I came to a realization over the last week. There’s only one thing in the universe worse than the New York Jets, and that’s political commercials. Actually, there’s only one thing worse than political commercials: leaves. So there’s two things worse than the Jets. I know, I was surprised by the realization myself. But I spent three hours on Saturday collecting leaves from every orifice of my yard and body. The wind in the Midwest was wicked Saturday night, so by Sunday morning I was picking twice as many leaves out of my underwear. That gale-force wind was one of the big storylines of Sunday’s NFL games too, as it made passing tougher than watching a New York Jets game. One player not affected by those winds was Dalvin Cook who returned from his groin injury to handle 30 carries for 163 yards, 2 catches for 63 yards and his 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th touchdowns. That makes 11 touchdowns in six games! He’s now on pace for and incredible 25 touchdowns in just 15 games. I need to try me some of that groin injury stuff. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday for fantasy football:
NE at BUF
Josh Allen – 11/18 for 154 yards, 10 carries for 23 yards, no passing touchdowns, 1 interception and his 4th rushing touchdown. Buffalo experienced some of that fierce wind, making throwing conditions extra tough for both Allen and Newton. Fortunately both these guys can run which is what gives Allen such a high floor, even when he has his Stevie Wonder passing days.Â
Devin Singletary – 14 carries for 86 yards, 1 catch for 6 yards. Since the draft I’ve been predicting that rookie bruiser Zack Moss (14 carries for 81 yards and his 2nd and 3rd touchdowns) would overtake Singletary sooner rather than later. The tide may finally be starting to turn Moss’s way but I don’t expect Singletary to be pulled away by the undertow without a fight. Look for an even split between the two for the next few weeks.
Stefon Diggs – 6 catches for 92 yards. My man Diggs was fortunate to dodge Stephon Gilmore who sat out with a knee injury. Diggs saw 9 targets while no other Bills receiver saw more than two—exactly the target hog behavior you want to see from your WR1.Â
Cam Newton – 15/25 for 174 yards, 9 carries for 54 yards, no passing touchdowns and his 6th rushing touchdown. After last week, Belichick considered starting a Fig Newton at quarterback this week. Cam still has only two passing touchdowns on the year compared to 7 interceptions. I’m told the Fig Newton is still available.
Damien Harris – 16 carries for 102 yards and his 1st touchdown. Harris has dominated the touches in the New England backfield since his return but stay tuned to see how things shake out when Sony Michel (COVID) trades in his Playstation control for the pigskin next week. I’m expecting a 60/40 split in Harris’s favor. Â
LAR at MIA
Tua Tagovailoa – 12/22 for 93 yards and his 1st career touchdown. So it wasn’t exactly the the explosive debut we hoped for but the kid brought home the W and that’s all that matters. Well, I guess it’s not all that matters if you started him in your fantasy league. Hang in there, better days are on the horizon. Maybe our man Coolwhip’s awesome Tua/Fitzmagic graphic will cheer you up:
Myles Gaskin – 18 carries for 47 yards, 3 catches for 16 yards and his 2nd touchdown. I’m kicking myself for drafting Miles instead of Myles. Gaskin is a locked in RB2 right now, he’s seen 16+ carries in 4 of the last 5 games.
Preston Williams – 2 catches for 15 yards. My hope was that Saucy Boi had an immediate connection with young Tua, but the truth is there wasn’t much need for throwing in this game. The silver lining is that Williams got 5 targets compared to DeVante Parker‘s (1 catch for 3 yards and his 3rd touchdown) 2 targets. Maybe Tua will get Saucy next week.
Darrell Henderson – 8 carries for 47 yards, 1 catch for 11 yards. I typed out that it’s very alarming that Malcolm Brown (10 carries for 40 yards, 2 catches for 17 yards) saw two more carries than Hendy this week and post-hype rookie Cam Akers (9 carries for 35 yards, 1 catch for 19 yards) even saw one more carry. Then I realized Henderson left with a thigh injury which is equally concerning after he seemed to get banged up on Monday night last week. This makes Akers is a nice speculative add.
Cooper Kupp – 11 catches for 110 yards. Guess how many targets Kupp had against the Dolphins, I’ll wait. Nope, more. MORE. MOOOOOOOORE. 21 freaking targets! I told you he was my favorite WR buy last week, trust the touchdowns are coming.
Robert Woods – 7 catches for 85 yards, 2 carries for 9 yards and his 6th touchdown. It’s hard to see the forest for the Bobby Trees but if I had to choose one Ram receiver for the second half then I’m taking Kupp. No offense to Mr. Trees who’s a very solid WR2 in his own right.
