What’s up everybody? Your usual Sunday roundup author, Donkey Teeth, is in a bit of a predicament, so I’m stepping in to help you catch up on the Sunday games. What predicament is DT in, you ask? Glad to spill the secrets! See, DT is a member of an elite club of adventurers who, upon the release of pumpkin spice lattes in the fall, gather in Los Angeles for their annual Kart Across America race. Donning the costumes of their favorite Mario Kart character, the group hops on actual go karts to race across the great American highways at 20 MPH. This year, our beloved DT — dressed as his hero Wario — took a banana to the face and crashed into an In-N-Out just outside of El Segundo. Of course, he lost his wallet in the crash. He’s also slightly blinded from the animal sauce that got in his eyes. Yet, he wants to finish the race, so he got back on the kart, took some mushroom power, and was last seen drifting by Lake Tahoe.
ENYWHEY, let’s take a look at some of the highlights for Sunday’s NFL games for your fantasy football teams.
Baker Mayfield — Why am I starting out with my vote for the least interesting QB? Because the Browns put up 49 points and Mayfield went 19/30 for 165 yards and 2TDs. His receiver Jarvis Landry went 1/1 for 37 yards and 1TD…as a quarterback. I know I sound like a broken record on Mayfield, but he’s been less than impressive through four games this season for fantasy purposes, but his fanbase is so rabid that he maintains a strong fantasy following. In Yahoo leagues, Mayfield is rostered more than Teddy Bridgewater, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Derek Carr, Justin Herbert, and Gardner Minshew. All of those QBs have more fantasy points than Mayfield so far. As I mentioned in the off-season, Mayfield gets better as the season goes on and he becomes more familiar with the playbook. Hopefully he takes the next step and becomes a more productive fantasy quarterback.
Dak Prescott — 502 yards and 4TDs, 1INT, and the Cowboys still took the loss. From a fantasy perspective, Prescott is gold. The Cowboys’ defense hasn’t been stopping many teams, and Prescott is producing massive yards. Prescott was the #5 QB in my rest of season rankings last week, and he’s leading the league in yards/game. If you’re in DFS or H2H, Prescott is a must roster for his gaudy opportunities. Put another way, Prescott’s passing output — just for week 4 — was nearly as much as Lamar Jackson’s passing output over the first three weeks of the season.
Odell Beckham — 2 rushes for 73 yards and 1TD, 5 rec for 81 yards and 2 TDs. ODB needed a breakout, and fantasy managers were waiting for this kind of production.
Nick Chubb — Exited the Browns/Cowboys game in the first half with a right knee injury and did not return. Kareem Hunt is a must roster in Chubb’s absence.
Dalvin Cook — 130 yards on 27 carries and 2 TDs. Cook looked electric rushing to the edges and beating out the Texans’ defense. The Vikings offense as a whole still looked questionable, and the Vikes’ eeked out a win thanks to some bad offensive play by the Texans on their final drive (like, needing to go 70 yards and rushing Duke Johnson up the middle with less than 3 minutes left). Cook is still the center of the Vikings offense, and hopefully as Justin Jefferson emerges, there will be more opportunity for Cook to run.
Justin Jefferson — 4 catches for 103 yards, and his second 100-yard receiving game in a row. If he’s still on the waiver wire in your league, you gotta grab him.
Adam Thielen — 8 catches for 114 yards and a TD. Vikings DEF is pretty awful this year and the Vikes will need to pass a lot to stay in the games. Cousins has been less than impressive but Thielen has been involved enough to justify that WR1 ranking for many teams.
Will Fuller — 6 receptions, 108 yards, and 1 TD. That TD was a blown coverage by the Vikings’ backup backup safety, George Iloka. Fuller almost had another TD at the end of the game but the ball was ruled to be bobbled as he landed. Texans’ coach Bill O’Brien deployed a lot of questionable offensive calls, and with Fuller going up against a banged-up Vikings D and the inadequate George Iloka, Fuller should have gotten more looks.
Joe Mixon — 151 yards on 15 carries for 2 TDs, and 6 receptions for 30 yards and 1 TD. I told you last week that Mixon was due to break out, and here it was. Mixon’s usage rate in the Bengals’ offense is still huge, but Mixon’s production is hampered by a weak offensive line. With Burrow getting in sync with the Bengals’ passing game, Mixon’s chances for big fantasy games should improve.
