Bye Weeks: Carolina, Indianapolis,
N.Y. Jets, San Francisco
The Raiders have given up two 100-yard
games to WRs this season - Mike Wallace and TyFreak Hill.
Grab a Helmet
Brandin
Cooks v. OAK (in Mexico City): New England is desperately
short of WRs, as mentioned over in the running backs section, but
they still have the most explosive of the bunch healthy and active
in Mr. Cooks. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Coach B and
Josh McDaniel, it’s that they’re fully content to take what opponents
give them on a weekly basis. Here’s what Oakland gives opponents:
non-stop completions and no threat of passing game takeaways. The
Raiders are allowing opposing passers to complete over 70% of passes
and, astonishingly, have ZERO interceptions through 10 weeks. ZERO!
If that doesn’t sound like a setup for Tom Terrific and the lightning-quick
Cooks to make some sweet música in Mexico City, I don’t know what
does. Brady hurt Denver with a steady diet of TE/RB targets but
still threw it Cooks’ way 11 times. Expect more than that Sunday.
Tyreek
Hill @ NYG: The Giants reportedly held a clear-the-air
film session this week wherein embattled coach Ben McAdoo laid
bare a disturbing lack of effort by his charges. The most notable
offender/defender appears to have been Janoris Jenkins, New York’s
gifted but controversial corner who was suspended for violating
team rules the week prior. That spells trouble with KC coming
to town, especially if Coach Mac and Co. deem Jenkins’ pathetic
Week 10 effort demotion-worthy (and they should). With Jenkins
standing on the sidelines or in street clothes, New York’s defense
will be ill equipped to handle the league’s most dangerous vertical
threat, Mr. Hill. Moreover, there’s no telling how the rest of
the seemingly checked-out G-Men will respond to their coach’s
risky gambit. Another embarrassing afternoon could very well be
in the offing so get Hill in your lineups. He likely blows the
top off a no-longer-fearsome Giants secondary.
Larry
Fitzgerald @ HOU: Bruce Arians says he’s never felt
more confident in a third-string quarterback than he does in Blaine
Gabbert against the Texans this Sunday. His reasoning? Gabbert
is a talented winger who’s had the simple misfortune of playing
for “really sh*tty teams.” Ha! Gotta love Bruce Arians, even if
this little bit of coachspeak doesn’t pass the smell test. Gabbert
isn’t a good quarterback and the Cardinals are, arguably, just
as “sh*tty” as those teams he used to play for. Nevertheless,
he’s got one of the game’s best battery mates lining up with him
and the Texans are having boatloads of trouble defending WRs of
late. In fact, nobody’s been worse the past five weeks against
the position (33.3 pts/game). I wouldn’t trust Gabbert himself
and I don’t have enough faith in the other Cardinals receivers,
but I think Fitz is a safe enough play this weekend.
Grab Some Wood DeAndre
Hopkins v. ARZ: Those who were worried about Hopkins’
value in the wake of Deshaun Watson’s season-ending ACL tear needn’t
have been so concerned, it turns out. The league’s most valuable
fantasy receiver has actually received 50% more targets with Tom
Savage at the helm (Weeks 1, 9, and 10), and even if his per-target
production is down in those games, the added volume keeps him
very much in the WR1 conversation. Here’s what takes him out of
that conversation this week: Patrick Peterson. Arizona’s lockdown
stud has been murder on WR1s this season (Hilton, Bryant, Jeffery,
Watkins) and that’s because he shadows elite opponents more than
any cornerback in the game. With Will Fuller slated to miss this
matchup and Hopkins the only reliable target left for Savage,
the numbers for Houston’s main man could be depressing. You probably
won’t sit him, but beware he could really disappoint.
Corey
Coleman v. JAX: Ironically enough, Arizona’s secondary
allows all kinds of points to opposing WRs (24.0 per game), despite
Peterson’s shadow game heroics. That’s more than double what Jacksonville’s
league-leading bunch – comprising Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Bouye, Tayshaun
Gipson, and Barry Church – is allowing down in Florida (11.8 per
game). The Jags have faced many big-name receivers this year (Hopkins,
Brown, Watkins, Hilton, Green, and Allen), but have still only
allowed a SINGLE touchdown to the position in 10 weeks of football.
The guy who scored it is the guy we just talked about and he did
it way back in Week 1. Impressive, huh? That certainly doesn’t
bode well for Cleveland’s No.1 wideout, especially as he’s returning
from a prolonged absence (broken hand). You’ve waited weeks for
Coleman to return to action, so you should be willing to wait
one week more, right? He’s must-sit material this coming Sunday.
Sammy
Watkins @ MIN: I’ve referred to Watkins twice now as
a WR1, but he only loosely fits that description. Despite being
the ostensible star of the league’s second most productive
receiving corps (27.0 points/game), the former Bill has only scored
the most WR points for the Rams a single time this year, back
in the Week 3 shootout against San Francisco. That probably stands
to reason when you consider he isn’t even close to being
the most targeted Rams receiver. Robert Woods leads the group
with 59 targets and Cooper Kupp is next with 54. Watkins is a
distant third with a mere 34. For perspective, Keelan Cole has
also been targeted 34 times in 2017 and I didn’t even know
who Keelan Cole played for until I looked that up. Watkins has
great natural ability, but until we see it translated into great
fantasy stats, he’s mostly ignorable.
