Fantasy Football: The Things I Learned – Week 5, 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?

Chiefs 42, Texans 34
DeShaun Watson had just 38 yards passing at halftime, but went on a tear in the second half, throwing three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and five in total, giving him five touchdowns in each of his last two games. All five of his touchdowns went to his wide receivers, Will Fuller with two and DeAndre Hopkins with three. This kind of output can’t be sustained of course, but in games where Watson is forced to throw, we know he’s capable of putting up huge numbers. Next week against the Browns, he might not need to throw for five touchdowns, but he’ll for sure be a top play in a great matchup.

Lamar Miller has retaken the every-down job from D’Onta Foreman, who lost a fumble early in this game. Miller played on 88 percent of the snaps, as he cemented his role once again. And now that Watson is able to move the ball, Miller should continue to be useful, as teams won’t be able to focus solely on him.

Alex Smith completed 29-of-37 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns, and has transformed into a real live quarterback in his 13th season. He has the talent around him, and he’s pushing the ball downfield like he’s never done before. It’s past time to take his fantasy value seriously.

Travis Kelce was having one of his patented big games against the Texans when he suffered a concussion and couldn’t return in the second half. Before that he managed to catch 8-of-11 targets for 98 yards.

Chris Conley ruptured his Achilles in this one, which will boost Albert Wilson and Demarcus Robinson up, but will also help funnel a few more looks toward Tyreek Hill and Kelce.

Bengals 20, Bills 16
The loss of Jordan Matthews did up Zay Jones’ targets to six this week, but he only caught one for nine yards. He’s in over his head as the Bills’ No. 1 receiver, and now they look to have lost Charles Clay, who was carted off the field with a knee injury. Clay has plenty of history with knee injuries and does often play through knee injuries, but this sounds like something worse. We’ll have to wait for more news for now.

LeSean McCoy continued his high volume of usage, seeing 19 carries and nine targets, but he finished with 63 yards rushing and six receptions for 26 yards. It keeps you in the game in PPR leagues, but he’s now gone the whole season without a touchdown. The usage looks good and McCoy himself appears to still be playing at a high level, so I’m all for trying to buy low on him. After next week’s bye, he gets Tampa Bay, Oakland, the N.Y. Jets, New Orleans and the L.A. Chargers.

Joe Mixon continues to lead the Bengals’ backfield, and he finally scored a touchdown this week, but he continues to look average at best behind a below-average line. But it does seem like new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor will continue giving him the ball. In this game, opportunity is king and Mixon has shown ability, so I’m going to hold onto him until I can’t anymore.

Jets 17, Browns 14
DeShone Kizer was benched at halftime for Kevin Hogan after just completing 8-of-17 passes for 87 yards and an interception, plus losing one fumble. Hogan then went on to complete 16-of-19 passes for 194 yards with two touchdowns and might have played himself into a starting job; albeit, next week’s game will be in Houston.

Isaiah Crowell continued to do little, even though this week he saw his most touches since Week 1. He rushed 16 times for 60 yards and caught two passes for seven yards, while Duke Johnson rushed six times for 20 yards and caught three passes for 63 yards and another touchdown. That’s 83 yards on nine touches, including a great 41-yard touchdown catch-and-run. Johnson is the best player on this offense and needs more than nine touches, because his touchdown streak of three straight games is not going to hold up much longer.

Bilal Powell hurt his calf just before halftime and never came back in the game. He was on the sidelines and didn’t seem like he was in need of much medical attention, so maybe it’s not a long-term issue. His backup, Elijah McGuire, who had a big game last week, was more subdued this week, rushing 11 times for just 20 yards and catching 2-of-3 targets for 10 yards. He could end up being the only healthy back next week against New England, but will need to see where Matt Forte and Powell are in their recoveries.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins led the Jets in targets with eight and receptions with six, while accumulating just 29 yards and a touchdown. The yardage isn’t good, but the usage is, and in games like next week when they take on an offense like the Patriots, expect Seferian-Jenkins to see a healthy amount of targets.

Panthers 27, Lions 24
When your backup tight end and third-string running back are the only players to score touchdowns, you know the fantasy options are going to be cut into, and that’s the way it was for the Lions this week when Darren Fells scored a touchdown on both his targets and Zach Zenner rushed for a touchdown on three attempts. These two aren’t going to be worth anything in fantasy going forward, and nobody else topped 54 yards on the day.

Eric Ebron has played poorly so far this season, and this week was no exception. Poised for a breakout year, Ebron dealt with injuries in preseason and now multiple drops. He was only able to haul in one reception for six yards on four targets, while Fells caught his two targets for 24 yards and two touchdowns. The tight end landscape in fantasy is a mess, with few players showing consistency, but I could see moving on from Ebron.

Cam Newton sure has turned things around over the last two weeks. He completed 26-of-33 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns, and gained zero yards on seven carries. To start the season, Newton didn’t look like he could hit the broadside of a barn with a baseball from five feet away, but this week, he was on target, especially with deep balls, as he hit Ed Dickson on 5-of-5 targets for 175 yards and a beautiful 31-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin. It’s safe to get back on the Cam train.

