, and as we know about the ascent of rookie QBs from over the years, they can change the whole look of the offense. Jakeem Grant came in as a new cog and immediately caught 4 of 5 targets for 43-yards and a TD against the Chargers. The speedy WR ran a 4.38 40-yard dash and is exactly the kind of big play receiver that Tua needs to continue his march toward the playoffs this year. While the Dolphins did just sign former Browns’ WR Antonio Callaway to the roster, he has yet to record any fantasy points this year and it wouldn’t be a surprise for him to now be behind a Grant that is quickly building chemistry with Tua.
Kalen Ballage (RB-LAC) – Cut from the Jets in October and picked up on the Chargers practice squad, Kalen Ballage has suddenly found himself with lots to do over the last two weeks due to the Chargers depleted backfield. In the last 2 games, he has received 33 carries and 9 targets. In week 10, he ran 22 pass routes and was in on 73% of the offensive snaps. Ballage isn’t terribly efficient right now, but he does have 186 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown over those two games. It appears that he is in line to be the Chargers workhorse back for as long as Justin Jackson and Austin Ekeler are out. Jackson was just put on IR before last week’s game, so he will be out at least 2 more games. Joshua Kelley doesn’t seem to be a danger to take carries from anyone, and Austin Ekeler can only tell us “the time draws near”, as if he and Frodo are approaching Mordor. Troymaine Pope may be the best bet to take carries from Ballage, but Pope missed the last game with a concussion. The only thing that is certain is that the Chargers backfield is a mess.
Keelan Cole (WR-JAC) – Just a few years ago, Cole appeared to be the WR to own for the future of the Jaguars’ offense. Him and Blake Bortles were good buddies, going for 748 yards and 3 TDs in 2017 when he was an UDFA. But we haven’t heard from him since them. We have been hearing about guys like D.J. Chark and newly drafted rookie Laviska Shenault. Shenault has admittedly had a great start to the season, but after Gardner Minshew was injured and benched in favor of Jake Luton, Shenault had less success and then was taken out of the game with a hamstring injury in week 9. New QBs often result in chemistry and connections with new WRs, as we know, and in this case it looks like Keelan Cole is back in action, having been targeted 7 times in last week’s matchup against the Packers and coming down with 5 receptions for 47 yards and 1 TD. We’ll see if Luton remains under center for the rest of the season, but as long as he does it looks like Chark and Cole will be the targets of choice.
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- Written by David Biggs
Week 10 is in the books, and there are precious few weeks of fantasy scoring left until the playoffs start. Make sure to get the best seeding possible by making smart plays each week. Listen to or watch the Fantasy Finish Line podcast to stay on top of the latest news and analysis - we broadcast live on YouTube weekly on Wednesdays at 9pm CT.
Guys that jump out to me this week to overperform expectations: Tom Brady, JK Dobbins, Chris Godwin, Kyle Rudolph, and Green Bay Packers DST.
Pay attention to these rankings throughout the season, as they will continue to evolve based on the latest injury updates, news, and player analysis. Have any specific lineup questions? Feel free to tweet us @drinkfive with any of your questions or comments!
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- Written by Jason Evans
Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters. All fantasy stats are half PPR scoring unless otherwise noted.
8 Rushing Attempts
The best running back in fantasy football received as many carries as the third-string QB slash gadget player on his team. Don’t worry, Alvin Kamara is still the best RB in fantasy, but his 8 carries for 15 yards is kind of funny to look at. He did find the end zone twice on those carries, but his 1.9 yards per carry versus Taysom Hill’s 5.6 yards per carry. Kamara owners are most thankful for the passing game, where he led the team with 7 receptions for 83 yards and another touchdown. This puts Kamara 56.1 fantasy points ahead of all but Dalvin Cook, who plays tonight and is the only other RB with any distance between him and the rest of the league. Cook has his work cut out for him, trying to keep up with Kamara. Kamara put up his third 30+ point performance this week, despite being out-rushed by a gadget QB. Cook has to face a Bears defense that hasn’t allowed 100 rushing yards to an opponent’s entire RB group since week 3.
14.5 Fantasy Points
Sounds like an OK game, right? What if it was a season total? What if this total was from a player who was drafted in the first round? What if this player, though injured, did manage to play 3 games this season? Well, this would be one of the more epic busts of the year, I suppose. Michael Thomas has a grand total of 18 targets with 10 receptions for 95 yards and 0 touchdowns in 3 games this season. Last season Michael Thomas had 300.1 fantasy points, so he’s not even reached 5% of those points so far this year. Let’s compare, for a moment, another first round pick who has played only 3 games. Christian McCaffrey, also facing a terrible disappointment of a season after having missed a majority of the season, has managed to put up 81.9 fantasy points in just 3 appearances, good for the RB31 on the season. He’s at least looking at nearly 20% of his points from last season. Thomas’s outlook for the rest of the season just looks bleak, with Drew Brees looking at a possible multi-week injury. Perhaps the injection of last year’s passing yards leader, Jameis Winston, can get him going again.
163 Fantasy Points in 5 Games
Kyler Murray has taken over the NFL in the past few weeks. His team now sits atop the toughest division in the league (by tiebreaker), he’s in the MVP conversation now, and he’s far and away the QB1 on the season. Over the past 5 games, Murray has averaged 32.6 points per game and scored at least 1 rushing and 1 passing TD in each game, an NFL record. He’s only thrown 3 interceptions during that stretch, compared to 10 passing TDs and 6 rushing TDs. Murray is now 32 points ahead of the pack at the QB position and has already had his bye week. Checking in on the running back, Kyler Murray, he’s currently sitting at 604 rushing yards, good for 8th in the league. He has an average of 6.9 yards per carry, which leads the league and his 10 TDs are 2nd in the league on the ground. His 120.4 points on the ground would make him the RB11 on the season. We all get to watch Kyler on Thursday night in Seattle, so tune in to see what ridiculous shit he can come up with!
