Weekly Twitter Observations
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.
Quote of the Week
When you’re winning….you wear whatever the hell you want. Love it. pic.twitter.com/E7HJQcCB7A
— Paul Pabst (@PaulPabst) December 13, 2015
My favorite quote and picture to cross the timeline this week was easily this offering from Paul. I could not even pretend to pull off anything Cam Newton has going on here, but when you are on top it all works. Newton has been one of the top fantasy quarterbacks since entering the league in 2011 except for last season’s debacle. The 2014 season saw the Panthers losing a number of games and was also the first time Cam missed games. This year he has rebounded well and is again displaying elite fantasy production. One of my favorite components to Newton’s production is the stability and relatively high floor he provides each week. Michael David Smith shared a very interesting fact that helped emphasized this point tweeting,
Cam Newton is the only NFL player with at least five rushing touchdowns in each of the last five seasons. Not the only QB. The only player. — Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) December 15, 2015
To be the only player to do anything over a five year period in the NFL is impressive. Despite signing a huge extension this off-season, the Panthers have continued to let Cam be Cam, rushing for an average of nearly 40 yards per game and still making plays at the goal line. Extrapolating his numbers to date for the remainder of this year, Newton will have never rushed for fewer than 539 yards in a season as well. The rushing floor combined with his increased ability in the passing game is why Newton should remain a top fantasy quarterback for years to come. Looking at the seasons both Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck have gone through, making a case for number one overall quarterback in dynasty is not a stretch.
Lamar Miller, RB MIA
The usage of Lamar Miller by the Dolphins has been frustrating and confusing to everyone outside of the organization. After the week fourteen game where a dominant first half performance saw Miller receive only two carries over the final four drives, Twitter exploded.
Amazes me that the #Dolphins consistently under utilize Lamar Miller fearing non-existent injuries, but throw A HURT Jarvis Landry 18 balls.
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) December 15, 2015
If Goodfellas took place today, the mob scenes in Florida would involve fixing Dolphins games to never give Lamar Miller the ball. — Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) December 16, 2015
A player with his skills and lack of superior options behind him make it near maddening on Sundays when the coaching staff calls for pass after pass. Despite receiving fewer than 12 carries per game in 2015, Miller ranks number four overall in scoring for running backs. In addition, his 5.1 yards per carry average is behind only four other runners with a minimum of 100 carries to date. Lamar also has shown good ability in the passing game, catching 38 balls in 2014, and currently is on pace to grab nearly 50 this year. Amazingly the coaching changes and rhetoric being preached from the Dolphins organization continually fails to be materialized on the football field every week, offering no good reasons why Miller is so underutilized. Evan Silva iterated this point stating,
Unfortunately we’re probably well past the “#Dolphins lost in large part because they stopped feeding Miller, so maybe they’ll learn” take.
— Evan Silva (@evansilva) December 16, 2015
Due to all the uncertainty it leaves Miller’s fantasy value in flux. As John Paulsen pointed out, there will be decisions made soon to determine his future.
Lamar Miller is a free agent after the season. Maybe someone will use him consistently in 2016. — John Paulsen (@4for4_John) December 15, 2015
Lamar has told reporters he wants to remain in Miami, but the number of expected carries he will be given will play into the decision. I would expect more coaching and hopefully front office changes happening in the coming weeks and months that may offer more clarity. Either way, Miller is a guy that ended up on every team of mine this season and I would rank him closer to sixth overall among running backs today.
