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Weekly Twitter Observations

Luke Wetta Posted On January 22, 2016
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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.

Jeff Janis, WR GB
If you were on Twitter for more than five minutes this past week you definitely heard the name Jeff Janis. After posting a solid performance that included an improbable Hail Mary touchdown catch to send the game into overtime Twitter could not get enough. One of my favorite was from Pat Daugherty who encapsulated the frenzy tweeting,

Canton was alerted and all the Janis backers were suddenly vindicated. Adding fuel to the fire is that wide receiver Davante Adams has essentially been left on the side of the road for dead as Evan Silva shared.

Janis is still a second year player who recorded two catches during the regular season and needed the entire wide receiver corps to get injured before head coach Mike McCarthy had no choice but to throw him into the fire. When people were obviously asking about Janis after the matchup with the Cardinals, McCarthy replied that he had struggled in the preseason and was off to a slow start from his rookie season. It is great to see players step up and deliver when given an opportunity but looking towards the future how much opportunity will there be? Jordy Nelson will be back and he and Randall Cobb are both signed through the 2018 season. Both are 80-catch players and the emergence of Richard Rodgers at tight end will be another outlet for targets. Adams still has two years remaining on his contract and I would still be surprised if the team cut him this year. Overall with the hype at peak levels I would be selling Janis anywhere I could today.

Eddie Lacy, RB GB

Sticking with the Packers, running back Eddie Lacy was placed in a negative spotlight by McCarthy after the season concluded. Adam Levitan tweeted the following highlighting his struggles and obvious weight problems.

[inlinead]After averaging over 1,100 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first two seasons, Lacy struggled mightily in 2015. He missed one game due to injury and was benched due to rules violations with the team as well. He managed to average just over 12 attempts per game but the weekly inconsistency really hurt fantasy owners. On two different occasions Lacy went from carry the ball five times in a game only to get 20 plus in the next contest. He also only crossed the goal line three times further impacting what his usefulness. Entering the 2016 season Lacy has already been put on notice by his head coach. He also is entering the final year of his rookie deal so you would expect his drive to get paid to propel him to take action and perform at a high level again. His dynasty value has clearly taken a hit but unless pictures start circulating of him tossing back chili dogs for breakfast I would count on a bounce back this season. Long term though his motivation and health will remain concerns and he may not have as much longevity as a top end fantasy runner as we have originally hoped. Matt Forte, RB CHI Jumping on interstate 43 and heading south (making sure not to get pulled over in Manitowoc county) we land in the Windy City where recent news from the Bears suggests that running back Matt Forte will not be back with the team in 2016.


Forte is a 30-year-old running back with eight seasons and 2,500 touches to his name. He also missed three games this season due to a sprained MCL, which opened the door for rookie Jeremy Langford to enter the picture. Forte is known for his workout regimen and dedication and there are a number of teams that could use his experience and talents. The only problem currently is the unknown and where is next landing spot will be. Forte has never been a huge threat as a rusher to score touchdowns and it is likely to expect his new team will look to continue to offload short yardage situations to preserve his body. Because he has always excelled in the passing game Forte will continue to offer owners a safe floor but expecting RB1 numbers moving forward is unlikely. Looking today his current value is practically the same as Langford’s with the presumption that the Bears will go with the second year pro to lead the team moving forward.

Josh Gordon, WR CLE

This serves as a reminder that Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon should be reinstated within the next two months.

It also marks the beginning of seeing his dynasty stock start to rise steadily if reinstatement occurs and we near closer to the season. No one can deny Gordon’s talent and his 2013 season was a fantasy game changer. The only thing to really worry about is whether the player can stay clean. There was a good article detailing Gordon’s Twitter timeline the past year and at minimum he appears to be playing the part of great teammate, hard worker and a changed man (with an artistic side). I tend to be more risk averse in fantasy and willing to take a bigger swing so I would be looking to acquire Gordon anywhere. This year he will have the lights on him and will be playing for a new deal as well. As long as the Browns get rid of “Billy” and all the distractions he creates Gordon could easily be a top 10 fantasy receiver in 2016. [ad5]

Luke Wetta
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