Flying under the radar much of the year, Moore enters Week 15
as the overall WR11 in standard leagues. This despite playing
with a young 2nd string quarterback for most of the season. The
2nd year receiver has far surpassed his impressive rookie numbers
and has really poured it on since Week 9. He hasn’t dipped
below 75 yards in any of those games, and racked up three 100-yard
games and three scores. Seattle’s secondary has been an
attackable unit for much of the season. Moore has had an incredible
floor all year and is one of the league's most reliable fantasy
pass catchers. Keep in mind he’s the WR11 with only one
game over over 15 points.
I’m not sure I’ve seen a guy yo-yo to and from the
doghouse as much as Howard has this season. He’s endured
benchings and injuries but through it all Bruce Arians keeps coming
back to his ultra-talented tight end. Sure his overall numbers
make him a mega-bust relative to his draft position, but he’s
quietly had two of his best yardage games of the season in the
last two games. During that time his 11 targets and 9 receptions
is the best two-game stretch of 2019. The Lions have had severe
difficulty against athletic “move” tight ends this
season, and that was before shipping Quandre Diggs to the Seahawks.
I know he’s probably a dropped pass away from getting a
seat on the bench again, but in the tight margins of the fantasy
playoffs a big game from a tight end can make a huge difference.
The talent and potential volume is worth the risk. YOLO!
Westbrook rockets to the WR1 for the Jags with the injury to D.J.
Chark. Westbrook has seen a sizeable volume all year, as he’s got
more receptions than higher rated receivers like Kenny Golladay
and D.K. Metcalf. The big difference? Touchdowns. Westbrook has
only hit paydirt twice this season, while those other guys have
15 combined. Westbrook is in a great spot this week as the defacto
#1 against an Oakland secondary that resides at the bottom of the
NFL in most metrics. The investment in Westbrook is about to pay
off, as you can start him as a WR3 that has a ton of upside.
The final healthy body left in the massacre that is the Bengals
receiving room, Boyd figures to draw a ton of All-Pro Stephon
Gilmore this week against the Pats. New England is incredibly
grumpy after two-straight losses and a fresh SpyGate situation.
Boyd has been hot the last three weeks (2 touchdowns, at least
5 receptions and 59 yards in each), and likely contributed to
a playoff push, but in the season’s most important games,
Boyd’s floor against a fired up team is not where I want
to be.
Steelers Receivers vs BUF
The likely return of JuJu
Smith-Schuster this week just adds to the muddled mixture this
receiver core has become. For a few weeks James
Washington was the best option, but rookie Diontae
Johnson has come on in recent games. The bottom line here is
that the match-up against the elite Buffalo secondary is terrible,
and Devlin Hodges has barely averaged 20 attempts a game. This passing
game basically maxes out at one fantasy option, and who that is
anyone’s guess. Do you trust Smith-Schuster’s health? If you do,
he’s a possible FLEX play, but I’d avoid all of these guys if I
could.
Following their big win over the 49ers in Week 10, Lockett was
hospitalized with a serious contusion in his leg. That story quickly
faded as the Seahawks had a bye the following week. But since
that game Lockett has completely fallen off the map. Over the
last four games he’s only received 8 total targets. In Week
13 he failed to record a catch on three looks, the first time
he’s put up a goose egg since Week 12 of the 2017 season.
His 4-43 line against the Rams last week was actually a high point.
Was he simply slow to recover from a serious scare or is this
a harbinger to bad things? You likely have to start him based
on your roster construction, but with the weakness of the Carolina
defense is the running game, and his lack of impact in the last
month, I wouldn’t blame you if you went in a different direction.
