In 3 less games played, Le’Veon Bell is just 98 yards behind Ezekiel Elliott for being the league leader in yardage. He’s actually leading league in yards-from-scrimmage on a per-game basis and it’s not even close. And be honest…he totally won your Week 14 single-handedly, right? He is the only player to ever out-gain an entire opposing team by himself.
If you’ve got him, ride Le’Veon to your Fantasy League’s championship.
Mail Time!
Seahawks defense, for starters. The Rams are team asking to get their butts whipped and that’s going to happen in Seattle.
QB – I answered this one for you a week ago and I think it’s safe to stand pat on Carson Palmer. The last time he played the Saints, he lit them up for 307 yards and 3 TDs. That game also has a lot of potential to be a high-scoring affair.
TE – Tough call, as both TEs are playing tough matchups. However, Delanie Walker is the one who has a better nose for the end zone and he’s gotten there in 3 of his last 4 road games.
I don’t trust Kenneth Farrow yet, but really like both Falcons RBs against the Niners. Did you see what Bilal Powell did to them? Go with Tevin Coleman.
Pick 3 – Not Kelvin Benjamin.
QB – I don’t like either one, but I would take Russell over Alex – if those are your best options. I hate depending on a quarterback on Thursday night but I also wouldn’t let your playoff game be decided by Alex Smith.
FLEX – While I like the volume that Kyle Rudolph gets from Sam Bradford, Michael Crabtree is Derek Carr’s favorite target. He’s getting 9.5 looks over his last 4 games, compared to the 6.5 that Amari Cooper has.
Quoting Russell Crowe in Gladiator: “IS THERE NO ONE ELSE?!”
I’m seriously asking. I like D-Jax’s matchup better, but Golden Tate is averaging 6.5 catches in each of his last 5 games. Go with consistency.
DEF – Atlanta is facing a Niners offense that just doesn’t belong in professional football. They’ll get out to a big lead and force San Fran to press and turn the ball over.
WR – Tyreek Hill and Jamison Crowder. Reek has 5 TDs in his last 4 weeks (more than anyone over that span) and Crowder has the best matchup.
RB – Gotta go Mark Ingram for the fact that I do not trust Farrow enough to play him in a week this crucial yet.
WR – It’s weird even to consider not playing Julio, but here are you are waiting for him to play a 3:30 PM game. If you’re not willing to wait on him, roll with Sammy Watkins against Cleveland.
QB – I don’t like how limited Stafford looked last week, despite gutting out the win against my beloved Bears. Based on that, Dak Prescott is the safer play.
Have more Fantasy lineup questions? Don’t hesitate to ask on Facebook or Twitter.
If Fantasy Football and the NFL (or as some people call “Real Football”) have anything in common, it’s definitely the MVP race. After the Fantasy playoffs are over, we’ll award the best (and worst) from the season. Check out the results from last season here, where readers and I selected Comeback Player of the Year, Breakout Player of the Year, Steal of the Draft, Biggest Bust, and Most Valuable Player.
It’s funny how much we value running backs in the first round of the draft year to year, but the 5 most valuable players right now are definitely quarterbacks. By multiple fantasy websites, the common Top 5 looks like
Tom Brady (The Revenge Tour Continues)
Cam Newton
Carson Palmer
Russell Wilson
Aaron Rodgers
The first skilled position player to pop up in Actual Fantasy Rankings is Odell Beckham Jr typically around 7th overall, and then finally RBs Devonta Freeman and Adrian Peterson to round out the Top 10. Your average league’s first 5 draft picks looked very similar to Jamaal Charles (IR), Marshawn Lynch (multiple injury stints), Le’Veon Bell (IR), Peterson (fine) and Eddie Lacy (benched at different points). If you’re still in the playoffs, you likely have any of the 5 quarterbacks listed above and/or navigated successfully around the unfortunate circumstances of the Top 5 running backs.
Quick Hits
Julio Jones owners have probably been scratching their heads for a while now. Jones hasn’t caught a touchdown pass since November 1st, 7 weeks ago. Fortunately his reception and yardage numbers have been solid enough to suffice as a decent #2 or #3 for you, but that’s not why you drafted him. Jones is on pace to shatter the Falcons’ single season receiving record with potentially 1,755 yards, despite just awful play from Matt Ryan. Your patience for a Julio touchdown may finally pay off now as he faces a Jaguars secondary that has allowed 10 touchdowns to WRs in their last 8 games.
