“Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” — Alfred Pennyworth
There were plenty of people who absolutely loved the chaos that was Week 6, and I for one was not one of those people.
Touchdowns from non-rostered players like JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Tyler Johnson, Anthony Firkser, Adam Shaheen, Durham Smythe and others just added to what has already been an overly chaotic season. But maybe that’s just what we should be expecting at this point.
Here are 10 thoughts on the current state of affairs in fantasy football:
1. Houston’s offence is fantasy relevant once again
Who would have thought that firing an offensive “genius” like Bill O’Brien and handing the reins over to basically anyone else would have had a great fantasy impact on Deshaun Watson, Brandin Cooks, Will Fuller and others.
Please, nobody tell the Jets that the same would happen if they fired Adam Gase — some of us pray for chaos when it comes to that franchise!
The schedule does have something to do with this resurgence, but Watson has put together two straight top-six weeks with 694 passing yards, 51 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. This is the guy we remember from years past.
Brandin Cooks has seen the biggest uptick in usage over the last two weeks with 21 targets and a team-high 29.1% target share. He’s also seen four red zone targets in the last two weeks. His stat line reads 17 catches for 229 yards and two touchdowns in that time frame. Yeah, I’ll take that.
Will Fuller might even get a bump because teams will now have to account for Cooks on the opposite side. Fuller has scored a touchdown in four straight games, which should really come as no surprise as he has been one of the streakiest touchdown scorers we’ve seen in recent memory.
This Houston offence looks like it’s trending in the right direction, and the buy-low window to acquire any of these talents has seemingly been shut. If you got in early, kudos to you.
2. It’s Tua time!
The Miami Dolphins named Tua Tagovailoa as their starter following this week’s bye, thus ending what has been an amazing start for Ryan Fitzpatrick. The most recent wave of FitzMagic certainly was a fun ride, but this should be great for the Dolphins and their playmakers.
There’s a reason why Tua was taken with the fifth overall pick in this year’s draft — he’s got all the tools to become a star in the NFL.
He comes into a situation that is actually pretty good in terms of offensive talent. DeVante Parker, Preston Williams and Mike Gesicki provide great pass-catching options, and Myles Gaskin has been a great surprise in the running game. Talent around him will certainly not be an issue.
Tua is a must-have on the waiver wire based on upside alone. If Fitzpatrick can put up top-tier numbers, don’t you think Tua can, too? We’ve seen Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert have success this season already, so why not Tua?
I have faith that the Miami offence will continue to be fantasy relevant, and, with Tua’s accuracy, might even be better off moving forward.
This should be a fun ride!
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3. Tampa Bay’s defence is causing fantasy problems
Aaron Jones joined a pretty decent list of running backs who have been stifled by the Tampa Bay defence this season. Jones was held to a paltry 15 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
It’s pretty remarkable really.
Week 1: Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray: 64 combined rushing yards on 27 attempts.
Week 2: Christian McCaffrey: 59 rushing yards on 18 attempts.
Week 3: Melvin Gordon: 26 rushing yards on eight attempts.
Week 4: Austin Ekeler, Josh Kelley and Justin Jackson: 28 rushing yards on 17 attempts.
Week 5: David Montgomery: 29 yards rushing yards on 10 attempts.
It’s not just the running backs that have struggled against this surprisingly vaunted Buccaneers defence, though. The much-improved Tampa secondary has been incredibly important in allowing just one QB1 finish (Justin Herbert in Week 4), and have amassed 22 sacks and eight interceptions so far.
Don’t look now, but you might want to check your lineups and plan around the Tampa defence.
4. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
It was the week we were all waiting for from D’Andre Swift. If you took the advice to go out and try to get him, good on you. If you missed the window, better luck next year!
There is a reason why Swift was taken in the second round of this year’s draft, and it was on display against Jacksonville. The rookie rattled off a 54-yard run and finished his day with 114 rushing yards on 14 carries, and two rushing touchdowns. He also added three receptions for seven yards, laying a beating on the Jaguars porous defence.
Having said all of this, there is always a caveat, and you can blame Matt Patricia. Swift played only 38 per cent of the team’s snaps, which of course is concerning, but he handled 44 per cent of the team’s running back touches.
It just seems like only a matter of time before Swift completely takes over this backfield. But as we’ve come to learn, the bearded wonder with the pencil behind his ear doesn’t care about RB1 fantasy weeks!
5. It’s time to start giving Ryan Tannehill some love
I do not have a soft spot for Ryan Tannehill as a former Miami Dolphin, but boy oh boy do you have to respect what he has done on the field this season.
There was a time earlier this season where we were saying, “if you need a streaming option at quarterback, Ryan Tannehill would be a great pickup.”
In the words of the great (and fictitious) GM Sonny Weaver Jr., “We live in a different world than we did just 30 seconds ago.”
Ryan Tannehill is QB9. No, there are no typos in that last sentence.
Tannehill came to Tennessee as a bit of a forgotten man, initially backing up Marcus Mariota (imagine that). But since taking over the starting gig, he hasn’t looked back. In his last 15 starts, Tannehill has 3,966 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions, and added 258 rushing yards and five rushing TDs. Those are absolutely mind-blowing numbers considering where his game was at before landing with the Titans.
What we have learned — especially if you’ve been paying attention to these articles — is that Adam Gase clearly isn’t good for any football player with talent, and Ryan Tannehill is a clear example of that.