3-50+ Yard Field Goals
Tyler Bass (who?) had a hell of a day for the Bills. He finished the week as the top kicker, netting his owners a cool 19.7 points. Of course, the problem here is that he’s only owned in about 25% of fantasy leagues. Bass went 3 for 3 on Sunday, both in extra points and field goals, from 54, 55, and 58 yards. With this performance, Bass now finds himself on top of the kicker list, and hey, who doesn’t want to be K1? As the weather starts to really turn – we saw at least a couple of games really affected by the weather yesterday – nabbing kickers who will be indoors could be a very smart streaming move. We all also need to stop worrying about a name when we grab kickers. Of the kickers who have made 20 or more field goals this year, the highest ownership rate is Jason Sanders of Miami, only at 68%. Justin Tucker will not save you, or your fantasy team, especially since he’s outdoors in crummy weather cities for all but one game to close out the season.
728 Days
It’s been basically two full years since the #1 overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft, Alex Smith, started a game. To celebrate, he went ahead and put up career highs in pass attempts (55), pass completions (38), and passing yards (390). Unfortunately for his Football Team, he was unable to find the end zone, and ultimately, they fell to the Lions after some exciting back-and-forth in the 4th quarter which saw 5 scores between the two teams. Smith looks like he’s set to start the rest of the season in Washington, and in an incredibly down NFC East, they could make the playoffs if they could just win a couple of games. The Eagles are currently in 1st place with only 3 wins on the season. This is the latest into a season that a division winner has had only 3 wins. So, congrats to Alex Smith, for completing his return to the NFL. Now he’s got the first game out of his system, he can focus on the work of actually turning his team around, and with great young players like Terry McLaurin and Antonio Gibson in a division as historically bad as the NFC East, no Football Team can be counted out.
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- Written by Shawn Foss
Welcome back to the Rookie Report! We’re now more than halfway through the NFL season, and that means we’re heading into the home stretch of the fantasy regular season. This is the point in the season where we typically see rookies start to turn the corner…where regular playing time starts to turn into more consistent production, and where some players we haven’t seen much of start to see their role expand. In 2019, all of Deebo Samuel’s top-3 yardage games came after week 8. For AJ Brown, all of his top-4 were after week 10. Miles Sanders, Diontae Johnson, Hunter Renfrow, N’Keal Harry, and Noah Fant all saw their roles expand in the back half of 2019 as well. Who will those players be in 2020? From what we’ve seen in recent weeks Chase Claypool and Jerry Jeudy may be turning that corner right now. Zack Moss, LaMical Perine and D’Andre Swift have been seeing their workloads expand as well, and even Cam Akers got a handful of carries last week. Before we get ahead of ourselves and start thinking about what the rest of the season holds for the rookies, let’s talk about what to expect in week 10…
(Notes: All scoring and points allowed rankings are based on half-PPR scoring unless otherwise noted. Players under same header at same position are listed in the order I would play them in this week.)
Rookies to Start:
RB James Robinson, JAX (Wk. 10: @GB): It’s been an ugly year for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but that hasn’t stopped Robinson from being the most productive rookie running back in the league so far. He’s the RB4 for the season, and this week gets to face a Green Bay defense that has allowed the 2nd-most RB points per game and ranks 20th in Football Outsiders’ run defense DVOA stat. In 8 games, the Packers have faced off with a top-13 fantasy running back 5 times, and the lowest fantasy output any of them have posted against Green Bay was 18.8 points from Todd Gurley. There is a little concern for Robinson this week since Jacksonville is a 2-touchdown underdog and Chris Thompson siphons off a bit of the passing down work each week, but you have to bet on Robinson coming through again. He’s shown time and again that he can still produce in blowout losses, and Green Bay is about as burnable as it gets for RB matchups. Robinson should be worth his price tag in DFS formats this week.
RB Antonio Gibson, WAS (Wk. 10: @Det.): For much of this season Antonio Gibson has seen a cap put on his fantasy upside by Washington’s dedication to separating the early down work from the 3rd down work. Gibson has just 1 touch all year on 3rd down. JD McKissic is dominating the 3rd down workload, so Gibson has to make his mark on early downs. Luckily, he gets to face the Detroit Lions this week, who have given up an average of 137 rushing yards on 1st and 2nd down per game. The Lions allow more fantasy points per game to opposing running backs than any other team in the league, and have given up 13+ fantasy points to the opposing lead back in every game since week 3. The Lions are favored to win by 4, but this should be a competitive enough game that Gibson is involved throughout. He’s a safe RB2 with upside for more.
WR Chase Claypool, PIT (Wk. 10: vs. Cin.): Claypool seems to have finally turned the corner in recent weeks, seeing strong target shares in games where Diontae Johnson was fully healthy. Claypool has been targeted 22 times in the last 2 weeks, and has turned in 15+ PPR points in each game. This week the Steelers face off with the Bengals, who rank 25th in pass defense DVOA, and the Steelers have a healthy implied total of 27.5 points. We’ve seen the weekly upside Claypool has flashed this season. You may be kicking yourself if you leave him on your bench in this one.
WR Tee Higgins, CIN (Wk. 10: @Pit.): On the other side of the Steelers-Bengals matchup, Tee Higgins should be in line for another solid game. The Steelers have had one of the most formidable defenses in the league, but they’ve struggled to shut down opposing wide receivers. Pittsburgh has allowed the 9th-most WR points per game, and they’ve struggled with both perimeter and slot receivers. Higgins has been remarkably consistent despite having Tyler Boyd and AJ Green competing with him for targets. The rookie has at least 7 targets in 5 of his last 6 games, and 60+ yards in each of his last 5. This isn’t a week where he’ll have the highest ceiling, but Higgins is going to be a safe WR3 with a high floor despite facing a pretty solid pass defense.
