Week 6 of the NFL season was thankfully not a terrible one for injuries, but the few we saw were devastating. The most notable was the gruesome injury to Victor Cruz on Sunday night. Cruz tore the patellar tendon in his right leg while leaping for a ball in the back of the end zone during the third quarter. He is done for the year.
The injury elevates Rueben Randle somewhat, though he was already seeing ten targets a game before the injury. The biggest beneficiary will likely be Odell Beckham Jr., who now will be asked to play more of an every down role. He could easily flirt with WR3 value. Preston Parker should also see a bump in usage, but he is only useful in deeper PPR formats.
The other big fantasy injury of the weekend was the knee injury to Stevan Ridley. Ridley tore his ACL and MCL in the third quarter of the Patriots Week 6 win at Buffalo. He is also out for the year.
The injury leaves the Patriots somewhat thin at running back. The first name that will come to most fantasy players’ minds is rookie James White, who generated a significant amount of buzz this preseason. White has been active only one game this season and has not shown well in game situations.
Brandon Bolden is the better bet to take on the majority of Ridley’s workload, though he will likely be stuck in a platoon with White and perhaps even Jonas Gray. Bolden is the add, but he is not worth a ton of FAAB dollars.
Finally, Darren Sproles sprained his MCL during the Eagles demolition of the Giants on Sunday night. Sproles will be out two-to-three weeks. Thankfully, the Eagles are on bye Week 7, meaning Sproles may only miss one game.
Editor’s Note: Rotoworld’s partner FanDuel is hosting a one-week $500,000 Fantasy Football league for Week 7’s games. It’s only $10 to join and first prize is $40,000. Starts Sunday, October 19th at 1pm ET. Here’s the link.
Stock Up
No one has ever questioned if Jerick McKinnon was more talented than Matt Asiata, but going into Week 6 Asiata seemed to have at least the larger share of the running back job in Minnesota. That changed on Sunday.
McKinnon started the game against the Lions, touched the ball 17 times to Asiata’s three and out-snapped Asiata 48-to-15 including 31-to-9 on passing downs. The message was very clear early on. McKinnon is the starting running back in Minnesota.
McKinnon was blown up a few times in blitz pickup, leaving open the possibility Asiata could carve out a role as a passing down specialist. For a team going nowhere like the Vikings, though, it makes sense to get their young playmaker on the field as much as possible. McKinnon is locked in a solid RB3/FLEX, and has the talent to be much more if given a big enough opportunity. He is a must add in every league.
One of the more disappointing stories through the first five weeks of the season was the disappearance of Cam Newton‘s legs. He averaged only 3.5 carries a game through his first four games of the year after averaging 7.5 carries a game his first three years in the league. More worryingly, he had just 42 yards and no touchdowns over that span. It was clear his lingering rib and ankle injuries were affecting his ability to run so much that the Panthers were not even asking him to do it, and without the rushing dimension to his game, Cam was nothing more than a borderline QB1 at best.
All of that changed in the second half of the Panthers’ Week 6 game against the Bengals. Newton exploded for 85 yards and a score on 12 designed runs in the second half and overtime, and finished the day with 17 carries for 107 yards and a score. Cam looked healthy and comfortable with the ball in his hands. He was not quite the same Cam we had seen in the past, but it was close and will obviously only get better.
The question now becomes was this a one-off performance, or are the Panthers finally ready to remove the shackles? It is possible Newton’s explosion was just a reaction to something the coaches saw in Cincinnati’s defense. He had only one read-option keep in the first half but had 10 after the break, suggesting Carolina was just exploiting a weakness they discovered during the game. Either way, now that he has shown the ability to be effective on the ground, it would seem foolish for the Panthers to move away from what worked so well on Sunday and has worked so well up to this point in Cam’s career.
Even if it was a mid-game adjustment, I bet it is one that sticks. If I am right, Newton will once again be an every-week starting option.
Speaking of quarterbacks left for dead, Tom Brady had his second straight dominant performance against the Bills Week 6. He completed 27-of-37 passes for 361 yards and four scores, and now has 653 yards and six touchdowns over the last two weeks. It looks like a certain fantasy football writer has some crow to eat.
The real story of Brady’s resurgence is the improvement of the offensive line. According to ProFootballFocus, Brady has been under pressure on 20.5 percent of his drop-backs the last two weeks after seeing pressure on 35.3 percent of his drop-backs the first four weeks of the season. He was under pressure on 9-of-40 drop-backs against the Bills, and shredded Buffalo for 335 yards, four scores, and an 80.6 percent completion percentage on unpressured snaps.
Most of my doubts surrounding Brady had to do with the offensive line, which I could not see improving very much this season. I was dead wrong. As long as the line continues to play well, Brady should continue to be a start-able fantasy option.
With A.J. Green sidelined with a toe injury, Mohamed Sanu stepped up in a big way with 10 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers Week 6. Sanu was an efficient chain-mover all day, and stepped up with back-to-back big plays in the fourth quarter. With the Bengals down by seven, Andy Dalton found Sanu down the field for a 22-yard gain to erase a 1st-and-20 deficit, and then hit him with a beautiful pass over the shoulder for a 34-yard touchdown on the next play.
Despite the impressive day, it is easy to question how good of a fantasy option Sanu will be moving forward. Green will obviously be the focal point of the offense when he returns, and the Bengals probably do not want Dalton throwing 43 times in a game again anytime soon.