The story of the Miami Dolphins 2015 season could easily be explained by how they use Lamar Miller. In games that Miller has 13+ carries, the Dolphins are 5-0. When he doesn’t they are 0-8. Many jobs could have been saved if they just gave Lamar the rock but here we are, Dolphins…On Monday night against the Giants, Miller had 7 carries for 69 yards and 2 touchdowns just by the 10:10 mark in the 2nd quarter. He only got 5 carries and zero targets the rest of the game and they lost…of course.
A big part of Tom Brady’s case for MVP is his ability to continue winning and put up big numbers as everyone else around him goes down like characters on Game of Thrones. What’s encouraging though, especially for Fantasy owners, are that his playmakers are all making their way back (like perhaps SOME Game of Thrones characters, dun dun dun!). Gronk came back in a big way last Sunday. This week, Julian Edelman is back practicing in pads…like Stone Cold Steve Austin’s entrance music interrupting the entire league.
Mail Time!
I think you’re certainly on the right track playing Denard Robinson this week. The matchup is juicier than a Juicy Lucy, which my Minnesota friends tell me is delicious. The Falcons have given up the most rushing touchdowns on the season with 15 and they are allowing more receptions to RBs than any other team. I know Todd Gurley seems sexy after his 2 touchdown performance and resurgence last week, but he’s going against one of the best run defenses in football. I would actually consider Matt Forte instead against a Vikings defense that could be missing Linval Joseph, Anthony Barr and Harrison Smith for a second week in a row. Forte also got 9 red zone carries to Jeremy Langford’s 2 last week.
If you feel strongly about Gurley, go for it and play him in your flex. Otherwise, I like Golden Tate in that spot against the New Orleans pass D. Excuse me while I puke think about them.
QB: You likely took Aaron Rodgers late in the 1st or somewhere in the 2nd round. This week is why you picked him there. He’s coming off the worst 10-game stretch of his career, there’s no doubt of that, but he’s taking on a an Oakland defense that allowed more than 2 TD games TWICE to Philip Rivers. Mike McCarthy took the play-calling duties back too, and he wears his play card on his sleeve…his play card being his heart in this metaphor, so expect a lot of stab tries down the field. I’m also not as confident in the Fitzmagic against the Dallas secondary as I would be against the rest of the NFC East.
RB: As I recommended earlier, go with Shoelace aka D-Rob. Then I lean toward Latavius Murray…partially because I don’t know what you’re going to get from Bryce Brown or Brandon Bolden, but also because the Packers have allowed touchdowns to running backs in 3 out of the last 4 weeks and 162 yards rushing to the Cowboys. He’s also a red zone carry machine for Oakland, getting 8 of the last 10 tries since Week 12.
Welcome to the Comeback Club, DB. I came back from an 0-6 start last season, only to get beat by my dad in the championship…
Third question in a row where I feel the need to drive home Denard Robinson. The Falcons have allowed more rushing touchdowns in the last 3 weeks (5), than 6 teams in the league have given up all year.
The 2nd choice I’m going to see what you feel better about. Out of your remaining options, I’m very intrigued by what Bryce Brown can do against the horrendous Browns run defense. It’s weird and scary because we have not seen him once all year, but he’s in line for a heavy workload. In the 4 games Brown had double-digit carries, he averaged 97 yards and a touchdown in each….Then there’s Bilal Powell, who has become a PPR beast in the last 2 weeks and is going against a Dallas team that allows the 4th most receiving yards and 8th most receptions to running backs. Potential upside’s higher with Brown, Powell is safer.
QB: I’m going with the QB that throws to Odell Beckham Jr. Also, the Carolina Panthers secondary just took a hit with Peanut Tillman dealing with a partially torn ACL having to put Bene Benwikere on IR. They could be starting a player they signed off the street on Tuesday, Robert McClain, and Eli Manning should be able to expose that with either ODB or Rueben Randle.
WR: Weird week for him last week, but Allen Robinson is a must start now, with 5 touchdowns in his last 3 games. He’s a big reason why #BortlesKombat is giving everyone he faces a FATALITY, and you can look at the work DeAndre Hopkins and Odell Beckham did on the Falcons to feel better, combining for 16-303-1.
Now you have one of those GOOD problems. I am going with Doug Baldwin against he Browns though, especially if the Bryce Brown experiment doesn’t workout. If you believe in hot hands, there aren’t any hotter than Baldwin right now.
Lamar Miller, Randal. Lamar Miller.
(Read his “Quick Hit” above and you’ll understand why I’m not going into further depth on him.)
Have more lineup questions? Feel free to ask on both Facebook and Twitter! Also, don’t hesitate to post any questions for next week’s Mailbag. Good luck this weekend!
michaelpiff 