Borderline Rookies:
QB Tua Tagovailoa, MIA (Wk. 10: vs. LAC): Tua quickly made people forget his inauspicious debut in his second start, finishing as the QB16 in a game against a solid QB defense in Arizona. This week he faces a Chargers defense that allows the 4th-most QB points per game. His weapons aren’t at full strength with Myles Gaskin and Preston Williams on IR, but I trust Tua to post another solid game and flirt with QB1 territory. He costs $1,000 less than Justin Herbert on DraftKings, but I’d give him a slightly better than 50/50 chance to finish with more points than his fellow rookie.
QB Justin Herbert, LAC (Wk. 10: @Mia.): Herbert has been a locked-and-loaded QB1 most weeks since the start of October, with at least 21 fantasy points in each game, but the Dolphins have forced some QB floor games this year. They’ve allowed fewer than 13 fantasy points to the opposing QB 3 different times this season, and the guys that they’ve struggled with have been running QBs (Cam Newton, Josh Allen, and Kyler Murray). Herbert has some mobility, but it’s not a focal point of his game. The Dolphins rank 8th in pass defense DVOA. If you have Herbert, you’re probably playing him, but be warned that this might not be one of his top performances. I’d view him as more of a contrarian play in DFS formats, and a borderline option in 1-QB leagues.
RB D’Andre Swift, DET (Wk. 10: vs. Was.): I mentioned you should start Antonio Gibson this week, but on the opposite side of the Washington-Detroit game, D’Andre Swift should be in line for another useful fantasy day as well. The Football Team is much better at defending the pass than the run. They rank 1st in pass defense DVOA, but just a middling 17th in run defense DVOA and are fresh off allowing Wayne Gallman to post an RB6 finish a week ago. There is a ‘revenge game’ narrative for Adrian Peterson in this one, and the Lions have less-than-exciting implied total for a favorite at just 24.75, so Swift isn’t an auto-start here. I do like his chances of returning an RB2 performance, but wouldn’t go out of my way to play him over safer choices.
RB JK Dobbins, BAL (Wk. 10: @NE): Dobbins came back down to earth a bit last weekend against the Colts after a breakout game the week before. His outlook this week could get a little murkier with Mark Ingram looking likely to return (he practiced on Friday). New England can be run on. They rank 31st in run defense DVOA and have allowed the 13th-most RB points per game, and Baltimore should have game script in their favor as a touchdown favorite. If Ingram returns, this will go back to being a 3-headed monster at running back, so Dobbins would likely be in line for 10-12 carries. That kind of workload would likely make him a fringe RB2 if he’s able to find the end zone. You could do worse if you’re struggling to fill in a last RB spot.
RB Zack Moss, BUF (Wk. 10: @Ari.): Moss has steadily worked himself into a bigger role since returning from injury a few weeks back, and has now played more snaps and posted more fantasy points than Devin Singletary in each of the last 2 weeks. The key to his fantasy production has been and will continue to be touchdowns. He’s found the end zone 3 times in the last 2 weeks. The workload split with Singletary means Moss will be in the range of 10 touches most weeks, and more often than not that isn’t going to get him to the RB2 range without a touchdown. This week he faces an Arizona defense that is the definition of middling against running backs. They rank 16th in run defense DVOA and have allowed the 17th-most RB points per game. The Bills do have an implied total of 27.25 in what should be a bit of a shootout, so a TD may be in the offing for Moss. He’s a reasonable flex option.
RB Joshua Kelley, LAC (Wk. 10: @Mia.): With Austin Ekeler’s return looming, Kelley’s time as a fantasy relevant back this year may be winding down. He’s had trouble holding off Justin Jackson, Troymaine Pope and Kalen Ballage for work in recent weeks, and once Ekeler returns any one of those guys could push Kelley completely to the bench. For this week, there is a chance that Pope and Ballage handle the bulk of the work, but I wouldn’t count on that happening. I expect Kelley to see in the range of 10-12 touches, and Miami ranks 29th in run defense DVOA and allows the 11th-most RB points per game. I’d view Kelley as a risky flex option in leagues with 12+ teams.
RB DeeJay Dallas, SEA (Wk. 10: @LAR): The Seahawks have officially ruled out Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde yet again this week, so DeeJay Dallas will face the Rams in a backfield committee with Travis Homer and Alex Collins. Last week with the same competition, Dallas played 31% of the offensive snaps and handled 45% of the running back touches. His role might have been larger if the Seahawks hadn’t played from behind all game. Seattle enters this week as a 1.5-point underdog, but one with an implied total of 27.5 points in a potential shootout. The Rams aren’t an inviting matchup, allowing the 7th-fewest RB points per game. A running back in a limited role facing that matchup isn’t one that you should be eager to get into your lineup. He has enough upside that you could talk yourself into using him as flex option, but you’ll probably be better off looking elsewhere.
WR Jerry Jeudy, DEN (Wk. 10: @LV): Jeudy posted his best game of the season in week 9, finishing as the WR8 for the week. In recent weeks, KJ Hamler has started to play more slot snaps and Jeudy has spent more time on the outside, and the results have been favorable for Jeudy. This week he faces off with the Raiders, who rank 26th in pass defense DVOA and have allowed a perimeter receiver to go over 75 receiving yards in all but 2 games this year. After his breakout game, I expect Jeudy to have a better chance than Tim Patrick to be the Bronco that gets to 75 yards this week. Jeudy should be a reasonable WR3 this week in a game where the Broncos could be chasing points as a 5-point underdog.
