Welcome to this week’s edition of the “3M Report” – a weekly look back at the mayhem, magic and mishaps from around the NFL, focusing on situations and players that caught my eye or made me scratch my head in either awe or disbelief. So let’s take a look at week number five of the NFL season.
While much of the country was visiting their local theater last Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and St. Louis Rams played a game, possibly the final home game for the Rams as much of the off-season conversation will center on which teams will make the move to Los Angeles. The Rams managed to win an ugly game despite a career high 363 passing yards from rookie Jameis Winston, who has himself in the conversation to be considered a top five dynasty quarterback. It will be interesting to watch how highly Winston is selected in startup dynasty drafts this off-season.
Week fifteen hosted a rare Saturday night NFL game in which the Dallas Cowboys were finally and mercifully eliminated from playoff contention. With injuries to Tony Romo and Dez Bryant, this just hasn’t been the Cowboys year. Darren McFadden though, has been rejuvenated. He rushed for 100 yards against the Jets’ strong defense, and that was the fifth time he’s done that this season, second in the league behind only Adrian Peterson. McFadden felt like a short-term fix, but the Cowboys could consider going with him as their starter in 2016 as well.
The Vikings easily defeated division rival Chicago and the story of the day out of Minnesota had to be the play of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. After setting a new career high in passing yardage a week ago, Bridgewater connected on four touchdown passes against the weak Bears’ defense. His previous career best was just two. We saw Bridgewater get hot at the end of his rookie season as well, which sparked many to draft and rank him among the top five dynasty quarterbacks. He has done very little to live up to that valuation this season, but could be turning things around. He hasn’t shown the consistency for me to move him back up among the top quarterbacks in the game, but he is gaining some value as the season winds down. [inlinead]
The Atlanta Falcons finally showed some fight, which they seemingly hadn’t done in week, as they defeated the Jaguars on the road. The Falcons must lean on Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman and that is just what the did as both players reached the end zone for the first time in weeks. This just serves as a reminder to always start your studs. I know many believe in playing matchups or looking for trends and I value that information as well, but players like Jones and Freeman always belong in your lineups.
An ugly quarterback battle in Indianapolis saw Matt Hasselbeck, Charlie Whitehurst, TJ Yates and Brandon Weeden all play meaningful snaps in a game that could help decide a division champion. We know, at least we think, the Colts will be fine once Andrew Luck returns, but the Texans have so much talent that it is imperative they find a new starting quarterback this off-season.
The Panthers were threatened on Sunday in more ways than one. They needed final drive heroics from quarterback Cam Newton and he was glad to deliver as Carolina outlasted the Giants. The story of the day, of course, was the battle, and I do mean battle between Panthers’ cornerback Josh Norman and Giants’ receiver Odell Beckham. Things got ugly as they exchanged blows and words throughout the day and Beckham came out on the wrong side of nearly every confrontation. I didn’t think it was possible, but I think Norman and Beckham both proved in this game that they are the best the NFL has to offer at their position.
The Patriots’ Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski connected early for a touchdown and the Pats cruised to an easy win over the Titans. Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota suffered a knee injury that knocked him out of action. With the Titans going nowhere this season, we may not see Mariota take another snap. Considering this is the second or third time this year he’s dealt with an injury, that would be the wise choice. You have to wonder if Mariota will be one of those players who always seems to be banged up.
One of my biggest takeaways of the day came in a game few really cared about, the Redskins hosting, and defeating, the Bills. In the win, Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns. Washington is reportedly ready to give Cousins a long-term extension. Clearly, he’s not the flashiest or even the most talented quarterback in the league, but he has played well and put up fantasy numbers. We can’t ignore Cousins any longer. His teammate Jordan Reed also continues to put up huge numbers and is moving up my tight end ranks. I’ve always been a believer in Reed. In fact, I drafted him on nearly every team when he was a rookie. I jumped off the bandwagon though when concussions began to pile up. While that is still a major concern, Reed is playing well enough to provide insulation and upside to the injury risk he carries.
The Seattle Seahawks blew out the Browns and clinched yet another playoff bid as Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett all stayed hot. Wilson through three scores, two going to Baldwin and the third to the rookie, Lockett. The story of the day though, might have been the surprising play of running back Christine Michael. With Thomas Rawls done for the year, no one really knew what the Seattle backfield would look like, especially after they brought back both Michael and Bryce Brown in the past few days. They clearly felt better about Michael, who they drafted in the second round and traded earlier this season, as he saw 16 carries to Brown’s nine. Michael is certainly not a player I would trust in a championship matchup next week, but it is good to finally see him do something on an NFL field. Considering three teams, including the Cowboys and Redskins, have parted ways with him in the past three months, Michael has a long way to go to prove he belongs in the league.
The Green Bay Packers got a much needed road win over the much improved Oakland Raiders, but the team’s offense still just doesn’t look right. Aaron Rodgers barely cracked 200 passing yards and he hasn’t touched 300 since Week Ten. Eddie Lacy, Randall Cobb and Davante Adams all continue to be perpetual disappointments. Each of these players have had big games, but none can really be trusted next week. I won’t be surprised if there are some changes on the Packers’ coaching staff this off-season.
