2023 might be a lost season on the playoff front, but they are about to get much more interesting for fantasy purposesā¦
š QB Kyler Murray is on track to start in Week 10
The Cardinals sent Joshua Dobbs and his bag of heroics to Minnesota and then subjected us to one brutal Clayton Tune week, but their franchise QB, Kyler Murray, is finally set to return in Week 10 vs. the Falcons.
Murray hasnāt started a game since tearing his ACL in Week 14 of last season, but immediately enters the QB1 conversation in an unimposing matchup vs. the Fightinā Arthur Smiths:
Itās important not to forget how good of a fantasy player Kyler Murray has been over his career:
The good news for Arizona doesnāt end there, though:
The Cardinals RB room has been an absolute mess with James Conner on IR, so his return will give a huge boost to the running game. Before injuring his knee in Week 5, Conner was dominating the touches in the backfield:
Connerās Week 10 status seems slightly more up in the air than Kylerās, so keep close tabs on his practice reports this week. Heāll be a solid RB2 if he does go.
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The Texans exploded in Week 9, but what can we expect going forward?? Today Ian forecasts Houstonās outlook for the rest of the seasonā¦
What a wild 2023 itās been for C.J. Stroud.
Seriously: The now 22-year-old QB has been dealing with a LOT ever since the ball dropped to start the new year.
December 31-January 1: Stroud plays the game of his life and nearly leads Ohio State to a victory over Georgia, but the clock struck midnight (literally) as a last-second missed field goal spoiled the Buckeyesā upset bid.
April 27: The Texans select Stroud with the No. 2 overall pick despite late speculation that they could go for Will Levis.
September 10: Stroud makes his first NFL start in a 25-9 loss to the Ravens, but did ultimately manage to pass for 242 yards ā the second-highest mark against this elite unit all season.
Through eight weeks of action Stroud has tossed 14 TDs against just one interception (that the Texans hilariously immediately got back anyway when the defender fumbled). His 17-game pace in passing yards (4,825) would beat Andrew Luckās NFL-record 4,374 before the final week of the season.
And guess what? Stroud has looked good doing it along the way, tossing one tight-window dime after another all season long.
Only comparing Stroud against fellow 2023 draft-class QBs is doing the young man a disservice at this point ā the Texansā franchise signal-caller is playing like a legit top-10 QB regardless of experience.
EPA per dropback: +0.15 (No. 7 among 35 QBs with 100-plus dropbacks)
PFF pass grade: 75.4 (No. 12)
Passer rating: 102.9 (No. 4)
Yards per attempt: 8.1 (No. 3)
Critics could point to more middling marks in completion percentage over expected (-0.2%, No. 21) and adjusted completion rate (75%, No. 20), but then again the man does deserve a bit of slack when it comes to advanced accuracy metrics considering Stroud is one of only three QBs with an average target depth north of nine yards on the season.
Real-life optics aside, Stroudās average of 19.6 fantasy points per game trails only Josh Allen (23.4) and Jalen Hurts (22.8) on the season. Heās easily emerged as the best pre-draft value at the position when looking at the difference between preseason ADP vs. current rank in fantasy points per game:
Stroud (+27: QB30 ADP, QB3 in fantasy points per game)
Baker Mayfield (+14: QB32, QB18)
Sam Howell (+12: QB23, QB11)
Brock Purdy (+8: QB22, QB14)
Kirk Cousins (+7: QB14, QB7)
Stroud is putting forward one of the best rookie seasons the position has ever seen in both real life and in fantasy land while truly looking the part of the next big thing at the position through nine weeks of 2023 ā¦ but can he keep it up?
My belief: Yes. And here are the three main reasons whyā¦
Week 9 is in the books! Cooterdoodle is back to walk us through the fantasy landscape from a buy, sell, hold perspectiveā¦
šBUY
š Travis Kelce, TE - Chiefs
Travis Kelceās target share dipped to a season-low of 12% in Week 9. He hasnāt seen any end zone targets since Week 5. And Kecle will have to sit on benches in Week 10 due to KCās Bye.
Itās feeling a bit ābleakā, right?
But if we look at Kelceās production from last week, do we really think that he continues to produce his lowest-scoring games since 2018?
Whatās more likely? A. Travis Kelce continues to perform at his worst. B. Mahomes finds ways to feed his comfort TE in the end zone again.
Iām going with option B, as itās the more likely outcome. Not to mention the Chiefs face PHI in Week 11. And like Matthew Berry has said, āStart your TEs against the Eagles.ā
Takeaway: Have faith in Kecleās talent. Buy low.
š SELL
š Rachaad White, TB - Buccaneers
This is a Conditional Sell.
Rachaad White has been very productive on your roster, especially in a season when RBs are tough to come by.
However, Tampa has some tougher matchups on the horizon that might hinder Whiteās production. And given that his two TDs against the Texans in Week 9 account for 66.66% of his scores through nine weeks, itās possible that weāve seen Whiteās biggest scoring day.
So like I said, āConditional Sellā. The conditions are as follows:
If you are in a standard-scoring league, where Whiteās 3-7 receptions per game arenāt benefiting you: sell.
If you are weak at any position and can capitalize on his monster game: sell.
And lastly, if by some chance you have other RBs that are just as productive and you donāt need White on your squad: sell high.
Takeaway: Odds are we wonāt see multiple TDs again. If you can sell high on White, I would.
š HOLD
š¤ Tank Dell, WR - Texans
While it might seem like a great time to sell Tank Dell after his six receptions for 114 yards and 2 TDS, the Texans have several matchups that are just as WR-friendly as the Buccaneers coming up in the Cardinals, Jaguars, and Titans.
We could easily see more big games from Dell in the future. However, it is worth noting the inconsistencies in Dellās production this season:
But C.J. Stroud and Dell seem to be finding their stride.
Given the fact that you didnāt have to spend to get him on your team (you may have even snagged him in waivers this morning), Dell is likely to put up double-digit league-winning numbers a few more times this year.
And because of that, Iām not willing to get rid of him.
Takeaway: Iāll take a little volatility on my roster if I can continue to get big games in juicy matchups.
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