Last week was widely a success for our hood popping. Mike Gesicki smashed. John Ross did not. All in all, I’d give myself 7/10. Let’s try to keep it going this week as we’re forced to choose which tale of two games we’re going to believe. Maybe we can pound a fantasy jagerbomb to get that 7 to a blurry 9.
- Miles Sanders wasn’t lying about being ready to roll. He played 55 snaps (77%) with a 20-95-1 line and 7 targets for good measure. Philly needs to keep the ball on the ground and passes short with WR and OL woes. The Bengals were just torched by the Chubb/Hunt tandem. Sanders might give you both stats lines in one this week.
- Arizona is averaging 75 plays per game. The best case for Kyler Murray was always pace. His rushing is just a cherry on top. The comfort level seems higher for the entire offense this season. They’re fulfilling their destiny as the up-tempo team that was promised.
- Is Diontae Johnson the new Antonio Brown? I’m not ruling it out. He’s led the team in targets both weeks, even with a bum leg. Big Ben loves looking his way with 10 and 13 targets the last two games. If that Steeler offense finds its groove, watch out.
- Joshua Kelley chalk week may be nigh. We truthers always had some level of expectation for the short-yardage work. What I did not anticipate was a role in the passing game. He saw three targets to Austin Ekeler’s four, catching two of them for 49 yards. The rookie is getting attention with Carolina coming to town for good reason.
- Tre’Quan Smith may be the biggest beneficiary of Michael Thomas’s absence with 53 out of 60 snaps.
- Antonio GibSZN may be kicking off. Gibson was much more involved in the rushing attack last week, handling 13 carries for 55 yards and a TD. The next step is to install his passing game lethality (spellcheck tells me this is a word). Remember that he’s a rookie with no preseason. Baby steps.
- Melvin Gordon has always been a volume play. With Philip Lindsay out of the way, he dominated all but 3 of the RB touches. They didn’t pay him for nothing. The Broncos schedule is some tough sledding the next few so he’ll need to keep the up the touch hogging.
- Is it possible Stefon Diggs was dragging Kirk Cousins along with him? Untethered from the anchors of Minnesota he’s thriving. Big armed Josh Allen has chalked up 248 air yards to Diggs. Buffalo has had to pass more than they’d prefer so that my fluctuate. Nevertheless, it’s encouraging to see one of the best deep receivers in the game be given the spotlight.
- I doubt you can count on Mike Davis to catch eight passes every week. Still, they aren’t going to completely change the playbook with CMC out. Remember, that targets are more valuable for RBs in PPR leagues than rushes.
- There’s a surprising role reversal happening in New England with Julian Edelman posting an aDOT of 12.4 while N’Keal Harry has an aDOT of 5.2. The Seattle game certainly helps Edelman as he saw a bunch of deep targets late. It will be interesting to see if Cam’s arm strength is unlocking something for Edelman, though. Especially if Harry is serviceable underneath.