Dynasty Analysis
The Eagles drafted Foles in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft as the backup quarterback to incumbent starter Michael Vick. As a rookie, Foles played in fill-in duty for an injured Vick, seeing action in seven games. He wasn’t anything special as a rookie, though.
I’m going to take a look at Alex Smith’s incredible journey, both in his playing career and his recovery from one of the most devastating injuries in NFL history. The point of this piece isn’t to look at Smith and his past performances. I’ll touch a bit on what I expect from Smith in 2020, assuming he remains Washington’s starter.
However, I mostly want to appreciate all the hard work Smith did to reach this point. I’ve always been one of Smith’s biggest fans, and I’ve wanted to see him achieve his goal of returning to the field since his injury. When he took the field in Week 5, replacing Kyle Allen, I felt extremely happy for Smith, and that moment touched me. It was a different type of feeling from how I usually feel when watching football. I’ll remember that moment forever, whether Smith goes on to find success in the future or not.
With four weeks of tape and data in the books, now is the first time you can make a truly informed decision on players on your roster. Your fantasy draft should be a distant memory and with bye weeks approaching the tough decisions will come thick and fast. In order for us to get these tough decisions right, we have to take a step back and objectively evaluate our players.
Is Tim Patrick a valuable asset to your dynasty team? Or will he be back on the waiver wire when the Broncos get healthy again?
As much as I have preached my disdain for the Eagles this year, I have to give them credit in one area. They do not let up many passing yards to their opponents. The Eagles currently rank 18th in the league allowing, on average, 243.5 passing yards per game. Now, before you grab your pitchforks, this could be a by-product of many things including poor quarterback play, game script, etc. But consider for one moment that Joe Burrow, who is breaking NFL records left and right, only threw for 312 yards in an overtime tie to Philadelphia.
Two games have been moved off of the main slate8, leaving us with ten games to sort through in Week 5. I’ll be breaking down each matchup, sharing my thoughts on player prices* and stacking opportunities. As you read, please note that the player names in bold are what I consider my “core” players or guys that I’m sliding into a large percentage of my lineups. Oh, and if you’re new to DFS, you should check out my DFS Tips and Tricks article here.
*All player prices referenced are from FanDuel.
In this weekly article, I’m going to look ahead to the following week. I’ll point out a few players below 40% owned on ESPN who have strong matchups next week that you can pick up ahead of time to beat the waiver run. I’ll also try and get ahead of breakouts that could happen in the current week, as predicting breakouts is the best way to save your FAAB budget.
Howard suffered a devastating torn Achilles injury in the Buccaneers’ Week 4 game. As most of you know, any torn Achilles is a season-ending injury, but it’s also one of the worst injuries in terms of rehab and recovery. Until recently, Achilles injuries were often career-ending, although some players have managed to return from the injury. Emmanuel Sanders is likely the most memorable recent example, and he recovered and returned at relatively full health despite his advanced age.
The Patriots selected Harris with the 87th overall pick in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. They had a relatively crowded backfield at the time, consisting of 2019 first-round pick Sony Michel, pass-catcher James White, and veteran Rex Burkhead. Given Michel’s relatively inefficient performances as a rookie, some people thought that Harris could challenge for the starting role. Even if Harris wouldn’t be the immediate starter, I believed he could compete with Michel for early-down work, alongside White as the third-down back.
With four weeks of NFL action behind us, we are now really starting to get a good idea about who’s the real deal. Joe Burrow looks like the QB we hoped he would be, and Justin Jefferson is looking like a great asset. However, there are still plenty of rookies not on the top of their games, for several different reasons, that will surely be assets later this season or next. Per usual, I will dive into some “Risers”, “Fallers”, “Buys” and “Sells” while assessing their Week 4 performance and long term outlook.
At the time of writing this article on Thursday night, the NFL has rescheduled two Week 5 games. First, the NFL has moved the Patriots-Broncos game from 4:25 PM ET on Sunday to 5:00 PM ET on Monday. Then, the Titans-Bills contest will now occur on Tuesday at 7:00 PM ET, instead of Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.
The Cowboys selected Schultz in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Schultz wasn’t much of a pass-catcher during his college career at Stanford. He served as a blocker for star running backs Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love. Through three years, Schultz totaled 55 receptions for 555 yards and five touchdowns.
In this weekly piece, I will bring you some risers and fallers from a dynasty lens. Whether it’s injuries, performance, or value, I want to discuss how players have moved around. Based on the week’s events, I’ll give some advice on how to act on the market’s movement, whether it’s buying, selling, or holding.
I won’t limit myself to talking about any specific players or teams because I want to have the freedom to discuss whatever is most relevant. Also, of course, there are more risers and fallers than those I’m listing. However, it’s impossible to cover every single one of them, as dynasty values change weekly for many players. With that said, let’s jump into the risers first, followed by the fallers.
Each and every week, I’ll be covering a handful of players that I believe will either exceed expectations or let your team down in a major way. Here’s who you should be looking at for Week 5. This one should go without saying, but please start Kareem Hunt. He will operate as the undisputed lead back in Cleveland while Nick Chubb is on IR. Despite a tough matchup against the Colts’ much-improved defense, Hunt should be considered an RB1 this week and every week until Chubb returns.
