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Fantasy Questions Week 11. The 10 Biggest Fantasy Questions for the Week.
- 1. Is the Joshua Dobbs elite QB1 experience for real?
- 2. What does this Bills offense REALLY need to start clicking?
- 3. What should fantasy managers make out of Tony Pollard at this point?
- 4. How high should fantasy expectations be for Justin Fields down the stretch?
- 5. Can this Packers offense build off of setting back-to-back season-high marks in total yards?
- 6. Is there anyone we DON’T want to start in this potential Cardinals-Texans shootout
- 7. What is going on with Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars?
- 8. Is Jaylen Warren suddenly a weekly must-start RB2 in Pittsburgh?
- 9. Are we positive this Buccaneers offense isn’t actually pretty good?
- 10. What are three bold predictions for Week 11?
- Other Notes for Week 11
Do you realize there are only 44 days between now and fantasy Super Bowl Sunday? Until that one shot? That one moment? To seize everything you’ve ever wanted? Will you capture it? Or just let it slip?
Regardless, yeah: Week 11 is here, baby! What follows are my 10 biggest questions ahead of this week’s action along with a bunch of other shit that I just so happened to find cool for one reason or another.
As always: It’s a great day to be great.
1. Is the Joshua Dobbs elite QB1 experience for real?
The Passtronaut has emerged as one of 2023's best stories.
From shocking the undefeated Cowboys in Week 3, to generally leading the inept Cardinals to far more competitive contests than expected, and most recently keeping the Vikings’ win streak going with back-to-back GREAT performances: It’s Dobbs’ world, and we’re just living in it.
Right? Has he really been that good?
In fantasy land: Yes, thanks in large part to his rather deadly rushing ability. Consider: Only Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson are averaging more fantasy points per game from purely production on the ground this season:
- Jalen Hurts (8.2)
- Lamar Jackson (7.8)
- Dobbs (6.68)
- Josh Allen (6.66)
- Justin Fields (5.0)
Dobbs has also gotten the good times rolling through the air with the Vikings after brutally averaging under five adjusted yards per attempt in four consecutive games to end his tenure with the Cardinals.
As a whole this season: Dobbs has been pretty bad throwing the football.
- EPA per dropback: -0.02 (No. 23)
- Completion percentage over expected: -1.2% (No. 26)
- PFF pass grade: 58.0 (No. 27 among 33 QBs with 150-plus dropbacks this season)
- Passer rating: 85.1 (No. 20)
- Yards per attempt: 6 (No. 30)
That said, consecutive solid performances against fairly stiff tests in the Saints and Falcons lend credence to the idea that Dobbs can more consistently move the ball through the air in this rather loaded Vikings attack that *should* get All-Pro WR Justin Jefferson (hamstring, IR) back sooner rather than later.
Also helping matters is the schedule. Not all layups, but things could certainly be worse than finishing the fantasy season with the Broncos (23rd in fantasy points per game allowed to QBs), Bears (29th), Raiders (9th), Bengals (16th), Lions (22nd) and Packers (4th).
Fire up Dobbs as a top-12 option at the position this week with Jefferson back in the lineup; he’ll be just a bit less enticing without one of the game’s best WR against a Denver defense that — to their credit –— has allowed the third-fewest points per game (16.75) over their past four games despite facing Patrick Mahomes (twice) and Josh Allen (Jordan Love too, but, you know).
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2. What does this Bills offense REALLY need to start clicking?
On the surface, the Bills offense seems fine. Top-eight if not top-three in pretty much any advanced offensive efficiency metric you want to look at: Things have hardly been THAT bad for Josh Allen and company.
However, a LOT of that offensive goodness comes from the Bills racking up numbers against the Raiders (38 points), Commanders (37) and Dolphins (48) in Weeks 2 to 4. I’m not a fan of “take away a team’s good games and they are actually bad” analysis; just realize this really hasn’t been the usual Bills Mafia juggernaut for a good month and a half at this point.
Ever since the Bills visited London to take on the Jaguars in Week 5…
- EPA per play: +0.064 (No. 5)
- Yard per play: 6.1 (No. 6)
- Yard per pass attempt: 7.2 (No. 13)
- Yards per carry: 4.5 (No. 6)
- Points per game: 20.5 (No. 19)
- TD drive percentage: 25.8% (No. 9)
Not terrible, but at a minimum it’s been a while since the Bills have reminded us that they’re capable of looking like the single-best offense in football.
