Fantasy Football: The Things I Learned – Week 7, 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?

LeSean McCoy should have sat this week, and it’s not even a question. He was ineffective, and then in the third quarter, he felt pain in his hamstring and was removed from the game. Rex Ryan is an idiot for letting him play. I assume the Bills will be more careful with him going forward, which means he will likely miss a game when, if they had held him out this week, he could easily have been fine moving forward.

Case Keenum threw the ball 53 times, completing 32 of those for 291 yards, a touchdown and four interceptions. He actually looked okay at times, and some of the interceptions weren’t entirely his fault, but it sure doesn’t look great on the stat sheet or in person, really. Jared Goff must be awful.

Tavon Austin hooked up with Case Keenum early for a touchdown, but on the whole, Austin wasn’t very good, as a ball bounced off his helmet and was returned for a touchdown, he fumbled twice, and could do next to nothing with 15 targets, which is the second-highest target total so far this week.

Matt Jones was benched for a series after his second fumble of the day, which was a horrible one he coughed up at the goal line. He averaged just 2.7 yards per carry, and even though Jay Gruden says he’s sticking with him as the starter, I expect Chris Thompson and Robert Kelley to continue seeing work at Jones’ expense.

Chris Thompson was the best back for Washington this week, rushing 12 times for 73 yards and catching 7-of-7 targets for another 40 yards. I expect his usage to increase moving forward, and he should be picked up in most PPR leagues.

With Steve Smith out again, Mike Wallace caught 10-of-13 targets for 120 yards against the Jets. Joe Flacco was in no way good this week, but as long as Wallace is seeing so many targets, he has plenty of value.

Jay Ajayi became only the fourth running back to ever rush for 200 or more yards in back-to-back weeks, as he rushed 29 times for 214 yards and one touchdown. Ajayi looked like a man possessed, as he picked up chunk yardage over and over. He gets a bye next week and then a tough matchup with the Jets, so the fun is going to slow own, but he is for real.

Sam Bradford had his first turnover as a Viking this week, then his second and then his third, to go along with two more fumbles that were recovered. This was an ugly game to be sure, as the Vikings lost for the first time this season. The offensive line was in no way helpful, but Bradford’s main job is to not give the ball away with the Vikings sporting the best defense in the league.

Tyrod Taylor had a very Tyrod Taylor-like game, as he completed 14-of-28 passes for 221 yards and one touchdown, and rushed seven times for 35 yards and a touchdown, which has him in the Top-5 for quarterback fantasy points this week. This is his best game since Week 2, and it was due mostly to his rushing touchdown. He doesn’t have many receivers to throw to right now, so the rushing numbers are even more important.

Marvin Jones caught 4-of-5 targets for 94 yards against Washington, but has not been used like a No. 1 receiver, with eight, seven and now five targets over his last three games, while Golden Tate saw 12 targets this week, catching six for 93 yards. Josh Norman had a lot to do with Jones’ low number of targets this week, but I don’t think we can just count on Jones getting the majority of the targets moving forward.

Bilal Powell had out-targeted Matt Forte 21 to eight over the last four weeks, and Forte hadn’t topped 15 carries since Week 2, so of course this week Forte rushes 30 times for 100 yards and a touchdown, plus catches all four of his targets for 54 yards and another touchdown. Meanwhile, Powell had no targets and just four rushing attempts for 18 yards. The usage for Forte has been odd to say the least. He now has five touchdowns, but they’ve all come in just two games.

The Bengals’ running backs had big games this week against the Browns’ inept defense, with Jeremy Hill rushing nine times for 168 yards and a touchdown alongside two receptions for 24 yards, while Giovani Bernard rushed 17 times for 80 yards and a touchdown, plus had one reception for seven yards. Bernard led the way in touches, while Hill had two huge runs, one for 40 yards and the other a 74-yard touchdown run. This is still a committee to be sure, but Bernard has led the way in touches of late.

Andrew Luck had his best game since Week 1 and looked good doing it, completing 27-of-39 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns. They combatted their offensive line woes with quick hitters, and T.Y. Hilton and Jack Doyle were the biggest beneficiaries. Luck has now topped 20 fantasy points in his last three games, and despite it not always looking pretty, he’s back to getting the job done for your fantasy team.

Blake Bortles is droppable in most leagues at this point. He had a perfect matchup against the Raiders’ poor pass defense at home and could do nothing. He completed just 23-of-43 passes for 246 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Last season, Bortles racked up garbage-time points in bunches, but those points are much fewer and far between this year despite plenty of garbage-time opportunities.

