Tag: D’Onta Foreman

Tunnel Vision of Week 7

Tunnel Vision – a look back at Sunday for fantasy free agents, injuries and notable performances.

SUNDAY SALUTES
Quarterbacks Pass-Rush TD
 Joe Burrow 481-20 4
 Andy Dalton 361-21 4
 Patrick Mahomes 423-0 3
 Daniel Jones 202-107 2
 Justin Herbert 293-22 2
Running Backs Yards TD
Josh Jacobs 20-143
3-12		 3
Kenneth Walker 23-168 2
Austin Ekeler 9-31
12-96		 2
Travis Etienne 14-114
1-5		 1
Aaron Jones 8-23
9-53		 2
Wide Receivers Yards TD
Ja’Marr Chase 8-130 2
Tyler Boyd 8-155 1
Mecole Hardman 4-32
2-28		 3
JuJu Smith-Schuster 7-124 1
Parris Campbell 10-70 1
Tight Ends Yards TD
George Kittle 6-98 1
Juwan Johnson 5-32 2
Travis Kelce 6-98 0
David Njoku 7-71 0
Gerald Everett 5-63 0
Placekickers XP FG
Jason Meyers 4 3
Robbie Gould 2 3
Randy Bullock 1 4
Justin Tucker 2 3
Greg Zuerlein 1 3
Defense Sack – TO TD
Cowboys 5-5 0
Titans 3-3 1
Cardinals 0-3 2
Chiefs 5-2 0
Raiders 1-1 1

Bumps, Bruises and Bowouts

QB Ryan Tannehill (TEN) – Ankle
RB Chuba Hubbard (CAR) – Ankle
RB Breece Hall (NYJ) – ACL
RB Mike Boone (DEN) – Ankle
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (DET) – Concussion
WR Corey Davis (NYJ) – Knee
WR Allen Lazard (GB) – Shoulder
WR DK Metcalf (SEA) – Knee
WR Nico Collins (HOU) – Groin
WR Mike Williams (LAC) – Ankle
WR Russell Gage (TB) – Hamstring
TE Daniel Bellinger (NYG) – Eye
TE David Njoku (CLE) – Ankle

Chasing Ambulances

QB Ryan Tannehill (TEN) – Injured his ankle and wore a walking boot after the game. He admitted it didn’t “feel great” but that he would try to be available for the trip to Houston for Sunday.  This could be a good time for the Titans to roll out third-round rookie Malik Willis. The Titans are atop the AFC South, so they’ll likely stick with Tannehill if possible, but depending on how the week goes, they may not have a choice.

RB Chuba Hubbard (CAR) – Injured his ankle, but it was considered minor and is not expected to be an issue this week.

RB Breece Hall (NYJ) – This is a heartbreaker. The talented rookie rusher is thought to have torn his ACL and would miss the rest of the season. When they “think” it may be an ACL on Sunday, it’s about 100% going to be an ACL. Michael Carter will become the No. 1 back again.

WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (DET) – Was hard hit in the loss to the Cowboys, staggered a little when he tried to stand up and was sent to the blue medical tent. He was reported to be concussed which is made even worse with  DJ Chark out and Josh Reynolds playing through a knee injury.

WR Corey Davis (NYJ) – Left in the first half with a knee injury, he was cleared to return but was held out as a precaution. He’s expected to be fine.

WR Allen Lazard (GB) – The Packers’ best receiver suffered a shoulder injury and his status for the matchup at the Bills isn’t yet known. Lazard has been the only consistently productive receiver for the Packers and his loss would be  just another step down for the offense.

WR DK Metcalf (SEA) – The wideout was injured in the first quarter of the win over the Chargers and ruled out. X-Rays came back negative but an MRI today will determine if there is any soft-tissue damage. He was in good spirits after the game, which is encouraging but the tests will determine if he needs to miss any time.

WR Mike Williams (LAC) – Sprained his right ankle in the fourth quarter of the loss to the Seahawks and wore a walking boot after the game. He had problems putting any weight onto his leg and needed help to get to the treatment room. He’ll have tests on Monday to determine the severity of the injury but the Seahawks are already relying on Tyler Lockett who is playing through his hamstring injury.

