Let’s face it, there’s an enormous amount of information out there on Sunday mornings. 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 no reason to repeat ourselves or others.
The Sunday Morning Huddle goes through each game and states what we’re looking to see from a dynasty perspective. One player will be picked from each team who has dynasty value tied to the game – players at a pivot point where their value could increase or decrease based on opportunity and performance.
Early Games
Houston at Jacksonville
Texans running back Lamar Miller is locked and loaded for his 2016 value as he is getting a monster workload. The problem is that he hasn’t been terribly productive with those touches and has been recently banged up with a shoulder injury. It isn’t a stretch to imagine that continued struggles could lead to the Texans taking one of the many talented running backs in the 2017 draft. The pool is deep enough they could find an adequate timeshare back in the fourth or fifth round, and that would hurt Miller. Look to see if Miller can produce in a good spot.
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While Allen Hurns has been more heralded, Marqise Lee quietly has the second most touches among Jaguars wide receivers. Add in that coach Gus Bradley said that Lee has “has everything coming together,” and it looks like we may have been undervaluing him. Houston’s pass defense could be tough for the combination of Blake Bortles and Allen Robinson, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lee have the most receiving yards and deserving a continued value up.
Minnesota at Washington
Another wide receiver who struggled early in his career but is now second in touches for his team at the position is Cordarrelle Patterson. He just might be a thing, guys and gals. With pretty much everyone on the team just holding on to value, he is clearly the player with the most room to move upward with continued success.
It feels like I write about Jamison Crowder just about every week, but that’s because he is deserving of his continued massive value uptrend. With DeSean Jackson likely out this week, Crowder once again finds himself in position to capitalize on the absence of one of the team’s premier playmakers. If I’m the Redskins front office, I’m taking notice that he is making the other guys expendable when it comes time to review contracts this off-season.
Kansas City at Carolina
While I’m on a roll with stats about touches, Tyreek Hill is second on the Chiefs for wide receiver touches, and with Jeremy Maclin out this weekend, he figures to have the team lead heading into week 11. As a rookie, that’s rather impressive for Hill. Keep pumping his value higher as long as he keeps getting opportunities and production. In the event that Tyreek passes the 50 catch mark in his rookie season, I expect him to have a productive career.
Recently I’ve noted that the changes in deployment of Cam Newton should result in a declining value. On the flip side, Jonathan Stewart is getting those crucial red zone touchdown conversions recently. Watch to see if that trend continues, as the talent has always been there for Stewart and the questions through his career have been a timeshare followed by injuries followed by lack of red zone opportunities. He might turn into a playoff stud if this keeps up.
Denver at New Orleans
This is an amazing spot for a running back, and Devontae Booker needs to put his stamp on this backfield or he will continue to cede work to Kapri Bibbs. Whether it is Booker or Bibbs that puts up the better stat line, the other player will move in the opposite direction. This is certainly something to keep an eye on after CJ Anderson tailed off during this season before going down injured.
Denver has a weakness against tight ends, New Orleans tight end production correlates well with Drew Brees’ better stat lines at home, and Coby Fleener has been relatively quiet for a while. Everything looks to be lining up this week for a bounceback game that could revive his trade value ahead of the playoffs. Keep an eye on what Fleener does, as his inconsistency would make him a sell for me if he can regain some value with a big week.
Green Bay at Tennessee
Beginning the year with a rocky start, Randall Cobb has really come back in a big way. He even scored a red zone touchdown in limited action after returning from a hamstring injury last week. Fellow wide receiver Davante Adams has been making noise but Cobb should not be forgotten and continued success will only drive his value back up.
After a rough patch, Marcus Mariota has been on an absolute tear and all dynasty owners need to take notice. Green Bay knows how to put up points and Mariota will be forced to try to keep pace, so I expect yet another good game from him. As long as the gravy train of points keeps coming from Mariota, keep moving him up your value list.
Los Angeles at New York (Jets)
If you didn’t take notice of Lance Kendricks’ performance last week, I won’t hold it against you. Having said that, no wide receiver has really taken a firm grip on the lead receiving duties, although Kenny Britt looks like he is making a strong case for it. Kendricks has 29 targets over his last three games. That’s a trend, and it deserves attention and an increased value if it keeps up.
Lately, Ryan Fitzpatrick is seemingly on the hotseat week to week. You have to think that eventually his luck will run out and he’ll stop getting chances. He clearly has the most dynasty value to lose for the Jets in any given week, and Bryce Petty is positioned to be the beneficiary on the flip side with the most to gain.
