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Monday Night Football Recap
This was yet another boring Monday Night Football game. Until you consider the fact that the Seattle Seahawks have never played a normal game. The Seahawks have been a slow-paced team, but their glacial pace last night was a new nadir. The team ran 43 plays, which is identical to the total number of rushing attempts Washington had as a team. It’s difficult for Russ to cook when the team refuses to let him into the kitchen. Wilson kept the team alive late with a long touchdown throw to Freddie Swaim, but it was all for naught as the team lost 17-15. It’s hard to tell what the team’s game plan is given that the running game is broken. Wilson was the leading rusher on the team, carrying the ball twice for 16yards. Alex Collins and DeeJay Dallas combined for 10 carries and 18 yards, a laughable amount. To make matters worse, DK Metcalf was barely targeted save for a handful of targets close to the end of the game. Gerald Everett led all Seahawks receivers in targets, posting a 5-37-1 receiving line. Unfortunately, you just have to keep rolling out Everett, Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett in your leagues, but don’t expect them to hit their ceilings.
The Washington Football Team put on a clinic last night. Given that the Seahawks were busy beating themselves, it didn’t require much of an effort from Taylor Heinicke. I will add that Antonio Gibson had a tremendous game last night and it’s a shame he didn’t score the touchdowns. Gibson turned 29 carries into 111 yards and caught all seven of his targets for 35 yards. The seven targets are a new career-high for Gibson and hopefully an indication of his receiving game usage for the rest of the season. J.D. McKissic continues to cap Gibson’s upside, converting a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown.
Leonard Fournette Is A Target Hog
In what was ostensibly the best game of the weekend, the Buccaneers beat the Colts 38-31. Leonard Fournette did his best Jonathan Taylor impression, carving up the Colts on the ground and through the air. Fournette posted a tremendous 17-100-3 rushing line and followed it up with a 7-31-1 receiving line (on eight targets). Since the Buccaneers’ Week 9 bye, Fournette has seen an average of approximately 7.5 targets per game. Fournette’s emergence as a threat in the receiving game has been a pleasant surprise, but it has resulted in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin seeing fewer targets than expected. Both star wide receivers were disappointing on Sunday, posting mediocre receiving numbers. Evans posted a 3-16-0 receiving line (five targets) whereas Godwin posted a 4-24-0 line (five targets). Rob Gronkowski being back to fully healthy is another reason why either receiver is not getting targeted more heavily. Gronkowski posted 7-123-0 (10 targets) on Sunday and looked to be back to full health. Although he may not have scored, I suspect that there are some very big games coming for him in the near future. Note that the Buccaneers do expect Antonio Brown next week, so I’ll be interested to see what the target split looks like going forward and if Fournette retains this massive receiving role.
On the Colts’ side of the ball, Jonathan Taylor posted yet another strong showing. Despite the poor matchup against the Buccaneers’ stout run defense, Taylor gashed them on the ground posting a 16-83-1 rushing line. He also caught four of his five targets for 14 yards. There’s not much left to be said about Taylor’s performance this season. I will wish opposing run defenses the best of luck as they try to slow him down. Carson Wentz played well in a losing effort. Despite dealing with a myriad of injuries, Wentz has been a solid performer over the course of this season and Sunday was no different. He completed 27 of his 44 passes for 306 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. Wentz had to lean on Jack Doyle (6-81-1 receiving on seven targets) on Sunday as Michael Pittman was afflicted with a case of the drops. Pittman caught only four of his 10 targets for 53 yards and no scores. Pittman continues to see healthy volume and given that he racked up the air yards on Sunday (152 air yards, top-5 in the NFL) I feel pretty good plugging him into my lineup next week.
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Jaylen Waddle‘s Upside Is The Moon
This was a tale of two teams going in opposite directions. Despite Cam Newton’s promising play last week against the Washington Football Team, he looked a lot like the version we saw in New England this week. Newton completed a woeful five of his 21 pass attempts for 92 yards and two interceptions. Newton was benched in favor of PJ Walker around the start of the fourth quarter. Walker didn’t fare much better, completing five of his 10 pass attempts for 87 yards and an interception. To make matters worse, Christian McCaffrey rolled his ankle badly in the first half. The injury was fairly significant, as the team has put McCaffrey on season-ending injured reserve. If Chubba Hubbard is available on your waiver wire, he should be one of your biggest priority adds this week if you’re looking for a running back. D.J. Moore caught four of his 10 targets for 103 yards. Similar to Pittman, Moore racked up the air yards on Sunday (151 air yards, top-6 in the NFL). Moore continues to see healthy volume as the team’s only dependable pass catcher. One of these weeks he’s going to convert the prayer yards into receiving yards and will post a mammoth fantasy finish. Keep plugging him in as a high-upside WR2.
The Dolphins’ offense roared to life on Sunday. Myles Gaskin remained inefficient with his touches (52 yards from scrimmage on 18 touches) but was buoyed by his two-touchdown day. It’s been incredible to watch Jaylen Waddle emerge this year, but he posted ostensibly his best game of the season. Waddle posted a 9-137-1 receiving line and flashed his ability as an adept receiver in the short, intermediate, and deep portions of the field. I should note that Waddle was only three for 13 on deep targets until this game but flashed his ability as a deep threat in addition to being a deadly receiver in the short and intermediate portions of the field. Hopefully, Tua Tagovailoa’s connection with Waddle improves in the coming weeks and years.
Elijah Mitchell Is Your Waiver Wire MVP
The Niners have been on a tear of late, winning their last three games quite handily. The team is making a push to potentially join the convoluted playoff race. Unfortunately, the team will have to do so without the services of Deebo Samuel who injured his groin on Sunday. Head coach Kyle Shanahan noted that Samuel is expected to miss the next one-two weeks. Definitely something to keep an eye on, as Samuel is expected back in time for the fantasy playoffs. In his absence, I’d expect Brandon Aiyuk to post high-end WR2 numbers going forward. Samuel’s absence will also open up a plethora of targets for George Kittle. Niners running back Elijah Mitchell is making a case as one of the biggest victories from early waiver wires. Mitchell saw the lion’s share of the carries on Sunday and posted a 27-133-1 rushing line. He also saw a career-high six targets, converting them into a 5-35-0 receiving line. If you were aggressive for Mitchell on waivers early on, congratulations on snagging a league-winning running back.
Unfortunately, Dalvin Cook suffered a pretty serious shoulder injury on Sunday. Adam Schefter reports that Cook is expected to miss “at least” weeks 13 and 14. My best guess is that Cook might miss significantly more time and is most likely not going to be rushed back unless the team needs his services to win a playoff spot. Alexander Mattison has proven to be a very capable fill-in and if he’s somehow on your waiver wire, do whatever it takes to get him on your team.