Turnovers haven’t helped — but guess what? Guys who make as many amazing plays as Allen usually come with a bit of a price to pay. Yes, Allen has 39 turnover-worthy plays over the past two seasons (second-most in the NFL). Also yes, Patrick Mahomes (31) is tied for fifth with Kirk Cousins. Obviously, each would prefer to not put the ball in harm's way as often; just realize the Bills’ franchise QB (as a whole) has continued to do his most important job this season: Efficiently put up big-time numbers.
There’s also the fact that — as Gabe Davis demonstrated last Monday night — not all of these interceptions have been on Allen. Overall, only Jordan Love (6) and Justin Fields (5) have more interceptions that were deemed to NOT be turnover-worthy plays by PFF than Allen (4).
Clearly, the decision to fire offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey was more so due to his inability to hit sky-high expectations than a complete failure to lead this offense to very good production.
Here’s the more immediate pressing problem: Sauce Gardner and the Jets are responsible for three of Allen’s four worst performances in fantasy points from purely passing production over the past two seasons. The other dud … came last week against the Broncos. Not ideal!
Look, Allen, Stefon Diggs and Dalton Kincaid managers can continue to start their guys each and every week because there’s a damn good chance you don’t have a better option, but it’d make sense if it’s another week or two before we see this group really catch its stride again.
In the meantime — maybe get that guy James Cook the football a little more? Reminder: Last week’s case of the butterfingers marked the first time he let the football hit the ground since literally his first NFL touch:
- PFF rush grade: 83.1 (No. 4 among 47 qualified RBs)
- Yards per carry: 5.1 (No. 5)
- Yards after contact per carry: 3.2 (No. 8)
- Missed tackles forced per carry: 0.15 (No. 28)
- Explosive run play rate: 14.3% (No. 6)
Yes, Cook has benefited from only facing eight-plus defenders in the box on 9.2% of his carries — the second-lowest mark among qualified RBs. Also yes, isn’t that kind of how defenses are forced to defend this offense when Cook — a dynamic pass-game threat — is on the field?
It’s not a given the Bills will feature Cook more down the stretch (has anyone heard a single damn thing about Leonard Fournette?), but the second-year talent joins Gabe Davis as solid enough FLEX plays as long as they remain fairly featured pieces of an offense that should see better days ahead.
3. What should fantasy managers make out of Tony Pollard at this point?
Look: Pollard hasn’t been very good at rushing the football this season:
- PFF rush grade: 65.8 (No. 39 among 47 qualified RBs)
- Yards per carry: 3.9 (No. 27)
- Yards after contact per carry: 2.7 (No. 29)
- Missed tackles forced per carry: 0.09 (tied for No. 45)
- Explosive run play rate: 7.4% (No. 32)
That said: Austin Ekeler (65.1) has a worse PFF rush grade, and Pollard’s explosive run-play rate is just a fraction behind Breece Hall. Guys like Alvin Kamara, Rachaad White, Josh Jacobs, Aaron Jones and Joe Mixon have been quite a bit less efficient on the ground.
And guess what? Fantasy managers of all those aforementioned RBs don’t care, because each has managed to make up for their lack of rushing efficiency with plenty of pass-game and/or goal-line work.
Oct 3, 2021; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard (20) runs for a first down in the fourth quarter against Carolina Panthers linebacker Jermaine Carter (4) at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
These two areas have been far more detrimental to Pollard’s fantasy production than his newfound lack of rushing efficiency:
- Pollard has caught just four passes for 14 scoreless yards over the last three weeks. Mike McCarthy has utilized screens on just 9.2% of the team’s pass plays (27th), and the Cowboys as a whole rank just 21st in total targets to RBs (48).
- The Cowboys ran the ball at the league’s fourth-highest rate inside the five-yard line (30.3%) last season — a far cry from this year’s 15th-place mark (46.7%). Sadly, Pollard has only converted two of his nine carries inside the five-yard line (tied for the fifth-most in the NFL).
Last year’s average TD length of 25.1 yards was easily the highest in the NFL among RBs with double-digit TDs; Pollard was bound for some level of scoring regression — but he *should* have better days ahead around the goal line. Just look at last week when he was stopped at the one-yard line not once but TWICE on separate drives.