WR Brandon Aiyuk, SF (Wk. 10: @NO): Aiyuk will once again be San Francisco’s default #1 receiving option this week. Deebo Samuel remains sidelined with injury, and Aiyuk had a 25% target share with Samuel sidelined in week 8. Aiyuk is likely to face off with New Orleans’ top corner Marshon Lattimore, which could cap his upside a little, but Kyle Shanahan is a clever enough coach to move him around the formation and use him as a rusher as well to get him away from Lattimore a bit. The Saints do rank 9th in pass defense DVOA, but I still like Aiyuk’s chances to post a WR3 day Sunday. He should be a safe bet for 7+ targets in a game where the 49ers are 9-point underdogs.
WR Justin Jefferson, MIN (Wk. 10: @Chi.): Jefferson has flashed overall WR1 upside some weeks, but he’s been a bit volatile from week-to-week. He’s had two games of over 150 yards this season, and 3 with fewer than 30 yards. The Bears are not an easy matchup, allowing the 3rd-fewest points per game to the position, so there is a chance this is more of a floor week for Jefferson. His low output weeks have usually come when the Vikings play from ahead, and they are 2.5-point favorites this week. Jefferson’s upside is tough to sit, but if you have other strong options this isn’t a bad week to chance sitting him. If he tops 60 yards it will be a successful week for the rookie.
WR Darnell Mooney, CHI (Wk. 10: vs. Min.): Mooney led the Bears in targets in week 9 with 11 of them, and while I don’t expect for him to continue to see more targets than Allen Robinson, his usage has been pretty consistent since the start of October. Mooney has at least 5 targets in each of the last 7 games, and is averaging 8 per game over the last 3. The Vikings allow the 2nd-most WR points per game, so Mooney has a solid chance at double-digit PPR points even if he doesn’t out-target A-Rob again.
Rookies to Sit:
QB Joe Burrow, CIN (Wk. 10: @Pit.): Burrow is probably fine as a QB2 this week given the limited slate of games and his recent production. He’s thrown for over 300 yards 5 times in his last 7 starts and only been held short of 15 fantasy points once in those games. I would shy away from considering him in 1-QB formats though. This isn’t going to be a ceiling week for the rookie. Pittsburgh hasn’t allowed 20 fantasy points to any QB they’ve faced this year, and an average of just over 12.5 QBs per week have topped 20 points. A QB1 week is likely not in the offing for Burrow against a defense that wants to show that last week’s performance against Dallas was an aberration. The Steelers rank 3rd in pass defense DVOA and allow the 5th-fewest QB points per game.
QB Jake Luton, JAX (Wk. 10: @GB): Luton acquitted himself better than I expected him to in his first NFL start, finishing as the QB15 with over 300 yards and a TD through the air, and another TD on the ground. He did that against one of the worst QB defenses in the league though in Houston. The Packers allow the 6th-fewest QB points per game, and Jacksonville has an implied total below 20 points. The way to hang in the game with Green Bay is to run the ball, and I’d expect a lot of James Robinson in this one. Luton is only worth consideration as a low-end QB2 option.
RB Cam Akers, LAR (Wk. 10: vs. Sea.): Akers finally got himself into the backfield mix in the Rams’ last contest with Darrell Henderson suffering a thigh injury, and he managed to put up 54 scrimmage yards on 9 carries and 1 catch. It’s possible that the strong performance leads to more work for Akers coming out of the bye week, but Darrell Henderson will return this week and is the likeliest bet to lead the backfield in week 10. Seattle allows the 13th-fewest RB points per game and ranks 9th in run defense DVOA. If Henderson leads the way for this backfield as expected, Akers faces an uphill battle to post a useful fantasy day in this matchup.
RB JaMycal Hasty, SF (Wk. 10: @NO): The 49ers backfield without Raheem Mostert has proven to be a weekly crapshoot, and for the time being it looks like Jerick McKinnon is at the top of the depth chart. Hasty will mix in a fair amount for as long as the 49ers remain in the game, but the passing work will likely go mostly to McKinnon and the Saints are favored by 9. New Orleans also allows the 5th-fewest RB points per game. Hasty is best left on the bench this week.
RB Anthony McFarland, PIT (Wk. 10: vs. Cin.): McFarland handled 5 touches last Sunday, the most he’s had in a game since week 3, but he totaled just 22 scrimmage yards. The Steelers were surprisingly trailing for much of the game against Dallas. I wouldn’t expect a repeat of that scenario this week. The Steelers are favored by 7.5 points against Cincy, so I’d expect them to get back to using James Conner quite a bit. McFarland shouldn’t be near your starting lineups.
WR Gabriel Davis, BUF (Wk. 10: @Ari.): Davis is coming off a 4-70-1 performance on 5 targets against the Seahawks last Sunday, but he posted those numbers on the fewest snaps he’s played since week 2, and the Seahawks have been the worst WR defense in the league by a LOT. No team comes within 10 points per game of what Seattle allows to the position. Week 9 was the first time in almost a month that Davis posted more than 1 catch and more than 11 yards. The fact that he did so with a shrinking snap share means he shouldn’t be counted on to do it again. The Cardinals are a much tougher WR defense than the Seahawks, allowing the 15th-most WR points per game…which is a full 17 points per game less than Seattle gives up to the position. Davis is best left on the bench this week.
