Sunday Six Pack: Week 15

Jeremy Schwob Posted On December 20, 2020

Welcome to the Sunday Six Pack. I’ll be dedicating one beverage from my six pack for each of these things I’m watching with particular attention in week 15.

2K King

As the calendar turned to December, that meant one thing: The Return of The King. Like Attila the Hun, Derrick Henry tears across defensive backfield conquering new land on a weekly basis without mercy. Now he approaches a new milestone during his December tirade as he gets closer and closer to 2,000 yards rushing. He enters this game sitting on 1,532 yards rushing with three weeks remaining. This week, he should be able to get a nice jump on the 156 yards he would need to average to eclipse the milestone.

Now he gets a hapless Detroit defense (and maybe a Matthew Stafford-less Detroit offense) in week 15. Ranked 27th in rushing defense, I don’t expect there to be much of a fight to be put up. The only questions are how many yards he will accrue this week and how early Mike Vrabel will put him in bubble wrap. I’m playing against him in my most important dynasty league so I’m hoping this happens earlier rather than later and that he doesn’t score touchdowns.

Seattle Shot(tenheimer) of Life

After a devastating knee injury, a full calendar year ago, Rashaad Penny is set to make his return to the field. He was activated from the PUP list and likely will be active for the Seahawks’ week 15 matchup against Washington. It is unlikely that he will have much of a role this week, but nonetheless, it will be great to see him on the field for a few snaps.

Penny has been receiving rave reviews from Russell Wilson and head coach Pete Carroll since he returned to practice last week. With #LetRussCook officially ended by Carroll and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, Chris Carson battling the wear and tear of a long season, and Carlos Hyde looking very replaceable, a role is there for Penny to seize. It will also be possible to us to get an extended look at Penny if Carson were to have difficulty staying on the field to finish the regular season and into the playoffs. It would be incredibly difficult to trust him even if he’s called upon due to injuries around him, but he may present a nice buying opportunity if he simply flashes indication that he is over his injury.

Using the Dynasty Trade Finder, Penny has recently been moved for: (a) Mike Davis, (b) 2021 second, (c) 2021 fourth and 2022 fifth, and (d) 2021 third and 2021 fourth. The DLF Trade Analyzer has Penny at a value of 45.3, which slots right between an early (57.5) and mid (40.9) 2021 third. Each of those trades mentioned above seems like a very reasonable price to pay for a healthy, young back in the Seattle offense for another year, especially with Carson’s contract uncertainty.

It hurts so good

What a breath of fresh air it has been to not have Carson Wentz struggling on Sundays. Instead we get the latest version of #KonamiCode (cc: @LordReebs) in Jalen Hurts. He has been beneficial to Miles Sanders recently and is beginning to provide a look at what this Wentz-less offense may look like. His dual-threat ability has clearly rejuvenated a stagnant offense.

If Hurts continues to produce, a young core of Hurts, Sanders, Jalen Reagor, and Dallas Goedert could make the Eagles enticing once again headed into 2021. That of course, assumes that he either maintains the job over Wentz, or more likely, forces the ridiculous Wentz contract out of town. A reunion with Frank Reich in Indianapolis may make a lot of sense if the Philip Rivers-led Colts falter in the coming weeks to miss the playoffs. Regardless, there are many questions ahead for the Eagles this off-season. If Hurts can continue to flash, he may answer one of those questions, or at least provide Philadelphia with a few additional options for 2021 and beyond.

Million dollar listing LA: Akers of Land available

Darrell Henderson did well in spurts this season, but his time as the leader in that backfield has been ticking since April. Malcolm Brown was never going to be a thing for an extended period, even for Henderson. Though, a nagging quad injury in November and a knee injury in early December brought the inevitable closer to the present.

Cam Akers had been waiting to pounce on the opportunity since he suffered broken ribs in week two, which can take 12 weeks or more to fully heal. Right on cue in week 14, that injury is now a thing of the past. We quickly saw Akers finally receive the opportunity to arrive. Coming off of a 29-171-0 rushing line, adding 2-23-0 receiving, Akers gets another home game here in week 15 against *checks schedule* THE JETS. Need I really say more? It is time for Akers to claim his territory in LA with the Jets having no say over how much LA real estate he claims on Sunday.

Big Ben bounceback

There are no two ways about it… Ben Roethlisberger has not been good lately. He has struggled significantly since picking up a knee injury in week nine. Roethlisberger and the Steelers appeared unfazed as they continued to win. But now with a first-round bye slipping away quickly, they are in desperate need of a rebound against Cincinnati after dropping two straight games.

I could easily see this being a “get back on track” and “take out the frustration” pounding of the Bengals. The Steelers’ hopes of getting their running game going has been discussed repeatedly heading into recent games. However, that has not materialized into anything beneficial for the team. Instead, I could see the offense coming out throwing to gather a sizeable lead with numerous extra possessions as the defense overwhelms Bengals spot starter, Ryan Finley. I could see Diontae Johnson getting pelted early to overcome his recent Nelson Agholor-esque drops yips, while also spreading the ball around to get the machine oiled up again. All in all, I foresee a big day for Big Ben.

NFC North nightmares

Whether it be a nightmare start or nightmare run of late, an NFC North matchup arrives with teams with different stories to the season as both teams were left for dead at different points in the season. Now, the Bears and Vikings square off as two 6-7 NFC North teams fighting to sneak into the playoffs. The Vikings were all but looking toward 2021 as early as week seven with losses in five of their first six games before going 5-2 since. The Bears on the other hand, amidst a few QB changes, were in command of the division after starting 5-1. However, Nick Foles then went 0-4 leading to a dire position.

The Bears specifically have been an interesting case in terms of fantasy production. All the while during this turmoil, Allen Robinson has continued to be Allen Robinson. David Montgomery has also quietly been RB9 on the year, thanks in part due a recent three-game tear. It will be nice to see Robinson’s final games in Chicago as he gets peppered with Mitchell Trubisky targets before hopefully moving South to pair with Deshaun Watson in Houston in 2021 (PLEASE!?!).

Enjoy some cold ones and good luck to anyone left in the dynasty playoffs!

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Jeremy Schwob

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Jeremy is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Penn State. He is an avid fan of St. Louis sports and the Dayton Flyers. You can find him advocating for wide receivers and pushing that value is misused as fact on Twitter.