I’ll be a guest on the Razzball Fantasy Football podcast that comes out tomorrow morning, so be sure to click, subscribe, and download!
There’s nothing more frustrating than a pickup recommendation that looks bad on the surface because of a bad performance in a tough matchup. I think you know where this is going. Let’s chat about Sam Darnold. I’ve been touting Sam Darnold since last Tuesday when I filled in for Boof and submitted the waiver wire column for you, my faithful readers. I even put Sam Darnold as my pickup of the week for the FantasyPros waiver wire blurb this week.
In fact, Sam Darnold was the #3 overall recommended waiver wire pick up from a consensus standpoint. And you know what? I’m going to stand by it! Double down, if you will. Put all of my chips in the middle. Last night did very little to deter my value of Darnold for the rest of the season. Is it at all soothing to hear, “I’m seeing ghosts out there?” No! Turn off your damn mic, dummy.
The Patriots defense is a buzzsaw. There is no way to get in a groove against them, especially in your 16th start in the league. The defensive line was in Darnold’s face all night and he made bad throws. Horrible throws. Darnold made Mitch Trubisky look like Patrick Mahomes. But you have to look at the upcoming schedule starting in week 9. I would have a different plan in week 8 against the Jaguars. Over a 6 week stretch, the Jets face the Dolphins twice, the Redskins, the Giants, and the Raiders. To make matters worse for the Raiders from a secondary depth perspective, they just traded Conley yesterday. If you have a bad starting QB or a bye week tucked in between weeks 9-12, Darnold is going to be a fine choice. Tears will be cried, lessons will be learned, his perfect hair was sculpted again this morning and will be the next. His upcoming opponents won’t be able to pressure him like the Patriots did and his wide receivers will find space. We’re going to see more of week 6 Darnold than week 7 Darnold going forward.
The Patriots are firing on all cylinders and are only getting stronger. This morning or last night, forgive me for not googling the time stamp, the Patriots sent a 2nd round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for Mohamed Sanu. On the surface it seems like a steep price to pay, but the Patriots are valuing the player more than the draft pick. Recent history shows that maybe draft picks are a little overvalued in the first place. It sounds like the Patriots have been gunning for Sanu since after the 2019 NFL draft. They clearly have a plan for him, so that’s exciting for Mohamed Sanu owners.
The Sanu trade definitely zaps the value that Phillip Dorsett was providing as a fill in or a streamer. This trade probably doesn’t do any favors to Josh Gordon either. Josh Gordon hasn’t been playable anyways for his fantasy owners. Julian Edelman should continue to do Julian Edelman things as long as he is healthy and doesn’t aggravate his rib injury.
For the Falcons, this trade opens things up more for Calvin Ridley and Austin Hooper. Hooper has had a great season so far and this could push his stock up even higher. Calvin Ridley has had some quiet games mixed in with his useful ones, so maybe this trade raises his weekly floor.
Is there really anything to talk about from last night’s game? From a Jets perspective, it was encouraging to see Le’Veon Bell rip some good runs. He looked like his old self with patient hole-finding. That sounds oddly sexual, but I like it.
The Patriots just did what they had to do to win. Tom Brady didn’t put together a fancy fantasy performance and neither did Julian Edelman. Sony Michel was due to have a 3 touchdown game after Bill gave Brandon Bolden some love and Brady snuck a couple in over the past two games. Maybe Thursday night will bring about some more exciting tidbits.
