San Diego's New Go-To-Guy: Tyrell Williams
has become the best playmaker for Philip Rivers.
Grab a Helmet
Tyrell
Williams @ HOU: My native state has produced two of the
unlikeliest pass-grabbing success stories in recent memory, Julius
Thomas – college cager at Portland State turned NFL tight end –
and now Williams – undrafted WR from tiny Western Oregon University.
The latter flew under the radar of FBS recruiters mostly because
he weighed 170 lbs. coming out of Cascade HS in Salem (the alma
mater of my three younger sibs) and played in a wing-T offense.
As he grew into his 6’4”, 205-pound frame at the D-II level, it
became clear he had the goods (plus size and plus speed) to compete
at the professional level. And compete he has. Williams is currently
the 20th most productive WR and would be considerably higher if
he hadn’t posted a 0.4-point effort against Denver’s Broncos in
Week 8. Consider San Diego’s new go-to guy a must-start wideout
in even the shallowest formats.
Rishard
Matthews @ CHI: Nobody has scored more points/game at
the WR position than Tyrell Williams the last three weeks. Surprised?
So was I. Here’s something else I’m guessing just about none of
you knew: Rishard Matthews has scored the fifth most per tilt in
that same span. Tyrell Williams and Rishard Matthews. Not exactly
household wide receiver names, are they? Marcus Mariota’s been getting
most of the pub for the revitalized Titans and deservedly so. He’s
been awesome and looks every bit the part of a guy who can lead
them places. The guy who’s been helping Marcus be awesome the most,
however, is certainly worth starting…and he isn’t even OWNED in
a third of ESPN leagues. Come on, people! What are you waiting for?
The Broncos are on deck for Tennessee’s upstarts so there’s no guarantee
beyond this week. Get Matthews and then get him in your lineup.
Marqise
Lee @ BUF: Allen Hurns’ breakout 2015 campaign was not,
apparently, a harbinger of great things to come. After tallying
a surprising 10.9 fantasy points/game last season, the former undrafted
FA has majorly regressed and is now on pace to post worse numbers
than he did his rookie year. Good thing the Jags locked him down
for four more years, right? There’s always an upside for us, however,
and that upside is named Marqise Lee. Jacksonville actually drafted
Lee to be the other Allen’s (Robinson’s) complement and in this,
his third season, he’s finally fulfilling that promise. He’s scored
26.9 points the last three weeks and has been targeted 22 times,
a healthy share for a guy who only commanded 32 total in 2015. Lee
is finally a useful option and especially since he plays catch with
one of the best garbage time stat-padders in the league, Blake Bortles.
Grab Some Wood
T.Y.
Hilton v. PIT (Thu): You may not have the luxury of
reserving the sixth best WR in the fantasy business, but if you
do have unusual depth at the position or were able to grab a guy
like Rishard Matthews or Marqise Lee off the waiver wire, it’s
at least worth considering. Scott Tolzien is an NFL quarterback,
sure, but that’s about the extent of similarities between him
and Andrew Luck. They both play the same position and they both
play it in the same league. The end. If I were to guess how Chuck
Pagano and Co. would attack the Steelers, I’d be willing to bet
it would involve a whole lot of Frank Gore, a decent amount of
Dwayne Allen and Jack Doyle, and maybe a smattering of Donte Moncrief.
Hilton’s the home run threat and Tolzien could struggle to build
deep-ball chemistry on such short notice.
Kenny
Britt @ NO: The Rams finally (reluctantly?) handed
the keys to their lackluster offense over to rookie Jared Goff
in Week 11 and the results were, well, still very lackluster.
I know you’ve already heard me say this but it bears repeating
now that Goff is in the driver’s seat for the foreseeable future:
He’s bad. Like, isn’t-gonna-be-ready-anytime-soon-if-ever bad.
Granted, I’m not an NFL scout and could end up choking on those
words someday, but…I doubt it. I watched enough of him in the
Pac-12 to know he’s all stats and no substance. Put a little pressure
on him and he looks very, very questionable. Fantasy IS about
stats, to be fair, so the future might be brighter than I’m possibly
envisioning. The present looks very bleak, though. Reserve Britt
until LA’s green triggerman is asked to drive the football down
the field and proves capable of doing so.
Cameron
Meredith v. TEN: We may finally have seen the last
of Jay Cutler in a Bears uniform, but no matter how big a smile
that puts on most Bears fans’ faces, the enthusiasm is probably
muffled by the following reality: Matt Barkley will be making
his first career start for Chicago Sunday. If you thought Cutler
was frustrating to watch, wait’ll you get a load of Barkley,
he of the 0-6 career TD-to-INT ratio and the 34.2 passer rating.
For perspective, Ryan Fitzapatrick’s passer rating is 67.6
this season, or DOUBLE what Barkley’s been able to accomplish
in five NFL appearances. OK, so the sample size is low and he
might surprise us. There’s also a chance I won’t go
for seconds on pumpkin pie this Thursday. Chicago’s is an
offense best left ignored this extended holiday weekend, so keep
Meredith where he probably belonged anyway: on your bench.
Good luck, folks, and have a great Thanksgiving weekend!