That said Sanu had 17 targets combined the Bengals’ two games prior to Week 6, and Green played in both of those. Add in that Marvin Jones may be headed to injured reserve after aggravating his ankle, and there is at least a scenario in which Sanu can be a solid PPR play through the bye weeks.
The big plays will dry up because that is simply not who Sanu is, but he has shown he can be a solid possession receiver if given the chance. Sanu will be a solid WR3 play if Green cannot go Week 7, and would still have some PPR value even when Green is able to play again.
Jordan Reed played for the first time since Week 1 against the Cardinals on Sunday. Reed was eased back into action, only playing 35-of-65 snaps, but turned a team-high 11 targets into eight catches for 92 yards. He did not look completely healthy, but still dominated the Cardinals’ defense.
The problem with Reed is it is hard to know when or how long he will be healthy. He has a lengthy injury history stretching back to college, and he has continued to be injury prone in the NFL. As long as he is on the field, though, Reed is a high-ceiling TE1. Pick him up if he was dropped.
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Stash and See
These players may not be worthy of a start Week 7, but certainly are worthy of a roster spot.
Andre Holmes has caught 9-of-20 targets for 195 yards and three touchdowns the last two weeks. He and Derek Carr will be inconsistent, but the talent is there. … With eight targets against the Dolphins, Davante Adams’ role in the Packers offense continues to grow. … Jace Amaro caught 10-of-12 targets for 68 yards and a touchdown. He ran a route on 30-of-35 snaps. … Jarvis Landry played 47 snaps and saw eight targets against the Packers. His role should continue to grow. … Josh Hill is a great athlete that has already made big plays this year. Could be an interesting streaming option if Jimmy Graham is forced to miss any time.
Stock Down
Two weeks ago I was cautiously optimistic Eddie Lacy would turn around his nightmare of a season. He had played a rough schedule up to that point, and still had what looked like a secure workload. Today that workload looks anything but secure.
As the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported leading up to the Dolphins’ game, Lacy appears to be in an out-and-out timeshare with James Starks. Lacy out-touched Starks 14-10, and barely out-snapped him 39-to-38. The pair rotated series early on, and Starks was the back of choice in passing situations. Starks was also more effective against Miami’s stout run defense, gaining 31 yards on eight carries (3.9 YPC) compared to 40 yards on 14 carries (2.9 YPC) for Lacy.
If Lacy is going to turn this thing around, it appears he will have to do it while only seeing 12-15 carries a game. We saw what Lacy could do against a bad rush defense with that workload when he maimed the Vikings for 105 yards and two scores on only 13 carries, but he will be a touchdown or bust option unless his workload improves.
Keenan Allen caught 3-of-6 targets for 27 yards against the Raiders Week 6. It was his second straight day under 30 yards, and he has yet to find the endzone this season after scoring eight touchdowns in basically 13 games in 2013. To call his season a disappointment would be an understatement.
That said I still believe Allen is a buy-low. He leads San Diego in targets and receptions, and two of the players vulturing his fantasy points – Antonio Gates and Malcolm Floyd – are over 33-years-old and injury prone. They will likely fade or disappear altogether down the stretch, giving Allen a great chance to stay atop the Chargers’ target heap the rest of the season.
C.J. Spiller had a disastrous game against the Patriots on Sunday. His six carries were a season low, and he played only 12-of-69 snaps against New England. It was his lowest snap total since Week 9 of the 2011 season.
A fumble late in the second quarter that led to a Patriots’ field goal was undoubtedly part of the reason Spiller saw such few snaps, but he has simply been ineffective this season. He is averaging 3.4 yards per carry on the year, and has 27 yards on 16 carries the last two weeks. The Bills have no idea how to use him effectively, and may just give up trying to figure it out.
It has been a maddening season for Spiller’s fantasy owners, and I am not optimistic it will get any better. He has to be held because he is a high-ceiling player playing behind the oldest running back in the league, but he should is nothing more than a boom-or-bust RB3 against the Vikings this week.
Zac Stacy had his lowest snap count of the season against the 49ers on Monday night, and Benny Cunningham out-snapped Stacy for the second straight game. Stacy now has 12 or fewer carries in 4-of-5 games this season after averaging 20.75 carries a start in 2013. With Tre Mason also getting involved on Monday night, this trend is likely to continue.
Outside of the touchdowns, Stacy’s numbers this season are very similar to his rookie campaign. The only difference is volume, which is a big problem when you are a volume back. Stacy should continue to lose snaps to Cunningham and Mason, making him nothing more than a touchdown or bust option moving forward.
Terrance West was inactive against the Steelers Week 6. Coach Mike Pettine confirmed after the game West was a healthy scratch. Isaiah Crowell had 11 rushes for 77 yards and a touchdown with West sidelined.
I have said before that West is a talented player, but Crowell is just better. West is a hold because he would have a role if Ben Tate is injured, but Crowell is the handcuff to own in Cleveland.
The Purge
These players are unlikely to make any noise this season. They are not must drops, but can be replaced without worry.
Adrian Peterson is not playing again this season. … Matt Asiata is not that talented and appears to have lost his job. Sounds like a cut to me. … It is not happening for Hakeem Nicks. Look for a higher-upside option. … Mike Williams was a healthy scratch and is now looking for a trade. … Charles Clay set a season high in yards against the Packers. Unfortunately, it was only 35 yards. You can do better streaming. … Same story with Heath Miller. He has one respectable game this season. Stream. … As always, please cut Danny Amendola.
