Fantasy Football: The Things I Learned – Week 6, 2016

By Chet Gresham – @ChetGresham
Follow @walterfootball for updates.

Below, check out my fantasy-centered recaps of key players from this week’s contests. For instance, did a player come back to earth after an aberrant breakout, or were they simply affected by something like game flow?

Welcome to Week 6. I have now watched more sports than any one person should legally be allowed to do in a 12-hour period. Here are some of the things I learned.

Ben Roethlisberger hurt his knee before halftime and missed a series, but then came back after halftime, but was not good, as he was off target more than not. And now we know that he has a torn meniscus and will miss time. How much time is unknown right now, but you can start worrying about Antonio Brown and Sammie Coates and Le’Veon Bell. Bell should be okay, but as long as Landry Jones is behind center, the Steelers’ offense is going to be bogged down often.

Can you believe this Matt Ryan guy? He went into Seattle and completed 27-of-42 passes for 335 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, with most of those stats coming in the second half. Seattle had the best pass defense in the league coming into this game and will probably continue carrying that title as the season goes on, but this Atlanta offense cut through Seattle fairly easily at times. Ryan has made an extreme turnaround from last season and leads in the way-too-early MVP race.

Ezekiel Elliot became the first rookie to ever rush for 130 or more yards in four straight games as he ran through the Green Bay Packers’ tough run defense for 157 yards on 28 carries. The Packers had allowed just 170 rushing yards through four games.

Terrelle Pryor is the honest-to-goodness real deal as a wide receiver, and he’s only going to get better. Against the Titans, Pryor caught 9-of-13 targets for 65 yards and two touchdowns, and this is with Cody Kessler throwing him the ball. Corey Coleman is the No. 2 receiver when he returns.

Dak Prescott finally threw an interception, but he went the longest to start his career without throwing one, with 176 pass attempts sans interception. On the day, Prescott completed 18-of-27 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns to go along with his first interception. The win in Lambeau is yet another feather in his cap, and we will continue to hear that Tony Romo will need to be 110 percent before he can play.

Well, it took long enough, but Lamar Miller scored his first rushing touchdown Sunday night, and then, he scored his first receiving touchdown later that same night! He has played a tough schedule and finally got a cake matchup with the Colts, and well, it wasn’t that hard to see this game coming.

Odell Beckham Jr. had 211 yards receiving, which is pretty amazing, but those were just in the second half of the game! He only had 11 yards in the first half, so he didn’t take on Flipper Anderson’s record, but he did catch two touchdowns to go with those 222 yards and is obviously over his early season struggles.

Drew Brees had his 15th career 400-yard game, breaking the tie he had with Peyton Manning. Brees also completed 34-of-49 passes for 465 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. He’s just too good at the Superdome.

Spencer Ware rushed 24 times for 131 yards and one touchdown and out-carried Jamaal Charles 24 to 9. Charles also found the end zone, but this was the Ware Show. Next week, the Chiefs play the Saints, so you can use both and maybe we can get a better handle on how this situation will shake out.

LeSean McCoy is not a fan of Chip Kelly, and it showed this week as McCoy manifested his animosity into 140 rushing yards and three scores.

Golden Tate lives! After getting a total of 134 receiving yards over his first five games this season, he caught eight passes for 165 yards and a touchdown against the Rams on Sunday. It’s still going to be tough to trust him as a top wide receiver right away, but this is a great step toward doing just that.

Jay Ajayi came into Sunday with 117 rushing yards over four games, and his team’s running backs as a whole had only averaged 58 rushing yards per game. That took an about face when Ajayi rushed 25 times for 204 yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers. Arian Foster played this week, but Ajayi blew everyone out of the stadium as he rumbled off solid runs. Foster could just be getting eased back into the offense, but Ajayi proved something huge this week, and I think Ajayi will continue to get a shot to lead the backfield.

Don’t bet against an Andy Reid team coming out of their bye. He is now 16-2 after getting an extra week to prepare.