Pollard is the RB7 in expected PPR points per game … but tied with Aaron Jones and Jerome Ford as the actual RB24. Only Josh Jacobs and Alexander Mattison have posted fewer PPR points below expectation.
Pollard has not been good. Ezekiel Elliott (4.5 vs. 4.4) is averaging more yards per touch for crying out loud. That said, he very much remains the undisputed lead back of the NFL’s second-ranked scoring offense. This fact alone will keep Pollard inside of my top-15 fantasy options on a weekly basis even if the TD Gods continue to be dicks — You have to fire him up inside fantasy lineups of all shapes and sizes ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Panthers’ 31st-ranked defense in PPR points per game allowed to opposing RBs.
4. How high should fantasy expectations be for Justin Fields down the stretch?
Pretty damn high! Want to hear something wild? Fields’ 11 TD passes are more than guys like Lamar Jackson (10), Derek Carr (10) and even Trevor Lawrence (9) can attest to having despite, you know, not having missed the last 4.5 weeks of action due to injury.
Yes, Fields struggled during the first three weeks of the season and got to benefit from facing the Broncos and Commanders in Weeks 4 and 5. Also yes, he ranks second all-time in rushing yards per game at the position behind only Jackson while also joining Dak Prescott as the league’s only QBs with multiple four-plus pass TD games on their resume this season.
Translation: The best version of Fields combines beyond elite rushing production with untapped passing upside that we were just beginning to see before his injury.
It’s certainly possible this right thumb issue impacts his accuracy, but then again he proved more than capable of posting QB1 fantasy production even without much passing upside throughout the 2022 season. Look no further than Fields’ last two matchups against this very Lions defense when he posted 13-147-2 and 10-132-0 rushing lines.
The QB position is DEEP this week, but I’m still finding a way to squeeze Fields inside the position’s top-10 options — you’d better have a DAMN good reason to have him anywhere near the bench, and he’ll likely be back inside the position’s top-five plays in Week 12 should his right thumb seem fully functional.
5. Can this Packers offense build off of setting back-to-back season-high marks in total yards?
Hopefully! Jordan Love definitely flashed some serious arm talent during the team’s close loss to the Steelers.
While scoring 39 combined points against the Rams and Steelers isn’t exactly something to write home about, Love and company came within nine and one yards of cracking the 400 total yardage mark for the first time this season.
The “easy” has been anything but for the Packers offense this season. However, Love’s evaluation becomes quite a bit tougher to get a read on when accounting for the reality that his play style has ultimately forced defenses to account for every square inch of the field:
- Only Will Levis (11) has a higher average target depth than Love (9.3) on the year.
- Next-Gen Stats has Love ranked as the second-most “aggressive” QB in the NFL, with 20.7% of his pass attempts being thrown into tight coverage this season.
- Love can scoot when needed and has averaged 9.9 yards per carry on scrambles this season — the third-highest mark in the NFL behind only Joshua Dobbs and Patrick Mahomes.
The Packers rank 24th in PFF receiving grade and have posted the league’s seventh-highest drop rate. Reminder that they boast the league’s single-cheapest WR room by more than $4 million (Over The Cap).
Don’t get it twisted: Love needs to be more accurate. Even stats that account for things like difficulty (CPOE: -3.5%, 30th) and drops (adjusted completion rate: 68%, last) will feature Love well down the leaderboard.
Is it concerning that Love hasn’t accomplished the “easier” parts of his job in a system that he’s been learning for four years? Absolutely, but this is also pretty much the same group of skill-position talent that rendered Aaron Rodgers as a league-average QB in more passing metrics than not in 2022. Reminder: Rodgers’ 2022 average of 6.8 yards per attempt is a whopping 0.1 yards better than Love’s 2023 mark (6.7).
It hasn’t always been pretty, but Love’s average of 16.7 fantasy points per game is just a hair off of guys like Jared Goff (17.7) and Brock Purdy (18). I like Love’s chances of supplying a low-key boom ahead of Sunday’s matchup against a Chargers defense that has allowed more fantasy points per game to opposing QBs than any unit other than the Commanders.
6. Is there anyone we DON’T want to start in this potential Cardinals-Texans shootout
Not really!
QB: C.J. Stroud is the QB4 in fantasy points per game and has earned upside QB1 treatment, while Kyler Murray looked VERY healthy on his way to reminding everyone why he’s the all-time QB4 in fantasy points per game.