TE David Njoku (CLE) – He already had seven catches for 71 yards but left with an ankle injury. Njoku was in a walking boot and on crutches after the game. He was reported to only have a sprained ankle but he’ll have an MRI on Monday to determine if there is any damage.

Free Agents, Flops and Other Notables

QB Malik Willis (TEN) – If Ryan Tannehill’s ankle keeps him out this week, Willis will take the start. He was an effective passer at Liberty with up to 27 touchdowns in a season, but he was also a dangerous runner with around 900 yards and 13 scores as a runner in both of his seasons as the starter. The Titans play at the Texans next.

RB Michael Carter (NYJ) – He becomes the No. 1 running back for the Jets with the injury to Breece Hall. Ty Johnson is the only other back on the active roster. Zonovan Knight is on the practice squad. If Hall is gone, don’t rule out the Jets trading for another back. The backfield needs a veteran and the offense needs someone more than Carter to rely on.

WR Kalif Raymond (DET) – Replaced DJ Chark who is on injured reserve and led the Lions with  five catches for 75 yards in the loss to the Cowboys.  Amon-Ra St. Brown has a concussion, Josh Reynolds is playing with a knee injury, and the Lions face the visiting Dolphins and Packers next. Raymond was the most targeted (6) receiver on Sunday.

WR Marquise Goodwin (SEA) – With DK Metcalf injured in the first quarter, Goodwin stepped up to lead the Seahawks with four catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Chargers. Tyler Lockett caught seven short passes as he played through a hamstring injury. Goodwin’s worth owning if Metcalf misses time and they face the Giants this week.

RB D’Onta Foreman (CAR) – Chuba Hubbard took the start in Carolina for the first game after the Christian McCaffrey trade, but Foreman was the lead back with 118 yards on 15 carries and two catches for 27 yards. Hubbard was also involved with nine runs for 63 yards and a score, plus two catches for ten yards. It’s more touches (28) than what McCaffrey would normally handle. But this is going to be a committee with plenty of both runners. That will cut into each others production in games that do not go as well as the Buccaneers upset did.

WR DeAndre Hopkins (ARI) – First game off suspension and he led the Cardinals with ten catches for 103 yards. No other receiver caught more than two passes. Sadly, Marquise Brown is gone.

RB Gus Edwards (BAL) – Tore up his knee in the summer of 2021 and never played until Sunday. By all accounts, he was to be eased into playing again in light of his extensive knee injury and recovery. J.K. Dobbins landed on injured reserve from his own “still a problem” knee injury. But Edwards started the game and took over the backfield. He ran for 66 yards and two scores on 16 rushes. Kenyan Drake only gained five yards on his eleven rushes.

WR D.J. Moore (CAR) – The Panthers stripped the offense of Christian McCaffrey and Robbie Anderson and was down to P.J. Walker at quarterback. Facing the Buccaneers, or at least what passes for the Buccaneers these days, Moore logged a season-high seven catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. No other receiver caught more than two passes. Maybe the offense needs to remove all talent so that only Moore remains. It was nice to see him displaying his talent again.

QB Dak Prescott (DAL) – Returned from his thumb surgery and showed mild rustiness, especially at the first of the game. He only threw for 207 yards and one touchdown in the win over the Lions. It seemed like an opportunity missed with a mediocre performance, but he connected with CeeDee Lamb (4-70) and Dalton Schultz (5-49).  The Cowboys have a home game against the Bears that may play out much the same on Sunday, but at least Schultz was again a factor when playing with Prescott.

RB Travis Etienne (JAC) – It was a positive to see him run 14 times for 114 yards and one score (almost two). But it was even more notable that James Robinson never had a touch. Etienne handled every carry and the one catch from the Jaguars’ backfield.

WR Parris Campbell (IND) – The often-injured receiver that’s never met his expectations scored a touchdown and caught seven passes for 57 yards in Week 6. That was easily explained as just one of those blips in an otherwise mediocre season. But Campbell led the Colts with ten catches for 70 yards and a score in the loss to the Titans. He led the team with 12 targets. Michael Pittman (6-58) was the next best but two scoring weeks in a row for Campbell has to be noted. Playing at home against the Commanders this week would be a decent situation for a three-in-a-row for Campbell.

