Fantasy Football: The Things I Learned – Week 13, 2017

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?

Ravens 44, Lions 20
Matthew Stafford completed 24-of-29 passes for 292 yards, a touchdown and an interception. It was an efficient day, but he couldn’t put the points on the board when needed. He did have his hand stepped on by Terrell Suggs late in the game and had to leave, but x-rays were negative. He’s played through worse, and next week, he gets a great matchup against the Bucs.

Undrafted rookie Tion Green was the surprise “lead” back with 11 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown. It was a good start to Green’s career, and with Ameer Abdullah doing nothing much this season, we could see Green get more work, but he’s not going to lead your team to a fantasy championship this season.

Theo Riddick shared time with Green with Ameer Abdullah out. He Riddick nine times for 21 yards and a touchdown, plus caught all five of his targets for 41 yards. It wasn’t a blow-up game, but Riddick continues to play well and could continue to see more work moving forward.

Alex Collins rushed 15 times for 75 yards and two touchdowns, while catching two targets for 23 yards. Collins has four rushing touchdowns in the last three games and continues to see the lead role. He faces the Steelers next week, but has two easier games against Cleveland and Indianapolis in the following two weeks.

Joe Flacco completed 23-of-36 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns, giving him his highest yardage total on the season and tying his highest touchdown total of the season with only two other games. He got most of his yardage connecting deep with Mike Wallace, which is a good sign, because Flacco had been faltering on deep passes this season, but his body of work this year has been too poor to have much hope for a strong fantasy finish.

Jaguars 30, Colts 10
Jacoby Brissett completed 21-of-36 passes for 174 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, plus made six rushing attempts for 36 yards. This was the expected output for Brissett against the top defense in the league, so there’s not much to garner from his game today, other than to realize you can’t start quarterbacks against the Jaguars.

Frank Gore continues to defy his age, but also is going to continue splitting work with Marlon Mack. Gore averaged 4.7 yards per carry as he rushed 13 times for 61 yards, but amazingly had no targets, while Mack rushed six times for 46 yards, showing his usual big-play ability on a 25-yard run. Both backs played well, but in this offense, there’s no way a committee backfield can give us fake footballers any real fantasy consistency.

Blake Bortles completed 26-of-35 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns, adding 27 yards on three carries. It was a strong outing by Bortles, as he had to do more work with the Colts holding down the run game. He gets two strong matchups with Houston and San Francisco in Week’s 15 and 16 if you need a backup play.

Marqise Lee caught 7-of-10 targets for 86 yards and a touchdown, while Dede Westbrook caught 6-of-9 targets for 78 yards and Keelan Cole caught 3-of-3 targets for 49 yards and a touchdown. Lee made some nice catches and was the main target, but Westbrook was right behind him. As long as Allen Hurns remains out, Westbrook has value.

Jets 38, Chiefs 31
Alex Smith completed 19-of-33 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns, plus rushed one time, for 70 yard, but his team lost. That’s neither here nor there of course, because we’re all about these fantasy points, especially after Smith put up two duds against the Bills and the Giants, with one touchdown to three interceptions. This game shows us that he hasn’t turned back into a pumpkin, and next week, he gets a great matchup with Oakland. In Week 16, he gets an awful Miami defense.

Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce both went off this week, with both scoring two touchdowns each. And thankfully both were must-starts despite Smith’s recent down games, so they likely helped you in a critical week for fantasy.

Kareem Hunt only saw 12 touches, but did put up 63 yards on those touches. Kansas City was in full pass-mode with the Jets roaring back and scoring seemingly at will. Hunt is no longer a must-start in shallow leagues, but he’s not completely washed up.

Robby Anderson and Jermaine Kearse were once again big yardage makers this week, with Kearse catching 9-of-10 for 157 yards and Anderson bringing down 8-of-12 for 107 yards, but neither got into the end zone, as Josh McCown rushed for two touchdowns, Bilal Powell rushed for one and Matt Forte caught one.