WR Henry Ruggs, LV (Wk. 10: vs. Den.): There is going to come a week where Henry Ruggs has another blowup game, but with the type of production he’s been posting from week-to-week, I’d rather it happen from my bench than risk him putting up less than 5 points in the lineup. Ruggs has fewer than 5 points in 3 out of the 6 games he’s played, and just 5.5 in one of the others. Denver does allow the 8th-most WR points per game, but they’re above average when it comes to not giving up big plays. Only 9 teams have allowed fewer completions of 20+ yards than the Broncos. I’d avoid Ruggs’ rookie teammate Bryan Edwards for now as well. Edwards played just 1 snap in his return a week ago.
WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, CLE (Wk. 10: vs. Hou.): The Browns have played just one full game since the injury to Odell Beckham Jr., and Peoples-Jones played just 4 snaps in that game as Khadarel Hodge moved back into 3-wide receiver sets. The Browns’ offense is going to get more crowded this week as they get Austin Hooper & Nick Chubb back on the field. This is a plus matchup for most offensive players, but I doubt DPJ sees the field much.
WR Austin Mack, NYG (Wk. 10: vs. Phi.): Mack made the most of an unexpected opportunity last weekend when the Giants benched Golden Tate for the week. He hauled in 4 of 5 targets for 72 yards, but Tate will be back in the lineup this Sunday. Mack will be lucky to play more than 10-15 snaps in this one behind Tate, Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton.
WR Quintez Cephus, DET (Wk. 10: vs. Was.): Kenny Golladay is out again this week, but even with him missing this game, I wouldn’t look to Cephus as a fill-in. He’ll be on the field a reasonable amount (he played 41% of the snaps last week), but he’s essentially playing as the #3 guy in a 3-man rotation for the team’s WR2 & 3 roles with Marvin Hall & Danny Amendola. Washington allows the fewest WR points per game, so this isn’t a matchup to bet on Cephus making things happen with limited snaps.
WR Freddie Swain, SEA (Wk. 10: @LAR): Swain has been on the field a fair amount for Seattle, averaging about 24 snaps per game in the last 6 games, but he’s totaled just 5 catches on 9 targets in those games. Unless something happens to a wide receiver ahead of him there isn’t much reason to consider him.
WR Tyler Johnson, TB (Wk. 10: @Car.): As expected, the addition of Antonio Brown and the return of Chris Godwin have rendered Johnson irrelevant for fantasy purposes. He did record a catch on Sunday night, but played just 6 snaps and operated as the team’s WR5. Johnson is best left to the waiver wire unless more injuries pop up ahead of him.
Rookies on Byes: QB Ben DiNucci, DAL, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, KC, RB LaMical Perine, NYJ, WR CeeDee Lamb, DAL, WR Denzel Mims, NYJ
Deep League Sleepers, Stashes, and Cheap DFS Options:
RB Salvon Ahmed, MIA (Wk. 10: vs. LAC): Thanks to continued ineffectiveness from Jordan Howard, Ahmed looks like the best fantasy option in the Dolphins backfield until Myles Gaskin returns. Howard posted 19 yards on 10 carries last week, and now has just 33 yards on 28 carries on the year. Ahmed posted 38 yards on 7 carries in the first game he was active for all year. The Chargers are a vulnerable run defense, allowing the 12th-most fantasy points per game to backs, and ranking 23rd in run defense DVOA. Ahmed is a worthwhile option if you’re desperate for a running back in deep leagues, and he costs the minimum on DraftKings this week.
RB AJ Dillon, GB (Wk. 10: vs. Jax.): Dillon hasn’t really gotten much opportunity this season, even when Aaron Jones missed time with injury, but this week could set up for some garbage time carries for the rookie. The Packers are favored by 13.5 points, and the Jaguars are a favorable running back matchup. Jacksonville allows the 6th-most RB points per game and rank 21st in run defense DVOA. Dillon could push for double-digit touches in garbage time if the Packers pull away. This has a decent chance to be Dillon’s best fantasy game of the season, even if that isn’t saying all that much. His current high-water mark is 4.2 points.
WR Jalen Reagor, PHI (Wk. 10: @NYG): We haven’t seen the Eagles fully unleash Reagor just yet, and I’m not sure we see it this week either. Alshon Jeffery will make his season debut, and that will throw some uncertainty into how the WR snaps shake out. If I had to guess, Greg Ward is the receiver who will lose the most snaps to Jeffery, but if that happens it’s unclear which of Reagor or Travis Fulgham will play in the slot. The Giants are a favorable matchup for wide receivers, allowing the 10th-most WR points per game and ranking 28th in pass defense DVOA, and Reagor found the end zone in the last meeting between these two teams. I’d expect Jeffery to be on a bit of a pitch count, and Fulgham to be the best fantasy option of the WR group, but Reagor will have some upside as well in the plus matchup. The best place to consider him would be in DFS though. I’d be more inclined to take a wait-and-see approach with Reagor in season-long leagues to see how the receiver rotation shakes out with Alshon back.
WR KJ Hamler, DEN (Wk. 10: @LV): I would probably stay away from Hamler in season-long leagues unless they’re pretty deep, but he’s an intriguing low-priced DFS tournament option this week. Hamler costs just $3,800 on DraftKings, and as mentioned under Jerry Jeudy the Broncos could be chasing points and the Raiders rank 26th in pass defense DVOA. Hamler’s move to the slot in recent weeks means he gets to face off with Lamarcus Joyner this week, who has been the weakest of the Raiders’ corners. Hamler saw a season-high 10 targets last Sunday, and there is a good chance that Denver is throwing 40+ times again in this one.TE Harrison Bryant, CLE (Wk. 10: vs. Hou.): Austin Hooper returns this week, but it was clear while Hooper was out that Bryant is the #2 tight end in this offense over David Njoku. The Browns use two tight end sets as their base offense, and the Texans have given up 8-113-1 to Anthony Firkser, 3-35 to Vance McDonald, and a touchdown to Jace Sternberger this season. Backup tight ends have had success against Houston. Overall, they allow the 10th-most TE points per game, so Bryant is a little bit better than a TD dart throw this week.