And what about Allen Robinson? Well, he caught 2-of-8 targets for nine yards against the Oakland friggin’ Raiders. I have nothing against the Raiders, but they had given up the second-most yards per game and the second-most yards per target to wide receivers coming into this week. I believe Robinson will turn things around, because he’s just that good of a football player, but right now, you have to think of him as a WR 2/3 until he and Bortles can get on the same page.

Spencer Ware once again showed that he is a top NFL running back this week, totaling 131 yards and a touchdown on 19 touches, while Jamaal Charles had just one touch after having a minor setback with his knee last week. It doesn’t look like Charles will be unseating Ware anytime soon, even once he gets healthy.

Jeremy Maclin had a great matchup against the Saints and ended up catching just 4-of-5 targets for 40 yards. He hasn’t had a touchdown since Week 1 and has yet to top 78 yards in any game. He will be inconsistent in this offense that would rather run the ball, but he will have value at some point. Last season, Maclin had four games of over 140 receiving yards and 10 games with fewer than 68 yards. He also caught six of his eight touchdowns during the last six games.

Drew Brees ended his road woes this season, as he completed 37-of-48 passes for 367 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in Kansas City. In his two road games prior, he averaged 235 yards passing and had thrown two touchdowns and two interceptions. This is a good sign for his possible road production moving forward and for any quarterbacks facing Kansas City this season.

The Saints’ receivers were on full display this week, as they caught 27-of-34 targets for 285 yards. The big three all did fantasy damage, but Michael Thomas led the way in targets, receptions and yards. He didn’t get into the end zone, but did catch 10-of-13 passes for 130 yards. He’s just a rookie.

Latavius Murray had been out with turf toe, but before the injury, he was splitting running back work with DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard, but in his first game back from injury, Murray saw his most rushing attempts of the season and scored two touchdowns. He did only average 3.3 yards per carry, and Washington and Richard have enough talent to continue seeing work, so I’d be on the sell-high train, despite Murray’s touchdown numbers this year.

A.J. Green, predictably, destroyed the Browns’ weak pass defense, catching all eight of his targets for 169 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown came on a Hail Mary just before halftime, which Green deflected to himself despite four of Cleveland’s defenders around him. It was an amazing play.

Tyler Eifert only played 15 snaps in his first game back and saw just two targets, catching one for nine yards. He may be eased back slower than his fantasy owners hope.

Michael Crabtree continues to be the preferred red-zone target of Derek Carr’s, as he caught 8-of-11 targets for 96 yards and a touchdown, while Amari Cooper saw just five targets, catching four for 29 yards. Cooper still leads the team in targets for the season and should continue that lead, but Crabtree now has six touchdowns to Cooper’s one, and as long as the Raiders remain first in the AFC West, I don’t think Carr is going to drastically change his red-zone habits.

Jacquizz Rodgers rushed 26 times for a healthy 154 yards against the 49ers and now has 56 carries for 255 yards in his last two games. He hasn’t found the end zone, but you sure can’t be complaining too much after picking him up off the waiver wire. Doug Martin had a setback and could be out for a while, and the Buccaneers’ schedule is pretty good with home games against Oakland, Atlanta and Chicago over the next three weeks.

Melvin Gordon is a touchdown tree. You need a touchdown? Just head on back to the touchdown tree growing out of Gordon’s head. Well, that visual isn’t very aerodynamic, but neither is Gordon sometimes, as he is consistently below four yards per carry. He rushed 22 times for just 68 yards and two touchdowns and caught 6-of-7 targets for 53 yards and yet another touchdown. That makes three on the day, pushing his total through seven games to a whopping 10!

Julio Jones caught 9-of-15 targets for 174 yards and should have had more, but Matt Ryan wasn’t his best this week. Jones is now up to 830 yards through seven games.

Landry Jones played much better than I have ever seen him play, and it came against a good Patriots defense. Yes, he made mistakes, but compared to his past performances in relief of Ben Roethlisberger, this game was a masterpiece. Jones completed 29-of-47 passes for 281 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and most notably, he helped Antonio Brown to seven receptions for 106 yards. Last season, that was not nearly the case.

James White caught his third touchdown of the last two games, but this game was all LeGarrette Blount, as he rushed 24 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots didn’t have to worry about Ben Roethlisberger, so after getting the lead, they used Blount to finish of the game. He’s always a situational player, but when he goes off, touchdowns are usually the reward.

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

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