Chicago at Tampa Bay
That didn’t last long. Jordan Howard dominated touches in week nine for the Bears backfield even with Jeremy Langford returning to action. Neither the Buccaneers or Bears defenses are particularly good, so I’d expect a healthy amount of scoring in this one. With healthy scoring potential, the running back dominating touches figures to get his fair share, and if that continues to be Howard he will continue to move up.
For Tampa Bay, Cameron Brate is the unlikely hero at tight end that rose to prominence on the heels of Austin Seferian Jenkins downfall. Since then, all he has done is consistently produce when called upon despite having a limited target share with Mike Evans dominating the looks from Jameis Winston. We’re getting to the point where if he keeps producing, he could be cracking the top twelve tight ends in value.
Atlanta at Philadelphia
Most of the Falcons players’ values are pretty baked in at this point. One exception is Austin Hooper, who filled in nicely for Jacob Tamme in week nine. Tamme is out again in week ten, and Hooper could suddenly have the opportunity to string together some nice performances as a rookie tight end. You can ask Hunter Henry owners what kind of impact that has on player value.
Even with the news that Darren Sproles is the number one running back for the Eagles, it remains to be seen what that means for his value going forward. Ryan Mathews was the lead back for most of the season, but it didn’t get him very far as his value has actually dropped through the season. Add in that Sproles is kind of old by NFL standards and that he has rarely, if ever, carried the load for a team in a game and it leaves some big question marks.
Late Games
Miami at San Diego
This game sets up with two monster second year running backs, with Jay Ajayi being the representative for the Dolphins. There isn’t even any analysis to be done here. Can he keep it going? If he can, he keeps moving up. No one else I’m even excited to watch on the team right now from a dynasty value perspective.
The same thing goes for the Chargers. With tons of injuries, Melvin Gordon is the man I’ve got my eyes on. He has been a touchdown machine all year and recently added efficiency to his game. 2016 is putting some real heat on the rookie draft Todd Gurley vs. Melvin Gordon debate from yesteryear, as Gordon looks like the stud and Gurley is only slightly more effective than Gordon was in 2015.
San Francisco at Arizona
On a team without a lot going for it on offense, DuJuan Harris blew up in week nine. The matchup with Arizona isn’t great, but he was active enough in the passing game that he should be the guy again this week. Sustained production could cause him to be involved going forward even if/when Carlos Hyde returns. That, my friends, is value.
Sometimes I like to evaluate players that are already at the apex of their value to see if they still deserve it. Undoubtedly, David Johnson has proven he deserves his value position so far in 2016. The 49ers are a horrid rushing defense and Johnson should feast this week. To be frank, if he doesn’t dominate the box score, I will have question marks around Johnson that I don’t currently have. Can he do what he should do?
Dallas at Pittsburgh
Which Dez Bryant do we get this week? Everyone knows he is an elite player, and everyone knows he has been wildly inconsistent this year. At some point, we have to call a spade a spade and an inconsistent elite player is no longer worth top value. We are at that point where Dez Bryant’s value should be sliding even if he has a big week this week, because odds are he’ll have a dud next week anyway.
After 119 touches in 2016, Le’Veon Bell still doesn’t have a touchdown. While he’s still scoring at a perfectly acceptable rate for a top running back, at some points the touchdowns need to come to keep his ceiling intact. His value has a high ceiling baked into it, but right now we’ve been seeing his floor. Given the injury and off-field risks, we really need to see his ceiling come out to justify his sustained value.
Sunday Night
Seattle at New England
Narrative street is in full effect for CJ Prosise, after Christine Michael has been less effective and the Seahawks defense has not been playing up to potential. Conventional thought is that New England is going to shred this defense, forcing the Seahawks to try to keep pace. Given Prosise’s already firm grip on the passing down work, this plays right into a strong performance and a value up proposition for him.
Bill Belichick said James White is significantly ahead of Dion Lewis on the depth chart. So, then, the question becomes what does White do with the opportunities that will be afforded him in the short term? It sounds like if he keeps turning in productive days, he will continue to get the opportunities. Let us feast our eyes upon the situation on Sunday night for clues.
Monday Night
Cincinnati at New York (Giants)
After months of waiting, we finally got treated to a show by Tyler Eifert a few weeks ago. Can he keep it up? The Giants linebacker corps leaves something to be desired and the Bengals were in desperate need of a true weapon in the red zone other than AJ Green. I love that this game is nationally televised, so we can all sit back and find out if Eifert is back for real.
The Giants running back situation has yet to shake itself out, but Paul Perkins is positioning himself for an increased role. With no one else really running away with the role, the Giants need Perkins to step up to the plate. Can he be the guy? Let’s find out!
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- Sunday Morning Huddle: Week 15 - December 17, 2017
- Sunday Morning Huddle: Week 14 - December 10, 2017
- Sunday Morning Huddle: Week 13 - December 3, 2017