Gardner Minshew — Minshew mania pushed the sophomore QB into the starting lineups of many teams in 12-team leagues, and he probably shouldn’t have been there. Minshew is a boom-or-bust QB, and his yardage and TDs were nothing special. However, in Week 4, Minshew threw for a gaudy 351 yards and 2 TDs, which will get a lot of people back on board for Minshew mania. If your QB1 is Carson Wentz or Jared Goff, it wouldn’t hurt to have somebody like Minshew as the backup.
D.J. Chark — Chark snared 8 receptions for 95 yards and 2 TDs after coming back from a chest injury. He basically outdid his entire 2020 stats in this week 4 game, so that’s a promising sign that he’ll live up to the hype he had in the pre-season.
Matt Stafford — 17/31 for 206 yards, 3 TDs. That’s a really inefficient game for the Lions’ signal caller, but fantasy owners will take it. Stafford should bounce back this year, and the yardage was nearly 30% below his average from week 1-3.
Emmanuel Sanders — The Saints’ de facto #1 WR had a really tough week 2 when he was supposed to be huge in the absence of Michael Thomas. After that 1 catch performance against the Raiders, Sanders has snared 10 catches on 14 targets for 149 yards and a TD across weeks 3 and 4. Michael Thomas should be coming back soon, but hopefully that just opens up the passing game for more opportunities for Sanders, who seems to have built a rapport with Drew Brees.
Ryan Fitzpatrick — A large segment of the fantasy football community really likes Fitzpatrick, and it’s not hard to see why. In real life, he looks like a mountain man gone metro, and he’s put the dismal Miami Dolphins team on his shoulders for the past year. He knows he’s not the future of the franchise, but he keeps going out week after week as if he’s the face of the Dolphins until the year 2030. That said, Fitzpatrick has passed into the end zone only 4 times this year, and the Seahawks limited him to a rushing TD only in week 4. Another prototypical boom-or-bust QB, Fitzpatrick is best served as a best ball QB, and probably shouldn’t be on your roster unless you’re in a 16-team league.
Dwayne Haskins — The internet rumor mill is awash with whether Haskins will remain the quarterback in Washington. Now, Haskins hasn’t thrilled — either last year or this year — but he was also a rookie last year finishing out with a lame duck coaching staff, and current head coach Ron Rivera has been battling cancer. During the week 4 game, Ron Rivera was not feeling well and many observers noticed it. As the Washington Football Team struggled against the stout Ravens’ DEF, Haskins managed 314 yards and a rush for a TD. That’s nothing to get excited about for fantasy purposes, but those dynasty managers who had been hoping for a Haskins’ breakout in 2021 will have to keep waiting. Haskins shouldn’t be rostered in most redraft fantasy formats, and troubled superflex owners would be wise to put in $1 bids on Alex Smith in case Haskins struggles again.
Terry McLaurin — F1 took 10 receptions on 14 targets for 118 yards. F1 is on pace for 104 receptions and 1,548 yards over 16 weeks. Razzball’s Rudy Gamble was the highest ranker on F1, and he set the trend for fantasy managers racing to McLaurin. At the start of fantasy draft season, experts took McLaurin around the 7th-8th round. As drafts finished near Week 1 of the season, McLaurin was often taken in the 4th-5th round. If Haskins makes even a notch of improvement, or Alex Smith comes back in a usable manner, McLaurin could get those TDs that would make him a 2020 fantasy superstar.
Lamar Jackson — 14/21 for 193 yards, 2 TDs, 1INT, and 53 yards rushing for another TD. LJax remains fairly efficient, but from a fantasy perspective, he’s not living up to the round 2/3 draft value that many expected. The Ravens simply aren’t passing enough at the start of the season to make LJax an elite fantasy QB. With 32 rushes to 23 passes in their Week 4 game, it’s easy to see how LJax has a limited fantasy ceiling under the current play calling regime. In a week where Dak Prescott put up 35 points in most formats, LJax’s 24 points simply isn’t enough passing production to keep your fantasy team in competition.
Tom Brady — 369 yards and 5TDs. There we go! Best ballers are dancing with joy at Brady’s performance. Targeting 9 receivers, Brady finally had his breakout game under Bruce Arians’ offense. Hopefully his success continues into Week 5, because a lot of fantasy managers bet on the star-studded Bucs offense to bring them fantasy glory.
Mike Evans — Evans has had a boom-or-bust start to the season, and Week 4 game him another boom, with 7 catches for 122 yards and a touchdown. If Brady has finally mastered the Arians offense, expect more big games from Mike Evans.