WHAT WE LEARNED THIS WEEK Philadelphia, winless through three weeks, relied on their defense to pull out their first victory. On Sunday Night Football, the Eagles registered five sacks, a fumble recovery, two interceptions, and a touchdown. Rodney McLeod, Alex Singleton, and Cre’von LeBlanc led the way in IDP production. Looking forward, the Philly defenders […]
At this point, I’m at a loss for words. Typically when I discuss COVID-19 and its effects on players, I try to sympathize with them as much as I can. I know that you come to me and DFF to read about fantasy football, and I’ll give you that advice. I’m here to help your fantasy teams. However, I always like to make sure we treat the NFL players and coaching staffs as people and remember that they’re human beings too.
Well, that was a weird week. Did we just have two Monday Night Football games and a week four bye? Why yes… yes we did. In all honesty, props to the NFL for getting that Chiefs vs. Patriots rescheduled for Monday night. That game certainly caused a good number of fantasy commissioners to scramble for backup plans and contingency scenarios. Now hopefully we will continue to get good news about the Titans containing the COVID outbreak that left us (read: me) without Derrick Henry last week. Regularly scheduled bye weeks are upon us, which means the pool of legitimate starting players is shrinking even more. Time to get to trading. Check out who we’re buying and selling after the first four weeks of the season.
In a surprising-to-some but expected-to-many outcome, the Washington Football team, led by Coach Riviera, has moved on from their 2019 1st round QB Dwayne Haskins. The preseason clearance of former Pro Bowl QB Alex Smith and the trade for Kyle Allen, who replaced Cam Newton in Carolina last year under Ron Riviera, meant that Haskins owners should’ve been hoping for a far better start to the season than what the Rose Bowl MVP and Ohio State Alumn has given us.
Last week we took a look at Jordan Akins who was headed to a breakout week before suffering a concussion against the Vikings. He should still be widely available if you need a tight end. This week we will be diving into a wide receiver on a team with a ton of potential. This week’s dynasty sleeper is Isaiah Ford. The 7th round pick in 2017 has carved out a nice little role in the Miami Dolphins offense at the beginning of the 2020 season. According to MyFantasyLeague, he is only owned in 20% of leagues, so it shouldn’t be hard to attain Isaiah Ford at his current price.
What can you say about this team? Although they initially struggled to put away a depleted Patriots team, they are 4-0 and chances are if you have two of these guys on your team… so are you. Mahomes is the QB5 on the season averaging 27 PPG. But the consistently high weeks are why he is the QB1 overall. He is a plug-and-play each week starter. His rock Travis Kelce at tight end is TE2 on the season but we can expect that to change back to him being the TE1 as the season goes on.
Every week, I’m going to break down an entire division, focusing on their play on the field that week. Specifically, I’ll go through each team and focus on their dynasty assets, especially anybody who suffered injuries or a massive value change. I won’t look at any player or team in too much detail. This article is more of a summary piece. I also included links to all my previous divisional nuggets articles at the bottom of the page. With that said, let’s jump right in!
For the ATS (against the spread) articles, I will provide analysis on three bets that I feel have the best chance at netting you a nice payday. Whether it be due to matchups, injuries, or other factors, these are the three bets I feel the most confident in placing. I will also make predictions on the rest of the week’s spreads. How about a little Thursday night action to get us started?
This weekly article is focused on identifying players who are owned in less than 40% of redraft leagues. These players are going to help your team win this week and every week to come! We are looking for guys you should be able to plug into your starting lineup without hesitation. If you’re the Nick Chubb owner, you definitely need to be reading this. D’Ernest Johnson is on just about every waiver wire and really showed he can produce in Chubb’s absence. Johnson took 13 carries for 95 yards and is surely in line for a similar workload going forward. Reports indicate Chubb’s MCL injury will keep him sidelined for several weeks so this isn’t just a one-week solution.
Chargers’ running back Austin Ekeler suffered a severe hamstring injury in their Week 4 game versus the Buccaneers. Ekeler had played well in 2020 before his injury, especially once the Chargers switched to rookie Justin Herbert at quarterback from Tyrod Taylor. In Week 3, Ekeler had 11 receptions on 11 targets for 84 yards, and he ran for 59 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Ekeler wasn’t quite the reliable PPR RB1 some had hoped for, but he was a reliable fantasy asset before his injury. Now, he will likely miss a minimum of four weeks. However, I have serious concerns that Ekeler could be gone even longer than that. The Chargers recently signed Ekeler to a 4-year, $24.5 million contract, so they will want to protect their investment in him for the long-term. They currently sit at 1-3, and losing Ekeler will severely hurt their offense.
Upon completion of one-quarter of the NFL season, we have enough evidence to conclude who players are and how they fit into their respective defenses. Players who we know are good finally made good on their preseason promise. Bengals’ RB Joe Mixon and Broncos’ EDGE Bradley Chubb reminded us why we drafted them. On the other hand, we should accept that Cardinals’ RB Kenyan Drake and Raiders’ LB Cory Littleton won’t be the studs that fuel our rosters in 2020.