Twitter Observations: Week Four

Michael Moore

We’re a month into the season and the outliers and flukes are starting to become trends. Most thought Patrick Mahomes would continue to obliterate scoreboards but few saw the rise of Lamar Jackson. And many predicted the Chargers wouldn’t miss Melvin Gordon that much but not many predicted him being replaced by a top-five fantasy running back. Regardless, there are several things to be on the lookout for when it comes to your dynasty teams.

A reminder: This space will be dedicated to an assortment of things we find on Twitter and what it means for our dynasty teams. Most fantasy tweets undoubtedly have a re-draft slant but we’re here to talk about the dynasty implications.

Kiss your Cousins good-bye

It hasn’t been a great season for the passing game of the Vikings. After firing offensive coordinator John DeFilippo towards the end of last season, Mike Zimmer realllllly wanted to establish the run. And he has, much to the delight of Dalvin Cook fantasy owners who’s currently the third-highest scoring running back in fantasy football. But it’s been to the detriment of the entire Vikings receiving corps, as shown by the numbers above. Adam Thielen is fantasy’s 40th-highest scoring receiving while Stefon Diggs is 61st. Not exactly the production you’re hoping for from top-15 dynasty receivers.

Dynasty Impact: There’s some definite ‘squeaky wheel gets the grease’ vibe happening in Minnesota after Adam Theilen pleaded with the team to pass it more so there’s no reason to make a move yet. If anything, it could be a decent time to buy-low on either receiver, especially Diggs who’s still just 25. As for the quarterback play, the Vikings are only committed to Cousins for next season and it’s extremely possible they attempt to find another quarterback before then.

In the Nick of time

The Browns may have finally discovered a way to hide that suboptimal offensive line they’re playing behind: just hand it off to Nick Chubb more. Sure, he’s already tied for second in carries this season with 78 but he’s also averaging five-yards-per-carry (just like he did last year) after Week Four’s victory over the Ravens. He’s had at least 85 total yards in each game too while being tied for 11th among running backs with 14 receptions.

Dynasty Impact: It’s probably not in the best interest of the Browns, or Chubb, to give him 300-plus carries like he’s currently on pace for but it’s clear that as he goes, so goes the Browns offense. In his best game of the season last week, the Browns offense scored their most points of the season by nearly double. Having said that, it may also be a good time to unload him especially if you’re in the middle of a rebuild. Yes he’s only 23 but running backs are notoriously short-lived and he’s not exactly on the same usage level, for fantasy purposes, as Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffrey or Saquon Barkley. There’s also the impending return of running back Kareem Hunt who, before his suspension, was a consensus top-ten dynasty running back.

We need to talk about Evan

https://twitter.com/NYGDaily/status/1178496484087607298?s=20

Engram only caught four passes for 54 yards in Week Four and was just the 16th-highest scoring tight end on the week. But consider that it was his worst game of this short season, he’s been a top-ten fantasy tight end each week before this. And this being just the second start of new Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, the possibilities are pretty exciting. We weren’t exactly sure if Engram would bounce back after missing a third of the season last year but it turns out we have nothing to worry about.

Dynasty Impact: Engram has already leapfrogged Zach Ertz in our tight end dynasty rankings, as he should, and is taking aim at the top spot. He’s averaging as many fantasy points-per-game so far this season as current top tight end Travis Kelce but has a full four years on him. He also has the draft capital to warrant a very long leash in the league. If Engram keeps up with Kelce in the scoring department all season, there’s no reason to not rank Engram the best.

This is a Godwin dream

Count the Chris Godwin hype this past off-season as one that delivered. Week Four’s explosion, which saw him catch 12 balls for 172 yards and two scores, certainly helps the stats but Godwin has been consistently good all season. He’s third in the league in receiving yards while tied for first in receiving touchdowns with four. And in the all-important category of fantasy scoring, he’s second among all receivers.

Dynasty Impact: I think it’s fair to say the off-season buy window for Godwin has been solidly closed, locked and buried in cement. Of the top 20 dynasty receivers in our rankings, he’s the third-youngest and with Bruce Arians now calling the shots in Tampa, Godwin is in a prime position to be a dynasty WR1. What’s better is that all of this is happening despite the continued shaky play of quarterback Jameis Winston who is no guarantee to come back next year. God help opposing corners if Arians finds an even better option to throw to Godwin.

Matty (opposite of) Ice

At this point, I just feel bad for Matt Ryan. He’s consistently been one of fantasy’s most productive quarterbacks, finishing as a top-ten fantasy quarterback in seven of the last ten seasons DESPITE having four different offensive coordinators (with Dirk Koetter currently in his second stint). He also has Julio Jones AND Calvin Ridley at his disposal so what’s the issue? It doesn’t help to have a defense that’s been in the lower-third of points and yards allowed in two of the previous three seasons. Perhaps Sunday was a perfect example of why Ryan has been so good in the box score – the Falcons were inexplicably down 24-7 early (to a Titans team that hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency), and behind by so much that it opened the door for Ryan to chuck it.

Dynasty Impact: Despite a rocky start to the Falcons season, Ryan continues to be a solid fantasy option. He’s the ninth-highest scoring fantasy quarterback this season and has all the tools in place (mainly Julio) to continue that trend. Additionally, let’s say the Falcons defense does continue to give up a ton of points, Ryan could find himself in a lot of situations like he did this last week. Beyond this season, Ryan is still younger than Aaron Rodgers and you don’t see many rankers knocking him down for his age. Ryan is a perfect buy-low candidate for a contending dynasty team thanks to his age and position. If you’re lacking in the quarterback department, Ryan would be a great get.

michael moore