O.J. Howard — Looks like he tore his Achilles tendon and will be done for the year. Brady had been targeting Howard a surprising amount, and perhaps Howard’s poor luck will be the opening for Rob Gronkowski to become a pass catcher for the Bucs. More likely, Brady will target RoJo or Fournette more.
Ronald Jones — 20 carries for 111 yards with another 6 catches for 17 yards. Leonard Fournette had been rumored to take the lead back job with the Bucs, but a performance like this from RoJo will undoubtedly change the coaches’ minds. Until Fournette returns to the field — and probably even afterward — Jones remains an intriguing fantasy start. However, the Bucs offense has a lot of talent, and it would be difficult to predict which player will carry the load each week.
Justin Herbert — 20/25 for 290 yards, 3TDs, and 1INT. Herbert also led the Chargers in rushing with 14 yards. The first year QB, who became the Chargers’ starter after a freak Week 2 injury to veteran Tyrod Taylor, has been putting up gaudy yardage numbers so far, and this week showed Herbert’s ability to get some touchdowns as well. Averaging over 300 yards/game so far, Herbert is a must start in superflex and deep leagues, and is approaching must start levels for 12-team leagues.
Austin Ekeler — His his hamstring in the first quarter and did not return. His status for Week 5 is questionable.
Teddy Bridgewater — 276 yards, 2 TDs in the air and one on the ground while he added another 32 yards. In charge of the Panthers’ offense, Bridgewater has been putting up some high yardage numbers while missing the end zone, so his 3 combined touchdowns in Week 4 show promise. He’s been connecting well with Robby Anderson, who had 8 catches for 99 yards. With Curtis Samuel and D.J. Moore on the team and backup RB Mike Davis holding the fort until the return of Christian McCaffrey, the Panthers could be a sneaky offense to help fantasy owners in the second half of the season.
Kyler Murray — 133 yards…but 3 TDs. That’s not thrilling from a fantasy perspective. However, he added another 78 yards on the ground, which upped his fantasy pointage into usable territory. The Panthers are not stout against the pass, which made it more surprising that the prolific Cardinals’ passing attack did so little in Week 4. Kyler is ranked as my number 4 QB for the rest of the 2020 season, so I expect he’ll bounce back in Week 5.
Christian Kirk — Kirk was a popular WR target around rounds 5-7 for fantasy managers, but he’s been hobbled by a leg injury for most of 2020. Back on the field in Week 4, he took 3 catches for 19 yards and a TD. Kirk had 107 targets in 2019 and is the #2 receiver in a prolific Cardinals passing offense. If he hit the waiver wire in your league, give him a chance.
Kenyan Drake — 35 yards and no receptions. So far, Drake hasn’t paid off on his late 1st round/early 2nd round draft slot. However, he’s still a healthy RB, and through week 3 he was in the top 10 in RB yardage. He’s getting nearly 17 touches a game, which is still a great prospect for fantasy production. Like Joe Mixon getting a bit unlucky through the first three weeks before exploding in week 4, fantasy owners should keep starting Kenyan Drake until he either hits or his usage falters. Fingers crossed the opportunities turn into fantasy points.
Cooper Kupp — When adequate DEF meet on the football field, it results in the 17-9 game between the Rams and the Giants that barely topped 500 yards of offense between the two teams combined. In other words, Dak Prescott basically produced more offense than the 22 offensive players on the Rams and Giants. Kupp made the highlight reel for catching a TD in broken coverage, and finished the day with 5 catches for 69 yards. With 23 receptions for nearly 300 yards and 2TDs through his first four games, Kupp is living up to his draft value as the WR 1/2 for many teams.
Josh Allen — In his worst performance of the year, Josh Allen threw for 288 yards, 2 TDs, and punched in a QB sneak for another TD. In most scoring systems, he got 24 points for his worst game of 2020. Considering most drafters took Allen well after round 10, they’re getting great value for their quarterback slot.
Stefon Diggs — Josh Allen’s favorite target is on pace for 104 catches and 1600 yards. Sure, that’s gotta be unsustainable. But for right now, ride the Diggs wave as he’s producing ridiculous results. With 6 catches for 115 yards in week 4, Diggs has helped a lot of teams to victory.
Allen Robinson — Nick Foles looked like, well, the Nick Foles that couldn’t keep the QB job when the St. Louis Rams were purposefully losing before moving to Los Angeles. Foles did, however, find Robinson 7 times for 101 yards and a TD. Whether it be Trubisky or Foles, Robinson has been hot over the past two weeks, with 17 catches on 23 targets, 224 yards, and 2 TDs. Foles seems to love Robinson — with good reason! — and as long as Foles remains the signal caller in Chicago, Robinson should get a priority in DFS lineups and should be a certain start in head-to-head formats.
