Incredibly, we’re at the (basically) quarter way point in this fantasy football seasons. Most regular season are only 13 weeks long, and now is the time when trends are starting to emerge. Each team in the NFL has had surprises and disappointments and we’re going to highlight what the most fantasy relevant storyline is for each team. Now’s the time to react to what is going on and make some tweaks to your team to set yourself up for the bye weeks that are ahead.
Arizona Cardinals – David Johnson will be the RB1 given health
Johnson so far has been a beast for owners. While some were scared of the short sample size and others feared Coach Bruce Arians talking about an RBBC, Johnson has been the workhorse. What’s great for owners is he is game script-proof. Regardless of score, Johnson is in there and producing.
Atlanta Falcons – The additions to the offense are a danger to Julio Jones
This is a bummer for the owners who took Jones with a top 3 pick. His targets have dropped significantly and he shockingly had only one catch vs the New Orleans Saints. Jones may have been banged up, but a season after he matched Antonio Brown in catches and led in yards, this is not what was expected.
Baltimore Ravens – Kenneth Dixon could be a league winning Waiver add
I’ll be honest, I truly don’t know what Dixon’s role will be when he gets back from injury. What I do know is that Justin Forsett and Terrance West haven’t shown anything and buck Allen can’t even get a helmet. Dixon may have the best skill set for what OC Marc Trestman wants to do and could be the lead dog by the midpoint of the year.
Buffalo Bills – Rex Ryan should be fired before the season ends
It’s certainly no guarantee it even happens or it happens before the season is over. However, if it happens, the Bills could decide to go with an offensive coach. Franchises tend to go with an opposite sort of coach. Tyrod Taylor, Sammy Watkins and LeSean McCoy could all stand to benefit.
Carolina Panthers – Cam Newton is excellent…if he’s not getting hit
So this isn’t anything that is different than any other QB. Every single one reacts poorly to constantly getting knocked around. I say this because Newton was most analysts #1 QB. He’s a bit more susceptible to the matchups than the other elite QBs. Owners need to pay attention to how good of a pass rush he faces every week.
Chicago Bears – Jordan Howard could be huge for Zero RB teams
Howard is the exact kind of RB that owners need if they went WR heavy early. He’s talented, has the role to himself due to injury and was starting to show more than Jeremy Langford as it was. There’s a very good chance that Howard is the starter the rest of the way and should be heavily involved in the passing game.
Cincinnati Bengals – Jeremy Hill is the most annoying player in Fantasy football
When the season is over, Hill will most likely be a top 20 RB. That’s pretty good. The problem here is you can never know when to start him. Take Week 3 for the perfect example. Facing the Denver defense, he goes off for 90+ yards and 2 TDs. You know full well next week he’ll go 14 for 30 yards.
Cleveland Browns – The WR in the offense are actually pretty good
Owners should still cross their fingers Josh McCown gets back sooner than later, but every WR has promise. Corey Coleman clicked with McCown before both got injured, Terrelle Pryor can do everything in the offense and Josh Gordon is due back next week and should at least be a WR3 the rest of the way. Cleveland is a bad team, but there’s plenty of fantasy value to be had.
Dallas Cowboys – Dak Prescott can keep the offense going if Romo gets hurt(again)
Is Dak Prescott the second coming some make him out to be? No, but owners of Dez Bryant and Ezekiel Elliott don’t need him to be. They just need Prescott to be slightly above average, which he is. Elliot has gotten better every week and Dez should be a strong WR2 option as Prescott continues to grow.
Denver Broncos – Trevor Siemian can sustain both WR
The first couple off weeks were a bit scary for owners of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. However, in Week 3 Siemian proved he can have some big games as an NFL QB. Both WR should return value for where they were drafted and owners should just stay the course.
Detroit Lions – Marvin Jones might be the steal of the draft
I expected Jones to be a nice fantasy asset this season. Even late in camp, I wasn’t completely buying that he would be the #1 in the offense. He has blown every doubt away in three weeks. He’s going to wind up being a top 15 WR by the end of the season.
Green Bay Packers – Randall Cobb is borderline irrelevant
This could look foolish within a couple of weeks. I also am at my wit’s end with Cobb. You can’t ever play him with confidence. He was bad for fantasy last year and is still struggling massively this year. The Packers said he was injured last year; what’s the excuse now?
Houston Texans – J.J. Watt being out could revive the offense
It broke Tuesday night that Watt is expected to miss an extended amount of time with his back injury. If that’s the case, the value of the Texans offensive players should increase. They’ll have to score more points and the pressure is on Brock Osweiler to be far better than he was in New England.
Indianapolis Colts – Andrew Luck has a terrible offensive line
The big uglies up front just aren’t that good for the Colts. Luck is one of the best and highest paid players in the NFL and the Colts haven’t done enough to make sure he doesn’t have to run for his life every other dropback. Luck can only do so much.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Blake Bortles has regressed
I was practically driving the Bortles bandwagon all off-season and that’s not working out great right now. Bortles has looked even more scattershot and turnover prone than 2015 and so far, every offensive piece has suffered. The one thing that could turn it around is there’s a fairly even shot Coach Gus Bradley is fired after Week 4.