PIT at BAL
Lamar Jackson – 13/28 for 208 yards, 16 carries for 65 yards, 2 passing touchdowns with 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles lost—he now has 12 passing touchdowns on the year. On the Razzball Fantasy Football Podcast we talked about Jackson’s gauntlet of a schedule following the Raven’s week 7 bye, it doesn’t get much easier with the Colts, Patriots, Titans and the Steelers again over the next four weeks. They also just lost their stud left tackle for the year which is no bueno for the offense as a whole. On the plus side, this week’s 16 carries matched Jackson’s season high and it’s exactly what’s needed for him to get back into the group of elite fantasy QBs.
J.K. Dobbins – 15 carries for 113 yards, 1 catch for 8 yards. It’s happening, this is NOT a drill! The Bus—Gus Edwards (16 carries for 87 yards and his 2nd touchdown)—broke down in the first half with a knee injury and Mark Ingram (ankle) never suited up. It’s going to be very hard for them to put this Dobbins genie back in the bottle.
Marquise Brown – 1 catch for 3 yards and his 2nd touchdown. The Steel Curtain shaded Hollywood this week as he was only targeted twice, but there should be brighter lights ahead. I think this might be a buy low window, dive thru and see if Hollywood’s on the other side.
Mark Andrews – 3 catches for 32 yards. I mentioned last week that the Steelers’ defense shuts down tight ends. Unfortunately Mandrews will see them again in week 12, but he’s must-start regardless.
Ben Roethlisberger – 21/32 for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns—he now has 15 passing touchdowns on the season. Big Ben was seen getting his surgically repair elbow massaged on the sideline. Roethlisberger reportedly asked the masseuse for a happy ending and the Ravens delivered.
James Conner – 15 carries for 47 yards, 3 catches for 13 yards and his 5th touchdown. Jimmy Conner didn’t have his best serve against the tough Ravens D but he’s always a threat to find the promised land, even in the toughest of matchups. He’s an RB1 as long as he stays healthy.
Diontae Johnson – 1 catch for 6 yards. After 15 targets last week, Johnson went limp with only 3 targets this week. I question whether he was 100% healthy and would test the trade market, maybe his owner’s a little spooked by the Halloween turd costume.Â
Update: Johnson did leave with a hammy but also did return. Guy can’t get healthy this year.
Chase Claypool – 5 catches for 42 yards and his 5th touchdown. Most importantly he saw a team high 9 targets. The kid’s fantasy relevance has staying-power.Â
Juju Smith-Schuster – 7 catches for 67 yards. His 8 targets were encouraging and a nice follow up to the 14 targets from last week, but JuJu hasn’t found the endzone since week 3. Still considering him a boom or bust WR3—and mostly bust.Â
TEN at CIN
Derrick Henry – 18 carries for 112 yards and his 8th touchdown. The Predator is now on pace for 18 touchdowns and showing little sign of the wear down we were concerned about after his massive 2019 workload. Pigskinonator told me he’d go for 125 rushing yards this week so I’ll spend all of next week beating the bot with a wrench until it work right.
A.J. Brown – 4 catches for 24 yards and his 5th touchdown. That’s five TDs for AJB in the past four weeks. See what Brown can do for you?
Corey Davis – 8 catches for 128 yards and his 3rd touchdown. And second touchdown in as many games. Here’s what I said about Davis when I ranked him #52 in my Top 60 Wide Receiver Draft Rankings, “You know what they say: fool me once, shame on you; fool me eight times, that’s why they call me Donkey. So who’s with me?  It was still only three years ago that Corey Davis was taken with the number five overall pick of the NFL Draft. Now he finally seems to have a legitimate offense surrounding him with studly A.J. Brown lining up across the way and Tannehill looking very good last year. Davis is practically free, being drafted after pick 200. I’ll jump in just one more time, I can quit anytime I want!” Good thing I’m willing to be fooled eight times! If you squint Davis kind of looks like a WR2.Â
Gio Bernard – 15 carries for 62 yards, 3 catches for 16 yards and his 3rd and 4th touchdowns. To ring in Movember, The Stache was obligated to post a huge fantasy day. And it would’ve been even bigger if he wasn’t vultured by Samaje Perine (10 carries for 32 yards, 1 catch for 2 yards and his 1st touchdown). Yes, Samaje Perine is still in the league.
Tyler Boyd – 6 catches for 67 yards, 2 carries for 9 yards and his 3rd touchdown. And his 2nd touchdown in as many weeks. The Bengals WR target numbers are volatile but Boyd has seen 6+ targets every week since week 2, and 8+ targets in five of those weeks. He’s clearly Joe Burrow‘s (26/37 for 249 yards, 3 carries for 9 yards and 2 touchdowns—he now has 11 passing touchdowns on the season) safety blanket. Binky Boyd.