McCown played well once again, completing 26-of-36 passes for 331 yards and one touchdown while adding six carries for 20 yards and those two rushing touchdowns. He finishes the fantasy season at Denver, at New Orleans and back at home against the Chargers. It’s not the best schedule, but he’s been playing well enough to use, especially against the Saints in the dome during the winter.

Dolphins 35, Broncos 9
Trevor Siemian is awful. Brock Osweiler is awful. Paxton Lynch is, yep, also awful. But this week, it was Siemian’s turn to be extra awful again, as he completed 19-of-40 attempts for 200 yards and three interceptions. There’s not much to say here, as this was a great matchup and Siemian is, yes, not good.

Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas, together, caught four passes on 17 targets for 38 yards, giving you a little perspective on just how poor Siemian was in getting the ball out to his wide receivers.

C.J. Anderson led the way in the backfield, rushing 15 times for 67 yards and catching 4-of-7 targets for 43 yards. This comes after Devontae Booker had inched his way up the in snaps and touches, enough to have passed Anderson last week, but this week, Booker touched the ball just three times for eight yards. Both are going to have trouble without a competent quarterback, but it looks like Anderson has his job back for now.

Jay Cutler completed 18-of-31 passes for 235 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. It wasn’t a fantasy game to remember, but Cutler doesn’t give us those. He did at least help Kenny Stills and Jarvis Landry put together strong games, and that’s more than Matt Moore could do last week.

DeVante Parker caught 1-of-4 targets for five yards, once again showing that he’s unable to compete one-on-one on the outside with most NFL cornerbacks. He needs to fight for the ball and is just unable to.

Kenyan Drake rushed 23 times for 120 yards and a touchdown, plus caught 3-of-5 targets for 21 yards. It was a nice game for Drake and showed that he’s a complete back. The Broncos were thin on their defensive line this week, but I’ll give Drake his due.

Titans 24, Texans 13
Tom Savage completed 29-of-45 passes for 344 yards with a touchdown and an interception. It was his highest yardage total of his career, and he lost both Bruce Ellington and Braxton Miller during the game. Savage is still not good, but this shows you just how bad the Titans’ defense is right now.

DeAndre Hopkins caught 8-of-13 targets for 80 yards and was harassed all game by multiple defenders. It was a down game for him, but still a productive one, especially in PPR leagues. He remains a No. 1 receiver in fantasy and gets a great matchup with the 49ers next week.

With Miller and Bruce Ellington out, Stephen Anderson and Andre Ellington ended up as the second and third targets, with Anderson catching 5-of-12 for 70 yards and a touchdown, while Ellington caught 5-of-6 for 56 yards in his first game with the Texans. Neither are likely to have much consistency, but if Bruce Ellington and Braxton Miller are out, they could have some appeal against the 49ers.

Marcus Mariota completed 15-of-23 passes for 150 yards and a score, plus added three carries for 23 yards and a touchdown. The rushing touchdown is a good sign, but overall it was another “blah” game for Mariota, who has only thrown two touchdowns in a game twice this season and now has had two games well under 200 yards passing in his last two, which were against the Colts and Texans, two poor pass defenses. I would not want to start him in the fantasy playoffs if that is somehow one of your horrible options.

DeMarco Murray had outplayed Derrick Henry for the entire game, that is until Henry took his 11th rushing attempt for a 75-yard touchdown. He finished with 11 carries for 109 yards, while Murray finished with 11 carries for 69 yards and 2-of-2 receptions for 13 yards. Murray did well enough to keep these two in a pretty even committee, which is not great news for fantasy, but the Titans do get the 49ers and Rams in Week 15 and 16, which should make both Murray and Henry startable.

Packers 26, Buccaneers 20
Jameis Winston completed 21-of-32 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns, both to Cameron Brate. It wasn’t a great game, as Winston was unable to beat a poor Green Bay secondary with DeSean Jackson and Mike Evans, who combined to catch 4-of-9 targets for 57 yards, but Brate helped Winston out by making the most out of his two receptions. Until I know Winston can push the ball downfield with his bum shoulder, I’m not going to risk starting him.