1. With DET bye week next week, is JimmyG worth a stash? Unsure if my #4 waiver will get me Bridgewater. Who do you like between Carr and jimmy
2. Is a #4 waiver worth using on: Tim Patrick, Renfrow, Justin Jackson, D’ernest Johnson for a 14m? Looking for a ROS low-end flex – can you pls rank
3. Pascal, Gabriel Davis, or Kirk
Thanks!
1) I won’t like, I’m liking Carr more than Jimmy G this year. SF has a lot of motion in their passing attack, and an ankle sprain may keep JG hobbled more than people think. That said, if everything else is neutral, I prefer JG.
2) Of those, I’d rank them the same that you listed them. I think Renfrow might have a smidge more upside. Patrick has more volatility because QBs will change, and when Drew Lock comes back, he might just throw to Jeudy.
3) Gotta stay with Kirk. ROS, he’s got the highest upside and floor. The only way he isn’t producing in that offense is if his injury is more significant than he’s letting on.
Thanks for checking in Hamtime!
Great work, Dr. Blair!
If anyone has any questions for me regarding pumpkin spice and/or Mario Kart feel free to post them here. I’ll be back writing the (double) MNF round up tonight, if the Doc didn’t Wally Pipp me.
Hi,
I think its time we really slow down ranking dolphins recievers high… especially PW. He’s been ranked higher than crowder, aiyuk, ward, tate, miller in the past 3 weeks. Me starting PW based on rankings here pretty much cost me matchups last few weeks..lol. Fitzpatrick first and only look is Parker. And we might want to begin seeing Fitz for the QB he’s always been. Even the ranking of his TE might be too high. Chan Gailey and Fitz have history of ignoring TEs.
I’ll let DT jump in here as well, but I think a quick response is that the Dolphins receivers have been underperforming their career stats.
Preston “Saucy Boi” Williams has a miserable 35% catch rate. Like, holy cow, that’s bad. Another factor is the emergence of Isaiah Ford, who was on *nobody’s* radar in the pre-season. Miles Gaskin — another player that was on *nobody’s* radar, has also taken another 18 catches on 20 targets. So, there’s a mess in Miami right now, and it’s somewhat due to early season usage that no analyst foresaw. If we look at regressions, certainly DP and PW and MG are the highlights. If we look at this year, that changes the story. It takes about 3-4 weeks of data to get a reliable trend, so those numbers may start changing in the near future.
For me, I’m seeing the Dolphins pass 50% more times than they’re rushing, and if you take away Fitzpatrick’s rushes, they’re passing nearly twice as much. Although it may be unpredictable on a week-to-week basis as to who gets those targets and yards, the Dolphins receiving corp is still a good target for receiver needs. Whether Fitzmagic or Tua, eventually they’ll get into the endzone.
Thanks for checking in QDOT!
Yeah, can’t argue with it at all QDOT. Crowder and Aiyuk are certainly ahead of him at this point. I think Ward, Tate and Miller all fall into a similar crapshoot bucket.
Still confident Preston breaks out at some point but you can’t start him right now, I agree.
Sorry to let you down!
No worries at all
Thanks DT! Keep dodging those red shells!
I’d think Tre’Quan > Manny Sanders – or is it a coin flip?
Coin flip in my opinion, but there’s no questioning Tre’Quan’s end zone looks in previous years. That’s tasty upside. That said, they’re best reserved for deep leagues and best balls.
t.smith’s entire career so far (not long) is only usable for best balls. does have use in those though for his huge weeks like this one.
Superflex league:
Qb:Watson/mayfield
Rb: sanders/Michel/freeman/dobbins
Wr: Hopkins/Arob/chark
Te: Andrews
Give: Watson/Michel/freeman get Newton/drake
Thanks.
I like it. Your team needs that extra spark, and I think this is a buy-low opportunity. If Drake truly continues to get 17-20 touches a game and finishes as a fantasy dud, I give you permission to razz me and every other analyst in the comments.
Would you try to trade Joe Mixon after his game today for a more consistent back or do you think he can replicate. Same question with Odell?
Minds way smarter than me are already on the social media machine telling people to trade ODB. I tend to agree with them, but make sure the return is worthwhile.