RB: Both James Conner (63% snaps, 16 touches) and especially Devin Singletary (81% snaps, 31 touches) have the sort of near every-down roles to warrant every-week starting treatment — in Singletary’s case at least for as long as Dameon Pierce (knee) remains sidelined.
WR: Tank Dell is suddenly the WR17 in PPR points per game and deserves weekly WR2 treatment. Noah Brown trails only CeeDee Lamb in receiving yards over the past two weeks and is a recommended FLEX for as long as Nico Collins (foot) remains sidelined. While fireworks didn’t go off for Marquise Brown last week, I’d bet on him and Kyler connecting on this potential 28-yard TD more times than not moving forward. Hell, even Rondale Moore (75% route rate) and Michael Wilson (92%) are viable FLEX candidates with full-time roles in this ascending passing game.
TE: Trey McBride has worked as a top-two fantasy TE in two of his three games without Zach Ertz (knee, IR) and trails only Travis Kelce in yards and targets per route run. Meanwhile, Dalton Schultz has ripped off five top-eight finishes in his last six performances; anyone with a full-time role inside of this Stroud-led attack looks capable of booming more weeks than not.
Lions-Bears joins Texans-Cardinals with a week-high 47.5 game total. Count me in on the over in a battle between two ascending offenses and the league’s 30th (Cardinals) and 24th (Texans) ranked defenses in EPA allowed per play.
7. What is going on with Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars?
Not much — which is kind of the whole problem here.
It’s not that T-Law has sucked in 2023, but he certainly hasn’t taken the sort of massive expected step forward that many thought was on the way after the insertion of Calvin Ridley into the offense.
- 2023: 80.0 PFF pass grade, 7.1 yards per attempt, 72.4% adjusted completion rate
- 2022: 73.1 PFF pass grade, 7.0 yards per attempt, 77.7% adjusted completion rate
- 2021: 58.3 PFF pass grade, 6.0 yards per attempt, 76.9% adjusted completion rate
There have been countless instances of Lawrence being so close to hooking up with one of his pass-catchers for a big play or TD, only for his target to only get one foot down inbounds or draw a pass interference penalty instead.
Ridley hasn't exactly displayed the sort of constant high-end separation ability that many including myself expected. Overall, his ESPN open score (46) ranks just 58th and is in line with one-trick field-stretching types like Justin Watson and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Give the veteran credit for being a first-team All-DPI WR, but PPR WR48 per-game production is objectively brutal.
The Ringer’s Benjamin Solak pointed towards Ridley’s lack of ability to beat press and the offense’s reluctance to regularly test defenses downfield as two of the passing game’s biggest issues, specifically noting:
“According to Next Gen Stats, only 7.4 percent of the Jaguars’ routes go further than 20 yards downfield — that’s last in the league by a comfortable margin. When looking at routes from just wide and slot alignments (i.e., removing routes that are typically shallow, from inline tight ends and backs in the backfield), the Jaguars are the only team with an average route depth (9.9 yards) under 10.”
PFF’s 19th-ranked offensive line hasn’t helped matters, especially not in Week 10 against Nick Bosa and company.
Good news: Week 11 presents just about as good of a get-right spot as any passing game could ask for. The pass-funnel Titans defense has only had to face Desmond Ridder, Kenny Pickett and Baker Mayfield since trading away longtime stud S Kevin Byard; it’d make a lot of sense if Lawrence and this passing game remind everyone there is an untapped ceiling here.
Obviously, Travis Etienne and Christian Kirk are every-week starters, but Ridley and even Evan Engram (league-high 68 targets without a TD) are also overdue for bounce-back performances. I’ll be answering the majority of close start-sit questions involving any of these guys with the Jaguar ahead of Sunday’s hopeful get-right spot.
8. Is Jaylen Warren suddenly a weekly must-start RB2 in Pittsburgh?
The main hope in Pittsburgh ahead of a brutal matchup with Myles Garrett and company comes down to (now starting) RB Jaylen Warren continuing to look a lot like one of the best backs in football. Seriously: These numbers are WILD:
- PFF rush grade: 81.8 (No. 8 among 47 RBs with 50-plus carries)
- Yards per carry: 5.1 (No. 6)
- Yard after contact per carry: 3.3 (No. 7)
- Missed tackles forced per carry: 0.38 (No. 1)
- Explosive run-play rate: 19.7% (No. 1)
Note that Warren (12.7% of rushes have included 8-plus defenders in the box) isn't simply benefiting from loads of softer boxes when compared against the less efficient Najee Harris (15.5%): The second-year talent has simply been really f*cking good at football for the better part of the last two months.