Peyton Barber was the big story this week for the Bucs, as he rushed 23 times for 102 yards and caught all four of his targets for 41 yards. With Doug Martin out with a concussion, the prevailing thought was that Jacquizz Rodgers would take over the lead role again, but Barber got the call and did not disappoint. He’ll face Detroit next week, whose the run defense has faltered of late. Even if Martin returns, I think we’ll see Barber get another shot, especially with Tampa Bay’s record at 4-8.

Brett Hundley completed 13-of-22 passes for 84 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. plus rushed seven times for 66 yards. That’s not really the number of passing yards you want against the Tampa Bay pass defense, which is horrid, but the Packers got the win with the running game, which was helped by Hundley’s 66 yards. Even after a three-touchdown effort in Pittsburgh, it looks like Hundley needs to be on all the waiver wires and Rodgers needs to be off those waiver wires, because this win, albeit ugly, keeps Green Bay in the playoff hunt.

Jamaal Williams rushed 21 times for 113 yards and one touchdown, plus caught 2-of-3 targets for 10 yards, while Aaron Jones had one carry for 20 yards and a touchdown. Williams dominated the snaps and touches with Jones back and showed that he was up to the task, even when the whole world knew the Packers weren’t going to be successful throwing the ball. Of course, now we do have to wonder if Jones earned anymore snaps with his game-winning touchdown run. I doubt the Packers push this into a 50/50 committee, but Jones should see more work as he distances himself from his MCL injury.

49ers 15, Bears 14
If you can’t put up reasonable fantasy numbers as a running back at home against the 49ers, well, you can’t be trusted. That describes Jordan Howard, who rushed 13 times for 38 yards and caught one pass for negative three yards in a potential blowup spot. The Bears could get nothing going all game, and if it weren’t for an amazing Tarik Cohen punt return for a touchdown, this game would not have been close, despite the 49ers not scoring a touchdown.

Robbie Gould was tossed out on his behind by the Bears, and he came back for a little revenge this week and revenge he got, hitting all five of his field goals to beat his former team 15-4. Of course, Jimmy Garoppolo got the 49ers into position for those field goals, but it has to be pretty satisfying.

Jimmy Garoppolo completed 26-of-37 passes for 293 yards and an interception, but his play on the field looked better than the statistical results, as he was perfect to both Marquise Goodwin and Trent Taylor, completing 14-of-14 passes to the two for 191 yards. When a quarterback can put those numbers up with his receivers, he’s getting that ball out on time and with accuracy.

Carlos Hyde had 20 touches for 66 yards, while Matt Breida had 13 touches for 49 yards. Hyde will likely continue to lose some touches to Breida as we wrap up this season and the 49ers evaluate both players, which could hurt Hyde’s upside.

Patriots 23, Bills 3
Tyrod Taylor was carted off with a knee injury in the third quarter. He had already hurt his ankle and on the day, was not good at all, passing for 65 yards and an interception on 9-of-18 passing. Initial word is that the injury isn’t season-ending, but we’ll need to find out more. Nathan Peterman behind center will severely hamper any fantasy players on the Bills.

Tom Brady completed 21-of-30 passes for 258 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception, giving him his worst fantasy game of the year. With the Bills unable to do anything on offense, the Patriots went run heavy and rushed for 188 yards on 32 carries.

Brady’s main receiver was Rob Gronkowski, who once again put up a big game against his hometown team, as he caught 9-of-11 passes for 147 yards. He did take a cheap shot on cornerback Tre’Davious White, who he likely concussed. There’s a good chance Gronkowski will be suspended for a game.

Rex Burkhead rushed 12 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns, plus caught 3-of-4 passes for 25 yards. Dion Lewis also had a nice game, rushing 15 times for 92 yards, but no touchdowns. Lewis was stopped at the one-yard line on one run and Burkhead came in to vulture the touchdown. If Lewis gets in there, these numbers look much more even, but Burkhead is the no-doubt goal-line back for the moment, but both should have value in this offense.

