Sunday Six Pack: Week Three

Michael Moore Posted On September 22, 2019

I feel like every week this season, there’s been more and more drama that has a pretty big impact on our dynasty teams. Whether it’s injuries, benchings or just weird behavior in general (looking at you, Antonio Brown), all of it will affect the direction we take our rosters – towards the playoffs or towards the top of 2020 rookie drafts.

With that in mind, let’s look at six dynasty questions heading into week three.

1. To AB or not AB, that is the question

Here we go again. After a roller coaster of an off-season, we all thought the circus would finally settle down in New England. After all, the Patriots are notoriously drama-free (or attempt to be) and Brown appeared to buy in. In his lone appearance as a Patriot, he was targeted eight times, catching four balls for 56 yards and a touchdown. But after his most recent actions, the Patriots were not messing around and cut him, making him a free agent once again. It’s anyone’s guess what will happen with Brown. Does another team take a chance? Even if he were to sign, will he be suspended?

My guess: This being the NFL, where similar accusations haven’t stopped teams before, I expect Brown to sign somewhere. However, I don’t expect him to play anytime soon as I think the NFL will step in and suspend pending their investigation into his latest actions. So don’t give him away for nothing but he certainly has seen his dynasty value decline.

2. Now that the Giants have moved on from Eli Manning, is it time to buy the Giants?

We’ve all known this day was coming but the timing was still a bit of a surprise. The Giants have finally, mercifully, moved on from Eli Manning at quarterback. Why you may ask? Take it away, head coach Pat Shurmur!

“We did some things against Buffalo that we didn’t take full advantage of that would have helped us win that football game. Every play that goes in, the quarterback that’s running that play has a slightly different interpretation of it. His eyes sometimes go to a place slower or quicker than others.”

Yikes. Bottom line is, Shurmur is going with the quarterback he feels gives the offense a better chance to score points. And if preseason is any indication, he’s probably right. Jones went 29-of-34 (85.2 percent) for 416 yards with two touchdowns with no interceptions and had 12.2 yards per attempt.

My guess: Yes! Saquon Barkley is already at the top of most dynasty rankings so there’s nowhere for him to go but Evan Engram? Sterling Shepard (when he returns)? All should be moved up now that they at least have a chance to have a better quarterback throwing to them.

3. What do I do with all these Saints and Steelers?

The injuries to Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger obviously put a damper on their own dynasty prospects but what about their beneficiaries? There were several dynasty studs between these two teams. Can they keep their studly status?

Teddy Bridgewater had a very ‘meh’ performance in relief of Brees against the Rams last week, throwing for 165 yards on 30 attempts and no scores. Neither Alvin Kamara or Michael Thomas passed 100 total yards.

New Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph faired a little better, only throwing for 112 yards on 19 attempts but did throw two touchdowns, both to tight end Vance McDonald. But again, neither running back James Conner or receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster did anything of note save for Conner punching in a score from the one-yard line.

My guess: Strong hold for players on both teams. Both Bridgewater and Rudolph have had a week to prep for this week and the studs on the Saints and Steelers are too good to be quarterback-dependent. Don’t accept low-ball offers for any of them.

4. Are the 49ers for real?

Week one wasn’t anything to write home about as the 49ers had more defensive touchdowns than offensive ones. But the offense came alive in week two against the Bengals with over 300 yards passing and an additional 250 yards rushing. Jimmy Garoppolo looked (finally!) like the franchise quarterback the 49ers signed him to be two years ago, Matt Breida continues to be super-efficient, gaining 121 yards on just 10 carries, and Deebo Samuel is apparently the receiver Kyle Shanahan wanted Dante Pettis to be, catching five balls for 86 yards and a score.

My guess: Yes! Samuel is proving to be legit as the team’s top pass catcher and Breida is just continuing what he did last year. The offense will rest on the arm of Jimmy G and so far, so good. I’d be buying all phases.

5. Can John Ross keep this up?

It’s only been two weeks but John Ross is piling up the numbers. He’s seen 20 targets, catching 11 of them for 270 yards and three scores. By comparison, his career numbers over three injury-filled seasons, including this one, are 80 targets for 32 receptions and 480 yards. It certainly helps that AJ Green is still recovering from injury but it also helps to have someone like new coach Zac Taylor calling the plays. Taylor came from the Sean McVay school of coaching which means a much more advanced offensive system.

My guess: No. At least not at this rate. In a perfect world, the Bengals offense resembles the Rams offense which includes three significant pass catchers and the attention is balanced between them. For example, last season, the top three Rams receivers, Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks, Cooper Kupp, averaged 76, 75 and 70 receiving yards per game. Ross is outpacing the second-leading Bengals receiver, Tyler Boyd, 135-90. And that’s without AJ Green.

6. Can Dak Prescott or Lamar Jackson continue to challenge Patrick Mahomes as dynasty’s top quarterback?

No one thought a quarterback could challenge Patrick Mahomes after the season he had last year. I don’t know if anyone thought Mahomes himself could replicate his 2018 season but he is averaging more yards-per-game and on pace to throw more touchdowns than last year. However, Prescott and Jackson aren’t far behind. It’s only two games but the top three fantasy scorers this season are separated by only eight points using standard scoring methods.

My guess: No. Mahomes is young and has a better supporting cast to continue to prevail. Of the two remaining, I’d choose Jackson since he’s younger and seemingly has a younger core of supporting cast whereas Prescott only has Ezekiel Elliott for the foreseeable future.

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Michael Moore

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Michael has played fantasy football for over 20 years when his mom funded his first team in the fourth grade. He’s contributed to various fantasy football publications and most recently spent five years writing for the Fantasy side of things at Pro Football Focus.