Certainly Mixon’s week 4 is a ceiling, but over the past three years, he’s been one of the most reliable RBs in terms of end of year points. If you’re looking for week-by-week consistency, I wouldn’t hold it against you for shopping Mixon. But given the nature of 2020, I also don’t see another RB in that tier that would be a clear “buy” for Mixon’s “sell” price right now.
Hope that helps Dominic!
Thank you!!
Please discuss Dan Marino more
They need some Gomorra discussion on this side too
(writes witty story about Gamera, realizes it’s different than Gomorra)
YOU GUYS LIKE THE PIGSKIN, EH? I AM DOLPHINS FAN, BOY. I LOVE THE FOOTBALLS.
Yo, EB, you better be writing all your football stuff while wearing Isotoners, that’s rule #1
Wow, we gonna watch American Gladiators too? Maybe get some Head and Shoulders?
I got mad respect for Gamera too!
Yo, Grimey, Fargo’s a mess, right? Not even Genny can save that — though, I haven’t watched Sunday’s episode yet bc I got food poisoning from pickles last night and thought I was gonna die
Botulism is no joke!
Haven’t started it yet. Was waiting for a few more episodes to binge.
I’m about to start Lovecraft country tho… seen it?
food poisoning from pickles, that’s not easy to do since they’re in vinegar. genny is batshit insane (like cartoonish insane). i’d assume here these were homemade pickles and somebody either didn’t package them right, or didn’t add enough vinegar, or maybe the package got damaged somehow.
– i did just notice they made a movie about ciro’s backstory, the immortal. i obtained it yesterday but haven’t seen it yet.
– grey, you’ll love the hilarious scene in ep 3 with the serial killer nurse at the hospital, after she leaves it.
Can’t wait to hear about this on the next Patreon Pod. We should warn Billy there’s pickle talk coming.
Someone wants to alleviate my Chubb pain by offering me Le’Veon Bell and James Robinson for Cooper Kupp in a PPR League. It would leave me with Preston Williams, DJ Moore, and Marquise Brown at WR (we start three WRs). I should accept this offer, right?
Unless you’ve got prescience to know which RB goes down next, I think so. You’ve still got upside at WR, and late game WR can come into play later if LVB doesn’t take off.
If nothing gets going, keep your eyes open for this year’s Boston Scott or RoJo down the line.
WAS would be better served here in NOT starting a.smith. what, they want to win like 2 more games with a.smith this year compared to haskins while closing out their 1st round pick of haskins? they’re better off letting haskins improve while also getting better draft slot. i remember (i hang out in KC a decent amount of the time) telling the locals both the year before mahomes was drafted and his rookie year (where he started once i believe or maybe came in the 1st or 2nd quarter of one game) that “yes your defense is great (it was in that period) but you won’t be winning any SB’s with a.smith at QB”. the local fans were very confident they had a good shot that year. sure enough they got bounced right on out of the playoffs since a.smith can’t win games when he has to. a couple of counter examples do exist wherein a.smith could’ve won a SB had he been the QB at the time:
– DEN the year p.manning won (p.manning was a completely joke at this stage of his career), DEN’s D was sicko good and won that one by themselves
– BAL that year they had the best D ever with dilfer at QB.
– GB back in super bowls 1-2 (running game, and D, and lombardi)
if a.smith was the BAL or DEN or GB’s QB in those seasons they’d have still won, but those examples are very rare.
Personally, I’m all about letting young QBs play. I mean, how many QBs have we seen where they get like 6 games worth of leash under awful coaching and then we just throw in the towel and move on?
Personally, I think if there’s any juice left in the Alex Smith box, Washington trades him for any draft pick they can get. What’s AS worth to WFT if he starts? Negative draft value. Whole bunch of teams looking for a QB…Smith has to have at least as much juice left in the box as Blake Bortles, right?
Haskins is 23, has been sitting behind an awful O-line with basically no RB and a ton of holes in the receiving roster, and he’s got a QB rating on par with Fitzmagic and Cousins and way higher than Wentz. He’s thrown for more yards than Kyler Murray and LJax. His TD% is on par with Rivers and Burrow and he’s ahead of Wentz (oof for Wentz, right?). I think Haskins has earned his shot, and WFT should give him a season-long look.
Thanks for checking in ML!
Trade my T. Hill and Ingram for Aaron Jones?
I think you hold your cards and keep Hill/Ingram there. Unless you’re overflowing with WR, they are the better lineup.
What if they throw in CeeDee as well (Hill/Ingram for Jones/CeeDee)
That’s a trade that you take. Lamb shows signs of being a legit all-year producer on one of the highest volume offenses in the league. Jones and Lamb provide huge upside.