Herbert, But Not The One You’re Thinking Of: Week 3 2022 Sunday Fantasy Football Recap

Sometime in the Third Egyptian Dynasty, back when humanity was a teenager and kept skipping school, the legendary pharaoh Drew Bledsoe fell in battle and his general, Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr., took the reins of the empire. Fast forward 17 dynasties and 9 Star Wars movies later, and Tom Brady continues to lord over the football empire that was once the possession of Drew Bledsoe. Now I’m not saying that we’re seeing the next Tom Brady in the form of Khalil Herbert, but a mid-game injury to incumbent Bears RB David Montgomery opened the way to Khalil Herbet to rush for 157 yards on 20 attempts. Sure, it was against the Houston Texans, but we’re so desperate for an RB2 that we’ll take literally any warm body that we can find. 

While we were all wondering whether Justin Herbert would take the field on Sunday, our attention really should have been on Khalil Herbert. What should you do in week 4? 

As always, check out the Fantasy Besties at 7:15 Eastern tonight as they talk about Week 3 reactions and prep you for Monday Night Football with the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. 

Quick Hits

Dalvin Cook: Started strong like my favorite cocktail with 17 rushes, 96 yards, and a TD. And then because I’m a middle-aged white dude with a day job who puts way too much ice in my rum and maple syrup, the watered-down finish to my evening crushes my soul. Oh, I’m supposed to be talking about football, right? Cook’s strong start came to a halt when he banged up his shoulder and left the game, watching the Vikings’ comeback win from the sidelines. ProFootballTalk reports that Cook will wear a brace and tough it out for the week 4 game against the Saints in London. Also, it’s freaking NFL London time. What are you supposed to do with your top RB injured and playing overseas and at, what, 6 AM Pacific Time? First, you’re gonna make some nachos. Everybody likes nachos. Then, you’re gonna rush to FAAB/Waiver add Alexander Mattison. Don’t worry if you need to stay up until 3 AM to add him — you’ve got nachos! Then, you’re gonna fret all week whether to start Cook or Mattison, before it all doesn’t matter because you could have had some random backup like Khalil Herbet who outperformed all them. Then you’re gonna repeat this dance for the next 14 weeks until you win your league. We love fantasy football! 

Khalil Herbert: Really not a surprising outcome, let’s be honest. People love Khalil Herbert. Problem is, he’s got this Frankenback David Montgomery ahead of him on the roster, and the Bears — for whatever reason — refuse to go with the 2 RB front like the Packers do. What are the Bears gonna do — take reps away from [checks depth chart] Byron Pringle? Y’all realize that David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert basically have as many rushing yards as Justin Fields has passing yards? I believe in Justin Fields, much in the same way that I believe in chupacabras. Khalil Herbert is an add IFF (that’s an abbreviation that means Injured Fantasy Footballer) David Montgomery misses further time. Problem is, D-Mont is already considered merely day-to-day. When Monty was healthy in 2021, Herbert amassed a mere 20ish attempts throughout the season. Like, 20 attempts total. Hopefully, the Bears are in a place to realize that their real offense are their running backs, and they would benefit from giving both of them a heavy workload. 

Mac Jones: 3 INT and an unfortunate ankle smashing at the end of the game. If you’re the kind of person that enjoys trauma pr0n, you can find the media pictures of Mac Jones howling in agony as his trainers escorted him to an X-Ray. Initial reports indicate that Jones’s ankle was seriously damaged, but of course, that doesn’t mean it’s not an extremely painful situation. You probably weren’t starting Jones in the first place, but he might have been a superflex QB consideration. If you’re out of luck on Jones as a QB2, you can switch out to Joe Flacco or Davis Mills. Not like you want to do that. 

Tua Tagovailoa: A couple weeks ago, I quoted the Mayo Clinic’s definition of a concussion. In short: a concussion is head trauma. The NFL has a serious, longitudinal problem with head injuries. Teams responded to their years of neglect by revamping the concussion protocol, and the game is supposed to be safer now. On Sunday, however, Tua was stumbling around the field before trainers took him out to look for…a back injury? Tua returned to finish the game, but that’s not really the story here. Shortly after the completion of the Dolphins/Bills game, the NFLPA announced they were investigating the management of Tagovailoa’s injury. The early information indicates that a whistleblower may have reported improper management of Tagovailoa’s concussion protocol. If you were relying on Tagovailoa for your fantasy team, you might want to ensure a good backup QB for next week. 