Ride with Warren as a borderline RB2, Najee Harris as a TD-dependent RB3, Diontae Johnson as a volume-based borderline WR2 and George Pickens is more of a boom-or-bust WR4 at this point with Kenny Pickett largely nuking the upside of everyone involved.
I mean, seriously: Pickett can’t even make good things happen when given the benefit of a clean pocket, ranking dead-ass last in both yards per attempt (6.4) and passer rating (82.5) when not under pressure over the last two seasons. Only Baker Mayfield (66.3%) has a worse completion rate than Pickett (67.4%) on these throws among 31 qualified QBs.
For crying out loud: Retired NFL commentator Matt Ryan (14) has more passing TDs than Pickett (13) over the past two seasons despite 1.) Being REALLY bad with the Colts in 2022, and 2.) Starting a full 10 fewer games.
Ultimately, nobody deserves the benefit of the doubt in close start/sit decisions inside of a Steelers offense that continues to demonstrate far more bad than good on a weekly basis. Only the Panthers (15.5), Buccaneers (15) and Giants (13.5) are implied to score fewer points than the Steelers (16.25) ahead of this brutal road spot.
9. Are we positive this Buccaneers offense isn’t actually pretty good?
Baker Mayfield and company have impressed more weeks than not as of late. The 2018 NFL Draft’s No. 1 overall pick has as many passing TDs (14) as fellow former top draws Joe Burrow and Jared Goff while posting a better completion rate over expected (+1.2%) than guys like Trevor Lawrence (+0.2%) and C.J. Stroud (-0.1%).
Hell, Mayfield’s totals would be even bigger if it wasn’t for (otherwise excellent) No. 1 WR Mike Evans letting multiple potential scores clatter off his hands this season. There have been some duds along the way, but this team is some late-game C.J. Stroud-magic away from being over .500.
Ultimately, there are two must-start options in this offense at the moment: Evans, who is pacing for 81 catches, 1392 yards and 11 TDs — he’s an upside WR2 against a 49ers defense that is excellent at the point of attack but has allowed the eighth-most PPR points per game to the position this season.
And RB Rachaad White, who can’t stop, won’t stop, turning his always RB1-caliber usage into newfound RB-level production.
Shoutout to White for earning ESPN’s highest overall receiving rating among all RBs — he’s earned it with a league-high 17 missed tackles forced on receptions and zero drops on the season.
This brings us to Chris Godwin, whose real name is “Rod” if you didn’t know. Irrelevant? Maybe, but I thought it was cool.
ANYWAY, Godwin stands out as one of the league’s least-lucky receivers when it comes to converting targets into scores. Only Zay Flowers (66) has more targets than Godwin (64) this season among all WRs with one or less TD to their name.
Evans’ expected PPR points per game (14.4) haven’t been that far ahead of Godwin (13.1); the main difference has been the former receiver scoring +2.5 points above expected, while the latter has scored -1.5 below what has been anticipated. This isn’t necessarily all on Godwin, whose 70% catchable target rate has paled in comparison to Evans (81%).
Maybe just maybe Rod Godwin can experience what the kids like to call positive regression — I understand both positive and negative regression can simply be called “regression,” but that doesn’t stop people from saying it’s positive. Cool? Cool — especially thanks to Tampa Bay getting winnable matchups against the Colts, Panthers, Falcons and Packers in Weeks 12 to 15 which should keep them alive inside the ever-pathetic, yet competitive, NFC South.
10. What are three bold predictions for Week 11?
Every week I put together matchup-specific charts to help determine the week’s biggest advantages by combining offensive and defensive rates in explosive plays, pressure, yards before contact, passing yards per dropback and EPA. This provides singular metrics to help quantity advantages on both sides of the ball instead of always having to go, “Offense ranks x, defense ranks y.”
The following three players might have a red flag or two in their Week 10 projection — that’s why they aren’t ranked as sure-thing top-12 options at their position — but I believe there’s enough of an edge in the matchup to warrant enhanced optimism.
Will these bold calls work out? Probably not! But should that stop us from trying to predict some cool f*cking shit? Absolutely not!