That’s all I’ve got for this week. Hopefully it helps you with your toughest lineup decisions involving rookies. Make sure to check the active/inactive updates on Sunday, and make sure you don’t start a sidelined player. If you have any questions or want to yell at me about anything written above, feel free to hit me up on twitter and let me know (@Shawn_Foss). As always: Good luck, trust your gut, and have fun. It’s just a game.
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- Written by Tad Bukowski
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- Written by Shawn Foss
Welcome back to the Rookie Report! We’re now more than halfway through the NFL season, and that means we’re heading into the home stretch of the fantasy regular season. These games are going to start to feel more important each week if you’re jockeying for playoff position. It’ll get more important to make the right calls in your lineup each week, and that starts with the Thursday night game. This week’s Thursday night game should actually be a good one, but we were saying the same thing about the Saints vs. Bucs game before it started Sunday night. We’ll see how this one plays out. I’ll be back with a full Rookie Report for week 10 before Sunday, but here is a look at what to expect from the notable rookies tonight
Borderline Rookies:
RB Jonathan Taylor, IND (Wk. 10: @Ten.): It has been a trying couple weeks for folks with Jonathan Taylor on their fantasy teams. He’s played fewer than 40% of the offensive snaps in 2 consecutive weeks and was out-touched and out-gained by Jordan Wilkins in each week. Both weeks Head Coach Frank Reich had a different excuse for why Taylor was phased out of the game in the 2nd half. Two weeks ago against the Lions it was an undisclosed injury. Last week Reich claimed negative game-script was the reason, but it seems clear that Taylor’s grasp on the starting gig is tenuous at best right now. With that said, he does have the opportunity to post a nice game this week. The Titans allow the 8th-most RB points per game, and despite his limited usage last week Taylor still got the ball at the goal line and scored a touchdown. I would expect there to continue to be a bit of a 3-way split in this backfield with Wilkins & Nyheim Hines, but if Taylor manages to get the hot hand early, a strong RB2 day isn’t out of the question. I’d rather make a bet on Taylor than most other committee backs this week (Browns’ RBs not included).
Rookies to Sit:
K Rodrigo Blankenship, IND (Wk. 10: @Ten.): Hot Rod has run cold of late, scoring just 8 total fantasy points in the last 2 weeks, and that’s if your league didn’t penalize you for the two missed extra points against the Lions. This week he faces off with the Titans, who are much more likely to give up touchdowns than field goals. Tennessee has only given up multiple field goals in a game once this season, and in that game they allowed just 2 of them. They’ve given up just 2 kicks all year from 40+ yards, and they allow the 4th-fewest kicker fantasy points per game. If you have Blankenship as your kicker in a season-long league, it may be wise to look into streaming someone else this week, and he shouldn’t be a target in showdown DFS slates for Thursday night.
Deep League Sleepers, Stashes, and Cheap DFS Options:
WR Michael Pittman Jr., IND (Wk. 10: @Ten.): Pittman turned in a nice performance last Sunday with TY Hilton sidelined. He finished with 4 catches for 57 yards on 7 targets against a pretty good Ravens’ secondary. This week he gets to face off with a much more vulnerable Titans defense. Tennessee has been very vulnerable to opposing receivers, allowing the 4th-most points per game to the position and 5+ catches to 13 different wide receivers in the past 5 weeks. Only Darnell Mooney last weekend had fewer than 50 yards to go with the 5 catches among that baker’s dozen. TY Hilton should return this week, so the depth chart gets a little more crowded, but aside from Hilton I think Pittman is the guy that has the best chance at topping those 5/50 marks. Keep a close eye on the updates here to make sure they don’t come out and say that Pittman won’t start in 3-WR sets, but I think there is a great chance for the rookie to set new season highs in both catches and yards on Thursday night. He’s an interesting option in deeper leagues, and will cost a reasonable $4,400 for the Thursday night showdown slate on DraftKings, less than 3 other Colt WRs (Hilton, Zach Pascal, and Marcus Johnson).
That’s all I’ve got for the Thursday night game. Hopefully it helps you figure out what to do with these guys. If you have any questions or want to yell at me about anything written above, feel free to hit me up on twitter and let me know (@Shawn_Foss). As always: Good luck, trust your gut, and have fun. It’s just a game.
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- Written by Jason Evans & David Biggs
We're just a couple of weeks away from the playoffs in fantasy football. Now's the time to get your rosters organized and make some tough decisions when it comes to the players that are performing on your team versus the big names that are not. For more discussion on these players, check out the Fantasy Finish Line, Week 10: Playoff Push! podcast.
Curtis Samuel (WR-CAR) Wk 7 @ NO, 14.3; Wk 8 vs ATL, 19.4, Wk 9 @ KC, 22.3 – Samuel is actually trending up over 5 games, going all the way back beginning in Week 4. Samuel did start the season rather slow, only eclipsing 4 targets once in the first 4 weeks. Now over the last 3 games, he has 7 carries and 20 targets. He has scored at least one TD per game during this stretch and finally broke the 100 yard mark last week. Samuel is not the most targeted player on his team by any means, but he is a dynamic player and the team wants to get the ball in his hands however they can. He has at least 1 carry in every game this season, and more than 1 in all but 2 games. Samuel is only owned in 69% of Fleaflicker leagues, so it’s even possible that he’s still available for you to pick up. A key member of the surprisingly good Panthers offense, he has decent matchups coming in his next 4 games, especially @ Minnesota and vs Denver. Samuel is an above average bye week or injury replacement.