Devin Funchess again led the team in targets, catching 7-of-8 for 53 yards and a touchdown. It appears his move alongside Kelvin Benjamin as a top target is complete, and Funchess should continue to see enough work to be a WR2 in good matchups.

Christian McCaffrey finally found the end zone, with a six-yard touchdown off a shovel pass. He was second in targets this week with seven, of which he caught five for 31 yards and the touchdown. He saw three rushing attempts, but only for seven yards. We just can’t count on much coming on the ground for him, so if you happen to be in a standard league, this might be a good time to sell.

Colts 26, 49ers 23
Carlos Hyde had a disappointing game, rushing eight times for 11 yards and catching one target for seven yards. He must have had his hip injury act up on him, because we saw a lot more of Matt Breida in the second half, as he rushed 10 times for 49 yards and had three catches for 22 yards. Breida is someone to get on your bench, as Kyle Shanahan has shown an ability to get his runners in good position to succeed this year.

In revolving, great fantasy-tight end days, George Kittle was one of this week’s winners. He caught 7-of-9 targets for 83 yards and a touchdown, including many key receptions in the fourth quarter. There is good reason to like Kittle and to pick him up off waivers, but his consistency will likely be in the same range as most of these tight ends who put up big games and then fall back to earth.

Marlon Mack rushed nine times for 91 yards and a touchdown, plus caught one pass for two yards, while Frank Gore rushed 14 times for 48 yards and caught three targets for 38 yards. Mack has the burst and speed that Gore just can’t muster anymore. We should see Mack continue to cut into Gore’s work, but this I don’t see Mack beating Gore out without an injury.

Dolphins 16, Titans 10
Matt Cassel completed 21-of-32 passes for 141 yards and a touchdownm, but also had a fumble returned for a touchdown. He was unable to lead his team to a victory over a team whose quarterback threw for 92 yards. Marcus Mariota should be back next week against the Colts.

Jay Cutler is bad. He shouldn’t have returned to the NFL, and Matt Moore, or Roger Moore, or anybody Moore would likely be better. Cutler completed 12-of-26 attempts for 92 yards, one touchdown and one interceptionm and actually played the whole game. Oh, and he got the WIN.

DeVante Parker sprained his ankle early in this game and never returned. He left the stadium on crutches, and we’ll just need to wait to see what the severity is.

Chargers 27, Giants 22
The biggest fantasy news to come out of this game is the injury to Odell Beckham Jr. He appears to have a broken ankle, but will need more tests to see the severity and possible ligament damage. There is no timeline as of yet, but a broken ankle is the opposite of good. At this point in the season, I expect the timetable will have all re-draft players dropping him, but we might as well wait until more news comes out.

Beckham was the highest-profile injury in this game, but he sure wasn’t the only Giants wide receiver to get injured. Brandon Marshall hurt his ankle, and it didn’t look like the day-to-day kind of sprain. Sterling Shepard also hurt his ankle and couldn’t return to the game, but his at least appeared to not be as severe. Dwayne Harris also was hurt, as he broke his foot. So, in conclusion, the Giants are screwed.

We do know that the Giants are going to throw the ball no matter who is playing, so we need to figure out who is actually going to be able to play. Right now, Roger Lewis is the only healthy back, and then we’d have to hope that Shepard will be back sooner than later. Evan Engram should be the biggest beneficiary, but for some reason he went catchless this week, despite so many injuries to receivers. He did see four targets and should bounce back though. I’d be grabbing him if he’s still available.

Orleans Darkwa got the start over Wayne Gallman, much to my chagrin, and looked great, rushing nine times for 69 yards and a nice 23-yard touchdown run, but he also was injured and had to leave due to a calf injury, despite playing through it for a while. That allowed Gallman to see 11 rushing attempts for 57 yards and an additional 25 yards on five receptions. Both backs were able to tear through the Chargers’ defense, so be sure to target them every chance you can get. Unfortunately for Gallman and Darkwa if he can go, the Giants face the Broncos’ run-stomping defense next week.

Melvin Gordon rushed 20 times for 105 yards and caught 6-of-8 targets for 58 yards and two touchdowns, while Philip Rivers completed 21-of-44 for 258 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, plus lost a fumble. These results should make you happy if these guys were on your team, because to start this game, Rivers looked awful and would have likely brought Gordon down with him if he hadn’t turned things around in the second half.

Hunter Henry finally looks like he’s passed Antonio Gates, as he saw eight targets to Gates’ three and caught three for 42 yards and a touchdown. Rivers was not especially accurate in this game, so I’m not going to worry too much about the inefficiency and go ahead and feel good about Henry’s prospects moving forward.

Eagles 34, Cardinals 7
The Eagles’ defensive line against the Cardinals’ offensive line was a mismatchm and Carson Palmer had to play checkdown all game to keep from being murdered. That gave Andre Ellington 10 targets, which he caught nine of for 65 yards. Not a great day unless you play full PPR, and then you have the eighth-best fantasy running back as of this writing!