WR Terry McLaurin (WAS) – He hadn’t scored since Week 1 and wasn’t very productive in recent weeks. His first game with Taylor Heinicke as the starter gave him a healthy five catches for 73 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Packers. His score was over the top of CB Jaire Alexander. McLaurin caught 58 passes for 919 yards and seven scores over the 14 games he shared with Heinicke last year.

RB Isiah Pacheco (KC) – He was reported to be the starter over Clyde Edwards-Helaire and caused a free-agent frenzy and plenty of lineup swapping before the early-game kickoffs on Sunday. It was exactly what every fantasy owner who overpaid for the hype monster this summer wanted to hear. But… he only ran eight times for 43 yards. And Edwards-Helaire gained 32 yards on six carries that included a 16-yard run for a touchdown. The Chiefs are not only a committee backfield, but even all combined doesn’t often call for more than 15 rushes.

RB Christian McCaffrey (SF) – The 49ers immediately made up a set of plays for McCaffrey, who ran for a team-high eight carries for 38 yards and two catches for 24 yards.  His workload will ramp up when he learns the offense better, but brings to light the question – does McCaffrey add to the offense, or just take away touches  from others?  He’s not needed to be the center of the offense as he was in Carolina. But his presence will render Jeff Wilson outside of fantasy relevancy and will cut into the other receivers’ workload at least a bit.

Huddle player of the week

RB Kenneth Walker III (SEA) –  He wasn’t quite the highest-scoring fantasy player this week but he was close and in the second start of his career. The rookie ran for 168 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Chargers. His second score was on a 74-yard run midway through the fourth quarter that helped put the game away. With Breece Hall potentially gone, Walker can work his way into the Rookie of the Year conversation if he keeps up the production.

Salute!

Drama 101 – Somebody has to laugh, somebody has to cry

Comedy Yards TDs Tragedy Yards TDs
QB Andy Dalton 382 4 QB Lamar Jackson 179 0
RB Gus Edwards 66 2 RB Leonard Fournette 26 0
RB D’Onta Foreman 135 0 RB Christian McCaffrey 62 0
WR Mecole Hardman 60 3 WR DK Metcalf 12 0
WR Parris Campbell 70 1 WR Deebo Samuel 44 0
WR Marquise Goodman 67 2 WR Amon-Ran St. Brown 4 0
TE Juwan Johnson 32 2 TE Mark Andrews 4 0
PK Jason Meyers  4 XP   3 FG PK Ryan Succop   1 FG
Huddle Fantasy Points = 157 Huddle Fantasy Points = 24

Now get back to work…

Biggest takeaways from Panthers’ Week 7 win over Buccaneers

Even with a new center this week, the Panthers proved they have themselves a formidable offensive line in their Week 7 upset over the Buccaneers.

We learned on Sunday, that even in the face of “tank” and “fire sale” talks, that these Carolina Panthers don’t care about 2023. They care about the day.

So, let’s take a look at what else we learned on this day—a shocking afternoon that resulted in a 21-3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

WATCH: D’Onta Foreman, Chuba Hubbard lead Panthers to electric TD drive

In their first game without Christian McCaffrey, the Panthers got some big runs from D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard.

No Christian McCaffrey, no problem.

The Carolina Panthers just keep on bringing the surprises here in Week 7. And the latest shock of the day came courtesy of their backfield, one that’s in the very first game of the post-CMC era.

Already up 7-0 on the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers with about four minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Panthers took over at their own 23-yard line. Following an incompletion to start the possession, which almost wound up as another beautiful grab from wide receiver DJ Moore, running back D’Onta Foreman rumbled down the field for a monstrous 60-yard gain.

On the very next play, from Tampa Bay’s 17-yard line, fellow rusher Chuba Hubbard did the rest and slithered up the middle for his first touchdown run of the 2022 season. The score helped give Carolina a 14-0 lead at the 3:11 mark of the third quarter.

Ironically enough, this 77-yard scoring drive between Foreman and Hubbard came not too long after Panthers fans saw this . . .

