Sunday Morning Huddle: Week Eleven
Let’s face it, there’s an enormous amount of information out there on Sunday mornings. We’re not going to waste your time by repeating the news and notes about who’s in or out this week, since that’s really not what you visit us for. We’re also not going to do another article on starts or sits this week – we already have the personalized lineup advice for you on the premium content. Again, there are 100 places you can go for that, so no reason to repeat ourselves or others.
The Sunday Morning Huddle goes through each game and states what we’re looking to see from a dynasty perspective. We’ll pick one player from each team who we have our eye on and describe why their weekend performance is a key one for them in relation to their dynasty value.
I’m covering for George Kritikos this week who obviously doesn’t have his priorities straight, putting his honeymoon over fantasy football. But, we will forgive him and just give him the stink-eye at the DLF water cooler when he comes back.
Early Games
Houston at Cleveland
Alfred Blue may be the most important player to watch for Houston from a dynasty perspective in this game. A big game could present a “sell-high” window and if he doesn’t do anything, he goes back to having zero trade value. This game is also the first career start for Ryan Mallett, known for his big arm. It will be interesting to see who he targets more between DeAndre Hopkins and Andre Johnson.
This is it. The last game where we have to watch the Browns offense without Josh Gordon. Just like every game, dynasty owners will be watching to see how carriers are divided up between Ben Tate, Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell. The backfield has been one of the least predictable in the NFL, but they run the ball so much that all 3 can be viable each week.
Minnesota at Chicago
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This may be the Vikings last game without Adrian Peterson in the backfield, but, in the meantime, Jerick McKinnon will get his opportunity to run all over the porous Bears defense. If McKinnon struggles and Peterson is reinstated, that may create a buy-low opportunity from less savvy McKinnon owners.
The return of Marquess Wilson, a popular breakout candidate in dynasty circles this off-season, Wilson will play his first game of the season this week. Wilson is the fifth option in the Bears passing offense, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them try to get him involved to further excite dynasty owners who have had him stashed at the end of the bench.
Denver at St. Louis
Rinse, repeat. Start all of your healthy Broncos. CJ Anderson will get a shot with Ronnie Hillman now out a few weeks, but Montee Ball is expected to return from injury, so it could be interesting to see how it plays out after Anderson showed some promise last week, something Ball did not do prior to his injury.
Shaun Hill is back! These teams couldn’t be more polar opposites. Only start Rams where you are incredibly desperate. The Broncos allow the sixth most fantasy points to tight ends, so it could be another Jared Cook week, and after two good games, that may create a small sell-high window for Cook owners.
San Francisco at New York Giants
Carlos Hyde is getting limited work, but he is proving he is clearly the best running back in their backfield, averaging 5+ yards per carry in each of the last three games.. This doesn’t mean the 49ers are going to stop giving Frank Gore the ball 17-20 times per game, but it does give Hyde owners a hope for a bright future.
Rashad Jennings will be returning from injury for the Giants offense. The offense looked much better when he was in the game. So this isn’t just a bump down for Andre Williams, it benefits Eli Manning and his receivers down the stretch.
Atlanta at Carolina
Both of these offenses should be good, but both of their offensive lines are preventing that from being a thing. The Carolina defense backs made Mark Sanchez look like Joe Montana on Monday night last week, so if Matt Ryan is able to stay upright, look for he and Julio Jones/Roddy White to have big games.
From the Carolina side, dynasty owners just want to see Cam Newton stay healthy and throw touchdowns to Kelvin Benjamin, who will continue to score while being incredibly inefficient.
Cincinnati at New Orleans
Andy Dalton can’t be possibly as bad as he was last Thursday against the Browns. While I’m still crying in a corner about Tyler Eifert likely being done for the year, AJ Green looks to be healthy and will likely exploit one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL.
The continued success of Mark Ingram is something to watch for dynasty owners. Ingram will be an unrestricted free agent in the off-season, but, I honestly think the best thing for his fantasy value would be to stay in New Orleans.