Tee Higgins – 6 catches for 78 yards. The consistency from the second round rookie has been a thing of beauty with 4+ catches and 60+ yards in each of the past 5 games. A.J. Green (2 catches for 19 yards) overtaking him as Burrow’s #2 seems less likely than a girl touching me.
LV at CLE
Josh Jacobs – 31 carries for 128 yards. 31 carries is a tasty bucket but since the Jinglehammer Jacobs has been kept out of the end zone five of the past six weeks. I still have him as an RB1 but the weekly range of outcomes is about as wide as it gets for an RB1.Â
Darren Waller – 5 catches for 28 yards. This stat line made me sad but I can always count on my Waller shirtless picture portfolio to cheer me up.
Kareem Hunt – 14 carries for 66 yards, 2 catches for 7 yards. Nick Chubb (knee) could be back after the Browns’ bye next week but I expect Hunt is still a high end RB2, even with Chubb in hand.
Jarvis Landry – 4 catches for 52 yards. Also saw 11 targets while no other Brown saw more than 3 targets. Landry is a screaming buy right now. Remember he had over 1,100 yards and 6 touchdowns last year when OBJ was hobbled and out. BUY! Sorry, didn’t mean to scream that loud.
NYJ at KC
Patrick Mahomes – 31/42 for 416 yards and 5 touchdowns—he now has 21 passing touchdowns on the season. He’s now on pace for 42 touchdowns on the year, with that pace Mahomie can put ketchup on whatever he wants.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire – 6 carries for 21 yards, 3 catches for 10 yards. One of the big surprises of the day wasn’t not that the Chiefs blewout the Jets (obviously) but the lack of fantasy production from the KC backfield in the blowout. I’d be buying the Clydesdale this week for his bounceback.
Le’Veon Bell – 6 carries for 7 yards, 3 catches for 31 yards. I expect a major reason Le’Veon signed with the Chiefs was so he could beat up on Adam Gase and the Jets two weeks later. His stat line probably wasn’t what he wanted, but hey, at least he isn’t on the Jets!
Tyreek Hill – 4 catches for 98 yards and his 7th and 8th touchdowns. The Cheetah was on the prowl again, but it was against the scrap heap Jets. It’s like the tree falling in the forest paradox. And there were many tree’s falling in the Jets’ forest with Mecole Hardman (7 catches for 96 yards and his 3rd touchdown), Demarcus Robinson (4 catches for 63 and his 1st touchdown) and Travis Kelce (8 catches for 109 yards and his 6th touchdown) all hitting pay dirt.Â
La’Mical Perine – 8 carries for 27 yards, 2 catches for 6 yards. Not much to say for the Jets in this one, as usual. Old man Frank Gore (10 carries for 30 yards) still saw an even split of the work. I’m hoping Gase’s time is neigh and maybe we get a somewhat competent coaching staff to bring fantasy relevance to one New York team.
Denzel Mims – 2 catches for 42 yards. The Last Mimzy is also worth highlighting. The rookie at least has upside in the 2nd half of the season if and when Gase is fired.
IND at DET
Jonathan Taylor – 11 carries for 22 yards, 2 catches for 9 yards. Wow. Brutal day for us JT owners as Jordan Wilkins (20 carries for 89 yards and his 1st touchdown), Nyheim Hines (5 carries for 8 yards, 3 catches for 54 yards and his 3rd and 4th touchdowns—but 1st score since week 1) and Trey Burton (3 catches for 9 yards, 1 carry for 2 yards and his 3rd touchdown) all somehow managed to find the endzone. I watched one goal line series where Taylor got stuffed with the offensive line getting absolutely no push. The very next play Wilkins gets the ball and walks in untouched. I’d be lying if I said this Wilkins usage wasn’t very alarming, but Taylor is sooo so talented. I just can’t imagine this game not being an outlier. I’m doubling down on JT like the degenerate gambler I am.
T.Y. Hilton – 2 catches for 9 yards. He played 94 and 95% of snaps in the two weeks prior to the Colts’ bye which had me thinking he was finally healthy and a breakout might be on the horizon. Unfortunately he left early this week with a groin injury. Many Hilton drafters are experiencing symptoms similar to a groin injury as well. Upside rookie Michael Pittman (1 catch for 6 yards) is a fun speculative add in case Hilton misses a bit of time.Â
D’Andre Swift – 6 carries for 1 yard, 3 catches for 22 yards. Did you fall into the Patricia Lions’ RB trap again? I warned you about it. There’s all kinds of poisonous snakes and spiders and nasty political ads down in that trap. Week 8 was my boy Kerryon Johnson‘s (2 catches for 15 yards and his 2nd touchdown) turn to touch the endzone.
