Sunday Morning Huddle: Week Four

Ken Kelly Posted On September 29, 2013

spiller The fantasy season is well underway and some teams are already desperate for a win. Just like in real football, we have fantasy teams desperately looking to avoid an 0-4 or 1-3 start.

Let’s face it, there’s an enormous amount of information out there this morning. 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 we do something different on Sundays for our Premium Content subscribers every year.

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.

Early Games

Baltimore at Buffalo

A week after getting his first career start, Bernard Pierce looks to be back to sharing time with Ray Rice, pending Rice being healthy enough to play. If so, it’s going to be interesting to see just how many carries Pierce gets. He hasn’t been quite as impressive as he was last year, but it’s still early.

It’s not time to panic yet, but CJ Spiller has not lived up to the hype so far this season. We know how dynamic he is, but he really needs a breakout game here soon to solidify his high value in dynasty leagues.

Arizona at Tampa Bay

For the Cardinals, Rashard Mendenhall continues to have his carries eaten into by lesser talents like Alfonso Smith and Andre Ellington. This isn’t a true committee attack as of yet, but Mendenhall hasn’t separated himself from the pack as of yet. He could really use a nice outing.

In Tampa, the Mike Glennon era begins as Josh Freeman has been officially benched. There may be no other player out there with more interest from dynasty league owners than Glennon. Can he rise to the occasion?

Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota (played in London)

For the Steelers, Le’Veon Bell should finally make his much anticipated debut. Pittsburgh really needs to establish a running game, but also don’t block anyone. It’s going to be a long road this year, but a solid effort from Bell would be a big boost to a lot of hopes for many dynasty league owners.

On the other side of the ball, Matt Cassell gets his first start as a Viking. I’m not running to the waiver wire quite yet, but his performance may define the future of Christian Ponder, who has been a disappointment in fantasy and reality thus far.

New York Giants at Kansas City

Hakeem Nicks and the Giants still haven’t won a game and Nicks himself was not exactly pleased with his single target in the passing game last week. Players who complain publicly like Nicks did are often rewarded or completely ignored. Which will it be this week?

Speaking of disappointing receivers, Dwayne Bowe is really struggling to maintain fantasy value in the pop gun Alex Smith-led offense for the Chiefs. The problem for Bowe is the Chiefs are winning. If we see a few more weeks of modest production from Bowe, it’s time to start really re-evaluating his dynasty value.

Indianapolis at Jacksonville

For the Colts, it’s going to be the Trent Richardson show today as Ahmad Bradshaw has been ruled out. A date with the Jags should be just what T-Rich needs to jump start his season.

It’s hard to pick anyone on Jacksonville, but Cecil Shorts is still maintaining some value as the Jags have been in catch-up mode since, well, 2011. Let’s see if he can continue to defy the odds and stay on the fantasy radar on a team looking likely to have the first pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Seattle at Houston

The Seahawks are flying and all eyes are on Russell Wilson and the passing game. The player we’re focusing on this week is Sidney Rice. After catching two touchdowns last week, is Rice quietly climbing back into fantasy relevance or just feasting on a horrible Jacksonville team?

For the Texans, Arian Foster has not been himself thus far and has actually been outplayed by Ben Tate. Foster should be just about 100% now and needs to have a vintage performance before dynasty owners across the land really start to panic.

Cincinnati at Cleveland

It’s Giovani Bernard time for the Bengals as the young rookie is emerging quickly to be a legitimate weapon. The Browns have an underrated defense and should pose a good challenge for the young rookie, but Bernard is looking like the cream of the crop as far as rookie performers go.

For the Browns, Brian Hoyer looked at least serviceable last week in their road win at Minnesota – the question is if the Browns area actually happy about that. If Hoyer looks capable again, the Browns may just ship out Josh Gordon, Greg Little, Joe Thomas and anything else getting in their way of “Tanking for Teddy.”

Chicago at Detroit

For the Bears, Alshon Jeffery has been too quiet so far this year. He had his best game last week with seven catches for 51 yards, but has still yet to score a touchdown this year. Jay Cutler seems to be settling in nicely with new Head Coach Marc Trestman’s scheme and a breakout could be coming.

In Detroit, the Lions have to hope Ryan Broyles is healed up nicely after Nate Burleson’s car accident because Broyles is going to be asked to shoulder a big load across from Calvin Johnson now. There’s never been a question of Broyles’ ability, but his health is always a concern. It’s going to be exciting to see just how close he is to 100% this week.

