George Kittle And Brandon Aiyuk Show Signs Of Life
Over the first two weeks, WR Deebo Samuel has been an absolute force in the receiving game. Through three weeks he leads all 49ers receivers in target share (33.0%), with TE George Kittle slotting in behind him (19.8%. Samuel has been incredibly efficient with his receiving workload, so it should come as no surprise that QB Jimmy Garoppolo is choosing to pepper him with targets. However, on Sunday night, Kittle showed he is still a receiving force. He converted seven of his nine targets into 92 yards and was very close to tacking on a touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter.
WR Brandon Aiyuk has spent the first two weeks as persona non-grata in the 49ers’ receiving room. Recall that not too long ago head coach Kyle Shanahan claimed that Aiyuk has “got to be a lot better than the guy behind him”. That guy was WR Trent Sherfield, who was nowhere to be seen during the game. Aiyuk saw limited targets (six) but caught four of them for 37 yards and a touchdown. It’s hopefully a sign of better days ahead for Aiyuk, but I should note that WR Mohamed Sanu also saw six targets.
It’s nice to see two highly drafted players from the 49ers’ offense show signs of life, as fantasy managers must’ve been frustrated with the output thus far. Kittle remains locked-in as a TE1, whereas Aiyuk is a shaky WR3 option for now. Hopefully, the skill player usage tree narrows down to exclude tertiary players like Sanu soon. [[ad:athena]]
Matthew Stafford‘s New Leash On Life
The Los Angeles Rams ostensibly rescued QB Matthew Stafford when they opted to trade for him back in March. The team shipped off former QB Jared Goff, a 2021 third-round pick, and two first-round picks (2022, 2023). It looks like the Rams were right to have aggressively sought the services of Stafford, who looks completely rejuvenated playing in Sean McVay’s offense.
Through the first three weeks of the season, Stafford has completed 70.2% of his passes, throwing for 942 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s second in the league in yards-per-attempt (10.0), trailing only QB Russell Wilson (10.4 YPA). The biggest beneficiary of Stafford’s re-emergence has been WR Cooper Kupp. Kupp currently leads the league in receiving yards (367) and receiving touchdowns (5). His target share of 35.5% trails only Brandin Cooks’ (37.6%) and Davante Adams’ (37.4%). The mind-meld he has with Stafford is notable, as he’s tied for first with Adams in for total receptions (25). There’s no way Kupp can sustain this blistering pace for the rest of the season, but he should be ranked as mid-WR1 until further notice.
Unfortunately, WR Robert Woods has seen his production crater since Stafford took over signal calling duties. He’s seen only 19 targets (20.4% target share) and has posted a 57.9% catch rate. Woods is ostensibly a buy-low candidate and should hopefully have better weeks ahead, especially once defenses key in on Kupp.
Denver Broncos Lose Another Key Wide Receiver
The Denver Bronco’s receiver group takes a brutal blow. KJ Hamler suffered a torn ACL against the Jets and will miss the remainder of the season. It’s a sad development for the promising second-year player out of Penn State. Hamler flashed a tantalizing ceiling in Week 14 last year against the Panthers when he converted two of his three targets into 86 yards and two scores. The team is now missing the piece that can blow the top off the opposing defense, so it’ll be interesting to see how offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur adjusts for Hamler’s loss.
Note that Hamler didn’t account for a significant chunk of the team’s targets. He saw only a 10.8% target share, so it’s unlikely that either WR Courtland Sutton or Tim Patrick to see a meaningful boost in their volume. You can possibly pencil in both wideouts for an added target or two going forward.
Broncos QB Teddy Bridgewater is playing some of the best football he’s ever played, so losing Jerry Jeudy and now Hamler has been a bad development for fans of the Broncos and fantasy football.
What Can Be Done About The New York Giants
The 0-3 Giants are a better team than their record indicates. They lost on a last-second field goal last week to the Washington Football Team and lost in a similar fashion to the Atlanta Falcons. It’s a bit unlucky the Giants lost to the Falcons, considering that both WR Darius Slayton and WR Sterling Shepard got injured early and missed the game.
That’s not to say the Giants’ coaching staff can be absolved of any blame in their loss to the lowly Falcons. Head coach Joe Judge opted to punt on fourth-and-4 with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter. Had the team attempted to be more aggressive, it’s possible they win this game. The conservative play-calling and general cowardice has handicapped the Giants, best evidenced by curbing QB Daniel Jones’ deep passes. Jones has attempted a downfield pass on only 5.7% of his 2021 pass attempts, the lowest rate in the NFL. Opting not to allow Jones to make big plays is quite a concern, considering that the team brought in reinforcements for his benefit. WR Kenny Golladay was the prize jewel of free agency and the team drafted WR Kadarius Toney in the first round. Golladay is a very risky FLEX option going forward, whereas Toney and WR Collin Johnson should be rostered if you’re in desperate need of a receiver.
The team might have no other choice but to start trying to be more aggressive going forward. On the bright side, RB Saquon Barkley looks to be fully healthy and TE Evan Engram returned to action. Engram did look rusty in his first game back, but he might be able to add a dynamic element to the receiving group. Barkley should slide in as a low-end RB1 going forward, whereas Engram is a boom/bust TE2.
Quick Hits – Injuries
There were several injuries that fantasy gamers need to monitor over the course of the week.
1. Titans WR AJ Brown strained his hamstring and is considered week-to-week. Brown was ruled out in the first quarter, so it’s highly unlikely he suits up against the Jets this week. Chester Rogers could be a viable FLEX play this week.
2. Patriots RB James White suffered a hip subluxation and is “out indefinitely”. It does sound like White’s injury is serious and the Patriots have yet to rule out a stint on the injured reserve list. RB Rhamondre Stevenson was banished to the doghouse following a lost fumble in the Patriots’ Week 1 loss to the Dolphins but should be active this Sunday. Stevenson and RB J.J. Taylor are both good stash candidates for RB needy teams.
3. The Carolina Panthers have opted to not place RB Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve. McCaffrey suffered the injury on Thursday Night Football, but it sounds like he could be good to go shortly. RB Chubba Hubbard makes a solid fill-in RB2. He played 73% of the snaps in the wake of McCaffrey’s departure and should see plenty of work over the next few weeks.
4. Pittsburgh Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster has been diagnosed with bruised ribs and is considered day-to-day. Smith-Schuster left the Week 3 game against the Bengals early after taking a huge body shot early in the game. The negative tests suggest that he could suit up on Sunday. WR Diontae Johnson’s return to action remains without a timetable. The Steelers will ostensibly lean on WR Chase Claypool and RB Najee Harris for the foreseeable future.