Ty Montgomery caught 10-of-12 targets for 98 yards and rushed three times for six yards. He lined up in the backfield often, as James Starks is out with a knee injury. Montgomery caught passes out of the backfield, but also when he was lined up as a receiver. With Aaron Rodgers’ recent struggles, Montgomery could continue to see work as a quick-hitting receiver.

Brian Hoyer didn’t have a great fantasy day, but he did hit 300 yards for the fourth straight game, and he amazingly still hasn’t thrown an interception with 189 attempts. Over the previous two seasons, he has thrown an interception every 40 attempts. The Bears aren’t going anywhere, and they are done with Jay Cutler long term, so Hoyer should continue to start until he slumps again.

Cameron Meredith leads the NFL this week in targets and receptions with 15 and 11. He didn’t get into the end zone, but had a huge PPR day, and with Eddie Royal leaving this game with yet another injury, I expect Meredith to continue to get those targets.

Who is this Case Keenum? He completed 27-of-32 passes for 321 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, while breaking the Rams’ consecutive-completions record of 19 in a row. Keenum also added a rushing touchdown. His interception helped the Rams lose the game, but we’re talking about fantasy here, and even though it will be tough to trust Keenum in fantasy, we can take his good play as a boost to Kenny Britt and, hopefully, Todd Gurley moving forward.

Kenny Britt caught 7-of-8 targets for 136 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, and it had been coming, as Britt had been completing big gains this season, but hadn’t gotten in the end zone. The Lions’ defense, of course, was helpful, but Britt has been playing well and should be owned in fantasy leagues.

So, Rob Gronkowski is decent at football. After going over 100 yards last week, it was apparent his hamstring was ready to let him go all out, and he did just that against the Bengals, catching 7-of-9 targets for 162 yards and a touchdown. He’s firmly set as the No. 1 tight end going for the rest of the season.

James White rushed seven times for 19 yards, but did all of his damage through the air, catching 8-of-9 targets for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Since we just don’t know when Dion Lewis will be back, White has a chance to be useful in fantasy for as long as Lewis is out.

Supposedly, T.J. Yeldon has “taken ownership” of the Jaguars’ backfield, but amazingly that coach-speak resulted in 13 touches for Chris Ivory and seven for Yeldon. Ivory got into the end zone, but neither back looked great in a Jacksonville offense that has not been clicking.

Jonathan Stewart returned to action in a great matchup and rushed 19 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Those touchdowns could have easily been Cam Newton’s, but Newton just came off a concussion and the Panthers didn’t want to risk him rushing. They will probably give Newton those more often moving forward, but there’s a chance they want to protect Newton a bit more and Stewart could see more goal-line carries.

Giovani Bernard once again got the start over Jeremy Hill and out-touched him on the way to 94 total yards against the Patriots. If this continues against the Browns next week, Bernard could have a big game.

Terrance West is probably feeling pretty good about offensive coordinator Marc Trestman being let go, as West touched the ball 27 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns. He’s holding off Kenneth Dixon like a swarm of zombies at the gate and doing it in style.

Kendall Wright rose from the dead on Sunday, catching 8-of-9 targets for 133 yards and a touchdown against the Browns. The next most-targeted player had just three targets, so Wright was the no-doubt go-to receiver this week. With Tajae Sharpe falling back down to “just another receiver (JAR),” and Delanie Walker getting fewer fantasy points than two other tight ends on the Titans on Sunday, Wright may have value moving forward.

Marcus Mariota rushed seven times for 64 yards against the Browns and also completed 17-of-24 passes for 284 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. The reason I mentioned the rushing stats first is because if he could get a consistent run game going, his fantasy floor gets a nice boost.

Dwayne Allen hurt his ankle and didn’t return to the Sunday night game. Jack Doyle P.I. at your service.

For more thoughts, check out Walt’s updated NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Tuesday morning.

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