Drew Lock (QB-DEN): ECR QB19 (Borderline QB2/3)
Week 6 (@NE): 10/24, 189 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 5/-1 rushing – 5.46 fpts
Week 7 (vs. KC): 42/40, 254 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 3/8 rushing, 1 rush TD – 14.96 fpts
Week 8 (vs. LAC): 26/41, 248 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 2/-1 rushing – 20.82 fpts
Week 9 (@ ATL): 25/48, 313 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 7/47 rushing, 1 rush TD – 30.22 fpts
Going up against the Las Vegas Raiders defense in Week 10 presents another favorable matchup – The Raiders are giving up the 7th most fantasy points to QBs (21.5 per game) and Lock has a lot of playmakers on the team - including Jerry Jeudy that we talk about below. Lock has attempted 40 or more passes three games in a row and could be considered a borderline QB1 in this matchup against the porous Raiders.
Going forward, Lock has matchups against the Dolphins, Saints, Chiefs, and Panthers, all of which are much tougher opponents to QBs as of week 9 (ranked at 19th, 13th, 25th, and 24th respectively) than the Chargers, Falcons, and Raiders (4th, 2nd, and 7th) defensive reprieve that he has been able to enjoy. It’s like the feeling when you’re on a tropical vacation but you have to return home next week to January in Chicago. So enjoy it while it lasts. My prediction is that Drew finishes top-10 in Week 10, but he should be left out on the waiver wire afterwards. Bundle up, Drew.
Jerry Jeudy (WR-DEN) Wk 7 vs KC, 3.0; Wk 8 vs LAC, 9.3; Wk 9 @ ATL, 22.0 – Jeudy’s usage on the Broncos has exploded the last few weeks. He has 24 targets over the last two games, more than the previous 4 games combined. Over those two weeks, he has the most targets on the team, which is always the spot you want your starting WRs in. Jeudy is owned in 76% of Fleaflicker leagues, so check your waiver wire to see if the rest of your league is asleep at the wheel. (Yes, that means that you were too). Jeudy has really started to show off his route running skills, including a filthy play last week where he threw his hand up as if he was going deep, and then slammed on the brakes to nab a comeback pass and ran it in for a score. He’s definitely developing a rapport with Drew Lock and just needs to work on bringing his completion percentage up from its current level of 49.2%. With mostly positive matchups coming up to end the season, his only top 5 defensive matchup is against the Chiefs, whom he already played against this year.
Terry McLaurin (WR-WAS): ECR WR6 (Borderline WR1/2)
Week 5 (vs. LAR): 3/7 for 26 yards – 4.10 fpts
Week 6 (@NYG): 7/12 for 74 yards – 10.90 fpts
Week 7 (vs. DAL): 7/11 for 90 yards, 1 TD – 18.50 fpts
Week 9 (vs. NYG): 7/8 for 115 yards, 1 TD – 21.00 fpts
So, with the possible exception of Antonio Gibson who has had some very nice performances, especially in weeks 4 and 7 with 20.80 and 18.80 fpts respectively, Scary Terry has been the only consistent fantasy performer on a week-to-week basis for Washington. In fact, he has not been targeted less than seven times a game this season.
Looking forward to the matchups in the future (Lions, Bengals, Cowboys, Steelers), the games against Detroit and Cincinnati might prove challenging but the Cowboys and Steelers are giving up a lot of points to WRs and Terry has already proven that it doesn’t matter who his QB is, only that there is a QB and he passes to Terry. Which will be the case as long as he’s healthy. It was good to see Smith still involving McLaurin heavily in the passing game and the Redskins are going to keep calling plays out there for #17 all season.
Ronald Jones (RB-TB) Wk 7 @ LV, 10.10; Wk 8 @NYG, 4.6; Wk 9 vs NO, 3.3 – After week 6, Ronald Jones was riding high. He was the first back this season to have 3 straight 100 yard games. He was seeing heavy usage in the passing game, but it all came crashing down in the last 3 weeks. He’s had 23 total carries over 3 games, which is not befitting an RB1 with 92% ownership in leagues. Worse yet, he’s combined for only 66 rushing yards during those games for a 2.8 yard per carry average. During this time, Leonard Fournette has seen more carries (27), so it’s a split at best going forward, with the larger portion of the split apparently going to Fournette. Jones may not be a lost cause altogether, but it’s going to be very hard to predict. If both backs are healthy, you might as well flip a coin to decide which guy will be better. If either gets hurt, the other one will resume a dominant role as the every down back. Matchups this week and in Week 16 are against teams giving up top 5 fantasy points to opposing RBs, so not all is lost with Jones. You’ll just need to pick your spots carefully and hope that the game flow is in your favor.
Jonnu Smith (WR-TEN): ECR TE13 (Borderline TE1/2, used to be TE1 earlier in the season)
Week 7 (vs PIT): 1/4 for 9 yards, 0 TDs – 1.40 fpts
Week 8 (@CIN): 2/2 for 29 yards, 0 TDs – 3.90 fpts
Week 9 (vs CHI): 2/2 for 32 yards, 1 TD – 10.20 fpts
Jonnu Smith is still the TE5 overall so far this season with 78.4 fpts, averaging 9.8 fpts per game. In a world where the point difference between the TE1 (Travis Kelce) and TE10 (Dalton Schultz) is 74.1, more points than the #8 TE (Robert Tonyan) has scored all year, you have to keep what success you can find close to the chest.
Smith returns to must-start territory after finally having a plus day in week 9, but it should be noted that the Colts are only giving up the 2nd fewest points in the league to the TE position. Scary stuff from someone who is only getting 2-3 targets per game right now. So why is that? Well, the Titans have A.J. Brown healthy, Corey Davis actually doing things, and TE Anthony Firkser has been sucking up a similar number of targets per game as Smith, also with limited success.