Carson Wentz completed 21-of-30 passes for 304 yards with four touchdowns and one interception, and looked great doing so. He helped Nelson Agholor, Zach Ertz and Torrey Smith to big fantasy days, while Alshon Jeffery had to deal with Patrick Peterson, and a blowout win. I still like Wentz’s ability, as he’s had a tough schedule this season, so I’m still buying, especially after seeing him play so well on Sunday.

Jaguars 30, Steelers 9
Ben Roethlisberger threw five interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. It was an awful display coupled with a great defensive effort by the Jaguars.

Antonio Brown was able to catch 10 passes for 157 yards, but on a league-high 19 targets, while Martavis Bryant was once again slowed down. Bryant caught 5-of-8 targets for just 21 yards, while JuJu Smith-Schuster caught 4-of-6 targets for 58 yards. Really, until Roethlisberger can get things straightened out, neither Bryant or Smith-Schuster will have much consistency.

Blake Bortles was pretty much useless as usual, but the Jaguars’ defense scored two touchdowns and Bortles only threw the ball once in the second half while Leonard Fournette was able to beat up on a worn-down Pittsburgh defense. Fournette had a dreamy fantasy line of 28/182/2 and has now scored six touchdowns in five games, and as long as this Jacksonville defense keeps playing at this level, he should continue to see plenty of work.

Ravens 30, Raiders 17
Amari Cooper caught one pass for eight yards on just two targets, while Michael Crabtree returned from his bruised lung to catch 6-of-8 targets for 82 yards and a touchdown. Cooper is unplayable right now, but he should see more targets with Derek Carr likely back next week. I’d hold onto Cooper because you would be selling at rock bottom now, plus he’s got to come out of this funk at some point.

Marshawn Lynch got into the end zone, but continues to see limited work, as he had 13 touches to Jalen Richard’s nine. At least we know what we are getting from Lynch, as he hasn’t touched the ball more than 13 times in a game since Week 1.

Javorius Allen had 25 touches for 85 yards and a touchdown. It wasn’t a masterful performance, but it sure works for your fantasy team, especially when it appeared Alex Collins might get the lead job for the Ravens this week. Collins did run the ball 12 times for 55 yards, but Allen got the goal-line work and the bulk of the touches. He’s the lead back now, especially after Terrance West went down early with a calf injury and never returned.

Mike Wallace only caught three passes, but he sure made them count, as he piled up 133 yards, while Joe Flacco only passed for 222 total yards. Wallace has looked good over the last two weeks and may be picking up enough steam to be worth starting against the Bears next week.

Seahawks 16, Rams 10
Jared Goff completed just 22-of-47 passes for 288 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, plus lost a fumble. It was a poor game against a great defense, which will happen, but Goff did bring the Rams back, and if it weren’t for a drop by Cooper Kupp, the Rams would have come out with a win.

Tyler Higbee was the leading receiver for the Rams this week, catching 4-of-8 targets for 98 yards. He has ability, and now he’s getting targets, with a team high eight this week. He’ll be worth playing in good matchups moving forward.

Sammy Watkins had four targets, catching none of them. I can see being tempted to cut him loose, but I’d like to see how he plays after these two awful games before going that far.

Eddie Lacy and Thomas Rawls split work evenly, with both receiving 10 total touches. Neither did much with those touches, and we’ll likely see another lackluster committee effort against the Giants next week.

Jimmy Graham caught his first touchdown of the season, but only had 37 yards on six receptions. His days of big plays are mostly over now, and he needs touchdowns to push for relevance in fantasy. Graham will remain useful with so many inconsistent tight ends out there, but he’s not going to lift your fake team up.

Packers 35, Cowboys 31
Dak Prescott completed 25-of-36 passes for 251 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, plus rushed four times for 37 yards and another touchdown. Prescott has come on strong in fantasy and now has 22 or more fantasy points in each of his last three games, and has thrown two or more touchdowns in each of his last four. He gets a bye this week, but will get the 49ers in Week 7, where he should continue his strong numbers.

Dez Bryant caught 5-of-8 targets for 52 yards and a touchdown, but was set up for an even bigger game this week, yet couldn’t come through. He’s still the Cowboys’ No. 1 and is on a great offensive team, so he’ll get his, but it seems to be coming much harder than when he was younger and healthier.

Aaron Jones rushed 19 times for 125 yards and a touchdown, plus caught one pass for nine yards, which was a great catch in itself. This game by Jones will likely push Ty Montgomery to rest next week to get his ribs fully healed. I don’t see Jones taking over because of this one game though. Montgomery has been too good to lose a big chunk of work to the rookie, but Jones is encroaching on Montgomery’s territory to be sure.

The Cowboys won the time-of-possession game, but Aaron Rodgers doesn’t need much time to throw touchdowns, of which he had three today, with a game-winner in there for good measure.

Davante Adams returned from his brutal hit against the Bears to catch two touchdowns, including the game-winner. Rodgers elevates all his receivers, so it’s always tough to say one is going to do that much better than another, but right now, you can’t sit any of Green Bay’s receivers with Rodgers behind center.

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

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