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Our (sorta) bold predictions for Panthers vs. Buccaneers in Week 7

Need some help with a few prop bets for the Panthers’ Week 7 matchup with the Buccaneers? We got you covered.

How will the Carolina Panthers’ Week 7 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pan out?

With the help of some props courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook, we’ll take a crack at forecasting this NFC South clash.

Six points with David Dorey

Friday’s quick look at six fantasy items to know

Heading into Week 7 and we finally saw a Thursday night game with plenty of points. Granted, most fantasy owners didn’t start Kevin White,  Rashid Shaheed, or Juwan Johnson, but it’s been an odd season.  The Panthers wasted no time destroying their team trading away Christian McCaffrey and there are a lot of ripples from the transaction. I discussed that briefly in this article.

By Week 7, we’re seeing a separation of the good and bad teams though 22 teams do not have a winning record currently and ten of those are 3-3. At least the top players in each fantasy position are starting to become more stable and reliable, but there are more injuries and roster moves coming that will shake teams up.

Here are six items worth thinking about heading into Week 7 of the NFL season.

1.) What’s up with the old guys? – I’m apparently not the only one that watched quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady and thought that they suddenly just look old. Like really old. Like too old. So I whipped a quick comparison of the first 12 quarterbacks drafted (ADP) this summer, their respective ages and where they are ranked after six weeks. Interesting.

It would be wrong to assume that age alone is why those 30+ year old quarterbacks all fell short of expectations. But it is odd, and an interesting look at how the average drafter considered older quarterbacks versus younger ones. Consider where they ranked at the end of 2022 for Tom Brady (2), Matt Stafford (5), and Aaron Rodgers (8). There is something going on with the NFL in terms of low points and sluggish fantasy games.

I’m not alone in believing the decreased preseason work and how preseason games evolved into nothing more than a consideration for who makes the final 53-man roster have caused teams to not play to the level of past seasons. It’s likely more than just that, but perhaps for a later article. But the older the veteran, the less they do in training camp and preseason games where most never made a showing.

The other interesting, and maybe more important aspect of the above table is how those earliest quarterbacks have been money. Not a dud in the batch. While zero-QB drafters sort through their two or three average quarterbacks, the teams with the earliest drafted quarterbacks all own difference-makers.

2.) RB Kyren Williams (LAR) – The Notre Dame star fell to the 5.21 pick of the Rams because he measured just 5-9, 194 pounds while running a 4.64 40-time. By the tape, he doesn’t offer the measurables that teams like to see in their running backs but all he did in Notre Dame was produce. In 12 games as a sophomore and senior, he ran for over 1,000 yards and totaled around 1,400 yards each year with 14 and 17 touchdowns respectively.

The Rams traded up to get Williams. He broke his foot in OTA’s and missed much of the summer. In the season opener, he injured his ankle and has been on injured reserve. There has been a lot of buzz about Williams and he was expected to mix in with Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson but we haven’t seen him. Now Akers wants to be traded and the Rams backfield has been one of the worst. That’s partially on the offensive line, but Williams has upside when he does play. They reached to get him and were disappointed to see him injured. If you have an empty spot on the roster to see what may happen in future weeks, Williams is worth a stash.

3.) Panthers offense – The Trade of Christian McCaffrey signals that the Panthers are already living in 2023 and accept what should be painful results from the rest of the season. But – when teams go as bad as the Panthers seem to be heading, there is fantasy value. Even if only in the final fifteen minutes when their opponent is packing equipment boxes and resting starters. Sending Robbie Anderson to the Cards opens up the receivers for a team that is going to need to throw the ball. The Panthers defense is average at best and if the offense cannot generate enough points to stay in the game, the defense will suffer battling field position and opponents just trying to get first downs and kill the clock.

D’Onta Foreman offers fantasy value and should produce fantasy-relevant starts every week. He’ll be limited by the offensive line and the reality that the Panthers will be faster to abandon the run. On the plus, when it all goes really bad, even the losing team runs the ball to get the game over. Terrace Marshall takes over for Anderson and the 2021 second-round pick is the one to watch among the wideouts. D.J. Moore will continue to be blanketed by the opponent. The quarterbacking is and will be below average, but Marshall is in an ideal spot to get his career going against a secondary that may spend much of the second half dropped back and just watching Moore.