I believe that this particular matchup will be a tough one and that Smith will most likely only be able to save his day with a touchdown, and the next few matchups that the Titans have to deal with (Ravens, Colts, Browns) are also in the top half of the league as far as preventing fantasy points from the position. Hold on to Smith for the fantasy playoffs in a deep league, but otherwise he’s a tough sell here. Of course, you may not be able to find anyone better in this year’s TE wasteland.
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- Written by David Biggs
Week 10, already? Listen up, that only leaves us with 4 weeks to get your team into tip-top shape for the fantasy playoffs in most leagues. Pay special attention to the rankings and news this week as you may be picking up guys that will help you on the road to the championship trophy. Listen to or watch the Fantasy Finish Line podcast to stay on top of the latest news and analysis - we broadcast live on YouTube weekly on Wednesdays at 9pm CT.
Guys that jump out to me this week to overperform expectations: Drew Brees, David Johnson (if he can get cleared in time), D.J. Chark, Jonnu Smith, and Miami Dolphins DST.
Pay attention to these rankings throughout the season, as they will continue to evolve based on the latest injury updates, news, and player analysis. Have any specific lineup questions? Feel free to tweet us @drinkfive with any of your questions or comments!
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- Written by Jason Evans
Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters. All fantasy stats are half PPR scoring unless otherwise noted.
252 Yards from Scrimmage
For the second week in a row, Dalvin Cook reached 200 yards from scrimmage in another dominating performance. This time around, he only needed 22 carries to hit 206 rushing yards, but he still added 2 catches for 46 yards for good measure. He did “only” find the end zone twice, but it was enough to be the top scorer for the second week in a row with 38.2 points. Most weeks I wonder if someone will turn in a performance on Monday night that makes one of my entries a moot point. This week is not one of those times. Cook is now the RB1 on the season with a 10-point lead over Alvin Kamara, who turned in a mere 49 yards from scrimmage in a game where his team put up 38 points. Cook has 13 touchdowns in just 7 games and is basically single-handedly dragging his team out of the basement of the NFC North. An honorable mention goes to Christian McCaffrey, who did not skip a beat and put up 32.1 points in his return, continuing his average of scoring 2 TDs per game. Unfortunately, it sounds like McCaffrey is headed to the bench with another injury.
2% Ownership in Fleaflicker Leagues
There were a number of familiar names on the top WR list of the week, but the one above all the others was definitely new to me. Richie James, who is owned in just 2% of Fleaflicker leagues, and was started in zero leagues that you or I are in, had 3 receptions over 40 yards, including his 41-yard touchdown in what can only be described as garbage time while the 49ers were down 34-10 late in the 4th quarter. Fantasy football, however, does not care what the score is on the field, so James gets credit for all the 28.9 points that he earned last Thursday night. James just barely edged out Tyreek Hill, who put up his first 100 receiving yard game of the season and caught the 100th (and 101st) touchdown pass of Patrick Mahomes’ career. Hill has been around for all of them – he also caught Mahomes’ first TD pass back in 2018. Mahomes is the fastest QB to 100 passing TDs, beating Dan Marino’s mark by 4 games.
3rd Week as the Top TE
Travis Kelce has been the top TE on a weekly basis for 1/3rd of the season so far. Not too bad when you consider just how volatile the position is in fantasy football. Kelce is basically a lock for the top spot when he reaches the 20-point mark. This week, and last’s, 20.9-point performances were good for the lead, and it wasn’t even close. He also put up 20.8 in Week 5 and led the league. On the season, Kelce is just dominating the position and is in tier 1 all by himself and it’s not even close. You might say that tier 2 is his as well, considering he has 139.9 points on the season and the next closest player is over 50 points behind him. Darren Waller has quietly been the TE2 on the season without ever finishing in the top 2 of any given week. Waller leads his team in both receptions and receiving yards, though being 8 games into the season and not having a single receiving leader over 400 yards is nothing to write home about.
8th Most Rushing Yards in the League
Kyler Murray did all he could on Sunday to win but lost to a very surprising Miami team that is playing way beyond any level that people expected this season. Murray added another 106 rushing yards to his already gaudy numbers this season. For the year, he has the 8th most rushing yards of any player in the league. He’s averaging 7.14 yards per carry. If he never threw a pass, he would be the RB13– 102.3 points come from his rushing yards and 8 rushing TDs. As it stands, Murray is the QB1 on the season with 240.5 points in 8 games. He leads a tier 1 of QBs that include 3 other players, all of whom deserve MVP votes so far this year. Patrick Mahomes got a shout out earlier, but really the major props go to Josh Allen who shut up his critics for a week with his 44-34 win over the Seahawks. Russell Wilson was the only one of the group to struggle, turning the ball over 4 times and scoring his second-lowest total of the season, 24.1 points.
8 Rushing Yards
Tom Brady suffered the worst defeat of his career (35 points) last night and everybody was invited to watch it on Sunday Night Football. The Buccaneers combined for just 8 total rushing yards in a game where none of their players reached double-digit fantasy points. Brady had just 209 passing yards and 3 INTs as he could only muster a late field goal for his team to keep them from being shut out. On the other side, Drew Brees was the only one with a good fantasy game, despite his team putting up 38 points. Brees found the end zone 4 times reaching 22.68 fantasy points, nearly 10 more than the next highest player on his team. Of note in this game was the fact that it contained the two all-time passing touchdown leaders in the NFL. Brees and Brady keep trading the top spot, but this week it was all Brees. He’s now in the lead 564-561.