6. Should we be worried about JuJu Smith-Schuster?
Everything was supposed to go back to “normal” for JuJu Smith-Schuster this season: Ben Roethlisberger was back; he had a running mate with Diontae Johnson; James Washington wasn’t anything more than a deep threat; and Chase Claypool was supposed to take some time to get integrated.
The only thing on that list that really came to pass was that Ben Roethlisberger returned. Everything else was a miss.
Diontae Johnson has been in and out of the lineup; James Washington has just two fewer targets and nine fewer receiving yards than Smith-Schuster himself; and Chase Claypool is leading the team in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. It’s been at least mildly concerning for JuJu’s outlook for both the rest of the season and in dynasty formats.
Game script really didn’t go in his favour this week, but he still managed only two catches for six yards on four targets in what should have been a plus matchup. We have seen his targets drop since Week 2, and his yardage totals are as follows from Week 1: 69 yards; 48 yards; 43 yards; 28 yards; and six yards.
That’s just not going to cut it for a guy that had WR1 expectations with his quarterback returning.
So what do you do now?
The only answer is to hold in all formats because his value will probably never be lower than it is now. Be patient with him because this really could just be a blip, or maybe he’s got an injury that we aren’t aware of. With all that being said, he’s a boom-or-bust flex play until further notice.
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7. Kyler Murray doesn’t need to throw to win you weeks
It’s no secret that Kyler Murray is one heck of an athlete. But when he runs, it looks like no one is ever going to catch him. This has been a great tool for him, especially considering that he has been under 230 passing yards in three of his first six games. His running ability has come to the forefront in those games, which has been a delight to fantasy managers everywhere.
Here are his numbers in weeks where he has 230 passing yards or less:
Week 1: 230 passing yards; 13 rushes for 91 yards and one touchdown
Week 4: 133 passing yards; six rushes for 78 yards
Week 6: 188 yards; 10 rushes for 74 yards and one touchdown
What’s most important about Murray’s rushing ability is how Kliff Kingsbury uses him inside the red zone. He has 10 rushes for 63 yards and four touchdowns inside the red zone, and three rushes inside the five, which have resulted in three touchdowns.
He was taken as the fifth quarterback off the board in most drafts, but he has far exceeded expectations even for those lofty standards, currently sitting just ahead of Patrick Mahomes as the overall QB1. Not too shabby!
8. Let’s pump the breaks on Julio Jones being irrelevant
“The report of my death was an exaggeration” — Mark Twain
That’s kind of how this feels with Julio Jones, doesn’t it?
His hamstring injury was clearly an issue that was holding him back from really producing, but it’s probably safe to say that it is behind him. His first game back was a fruitful one with eight catches on 10 targets for 137 yards and two touchdowns. His other game where his hamstring wasn’t an issue was another monster performance with nine catches on 12 targets for 157 yards.
I guess what I’m saying is that Julio Jones is still really, really good when he’s healthy.
In the two games he’s played when healthy, he has commanded a 25 per cent target share, which is tops on the Falcons. Matt Ryan is always going to look Julio’s way, especially in a pass-happy offence with an awful defence.
Julio is back, but did he ever really leave?
9. Travis Fulgham has been very good, but what happens when weapons return?
It’s been a pretty good three-week stretch for Travis Fulgham, who has put up excellent numbers since becoming a regular in the lineup for the Eagles, registering 18 catches on 26 targets for 284 yards and three touchdowns. You would take that on your roster any day of the week.
But there should be at least some concern that the target share might take a nosedive.
He has put up these numbers with few other options around him in the lineup and Zach Ertz struggling mightily. There is a chance that Alshon Jeffrey, Desean Jackson, Jalen Reagor and Dallas Goedert return in the very near future, which will likely see his numbers take a hit. The only saving grace here is that Jeffrey and Jackson aren’t beacons of health, so there will still be rest-of-season value.
He does offer some intangibles, such as having good size as a red zone target and decent speed, but where will the targets go when the Eagles get healthy?
He’s definitely a hold in all leagues, but a tough matchup this week against the stingy Giants secondary might have you leaning towards leaving him on the bench.
10. If the Patriots don’t add some pass-catchers, Cam Newton may continue to struggle
Yes, the Patriots didn’t get a chance to practise a lot prior to their loss on Sunday to the Broncos, but even with that fact, it wasn’t pretty for Cam Newton through the air.
Cam has eclipsed 162 yards only once in four starts (Week 2 vs. Seattle) and has only two passing touchdowns and four interceptions in those starts. I wouldn’t put all of the struggles on him, though, as he has been throwing to an aging and hurt Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry (who hasn’t lived up to expectations), Damiere Byrd (who is just a guy) and a selection of nobodies at tight end. It’s certainly not a who’s who of receiving options for the former MVP.
If the Patriots are serious about being a playoff contender, they might want to get Cam another weapon or two.
Maybe Zach Ertz needs a change of scenery from Philadelphia. Golden Tate would be a good fit for Newton and the Patriots offence. How about a burner like John Ross, who wants out of Cincinnati? David Njoku would provide great athleticism at the tight end position as well.
Cam’s rushing numbers have been keeping him afloat as a viable fantasy option, but he is going to need to send out flares or an S.O.S. if he is to keep his head above water for the rest of the season.
Don’t forget to check out Matt’s “Love ’Em, Leave ’Em” picks for the weekend games on Twitter @MattSN590 every Friday.
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