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Twitter Observations: Week Five

Luke Wetta Posted On October 8, 2014
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Each week I will be walking through the Twitterverse extracting some of the best commentary from trusted fantasy football minds. Twitter can be overwhelming with the amount of information that streams live, but it also proves to be one of the fastest and easiest ways to communicate. In 140 characters or less you can learn something about a player you may have never thought of from trends, stats or analysis.

T.Y. Hilton, WR IND

The Indianapolis Colts’ wide receiver T.Y. Hilton has not received much attention in terms of fantasy this season. This is most likely due to the fact that he has yet to score a single touchdown while his quarterback is putting up gaudy numbers. The fact remains though that he has put together a solid season as Adam Levitan tweeted,

Rich Hribar also shared,

The 1,200 plus yards would best his total from last season but the comment from Rich regarding his consistency is where I really am starting to buy in. Hilton’s final numbers in 2013 were solid, but he was very boom or bust with all five of his touchdowns coming in two weeks. Reggie Wayne also did not play for half the year and the inconsistencies week to week from a yardage standpoint still remained. This season he appears dialed in and a constant part of the playbook. He likely will never be a double digit touchdown guy, but he also won’t go the whole year without scoring six. I think he represents a good buy low, particularly in points per reception leagues. Looking long term as well Hilton is only 24 with Wayne 11 years his senior and Andrew Luck is not going anywhere. Hilton still has one more year remaining on his rookie deal and the Colts have shown a propensity for locking up their receivers and keeping the synergy in place with the star quarterback.

EJ Manuel, QB BUF

EJ Manuel’s rookie season left a lot to be desired. He had some promising games and some awful ones in addition to missed action due to injury. Coming into the season he was ranked as a top 24 quarterback in dynasty with many believing the addition of Sammy Watkins and a year to build on could only help. Five weeks into his sophomore season his fantasy value has essentially been erased off the books. The following tweet from Adam Levitan surprised me a little and speaks to how much Manuel truly has struggled.

As fast as teams are quick to hand the reins to young quarterbacks, they have also shown they have no problem taking them right back (see Geno Smith). Kyle Orton is in no way a long term solution for the Buffalo Bills and maybe EJ can actually fight for the starting job next season. At this point though, I see no reason to hold onto him in either the short or long term. The only good news is that Orton appears to have brought increased fantasy value to Watkins as he looked for him often highlighted by Josh Moore.

Look for Orton to make Watkins’ fantasy floor higher by feeding him the ball and letting the talented rookie make plays and rack up yards.

Branden Oliver, RB SD

[inlinead]More and more we continue to see running backs buried on depth charts emerge to help both their real world teams succeed in addition to providing a welcomed treat to their fantasy owners. Branden Oliver received little hype coming into the season as the San Diego Chargers spent big dollars in free agency on Donald Brown while holding onto both Danny Woodhead and Ryan Mathews. Most were concerned with how to account for fantasy production from the trio to even worry about the guy 4th on the list. Injuries have now thrust Oliver into action and in standard leagues he will certainly be a top pick up. Adam Pfeifer tweeted the following on his production,

When Ryan Mathews returns he will most likely take back over the starting role, but the receiving threat that Danny Woodhead provided appears safe in Oliver’s hands. Woodhead is not under contract after this season and Branden could prove to push for more of a feature role sooner than later. The New York Jets’ defense was supposed to be the strength of their team, but Oliver still posted impressive numbers best highlighted by Chargers’ beat reporter Kevin Acee.

Reuben Randle, WR NYG

The resurgence of Eli Manning’s quarterback play has obviously helped the other fantasy options on the Giants including Reuben Randle. In week five he scored his second touchdown of the season and has been a focal point in the offense. As Evan Silva pointed out,

Pro Football Focuses’ Mike Clay also weighed in commenting,

Leading your team in targets and being a big body for red zone usage would suggest a player is a lock to start in your weekly lineups. As Evan pointed out the next two weeks are prime matchups, particularly the Eagles who could re-launch JaMarcus Russell’s career if he could play them every week. Everything seems to be falling into place for Randle, but I am reluctant to completely buy in. The last two weeks have been plus matchups and he has not blown the doors off. Against the Falcons his ten targets netted only 4 catches and without the touchdown the narrative might different. The other problem I see is Odell Beckham Jr. getting his first playing time of the season and catching the same number of passes on half the targets. Beckham Jr. is fast, talented and will see his usage and targets decline. The passing game for the New York Giants looks to be in good hands, but it will be harder to count on any of them week in week out. If you own Randle I would start in a great matchup and then quickly sell.

Antone Smith, RB ATL

I touched on Falcons running back Antone Smith in last week’s article and a week later the hype train continues to pick up speed. I won’t cover all my thoughts on the dynamic playmaker for Atlanta again, but just had to share a few more tweets that are as amazing as Smith himself. This guy is going to be the answer to every crazy trivia question on the 2014 NFL season for years to come.

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luke wetta
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