Kenny Golladay – no catches on 4 targets. It was the day the music died for Kenny G as he left with a hip injury. But the Marvins—Marvin Jones Jr. (3 catches for 39 yards and his 2nd and 3rd touchdowns) and Marvin Hall (4 catches for 113 yards) kept Motown bumpin’.
T.J. Hockenson – 7 catches for 65 yards. Also saw a team high 10 targets. If Kenny G misses time there’s a chance for Hockey Town to creep into the Waller/Andrews tier of tight ends.
MIN at GB
Adam Thielen – 3 catches for 27 yards. There isn’t much need for Thielen nor Justin Jefferson (3 catches for 26 yards) when you have Jesus at running back. I’ve been suggesting since preseason that Thielen would be a good sell high around midseason and the window should still be plenty open. On the other hand I’d be a buyer of Jefferson right now. Use our free trade analyzer to come up with some goofy offers.
Jamaal Williams – 16 carries for 75 yards, 6 catches for 27 yards. He’s no Dalvin Cook, but Williams has done a decent Aaron Jones (calf) impression in the star’s absence. I’m expecting Jones back next week and Williams to turn into pumpkin.
Davante Adams – 7 catches for 53 yards and his 5th, 6th and 7th touchdowns. That makes five touchdowns in the last two weeks for Adams. Wait, I thought there was like 30+ mph winds up in Green Bay? Apparently Adams and Aaron Rodgers (27/41 for 291 yards, 2 carries for 9 yards and 3 touchdowns—he now has 20 passing touchdowns on the season) could hook up in a lightning storm during a hurricane during the apocalypse. Which all might happen next week.Â
LAC at DEN
Justin Herbert – 29/43 for 278 yards, 3 carries for 21 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions—he now has 15 passing touchdowns on the season. And that’s 13 touchdowns over the past 4 weeks. Blair ranked him #4 in his most recent rest of season QB rankings and I don’t think Blair’s fully insane. Only partially insane. But all the great ones were at least a little crazy and Herbert has a friendly schedule rest of season.
Keenan Allen – 9 catches for 67 yards and his 3rd touchdown. You can pretty much ink Allen down for double digit targets with Herbert at the helm. He’s a locked in WR1 rest of season.
Mike Williams – 5 catches for 99 yards and his 3rd touchdown. That’s more like it for Big Mike after getting an early jump on Halloween and dressing up as a ghost last week. I like Williams as a fringe WR2 moving forward, Herbert likes to look for the big man in the endzone.
Justin Jackson – 17 carries for 89 yards, 3 catches for 53 yards. With Austin Ekeler (hamstring) out til maybe December, Jackson seems to have now wrestled the lead role away from Joshua Kelley (7 carries for 32 yards, 1 catch for -7 yards) but now Troymaine Pope (10 carries for 67 yards, 5 catches for 28 yards) is becoming a real pest. Someone get me some insect repellant!Â
Phillip Lindsay – 6 carries for 83 yards, 1 catch for 3 yards and his 1st touchdown. The Tasmanian Devil busted a 55 yard TD run which made his day and he now has a 20+ yard run each of the last three weeks. I’ve been most surprised by Lindsay’s lack of usage in the passing game, after posting 35 receptions each of the past two seasons he now has only 2 receptions compared to Melvin Gordon‘s (8 carries for 26 yards, 6 catches for 21 yards) 19 receptions. The rushing work should continue to be a fairly even split but passing work is what makes Gordon a solid RB2 (as long as he isn’t suspended for a DUI) and Lindsay just a flex play moving forward.
Jerry Jeudy – 4 catches for 73 yards. It was DaeSean Hamilton (4 catches for 82 yards and his 1st touchdown) and K.J. Hamler (3 catches for 13 yards and his 1st career touchdown) who found the endzone, but Jeudy saw 10 targets compared to their 5 and 3 targets respectively. Judge Jeudy is still the only receiver you want banging your gavel in Denver.
SF at SEA
Russell Wilson – 27/37 for 261 yards, 6 carries for 23 yards and 4 touchdowns—he now has 26 passing touchdowns on the season. Even with his D-game Russ is still a four star Michelin Chef. He’s on pace for 59 passing touchdowns which is four more than Peyton Manning’s single season record.
D.K. Metcalf – 12 catches for 161 yards and his 6th and 7th touchdowns. This was fun to watch but not close to as fun as last week’s touchdown saving tackle. Serious question, how soon until Metcalf is the no doubt #1 fantasy receiver in all of football? It seems inevitable.
Tyler Lockett – 4 catches for 33 yards. He only saw 5 targets after his 20 last week. It was Metcalf’s turn to play sous chef, getting 15 looks from Russ.Â
DeeJay Dallas – 18 carries for 41 yards, 5 catches for 17 yards and his 1st and 2nd touchdowns. The Chris Carson (foot) injury has been downplayed and Petey Sunshine maintained that he was a game-time decision this week, but I’m not buying it. I’ve read this Carson injury is the same as a Lisfranc sprain so there’s a chance Carson misses a couple more weeks. Carlos Hyde is also dealing with a hamstring injury, if they’re both out then the rookie DeeJay Dallas can be fired up again as an upside RB2.
JaMycal Hasty – 12 carries for 29 yards, 1 catch for 2 yards and his 1st career touchdown. Don’t be hasty to write JaMycal off. Tevin Coleman (3 carries for 20 yards) returned this week and lasted only a handful of plays before reaggravating his knee injury. Jerick McKinnon (3 carries for -1 yards, 4 catches for 40 yards and his 5th touchdown) can’t seem to manage positive rushing yardage and Raheem Mostert (ankle) is out at least one more game with his high ankle sprain. Â
Brandon Aiyuk – 8 catches for 91 yards and his 3rd touchdown. After Jimmy Garoppolo (11/16 for 84 yards, no touchdowns and 1 interception) limped off the field (ankle or just terrible?), Aiyuk was peppered by Jimmy G-Poo’s replacement, Nick Mullens (18/25 for 238 yards and 2 touchdowns). The rookie first rounder Aiyuk is a tempting WR2 option in the short term due to their lack of other options in San Fran.
George Kittle – 2 catches for 39 yards before leaving with a foot (or ankle?) injury. This injury is my fault, I just traded Gaskin and Boyd for Kittle and Big Mike last week. Sorry guys and two girl readers.
NO at CHI
Alvin Kamara – 12 carries for 67 yards, 9 catches for 96 yards. The Chipmunk is unstoppable. The Bears should’ve tried one of those single door cages with some peanut butter.Â
Jared Cook – 5 catches for 51 yards and his 4th touchdown. When Michael Thomas (ankle) is away the Cook will make jambalaya with Drew Brees (31/41 for 280 yards and 2 touchdowns—he now has 13 touchdowns on the season).
David Montgomery – 21 carries for 89 yards, 2 catches for 16 yards. More of a Half Monty than Full Monty.
Allen Robinson – 6 catches for 87 yards and his 3rd touchdown. Robinson cleared concussion protocol late in the week which was a pleasant surprise, like when my sexy Adam Gase costume showed up.
Darnell Mooney – 5 catches for 69 yards (nice) and his 2nd touchdown. The Free Mooney movement got legs last week and the coaches listened. This kid has serious speed and a bright future if the Bears ever find a real QB (unlikely).Â
DAL at PHI
Travis Fulgham – 6 catches for 78 yards and his 3rd touchdown. And 3rd touchdown in as many weeks. This guy is so Fulgham himself!Â
Jalen Reagor – 3 catches for 16 yards and his 1st career touchdown. In many leagues the talented rookie Reagor was cast away like Tom Hanks. Make sure your league isn’t one of those.
Boston Scott – 15 carries for 70 yards, 2 catches for 9 yards. Dear lord baby Jesus please let Miles Sanders (knee) come back 100% healthy after their week 9 bye.
Ben DiNucci – 21/40 for 180 yards, 5 carries for 22 yards. I told you this wasn’t a real person. I’ll call this fictional character DiNooch.
Michael Gallup – 7 catches for 61 yards. So it turns out DiNooch has a thing for Gallup, targeting him 12 times compared to just five targets for each of CeeDee Lamb (4 catches for 27 yards) and Amari Cooper (1 catch for 5 yards). None of these dudes are startable as long as DiNooch is running the show.
Ezekiel Elliott – 19 carries for 63 yards, 1 catch for 10 yards. I’m not sure what to do with Zeke after watching the Sunday night game. On one hand the entire Cowboys’ team looks like the walking dead. On the other hand Zeke is still receiving a heavy workload. On a third hand, which looks like a bird claw, I have an irrational aversion to bullrings. Anyway, my gut tells me he’s a buy right now, but I did eat a ton of chili today so it could just be gas.Â