Seattle at Kansas City
#FREECMIKE, one of Twitter’s favorites, Christine Michael had a career high 7.10 PPR points with 71 yards on just four carries in garbage time last week. Will this lead to Michael stealing some carries from Robert Turbin? Maybe. Maybe not. But Michael owners are excited, regardless.
#KELCE #FREEBABYGRONK, dynasty owners are hyped about the possibility of Travis Kelce getting all of the Kansas City tight end snaps and routes. Could this finally be the week where he gets consistent playing time or will Andy Reid continue being the biggest tease in fantasy?
Tampa Bay at Washington
Mike Evans is getting better and better each week. After slightly worrying about the return of Josh McCown, it does appear Evans is already quarterback proof. Dude is just really good, much like the rest of the rookie wide receivers.
Two things that will help the health of any quarterback are a bye week and facing the Buccaneers defense. RG3 and his receivers should a full-go, while Pierre Garcon owners are hoping the return of RG3 means his midseason hiatus in production is over.
Afternoon Games
Oakland at San Diego
Outside of Derek Carr, there is not much to get excited about in dynasty on the Raiders offense. However, Darren McFadden has been surprisingly consistent and could be a decent target for playoff teams looking for a cheap high floor running back down the stretch.
Ryan Mathews returns for San Diego and dynasty owners will be able to get a better idea of the long term value of Branden Oliver as well as Mathews. I think Oliver will serve in the “Danny Woodhead” role with Mathews back, but we’ll see this afternoon.
Detroit at Arizona
Calvin is back to being Calvin, Golden Tate showed he is still very much viable with Calvin in the game. Patrick Peterson is the most overrated cover corner in the game and Calvin is going to eat him for lunch. Reggie Bush is questionable, so Theo Riddick could be a decent option for dynasty owner, and he may even show Detroit that Bush is disposable after 2014, which would boost his dynasty value a lot.
Drew Stanton under center isn’t going to make all of the dynasty owners waiting for a Michael Floyd breakout very happy. The Cardinals may still be a good football team with Stanton, but they aren’t a good fantasy football team.
Philadelphia at Green Bay
Last week, Mark Sanchez took steps toward proving what we thought all along with Nick Foles – it was a lot more about the system and less about Foles. Sanchez will be a solid matchup play the rest of the season and nobody knows what the future holds for the Eagles at quarterback.
Aaron Rodgers threw six touchdowns in the first half last week and none of them were to Davante Adams. I expect Rodgers to remedy that this week by getting Adams more involved. The Packers offense is nearly unstoppable and they have essentially done whatever they wanted all season – I expect that continue this week against Philly.
Sunday Night Football
New England at Indianapolis
Brady going to Brady and Gronk going to Gronk. Edelman and LaFell will alternate big weeks. If I was the one writing this each week, that’d pretty much be my Patriots summary each week.
Everyone and their Mother’s Uncle is talking about Andrew Luck in this game, but the players to watch in this game from a fantasy perspective are the Colts running backs. Despite all of the Trent bashing, Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw have been one of the better duos in the NFL and the Patriots allow the fourth most fantasy points to running backs.
Monday Night Football
Pittsburgh at Tennessee
Le’Veon Bell has quickly cemented himself as almost everyone’s RB1 in dynasty. Bell will have fun against the defense that allows the seventh most fantasy points to running backs. Everyone says regression is coming for Martavis Bryant, but I’ll believe it when he has an NFL game where he doesn’t find the end zone.
It saddens me to even write anything about the Titans offense. Last week was supposed to be Justin Hunter’s big week, but no dice. They have started to get Bishop Sankey more involved, but then Leon Washington of all people vultures his touchdown. We will see how the Titans will frustrate us this week as they seem to find a new way every week.
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- Dynasty Commish Calendar: August - August 5, 2023
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