1. Jaylen Waddle goes nuclear with 150-plus yards and two TDs. The Dolphins boast the week’s second-best advantage in combined explosive pass play rate and third-best mark in combined pass yards per dropback. Waddle *should* be healthier than he’s been in a minute following the team’s Week 10 bye; don’t be surprised if one of the league’s only six WRs averaging north of 2.5 yard per route run since the beginning of last season torches a Raiders secondary that might be feeling themselves just a bit too much following layup matchups against the Giants and Jets.
2. Brock Purdy posts a top-three finish and accounts for five total TDs: No offense is set up better on paper this week than the 49ers against the bad and banged-up Buccaneers. The 49ers haven’t been held under 30 points this season with a fully healthy offense. While Purdy has had many good games this season, he’s yet to post a top-three finish — I expect this to change ahead of this dream home matchup.
3. The Carolina Panthers score exactly three total points. Bryce Young has “led” this offense to at least 10 points in every game this season, but you know things aren’t going well when the head coach decides to AGAIN shuffle play-calling duties. The Panthers look overmatched at nearly every level of the field against Micah Parsons and company; this feels a lot like the spot where a TRUE meltdown occurs following back-to-back miserable offensive performances against the lowly Colts and Bears.
Other Notes for Week 11
- Cut rookie Browns QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson some slack for his turnover-filled debut against the Ravens back in Week 4; the UCLA product didn’t even know he would get the start until pregame. That said: DTR and company remain BADLY injured at offensive tackle, which is hardly ideal ahead of a date with T.J. Watt and company. This passing game is more or less off limits in fantasy land this week; Jerome Ford is the only man here that I’m even SOMEWHAT OK with starting in more lineups than not.
- Diontae Johnson deserves better.
- Tyreek Hill’s 2023 excellence can’t be denied: The only player with more receiving yards through a team’s first nine games of the season (1,076) during the Super Bowl era is … the 2022 version of himself (1,104). The artist known as TyFreak is on pace for a cool 2,033 yards and it’s not like anyone would be all that surprised if he even manages to surpass that.
- Speaking of the Dolphins, this DST is poised to absolutely ball out over the next five weeks of action:
- Week 11 vs. Raiders
- Week 12 at Jets
- Week 13 at Commanders
- Week 14 vs. Titans
- Week 15 vs. Jets
- Two dates with Zach Wilson alongside matchups with Aidan O’Connell and Will Levis? Hell, even the Sam Howell showdown isn’t exactly scary from a fantasy perspective given all the sacks he takes. Don’t be surprised if Jalen Ramsey and company make life easier than ever for their offense and fantasy managers alike during this stretch.
- Jahmyr Gibbs or David Montgomery? Answer: Yes. Both Gibbs (RB7) and Montgomery (RB8) are averaging north of 17 PPR points per game. While each benefited from more centralized production during the other’s absence, Week 10 demonstrated the weekly upside that both maintain inside of the Lions’ ever-lethal sixth-ranked scoring offense. Gibbs is set up better this week against a Bears front-seven that surprisingly leads the NFL in fewest yards allowed per carry (3.2), but Montgomery figures to make up for any efficiency problems with good ole goal-line volume (as long as he doesn’t keep himself out again).
- Speaking of really good football players who play in Detroit: Mr. Ride-or-Die Amon-Ra St. Brown basically hasn’t missed all season:
- 6 receptions-71 yard-1 TD
- 6-102-0
- 9-102-0
- 5-56-1 (suffered abdominal injury)
- 12-124-1
- 13-102-0
- 6-108-0
- 8-156-1
- The Sun God is Fantasy Life’s consensus WR4 this week and that honestly feels low.
- Yes, Will Levis’ NFL Debut rocked. Also yes, the rookie is the NFL’s single-least accurate QB in terms of both raw completion rate (55.7%) and adjusted completion rate (66.3%, accounts for drops) among 36 qualified signal-callers. His league-high 11.4-yard average target depth demonstrates the reality that he’s not missing layups, but last week’s 199-scoreless yards dud against the lowly Buccaneers didn’t help inspire much confidence in this passing game finding some consistency during their winnable end-of-season stretch.
- Give rookie Chargers WR Quentin Johnston credit for drawing three separate defensive pass interference penalties for a total of 29 yards, including one in the end zone to set up his first-career TD later in the game. That said: It would have been a lot cooler if he managed to catch this likely 86-yard house call. QB Justin Herbert might not have another choice but to feed Johnston and Jalen Guyton if Keenan Allen (shoulder) is unable to suit up ahead of Sunday’s winnable matchup against the Packers.
