DeAndre Hopkins saw a whopping 17 targets
last week, the majority of which came from Tom Savage.
Grab a Helmet
Taylor
Gabriel @ CAR or Ted Ginn v. ATL (Sat): Speed never goes
out of style in the NFL, meaning there will always be a place for
guys like Gabriel and Ginn. They may not be superstars and they
may be hard for us to rely on week in and week out, but there’s
no doubt they can win you fake football games. Heck, Gabriel probably
could have helped Cleveland win some REAL football games, but they
didn’t seem to think so and released him in early September. SMH.
They haven’t won since, obviously. Ginn, on the other hand, is nearing
the end of an up-and-down career, but continues to hit home runs
for the Panthers. In fact, he’s the 4th most productive receiver
since Week 11. Not to be outdone, Gabriel is 8th over that same
stretch. They’re peaking when it counts so get some while the getting’s
good.
DeAndre
Hopkins v. CIN (Sat): Bill O’Brien and Co. finally pulled
the plug on the Brock Osweiler experiment, at least for the foreseeable
future. If they never plug him back in, he’ll go down as the most
expensive free agent whiff of all time…and it won’t be close. Osweiler’s
loss (of playing time) is Tom Savage’s gain and, if last week is
any indication, Hopkins’ too. Before he got benched, Osweiler targeted
his star receiver twice, missing him the first time and throwing
his second and final pick the second. Savage, on the other hand,
looked Hopkins’ way a staggering 15 more times in two and a half
quarters. That’s tied for the most times he’d been thrown to in
any game this season. Note to future NFL signal callers: It’s a
really good idea to throw balls to your best receiver. Lots of them.
Get back on Hopkins’ bandwagon.
Tyreek
Hill v. DEN (Sun): While Hopkins was garnering all sorts
of attention down in Houston, Hill was targeted a depressing three
times up in Kansas City, resulting in zero receptions. This lack
of attention/production might make sense if the Chiefs were nursing
a huge lead and pounding the rock all afternoon, but…you know, they
eventually lost to the Titans. Oh, did I mention the one time they
DID manage to get Hill the ball, on a rushing play, he scampered
68 yards for KC’s first score? Yup, probably best to avoid letting
him touch the pigskin the rest of the afternoon. I like Andy Reid
and have always respected his coaching chops, but playing keep-away
with the league’s most explosive player (you heard me right) doesn’t
make any sorta sense. Expect Big Red to be more creative against
Denver and get the ball in his “chief” playmaker’s hands. Groan!
Grab Some Wood
Randall
Cobb v. MIN (Sat): I’ve been all in on Cobb for almost
two years now, but it’s time to give up the ghost and admit what
others (many others) have already figured out: He’s never going
to recapture the magic of 2014. I don’t have to understand it
to accept it and I do not, to be fair, completely understand it.
Though he doesn’t have great top-end speed, he’s shifty as hell,
has great hands, and has great vision. These things should really
help him get open more often for Aaron Rodgers, but when I watch
games (and I watch them all), I invariably see the opposite of
that. Play after play, Cobb seems to struggle getting separation
and doesn’t have the size or physicality to overcome average foot
speed. You maybe don’t need another reason to sit him Saturday,
but here’s mine: He’s never fared well against Minny.
Kelvin
Benjamin v. ATL (Sat): I started off the year by recommending
a sit-down of Benjamin and, uh, that didn’t turn out so well.
He exploited Denver’s vaunted secondary to the tune of six grabs,
91 yards, and a score for 15.1 points back in Week 1. After another
stellar effort (22.8) in Week 2 against San Francisco, though,
he basically disappeared. Not sure how a 6’5” receiver disappears
exactly, but Cam Newton can’t seem to find him so…same difference.
The former Seminole’s been targeted 26 times since Week 11, but
has only caught 10 balls and tallied one TD. Whether it’s chemistry
or poor route-running or something else, the fact is we can’t
trust one of the better red zone options the league has to offer
at this critical point in the season. Pass on Benjamin and stick
to his more reliable teammates (the aforementioned Ginn and Greg
Olsen).
Terrelle
Pryor v. SD (Sat): It’s been a breakout year for the
converted QB, Pryor, but he doesn’t seem to have made many
friends throughout this transformation process. First, Janoris
Jenkins called him something unprintable on Twitter (since deleted).
Then, Adam Jones compared him to a garbage can (not making that
up). Finally, former Buckeye and Browns teammate, Brian Hartline,
called Pryor a “flash in the pan” this week and openly
questioned why the Browns would lock him down with a big contract.
Consider the sources, maybe, but Hartline’s a former teammate
who actually used to be a battery mate (at OSU before Pryor’s
position switch). Caustic personalities don’t last long
in this most team-oriented of team sports, so it’ll be interesting
to see how it works out for Pryor. Oh, almost forgot: It isn’t
working out with RGIII back under center (11 targets, 2.2 total
points). Wait ‘til next year.
Good luck, folks, and have a great holiday weekend!