Vikings 14, Falcons 9
Matt Ryan completed 16-of-29 passes for 173 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. He missed a few throws, and his receivers weren’t in top form, plus the team just couldn’t keep drives going, as they were a woeful 1-for-10 in third downs. The Vikings’ defense, of course, had a lot to do with these numbers. Ryan takes on the Saints on Thursday night and should have a better chance to put up numbers, but it’s not a cake matchup like it once was.

Devonta Freeman touched the ball 13 times for 81 yards, while Tevin Coleman touched the ball nine times for 49 yards. Freeman looked good running against a strong defense and will likely see a bigger piece of the pie next week against the Saints in a good matchup.

Case Keenum completed 25-of-30 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. He was very accurate, but didn’t make any splash plays in a game that bogged down. He did throw for two touchdowns, giving him 11 over his last five games, and coach Zimmer has already named him starter for next week’s game against the Panthers. Keenum will continue to be a borderline QB1.

In a game in which the Falcons didn’t have two of their best cornerbacks, I expected more out of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, but they only saw five targets each. Thielen led the team with four receptions for 51 yards.

Rams 32, Cardinals 16
Blaine Gabbert completed 18-of-32 passes for 221 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions against the Rams. One of those interceptions was returned for a touchdown, and the other set up another touchdown for L.A. This is the Gabbert we have gotten used to over the last few years.

Kerwynn Williams rushed for 97 yards on 16 carries, but got most of that on Arizona’s two scoring drives in the second quarter, which was also when he lost the goal-line work and a touchdown to Elijhaa Penny. Williams is just another player, but the fact that he was able to put up good rushing numbers on the Rams, shows again that their weakness is run defense.

Todd Gurley led the Rams in targets, which is a good sign after he had seen his role slightly decreased of late. They did start the game by throwing and throwing some more, but Gurley ended up with 19 carries for 74 yards and caught 6-of-7 targets for 84 yards. That’s the kind of workload we’re looking for in fantasy and from Gurley. Even in a tough matchup with the Eagles next week, his receiving ability should push him over the top again.

This game didn’t produce the downfield receiving I had hoped for the Rams, but we did get a Sammy Watkins touchdown despite his tough matchup with Patrick Peterson, as he caught 3-of-4 targets for 38 yards and the touchdown. That’s a good sign for Watkins’ value over the last few games of the season.

Saints 31, Panthers 21
Cam Newton completed 17-of-27 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns, plus added six rushes for 51 yards. Thankfully, his rushing yards continue to boost him up. His fantasy backers were lucky to get those two touchdown passes, as he’s had five games where he hasn’t thrown a single touchdown pass this season, with two of those coming in his three previous games. He’s very much all over the place and doesn’t have a deep threat to spread defenses out. Why the Panthers didn’t keep Ted Ginn around is still a mystery.

Drew Brees completed 25-of-34 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown, once more deferring to the run game as Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram went off again. Brees has decent matchups the rest of the way, but he’ll be hard to rely on for big points.

Alvin Kamara continues to be a freak of nature and has now about sewn up the Rookie of the Year hardware. This week, he rushed nine times for sixty yards and two touchdowns, adding 5-of-6 receptions for 66 yards. Mark Ingram tried to keep pace and rushed 14 times for 85 yards and a touchdown, plus caught 6-of-7 targets for 37 yards. These two players are going to lead a bunch of teams to their fantasy championships this year.

Raiders 24, Giants 14
Geno Smith completed 21-of-34 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown, but he also lost two fumbles. It wasn’t an awful game for Smith, but against Oakland’s poor defense, he needed to do better.

Evan Engram bounced back from two poor games to catch 7-of-8 targets for 99 yards and a touchdown, but Tavarres King led the Giants in targets for some odd reason. Sterling Shepard finished third in targets, but put up much better numbers than King. Smith needs to know who his legitimate receivers are and make sure they are his go-to guys.

