The final minute of the Jets/Dolphins game may go down as the most
impressive minute of garbage time in the history of fantasy football.
With the game clearly in hand and the majority of pleasantly surprised
Jet fans heading for the parking lot, Jay Cutler and the inept Dolphin
offense marched down the field to throw a meaningless three-yard
touchdown pass to DeVante Parker as the clock expired.
In one inconsequential drive, Parker went from having
a terrible day of three catches for 20 yards to eight receptions
for 76 yards and a touchdown. Cutler somewhat saved his owners
with 220 yards and a score, and the Dolphins Met Life Stadium
with at least some points in a game they should have dominated.
Fittingly, with perhaps a bit of karma for calling timeout down
20 with six seconds to play, placekicker Cody Parker shanked the
extra point, and the Dolphins finished with six, not seven points
on the day.
From a DFS perspective, we all learned two valuable lessons from
this horrendous game. First, starting Jay Cutler is not for the
faint of heart, and even the best matchups on paper can backfire
when rolling with Cutty. Second, garbage points show up the same
on the DFS scoreboard as points scored in a back and forth close
game, and owners of Parker (two thumbs pointing at this guy) should
not go on tilt until the final whistle blows.
The following lineup review is from a $30 winning ticket in the
DraftKings $4.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire GPP contest from
Sunday.
Quarterback: Jay
Cutler DraftKings Points: 12.7
Grade: D
Cutler and the Miami offense looked solid in their Week 2 victory
over the Chargers in Los Angeles, while the Jets looked poised
for a 0-16 season after getting thrashed by the Raiders in Oakland
on September 17th.
All signs pointed to a big day for Cutler and the offense, with
many respectable fantasy sites listing running back Jay Ajayi
as the start of the week. Instead of a monster game of Cutler
and the Phins throwing all over a Jets team that allowed 23 fantasy
points to both Tyrod Taylor and Derek Carr, Cutler managed just
12 points on 220 yards and a touchdown.
My hope was for Cutler to have a big game against the Jets so
I could use him again next week against the Saints. But after
this performance, starting Cutler in any format, especially DFS,
is too risky of a play. Sure, Cutler could toss five touchdown
passes and have a career day in London, but he also could have
jet lag like the Ravens and not get off the plane mentally.
Cutler’s inexpensive $6,100 salary afforded me the ability to
invest in three expensive players, Devonta Freeman, Le’Veon Bell,
and A.J. Green, with all three studs paying dividends. With three
touchdowns in his first two games, Freeman was surprisingly inexpensive
compared to other top running backs at $6,700. The matchup against
the Lions was not attractive, but Freeman’s usage in the red zone
was too good to pass up. If he continues to be priced below $7k,
I will continue to roll with Freeman in all formats.
Bell’s usage in the passing and running game returned to
his elite level last week, but the volume did not equate to the
type of fantasy points we have all grown accustomed to from Bell.
My bet this week was that Bell’s volume would stay around
25 total touches and he would break through with a multi-score
game against an injury-depleted Chicago defense. Bell did score
and finished with 21.8 fantasy points, but he was limited to just
21 touches.
I wrote about the high probability of Green breaking out this
week after voicing his displeasure for how former offensive coordinator
Ken Zampese ran the Bengals offense. I said I would be shocked
if Green did not receive at least 10 targets against the Packers,
with the upside of at least one score in the cards. That prediction
proved to be wise, with Green finishing with 10/111/1, for 30.1
fantasy points.
My choice of Funchess was far less of a certainty in my mind,
as I am not really sold on the talent of the former Michigan wide
receiver. I felt it was worth the risk based on the fact that
Greg Olsen is out with a broken foot, the Saints entered the game
allowing the most fantasy points to everyone and their mother,
and Funchess saw an uptick in usage in the Panthers’ Week 2 win
over Buffalo. Oh, it also helped that Funchess cost a mere $4,200,
and I needed cheap options to fill in my roster.
An injury to Kelvin Benjamin opened the door for Funchess to
log 10 targets, although he was only able to post four catches
for 58 yards. A significant factor for the lack of success in
converting those targets into points was the poor play of Cam
Newton, who is obviously not healthy and his inaccuracy and poor
decision making is hurting his team.
I don’t have much more to expand on with DeVante Parker
and his garbage time gem. Without that last drive, I would have
missed out on the payday.
Tight End: Jack
Doyle DraftKings Points: 2.6
Grade: F
20% of the players on DK felt that Doyle at home against the
Browns was too good to pass up at a $3,600 salary. The Browns
were dreadful against the pass, and Doyle caught all eight targets
for 79 yards against the Cardinals the previous week.
20% of the players on DK cursed the name of Jack Doyle at the
end of the day on Sunday, as Doyle caught only two of his five
targets for 16 yards while fumbling away the ball on one of his
two receptions.
At least one of my tight ends performed well on Sunday, with
Jared Cook posting four catches for 43 yards and a score in a
dreadful Sunday Night game for the Raiders. Cook continues to
be a part of the Oakland game plan, as evident by the fact that
he averages six targets per game. Owners looking for a cheap option,
especially this week against a Denver secondary that will shut
down Cooper and Crabtree, may want to give Cook another look.
D/ST: Titans DraftKings Points: 1
Grade: F
I got cute with this pick, and it bit me in the backside. The
Seahawks looked like they would have trouble blocking a high school
team after their near-loss at home against the 49ers. Although
I am not high on the Titans front seven, I thought they would
be able to get pressure on Wilson. Instead, Wilson set a career-high
in passing yards, and I got one measly sack.