Kansas City Chiefs – Spencer Ware may have ended the Jamaal Charles we know
Charles is one of the best RBs I’ve ever seen. He can do anything that is asked of him. However, Spencr Ware has earned a role in this offense. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know what the split will be. What I do know is Charles is coming off an ACL injury and Ware will be a thorn in the side of every Charles owner.
Los Angeles Rams – Can Todd Gurley overcome his own offense?
The short answer for me is NO. I’m trying to trade him if I have him after he scored twice this past week. There’s just no saving grace and no reason to think it gets any better.
Miami Dolphins – Ryan Tannehill is a good fantasy QB
I don’t think that Tannehill is that good of an NFL QB, but he’s in the perfect formula for fantasy success. He’s got good WR, no running game(Tannehill is leading rusher for the Dolphins…seriously) and a below average defense. I’m not going to play him vs the super hard matchups, but he can definitely fill in admirably most weeks.
Minnesota Vikings – Stefon Diggs and the defense are totally legitimate
I’ve already profiled Diggs in a previous piece, so we’ll move to the defense. They have been incredibly dominant while facing Carolina, Green Bay and Tennessee. They are in the running for the best D in the league, and they went 2 games without top CB Xavier Rhodes. They may be on the wire in your league, make sure you snap them up fast.
New England Patriots – Don’t panic on the passing game pieces
The Pats have been getting it done with a good defense and LeGarrette Blount hammering teams into submission, frustrating owners of Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski(he was injured, but is still sitting on 0 points in 3 weeks). If this describes you, suck it up for one more week and don’t sell low. Tom Brady is back in Week 5.
New Orleans Saints – Give me any part of the passing game I can have
The defense may be one of the worst I’ve ever seen. It’s not a stretch to say that Drew Brees and the Saints have to score virtually every time they have the ball. Thus, Brees and the passing game are it. That’s the only way New Orleans will win. Take advantage if the Brandin Cooks owner is freaking out after his ghastly Monday Night game.
New York Giants – Eli Manning is the lynch pin of a top 8 offense
This is similar to Drew Brees, Eli has excellent weapons in the passing game and a not so great run game. The Giants defense is better than New Orleans, but it’s still not anything great. The only way points are going on the board is off of Eli’s arm. He is primed vastly improve on his 4 TDs through 3 games.
New York Jets – Time is running out to sell Matt Forte
I’ve said it before but it’s worth saying again – Matt Forte has a 0% chance of surviving this whole season if the Jets force feed him touches. Bilal Powell will have to be more involved and the defense isn’t as good as we thought. Forte will not find the end zone like he did two games ago vs the Bills.
Oakland Raiders – Can you say timeshare?
I was a Latavius Murray guy. I stumped for him. I insisted he was good last year and showed his point total would’ve been in the top 20 every year of the past 3 seasons. Now Coach Jack Del Rio has him in a RBBC with DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard. You can survive a committee, you can’t survive getting 8 touches a game.
Philadelphia Eagles – Carson Wentz is a fantasy option
Wentz has been impressive from the word go this season. However, that didn’t translate to fantasy success the first two weeks. The third game was the charm for Wentz as he went over 300 yards and threw 2 TDs. He’s going to be a good option moving forward and becomes very important as more teams are on byes.
Pittsburgh Steelers – They need a #2 option in the passing game
So….in another whiff, Sammie Coates can’t do much but run go routes. Markus Wheaton is still terrible. Now, Le’Veon Bell is back from suspension and will be a huge help in the passing game. The offense still may suffer slightly without a legitimate threat on the other side of Antonio Brown.
San Diego Chargers – Melvin Gordon can finally get snaps
Gordon looks like a much more confident back this season, but was still out-snapped by Danny Woodhead in Week 1. It’s unfortunate that Woodhead got hurt, but Gordon is now firmly the back in San Diego. He’s a good bet for 80+ yards combined every single week now.
San Francisco 49ers – Enough Blaine Gabbert, please
I’m not here to discuss the politics involved here. Blaine Gabbert is flat out not any good, fantasy or otherwise. Colin Kaepernick should be starting for the 49ers right now. We get this excuse of he’s not healthy enough to start, but he can be the backup? That’s bogus. Kaep has the athleticism to maybe be a good fit for Chip Kelly; they need to find out and fantasy owners should be interested as soon as it happens.
Seattle Seahawks – Can Russell Wilson survive the year?
I ranked Wilson as my #3 QB coming into the season, but he hasn’t returned anything close to that. He’s got injuries to each leg, including an MCL sprain. If Russ can’t be mobile, he’s not as effective and the offensive line is absolutely awful. It could derail everything the Seattle offense had potential to do.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jameis Winston and Mike Evans are fantasy gold
There’s still going to be bumps in the road here and there, but these two young guys are already one of the best tandems in fantasy and will only get better. I’m especially willing to pay up in Dynasty formats.
Tennessee Titans – Mike Mularkey shouldn’t be a head coach
Take a few minutes and look at the play designs and calls that the Titans run. DeMarco Murray is highly productive, but this offense is a wreck. They have some young talent and don’t seem to have a clue what to do with it.
Washington Redskins – Don’t panic over Jordan Reed
As a big fan of Jordan Reed, I was a bit concerned just based off of his points. When you look at his snap percentage and target rate, they are almost identical. The big games you enjoyed last year are coming.
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