Late Games

New York Jets at Tennessee

And the eighth leading rusher in the NFL after three weeks is…Bilal Powell? That’s right, Powell has been a surprise thus far, averaging a healthy 4.3 yards per carry for a Jets team lacking much of a passing game. There many sexier options out there in dynasty leagues, but Powell is looking like a player who could actually make a difference in some dynasty leagues this year. I wouldn’t be mortgaging the farm for him, but a few more weeks of production is going to make him look like quite a bargain in start-up leagues.

On the flip side, Tennessee is starting to finally see some progress from Jake Locker. While his accuracy is always going to be an issue, he’s playing smarter this year and controlling the game quite nicely. The Titans have a defense good enough to win some games and Locker just needs to keep progressing. Can he keep it up this week and become a legitimate QB2?

Washington at Oakland

It’s easy to pick RGIII, but it seems clear a breakout is coming for him. Will the same be said for Alfred Morris? The featured back is averaging a robust 5.6 yards per carry this year, but that’s been lost on some since the Redskins have trailed so much. His supposed increased use in the passing game was obviously overblown this off-season, but this may be the time to buy low. If the Redskins get things going, Morris is going to win some owners a lot of games this year.

The quarterback position is going to be the focus for the foreseeable future here. Terrelle Pryor has looked remarkably decent so far this year. Much like Locker, Pryor is going to have accuracy issues, but his athleticism can get him out of trouble in a hurry and while he’ll always be a better fantasy quarterback than real quarterback, dynasty owners will gladly take it. He should play this week and will be worth a look. If not, let’s see if Matt Flynn can throw it further than ten yards.

Philadelphia at Denver

There’s trouble brewing in Philadelphia and it’s coming in the form of an injury to Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy or DeSean Jackson. I don’t know which it’s going to be, but all three of these players are taking far too many hits at the moment. I don’t see how they’re going to make it through a season. The player to focus on here should be Bryce Brown as hopefully he’ll get some time in to give McCoy a break.

Pick any player you want on Denver, but in reality, this is Peyton Manning’s show. He could very well be on his way to break the single season touchdown record. From a pure dynasty value perspective, the player to watch would have to be Montee Ball. Could he really be losing this much time to Knowshon Moreno?

Dallas at San Diego

This game will be a terrific chance for Terrance Williams to show he can be a long term replacement for Miles Austin and his 80-year old hamstrings. Williams will get the first of what many dynasty owners out there hope will be a lot of starts for the Cowboys.

For the Chargers, Ryan Mathews may have run out of chances to be the back so many hoped he’d become. Mathews looks to be in a full blown committee with Ronnie Brown and Danny Woodhead and can only be considered a flex play at best right now. Perhaps there’s a breakout coming, but this is not the start we were hoping to see.

Sunday Night Football

New England at Atlanta

One of the most disappointing players in all of fantasy football this year has been Stevan Ridley of the Patriots. Coming off a monster 2o12 that featured 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns, Ridley is on pace for just 645 yards and no scores this season as his fumbling issues have landed him in the doghouse. If he doesn’t post a good game here soon, he’s going to be looking at the short end of a time share with a healing Shane Vereen.

There really aren’t too many players with much to prove on the Falcons. After all, we know what to expect from Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White (when healthy) and Tony Gonzalez. The player to keep an eye on here may actually be Jason Snelling, who is again showing he has the ability to be a useful fantasy player when called upon due to injuries striking.

Monday Night Football

Miami at New Orleans

For the surprisingly undefeated Dolphins, Mike Wallace has again showed he is the ultimate enigma in fantasy football. He now has 12 catches for 152 yards and one touchdown on the season, with all but three catches and 37 yards coming in one game. The Dolphins are improving, but Wallace hasn’t put up the production his fantasy owners hoped for. While he’ll always be more valuable in non-PPR leagues because of his low catch totals and dependency on the home run ball, he still should be better than this. Let’s see if Ryan Tannehill can get him the ball this week.

In New Orleans, Lance Moore may not be able to go and that could open the door for Kenny Stills to make his mark. Stills has been a really nice surprise out of camp and this may just be the opportunity he needs to get himself even more playing time moving forward.

Enjoy this week’s games!

Author
Recent Posts

Ken Kelly

Co-Founder at DynastyLeagueFootball

Ken is a corporate trainer by day an a tireless editor of dynasty content by night. His passion for the World Champion Seattle Seahawks is second only to his love of fantasy football and the dynasty format.

Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK