Bye Weeks: Arizona, Green Bay,
Jacksonville, Los Angeles, N.Y. Giants, Tennessee
Cooper's blow up performance last week
was nice but don't forget about the Raiders best fantasy WR.
Grab a Helmet
Michael
Crabtree @ BUF: Amari Cooper’s fantasy explosion last
Thursday (19 targets, 11 receptions, 210 yards, and 2 scores) is
all anyone wanted to talk about this past week and that’s fair.
After struggling for weeks, the Raiders’ ostensible WR1 finally
looked like the difference-maker most expected to see on a regular
basis this season. Nevertheless, with the game on the line and the
Raiders needing a score, Derek Carr found his actual WR1 for the
game-sealing six. Crabtree’s numbers on the night paled in comparison
(8 targets, 3 receptions, 24 yards, and that TD), but it was his
third consecutive game with a score and his sixth TD grab of the
season, tying him for the league lead with DeAndre Hopkins and Jordy
Nelson. Coop’s reemergence is good for the Raiders and possibly
good for Crabtree in the long run. He should not sit with Carr back
under center. Keenan
Allen @ NE: The most intriguing aspect of Cooper’s big
night wasn’t necessarily the yardage, the touchdowns, or the fantasy
points. It was the 19 targets. Receivers who merit that kind of
attention are vastly more interesting to me than guys who don’t,
regardless what they produce on any given Sunday. More opportunity
= more points over the longer haul and that’s why Allen, despite
good (not great) numbers, should be taken very seriously. He’s the
17th ranked receiver (54.7 points), but ranks second in targets
behind only Antonio Brown, who Ben Roethlisberger seems to throw
to every play. With several plus matchups on tap this next month
and a top-notch battery mate to work with, Allen could sneak his
way into the top 10 by year’s end. He’s an obvious start on Sunday
against a Patriots team scoring lots of points but also giving up
lots of points. JuJu
Smith-Schuster @ DET: The Martavis Bryant situation finally
boiled over this week when the talented but troubled Steeler spouted
off on social media and got himself a seat on the bench for Week
8. The target of his Instagram attack? None other than the guy who
will replace him in the starting lineup this Sunday night. I don’t
really understand what Pittsburgh is doing with Bryant as he’s way
too talented to freeze completely out of the offense. It doesn’t
matter this week, though, so we instead get to see what the rookie
Smith-Schuster brings to the table. My guess? More than Bryant’s
been bringing. He’s not as big and not the dynamic athlete Bryant
is, but he brings good size and great physicality to the position
and has already demonstrated a nose for the end zone. I think the
Steelers teach Martavis a lesson by featuring Smith-Schuster Sunday.
Grab Some Wood Deonte
Thompson v. OAK: I guess we know why Chicago decided
to deep-six Thompson now, huh? What good are receivers if you
never actually throw them the football? The former Bear/Raven
was quickly snatched up by the WR-starved Bills and activated
last Sunday, whereupon he proceeded to catch all four of his targets
for 107 yards in the win against Tampa. Totally saw that coming,
right? Oddly, it was only Thompson’s second-best performance against
the Bucs this season, as he grabbed four balls for 57 yards and
a score back in Week 2 when he was still with the Bears. He’ll
be a popular waiver wire add, but falling head-over-heels for
a Buffalo receiver seems pretty desperate to me. The only team
who’s scored fewer points at the position this year is the team
that didn’t seem to have any need for Thompson when they released
him two weeks ago.
Donte
Moncrief @ CIN: Moncrief needed a breakout campaign
to hopefully break the bank in free agency next spring, but it
hasn’t worked out that way so far. Playing without his customary
battery mate, Andrew Luck, the talented Colts wideout has struggled
to achieve any semblance of consistency and is now averaging just
4.7 points/game. That’s about what he averaged his rookie season,
when he was only a bit player, and just barely more than the aforementioned
Martavis Bryant is averaging in this mostly lost season. I guess
these two could probably write a book on how NOT to secure that
first free agent deal, huh? The matchup with Cincinnati isn’t
brutal and Moncrief will, unlike Bryant, actually be suiting up
this coming weekend. Nevertheless, I don’t think we can count
on much considering he’s scored just once all season and hasn’t
notched double-digit fantasy points a single time. Nope.
Cole
Beasley @ WAS: Beasley’s been one of the more perplexing
underachievers this year. He seemed to establish a pretty good
rapport with Dak Prescott during the quarterback’s rookie
season and one could reasonably have assumed that connection would
continue to pay dividends this season. Save for a two-TD in Week
5 against the Pack, however, it really hasn’t. Beasley failed
to score four or more fantasy points only three times in 2016
and not a single time before Week 10. Through Week 7 of this season,
he’s already done it five times. It’s not like Dez
Bryant or Terrance Williams are really blowing up, either. The
looming suspension of Zeke Elliott could certainly change the
dynamics in Dallas and thrust Beasley right back into a more prominent
role, but…until such time, he’s probably better left
sitting on your bench. Sit the Cowboys’ clever slot receiver
down until something changes.