Derek Carr completed 22-of-36 passes for 287 yards and a touchdown, and he should be thankful for some drops by Giants defenders. Carr was not sharp, and if the Raiders were playing about any other team, they probably would have lost. Carr of course was without his two best receivers. He’ll get Michael Crabtree back against a poor Kansas City pass defense and could get Amari Cooper back if he can clear the concussion protocol.

Marshawn Lynch rushed 17 times for 101 yards and a touchdown, plus caught 2-of-3 targets for 20 yards. He was vintage Beast Mode in this one and has really been all season, but without a workload that could push his numbers up. Now as the Raiders make a push for a wild-card spot, he’s seeing enough work to put up much more consistent numbers.

Chargers 19, Browns 10
DeShone Kizer completed 15-of-32 passes for 215 yards with a touchdown and an interception, adding 46 yards rushing and a fumble. He’s not very good, but he can run the ball and added a dynamic player in Josh Gordon. Kizer has some streamer appeal in a good matchup with Green Bay next week.

Josh Gordon caught 4-of-11 targets for 85 yards, which isn’t the efficiency you want, but against Casey Hayward and a strong Chargers pass defense and Kizer throwing him the ball, it was a no-doubt success. Gordon’s 11 targets were by far the most for the team, with David Njoku second with just six. If Gordon can continue to see targets like this, he’s going to have a strong day against the Packers next week.

David Njoku caught 4-of-6 targets for 74 yards and a touchdown. He has talent and now they’re finally getting him the ball. It would be nice to see them continue to give him chances in yet another lost season.

Philip Rivers completed 31-of-43 passes for 347 yards and a touchdown, and his only negative was his inability to get the ball into the end zone, as he drove the ball into the red zone over and over. He’s now put up 778 yards passing over his last two games and has turned his team’s hopes around after a dismal start to the season. Rivers gets a strong schedule to end the fantasy season, with a home game against Washington, then road games against Kansas City and the New York Jets.

Keenan Allen continued his assault on receiving stats, as he caught 10-of-14 targets for 105 yards and a touchdown. Over his last three games, he’s totaled 33 receptions for 436 yards and four touchdowns. He’s not looking so injury prone now.

Seahawks 24, Eagles 10
Carson Wentz completed 29-of-45 passes for 348 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed six times for 30 yards and lost a fumble out of the end zone that was called a touchback. It wasn’t his best game by any means, but he lost Zach Ertz to a concussion and was playing in Seattle. I’ve seen worse in that spot, and Wentz played well enough for me to have no qualms continuing to start him as a high-end fantasy quarterback. He heads to L.A to take on the Rams in a big real-life game next week and then gets two strong matchups against the Giants and then the Raiders in the fantasy playoffs.

Zach Ertz left the game due to a brain injury, so Nelson Agholor stepped up in the slot, catching 7-of-12 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. The yardage was a career high and reminds us how volatile Agholor has been. Against the Cowboys two weeks ago, he had one reception for negative two yards! But he’s also caught seven touchdowns, and if Ertz is out, he should have value.

Russell Wilson completed 20-of-31 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns, adding six carries for 31 yards. He’s been playing at an MVP level while his offensive line has been playing at a Pee-Wee league level. This was a big real-life win, but another reminder that Wilson is going to find a way to put up fantasy points each week, as he is the catalyst for almost all of Seattle’s offense. He does get an awful matchup with the Jaguars next week and at a bad time for fantasy teams in or trying to make the playoffs, but I just don’t see how you could ever bench him when he’s playing as well as he is.

Running back Mike Davis did do some work of his own this week and showed that a running back can produce in Seattle’s offense, as he rushed 16 times for 64 yards and caught all four of his targets for 37 more yards. Chris Carson is the only other back to total 100 yards, which he did against San Francisco in Week 2, but Davis one-upped him by one yard this week!

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

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