Davante Adams, WR GB
2015 was lining up to be a big year for Packers second year receiver Davante Adams. The top target on the team, Jordy Nelson, was lost for the season and Adams was essentially gifted the number two role showing flashes of playmaking ability during his rookie campaign. [inlinead] Green Bay signed James Jones just before the season and an early injury dampened Adams’ outlook. After the bye week Davante did slide back into a leading role on the team averaging 9.5 targets per game weeks eight through thirteen. Unfortunately his 50% catch rate and inability to make plays despite the increased opportunities may have diminished hopes for any real future returns. Coach Mike McCarthy took over play-calling duties as well which resulted in Ian Kenyon noting the following,
Interesting McCarthy/Clements playcalling note. Davante Adams has been targeted on 1 of 20 passes. Averaged 11 targets/game past 5 games
— Ian Kenyon (@IanKenyonNFL) December 13, 2015
Adams finished the week fourteen contest with three targets catching two balls for twelve yards. Looking ahead to next season, I am no longer as optimistic on Davante’s future dynasty value as I was only four months ago. Nelson should be ready to go week one of next season and the depth chart still contains Twitter hero Jeff Janis along with Ty Montgomery and Jared Abbrederis. McCarthy may also be looking to recommit to the running game, furthering my disinterest in Adams. Seeing how Davante has essentially face-planted when given the main stage, I find it difficult to believe he will return any substantive value with the Packers whom he is signed with through the 2017 season. I find myself drawn to DLF’s Karl Safchick’s current ranking of Adams of 62 overall among wide receivers practically burying any remaining fantasy worth.  Brock Osweiler, QB DEN Peyton Manning is assumed to be playing in his final NFL season. Spending the past four years as a backup learning the position in Denver many also presumed Brock Osweiler would be the man leading the Broncos in 2016. After four straight starts filling in for the injured Manning that future is becoming less clear. Evan Silva and Cian Fahey weighed in on the Denver signal caller after his most recent loss to Oakland.
As the sample size grows, Brock Osweiler keeps getting worse. Checkdown QB playing in a panic. #Broncos still have no vertical pass game. — Evan Silva (@evansilva) December 14, 2015
Osweiler has been better than I expected but my expectations were low and the defenses he’s played have mostly been bad.
— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) December 14, 2015
Over the last four games Osweiler has averaged 249 yards passing, one touchdown and 0.5 interceptions. He also has been sacked 14 times during that span. With weapons like Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders at his disposal a lot more was expected than what we have seen. The offensive line and running game have been a mess for the team compounding Brock’s struggles. If Peyton finally does decide to call it a career, the Broncos will most assuredly bring in more quarterback competition through the draft and or free agency. Unfortunately the entire fantasy situation in Denver is looking bleaker by the day and the fantasy values of the receivers and running backs also should continue to fall. As it stands, I do not see Osweiler as the answer today, tomorrow or in the seasons to come.  Melvin Gordon, RB SD
Melvin Gordon is the worst rookie running back Fantasy football has ever seen. — Heath Cummings (@heathcummingssr) December 14, 2015
This tweet from Heath Cummings sure grabbed my attention this week. Heath also provided more background to the statement sharing,
36 rookie running backs have been given 200 carries and caught 30 passes. All but 3 of them have topped 150 Fantasy points.
— Heath Cummings (@heathcummingssr) December 14, 2015
It is no secret the Chargers’ first round pick Melvin Gordon has been a disappointment in real and fantasy football. San Diego has had countless injuries to the offensive line and receivers that have also placed Gordon in a tough situation in his first year. The problem is that one of the main knocks on Gordon coming into the league was that he was not a great inside runner and lacked vision to get up field quickly. With the blocking unit he has run behind this season those problems have only been heightened as Gordon often times dances around and changes course leading to negative plays. To date he is averaging 3.6 yards per carry on 169 attempts and has only rushed for more than 60 yards once in 13 games. Despite 201 total touches, Melvin has also failed to score a single touchdown on the ground or through the air. For as dreadful a fantasy season he has had, Gordon still checks in around the 15th overall running back in dynasty. At this point as well selling or buying on his value is unlikely so owners can only hope that a healthier line and offense in general can lead to improvement in his game. If Gordon continues to not trust his blockers and bounce runs to the outside his usefulness in both the NFL and on fantasy rosters may be short-lived.
Thank you to 4for4.com, Football Outsiders, Football Guys and NFL Savant for some of the stats used within this article. All are great resources still available for the average fantasy fan and highly recommended.
[ad5]
Luke practically owns the Twitter machine at @FFGator
- Weekly Twitter Observations - April 2, 2016
- Weekly Twitter Observations - March 26, 2016
- Weekly Twitter Observations - March 11, 2016
