Nobody needs to be told starting Patrick
Mahomes, Christian
McCaffrey, or DeAndre
Hopkins is a good idea. Duh, right? You can’t have studs at
every position, though, unless you’re in the shallowest of leagues.
This is where the Shot Caller comes in. Need help deciding which
bargain basement QB to use and which to ignore on Mahomes’ bye
week? Let’s talk. Looking for solutions at running back because
Barkley is a game-time decision? Look no further. Need to know
which of your unproven targets to start and which to sit since
you ignored Hopkins and went RB-RB-Kelce in your first three rounds?
You get the idea. Past results may not guarantee future success,
but ignoring them entirely can ruin your Sundays in a hurry (maybe
even your Mondays and Thursdays). Read on for a little history
and, hopefully, a little sage advice.
Note: Fantasy points
based on FF Today’s standard scoring system.
Love means never having to say you’re sorry, we’re
told, but the next best thing, as those in more realistic, long-term
relationships can probably attest, is never having to say it twice.
It’s been nearly a month since Cousins apologized to star
receiver Adam Thielen for a disastrous Week 4 effort in Chicago,
and if his performance since then is any indication, the apology
was heartfelt. Minny’s $84 Million Dollar Man has averaged
nearly 30 FPts/G from Week 5 on and is now the league leader in
yards per attempt, just in front of Pat Mahomes. Cousins will
be without Thielen for the short turnaround matchup Thursday night,
but will still have Stefon Diggs on the flank, Dalvin Cook lining
up next to him, and all the motivation he could possibly require
facing bitter ex Washington in primetime. This one’s for
you, Daniel Snyder.
It was shaping up to be the battle of embattled fifth year QBs,
a 2015 Rose Bowl Redux, but Marcus Mariota spoiled all that by
throwing his first two picks of the season and getting himself
demoted following a Week 6 loss to Denver. That doesn’t
seem fair considering James Winston threw FIVE picks the same
day, but it IS fair to say Mariota wasn’t moving his offense
or, more importantly, winning games. Enter Tannehill, who escaped
a mess in Miami for a chance at redemption in Nashville. So far,
so good after a 312-yard, two-TD performance against the Bolts
in Week 7. The ex-Dolphin isn’t likely to make Tennessee
appreciably better longer-term, but he’s more decisive with
the football and similar enough to Mariota athletically that wholesale
scheme changes won’t be necessary. If you lost Mahomes on
Thursday, here’s a decent replacement for this weekend.
And here’s another one, a befittingly messy QB now tasked
with managing that aforementioned mess in Miami. This has the
chance to spectacularly backfire, sure—historically error-prone
quarterback playing for a historically lousy team—but with
so many star QBs sidelined (Mahomes, Brees, Roethlisberger, Prescott,
Jackson, Ryan, Newton), don’t you at least CONSIDER riding
dirty with Fitzmagic in Week 8? You could have done a lot worse
last Sunday (QB7 with 282 yards, one passing TD, and one berserk
rushing TD) and now that Miami’s figured out what Arizona
already knew, that Josh Rosen isn’t an NFL QB, it’s
not impossible to imagine Fitzy throwing up some crooked numbers
the rest of the way as his team plays consistently from behind.
I don’t love the matchup against a rested Pittsburgh team
at home coming off a big win, but few career journeymen have as
high a ceiling.
Darnold recovered from an early-season bout
with mononucleosis to throw for 338 yards and two scores in Week
6, upsetting the favored Cowboys and thrilling Jets fans who’d
been forced to watch Luke Falk engineer the New York offense for
several weeks. Those same fans might be hoping the since-released
Falk is still floating around on waivers after Darnold’s
brutal Week 7 encore. The franchise’s baby-faced frontman
barely registered a QBR v. New England (0.7) when he completed
just 11 of 32 passes for 86 yards, tossed four picks, lost a fumble,
and also comically batted an errant snap out of the endzone for
a safety. Yes, it was the Pats and he’s still green, but
Darnold’s poor mechanics, poorer decision-making, and seeming
crisis of confidence were alarming. It’ll be difficult enough
facing a rugged Jacksonville eleven on the road Sunday, let alone
ghosts. Sit him.
Next in line for a trip through New England’s
House of Horrors is the league’s most disappointing squad,
the 2-4 Browns. Mayfield deserves a large portion of the blame
for his squad’s early-season struggles as he’s sporting
the third worst passer rating amongst qualified passers (only
Darnold and Josh Rosen are worse) and leads the league in turnovers
with 11. That’s one more than Mr. Turnover himself, Jameis
Winston, and who the heck would have predicted that back in early
September? Mayfield’s too talented to continue playing this
poorly and isn’t bereft of weapons in the Cleveland offense,
but we may not see much improvement until the schedule lightens
up some starting in Week 11. If you own him and have a reliable
alternative, be patient. If you don’t and are looking for
a great buy low candidate for the stretch run, he could fit the
bill.
Coach Belichick hasn’t completely cornered the market on stingy
defenses, it appears. Just 3,000+ miles west of 1 Patriot Place,
San Francisco’s Robert Saleh coordinates a stopper unit almost
every bit the equal of New England’s. The Niners are surrendering
just two more yards per game, fewer passing yards (a league best
133.5/game), and have only allowed opponents to score 13 points
this past month. That’s 13 points TOTAL. Granted, one of those
teams was Washington and the game was played in monsoon-like conditions
last Sunday, but one of them was Los Angeles in the shiny SoCal
sun (Week 6). Something’s gotta give when Allen puts his spotless
record on the line v. undefeated San Francisco and my money’s
on the boys in red and gold. You can’t sit Christian McCaffrey,
but you can sit the guy handing it off to him. Do it.