One of the most anticipated games of the day completely lived up to the billing as the Broncos and Steelers exchanged scores all day long in a balanced, high scoring affair. The Steelers overcame a first half deficit to get the win, thanks largely in part to Antonio Brown, who again showed he is one of the best in the league. Brown caught 16 balls, which is the second highest mark in the league this year, only behind Brown’s week nine 17 reception performance. Brown continues to show that as long as Ben Roethlisberger is in the game, he’s a dominant force.
I mentioned the Rams’ potential final home game and it was the same case with the Chargers, who are rumored to be on the move this off-season as well. Like the Rams, the Chargers also gave their fans one final win, dominating the Dolphins in a game that wasn’t as close as the 30-14 score might indicate. Dynasty owners continue to be frustrated by the Dolphins’ running game, specifically the way starting back Lamar Miller is being used. Miller carried the ball just nine times for only 12 yards. While he did get banged up, he later explained he was ready to go back in the game, but never got the opportunity. Knowing that Miller is a free agent following this season, it is difficult to see him re-signing with the Dolphins. A move to a new team could boost Miller’s dynasty value, as well as that of rookie Jay Ajayi, who would be expected to take over in Miller’s place.
The Cardinals continue their chase of the undefeated Carolina Panthers and a big part of that surge is rookie running back David Johnson. With Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington both missing time with injuries, Johnson has been given a heavy workload and it has paid off. Johnson looks like the long-term starter in Arizona and a running back on the rise when it comes to dynasty value.
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Overall good read but 2 points/questions:
1. Winston as a potential top 5 dynasty QB? I need to hear this rationale. He has looked horrible anytime a legit defense (plus the Saints!) bring pressure on him. Even on Thursday the Rams dominated him early and then played soft in the 2nd half when he racked stats.
2. I’m pretty sure that AB just showed that he’s the best WR in the game yesterday, not OBJ. No knock on OBJ, he’s extremely talented and right near the top, but AB + Big Ben is surreal. He embarassed the best defense/secondary in the league. I mean totally dismantled them. Chris Harris hadn’t been scored on in 2 years and AB made him look silly. He is, and will continue to be, the best WR in the NFL.
Agreed. Antonio Brown put on a clinic while OBJ was throwing a tantrum.
Thanks fir reading, Jim! Definitely didn’t mean that as a slight on Brown at all. He was great, yet again, yesterday. I guess I was thinking more from a dynasty perspective rather than best current WR in the game. I should’ve worded that better. Brown has been the best this year, and probably last year too, but I think OBJ has more dynasty value, barely.
As for Winston, I think the case is pretty easy actually, mostly due to the falloff of so many other QBs. Rodgers, Cam, Luck are the top 3 in whatever order you prefer, but after that it is wide open. Wilson has bene better the past month, but was struggling before that. Ryan, Stafford have fallen off this year. Brees, Brady hurt by age. Ben maybe still there. Bortles/Carr have gained a lot of value this year.
I’d say the typical ranker/dynasty player would have Wilson at 4, but Winston as high as 5 works, IMO.
Fair enough, I can see the logic even if I don’t agree with it. And yes, I would firmly put Wilson as #4 and depending what they do in the off season (and if they continue to let him run wild) you could make a case that the top 4 are interchangeable.
Sometimes I’ll look at QBs in a longer window for dynasty but usually still my standard 3 year window especially in 1 QB leagues. I just don’t see “elite” upside with Winston so I would still put him around a low QB1/high QB2 mostly because of age and the weapons he has. I’m sure this is higher than most but I have Big Ben as my QB5 because I expect him to put up great FF numbers for 3+ more years.
I just wanted to get some opinions on David Johnson. Anytime the sample size is small people will be a little shy to profess their love and I get that. In my opinion the guy is easily a first round start up pick and could be the second coming of LT!
1- Plays on possibly the best offense with great o line QB and receivers. The cards score points at an incredible rate.
2- Flashed special talent in a very limited role
3- He is winning fantasy championships for people now that he is the starter
4- Sitting at 12 TDs with two games left in the season
5- Catches the ball very well returns kicks and punts and runs between the tackles well
6-Tremendous speed score 109.3 which some believe is a great predictor of future success
7- His Jersey is hanging in the Hall of Fame in Canton
All this and he is a ROOKIE!!!!! I wouldn’t call you crazy if you took him #1 overall in a Dynasty startup draft. I would love to hear some others opinions on this guy.
I would have no issue taking David Johnson as the #2 RB overall after Bell even with his somewhat limited sample size. Gurley might be a better pure runner but DJ is an incredible all around weapon on a high scoring, innovative offense. Arians loves to ride a workhorse RB so predicting 25 touches/game isn’t that crazy. He’s also, like Bell, one of few RBs that gameflow will not effect.
Talent+Workload=fantasy gold
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