I got into the weeds Monday afternoon researching NFL mascots. I never knew how much I didn’t know about football mascots. Turns out there’s a lot of great ones out there, including Viktor the Viking, Rowdy the Cowboy and T-Rac, the Titans’ funny looking raccoon character who may or may not have coronavirus. Of course the Titans would have a random raccoon mascot. The Saints come in strong with not one, but two mascots: a friendly St. Bernard puppy by the name of Gumbo along with Sir Saint, a large mustachioed caucasian man with an obscenely large chin. The Chargers on the other hand are mascot-less after their unofficial mascot, Boltman, retired back in 2018 due to climate change. Enter Justin Herbert. The rookie QB balled out on Monday night with a line of 20/34 for 264 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions.  Five of those completions went to Mike Williams who finished the night with 5 catches for 109 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Many forget that Big Mike caught 10 touchdowns in his sophomore season, only two years ago. The young QB/WR tandem looks to have a very bright future as the new L.A. Chargers mascots. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday for fantasy football:
Drew Brees – 33/47 for 325 yards, 1 carry for 1 yard, his 9th passing touchdown, 1st rushing touchdown and 1 interception. Brees did not look good in this game, and I’m not just talking about his rapidly receding hairline. Â Even once Michael Thomas (ankle) returns from injury and/or punching teammates, I’m still not sure the old man is more than just a streamer at this stage in his career.
Alvin Kamara – 11 carries for 45 yards, 8 catches for 74 yards. A tame night for Alvin and the Chipmunks, but Kamara still quietly cruised his way to 119 total yards. That’s the kind of down night you expect from the chipmunk.
Emmanuel Sanders – 12 catches for 122 yards. This was the Colonel Sanders I expected to see this year in New Orleans. It makes sense that it’d take the vet a little time to learn the new offensive recipe without any preseason. And guess who saw this performance coming? That’s right, our savvy bot, Pigskinonator. The brilliant robot ranked Sanders as it’s #19 wide receiver for week 5. Have you picked up your 7-day free trial yet?
Tre’Quan Smith – 2 catches for 8 yards. Smith didn’t show us the Quan we were promised. His days of fantasy relevance are likely numbered with Sanders now settling in and Thomas set to return.
Jared Cook – 2 catches for 52 yards and his 2nd touchdown. The big man didn’t see a target for 3.5 quarters and probably still  isn’t quite 100%, but Cook showed up in the kitchen when it counted. Although, even once back to full health, he’s no better than a TE streaming option.
Justin Jackson – 15 carries for 71 yards, 5 catches for 23 yards. I wanted Joshua Kelley (11 carries for 29 yards, 1 catch for 9 yards) to be the guy because I’ve been hyping him up since June, but it was Jackson who looked like the better runner (and receiver) against the Saints solid defensive front. Austin Ekeler (hamstring) is expected to miss 3-5 more weeks, giving Jackson flex appeal for the near future and maybe longer. Don’t rush to drop Kelley yet either.
Keenan Allen – 2 catches for 29 yards and his 2nd touchdown before exiting in the first half with a back injury. This is my fault, I mentioned in my preseason rankings that Allen’s played every game over the past three seasons. Hopefully the Chargers’ stud doesn’t miss anymore time, he’s shown great chemistry with Herbert over the last couple weeks.
Hunter Henry – 4 catches for 23 yards and his 1st touchdown. It’s a real crap shoot at tight end once you get past Kelce, Kittle, Waller and Andrews–emphasis on crap. Henry at least appears to have volume on his side with 7+ targets in four of five games. If you’re hunting for the #5 tight end, Henry’s as good of a candidate as anyone.