This is what happened to Tua Tagovailoa after his head hit the turf hard. Not sure how you let him back in.

(🎥 @EmmanuelAcho)pic.twitter.com/OiAJwaN5RI

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 25, 2022

Raheem Mostert: Here’s why I like best ball. The week after Mostert claimed his stake as the top RB in MIA, and the same week that his team’s leader struggled to stay on the field, Mostert rushed 8 times for 11 yards. He still saw more reps than Chase Edmonds, although Edmonds won the day for fantasy managers with 2 TDs. This backfield will be painful all year — avoid if you can, but lean Mostert if you have him. 

Chris Olave: 9 rec on 13 targets, 147 yards. Olave set some sort of record for targeted air yards last week, except he came down with a woodworker’s handful of catches. This week, Winston and Olave finally connected for 9 receptions, giving us the fantasy line we all wanted. Winston and his receivers will be volatile all year, but at least we can give some WR3/FLEX consideration to Olave right now. 

Clyde Edwards-Helaire: 7 attempts, 0 yards, 1 TD. You know those baseball games where the pitcher gets a complete game with 0 strikeouts? On the plus side, 5 receptions on 5 targets and 40 yards, which is…something. CEH remains a FLEX option going forward, but given that he has fewer attempts in 3 games than Khalil Herbert had in a fraction of a game, CEH remains an afterthought for most 12-team leagues, and I would do my best to avoid him as an RB2. 

Greg Dortch: Alright, we’ve got three instances of usefulness, and you know what that means: TREND. It’s not like Dortch is breaking into your WR1 spot, but FLEX-favorable managers in PPR leagues love guys like Dortch. Failure is the best teacher, and Dortch learned from the other five teams that cut him. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: on a team with Marquise Brown, A.J. Green, and Zach Ertz, Greg “5’7″” Dortch is worth rostering. I mean, the other guys are worth rostering too but they’re probably unavailable in your league. Of course, the return of Rondale Moore could be trouble, but that trouble might really be for A.J. Green.

Cam Akers: Could this be the game we’ve been waiting for? Again, 3 games make a trend, but Akers finally broke the endzone and averaged over 6.5 yards per carry to start the game. These things — good news for managers. We’ll probably still see some high-variance games for Akers, but we’re at least moving up to FLEX consideration. Baby steps!

K.J. Osborn: I mean, beating the Vikings is surprisingly easy: just align your entire defense to stop Justin Jefferson and let one of the other random receivers beat you. Unfortunately for the Lions, they forgot to cover K.J. Osborn at the end of the game, and he gathered up an unchallenged game-winning touchdown. That’s the rub of saying certain defenses are obvious: you can dedicate your team to stopping a hallmark threat like Justin Jefferson, but then a guy like Osborn daggers your hopes and dreams. Osborn isn’t a FLEX consideration for 12-team leagues and is off-the-radar for shallower leagues. 

James Robinson: Speaking of TREND, I think we can elevate James Robinson to “that dawg” status now. Travis Etienne soaked up some garbage time carries, but JRob was nearly at 100 yards rushing before ETN gathered extra time. Just as we see with Dortch, sometimes the undrafted free agent gets your team going. For as much as the previous Jags’ regime tried to get rid of JRob, the new regime is embracing him. Also, how about that Jaguars DEF? A shutout in week 2 and 10 points allowed in week 3? Other than the Eagles in Week 4, the Jags have an absolute cakewalk of offenses coming up — could be a waiver wire add if you’re looking for a DEF replacement. 

Austin Ekeler: A yakuza’s handful of carries and double that in receptions, but wound up the day with less than ten yards on the ground. Heart-breaking for a guy that was taken, on average, third overall in 2022 fantasy football. Ekeler’s value has always been in PPR leagues, but a top RB should have some running value. Ekeler is still a must-start for a few more weeks, but we’re three games into the season with no TDs and no breakout games. If you wanted 8 catches for 50 yards, you woulda drafted Greg Dortch. 

DK Metcalf: Finally breached the endzone as QB Geno Smith approached 300 passing yards against the Falcons. Metcalf gave a midweek interview where he gave a bit of an attitude toward having Smith throw deep balls. With Metcalf’s Week 3 game averaging nearly 15 yards/catch, it looks like that battery will energize more as the season goes on. Let’s not mention that Metcalf’s catch rate was under 50%…baby steps! 

How did your games go in week 3? Let me know down in the comments! Stay tuned on Monday at 7:15 Eastern for the Fantasy Besties on the Razzball Youtube channel!