- Giants QB Tommy DeVito led the Giants to their second-best offensive performance of the season against the Cowboys last week … by scoring 17 points. Let that sink in.
- Who would have guessed that Brian Robinson would be fantasy’s most-productive B. Robinson this season? Give the second-year RB credit for really expanding his game as a receiver, posting a 20-256-3 receiving line just one year removed from his pedestrian 9-60-1 performance as a rookie. Surprisingly, both Antonio Gibson and B-Rob are among the league’s top-five most-productive RBs in PPR fantasy points from purely receiving numbers:
- Christian McCaffrey (95.9)
- Alvin Kamara (86.5)
- Rachaad White (73.6)
- Antonio Gibson (68.9)
- Brian Robinson (63.6)
- Washington hasn’t had a bye, so these numbers are a little inflated. However, both Gibson (RB7) and Robinson (RB10) remain top-10 RBs in PPR points from purely receiving production even when going on a per-game basis. Kudos to Sam Howell — currently pacing for 4,731 pass yards and 29 TDs — for truly raising the fantasy floor for pretty much everyone involved this season.
- You don’t need me to tell you that the Jets offense sucks. I mean they are BAD at football. One offensive TD over the last three weeks! One!
- That said: Kudos to everyone involved for simply feeding Breece Hall (16, 20, 18, 17, 25 touches over the last five weeks) and Garrett Wilson (NFL-high five games with 12-plus targets) the football like there’s no tomorrow. The former RB has struggled to efficiently move the ball in recent weeks, but better days will be ahead with this sort of volume. Credit to the latter receiver for being on pace for 104 receptions and 1,213 yards this season despite, you know…
- Zach Wilson, who really does manage to pull off some cool shit every statistic imaginable clearly defining him as a terrible QB. Like, I totally understand that there’s pretty much a non-existent history of players becoming great professionals after being THIS bad through three seasons, but kudos to the former No. 2 overall pick for at least pulling a cool throw or two out of his ass just about every week. There are boring bad QBs and fun bad QB — and I’m thankful that Wilson firmly falls in the latter bucket.
- Matthew Stafford (right thumb) is back this week. Phew. Not sure any of us could have taken another week of the Brett Rypien experiences — especially Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. Don’t be surprised if the pair of target-hog WRs get back to partying like it’s October against a Seahawks defense that largely had no answer for his passing wizardly back in Week 1.
- This Seahawks backfield continues to be the Kenneth Walker show in terms of raw touch totals, but rookie Zach Charbonnet has begun taking
everything Walker has worked for motherf*ckera lot of the fantasy-friendly pass-down work:
- Walker has racked up 15-plus touches in all but two games this season; he remains a recommended upside RB2 start at worst; just realize this is looking a bit more like Washington’s 1.A/1.B Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson rotation than a true workhorse role.
- Courtland Sutton posted an apology form for Russell Wilson on his Instagram, so you know the pair is really feeling good these days. And why wouldn’t they? Sutton has caught a TD in all but two games this season, while Russ’ 18 passing TDs in nine starts is already more than the 16 scores he managed in 15 games last year. Only Josh Allen (19) and Tua Tagovailoa (19) have more TD passes than Wilson this season! And he’s already had a bye week! Madness!
- Jalen Hurts already has seven rushing TDs this season; it looks like he’ll once again reach double-digit scores on the ground without too much trouble — meaning he’ll tie Cam Newton for the most such seasons by a QB in NFL history with three. No other QB has scored 10-plus TDs in a single season more than once in their career. Hell, who even needs to designate the study around QBs: Hurts has an NFL-high 30 rushing TDs since 2021 regardless of position.
- Credit to rookie Rashee Rice for demonstrating some level of fantasy upside, but even then: Sheesh. Overall, Rice’s average of 10.4 PPR points per game still trails what both Mecole Hardman (11.7) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (11.6) managed in this offense a season ago. That’s life in an offense willing to continuously rotate up to six WRs during any given week; here’s to hoping Rice sees a bit more focused usage out of the team’s Week 10 bye.
Best of luck in Week 11 and beyond!
![Mathew Berry](https://dfw06mp24knrz.cloudfront.net/layout/matthewjoin.webp)