4.) RB Gus Edwards (BAL) – It is hard to remember back to 2020 when we last saw him. Edwards tore his ACL before the 2021 season and has rehabbed since the injury. He’s in his third week of practice since being cleared and the Ravens have one more week to add him to the active roster. With J.K. Dobbins having continued problems with his knee, there could be an opening for Edwards to be more involved. Kenyan Drake was getting half-a-dozen carries this season but then blew up with 119 yards on ten carries at the Giants. That should earn him more work but the coaching staff is excited to get Edwards back. He’s not likely to turn into any workhorse stud, but he will generate fantasy value when he is back to form. There is a chance he may play this week.

5.)  Broncos backfield – Melvin Gordon was unhappy with his minimal workload against the Chargers last week, while Latavius Murray ran well with 15 carries for 66 yards. HC Nathaniel Hackett said of the fourth-quarter benching that their offense simply wasn’t controlling the ball or getting first downs. Murray was coming off a solid series, so they went with the hot hand at the end of the game.  By most accounts, it was just a one-game situation and there is no change in the backfield committee of Gordon and Murray. Mike Boone appears to be the loser on the depth chart. But this situation bears tracking and the workload distribution could still continue to change.

6.)  WR Tyquan Thornton (NE) – The Patriots’ second-round pick is one to watch. He started the season on injured reserve with a collarbone injury, but he impressed with his dedication even while injured. His debut in Week 5 was only two catches for seven yards but he caught everyone’s attention last week with four catches for 37 yards and a touchdown, plus three rushes for 16 yards and one score. That alone gets him scraped off waiver wires to be held in reserve on fantasy rosters.  His 4.28 40-time was enough to get drafted but he further impressed with route-running and shiftiness even in tight spaces.

Despite rumors, the Patriots reportedly do not play to trade away their crowded receiver room with Jakobi Meyers, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor, and Thornton. The rookie did his damage when he entered the game in Cleveland after Bourne left with a toe injury. What makes Thornton a bit more interesting were those three carries and that rushing score. He only carries three times in his entire career at Baylor. The Pats are trying to get him onto the field.

Christian McCaffrey traded to the 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers just got a lot better and the Carolina Panthers are a lot worse.

The San Francisco 49ers just got a lot better, and the Carolina Panthers are a lot worse, which is saying something for a 1-5 team on a three-game losing streak. The Panthers are already in tear-down mode, having traded Robbie Anderson to the Cardinals on Monday. This deal sends McCaffrey to San Francisco in return for the Panthers second-, third-, and fourth-round picks in 2023, plus a 2024 fifth-rounder. It did not include a first-round pick as initially desired, but loads the Panthers draft next season with multiple picks  when they welcome another coach who will be starting from scratch.

The Panthers

The Panthers will acquire another free-agent running back for depth, but the team turns to D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard as the starters. Foreman will be the primary back and he helped to replace Derrick Henry in Tennessee last season when he was injured in Week 8. Foreman went on to gain 100-yards in three games and scored three times in the second half of that season.

Chuba Hubbard filled in for McCaffrey last season but recorded just one game of note – 101 yards in 24 carries in Week 5. Hubbard was far less effective as a replacement than what Foreman has done in the past. He’ll take the smaller portion of touches for the Panthers’ backfield.

The 49ers

The addition of McCaffrey to the San Francisco backfield erases the depth chart and rewrites all of their roles. HC Kyle Shanahan’s offense was a productive backfield during his five previous seasons with the team but has featured a different primary back in every season. They have mixed and matched a constantly changing set of running backs, and Elijah Mitchell was the top back in 2021. The oft-injured Mitchell already landed on injured reserve this year. Jeff Wilson was the replacement and he’s turned in around 100 total yards in most of those games.

While the 49ers have employed a committee approach during Shanahan’s years, they are not shy about riding a single back when it makes sense. Wilson already had three games with at least 18 touches this year. Mitchell played in 11 games in 2021 and handled over 19 touches in all but two games. McCaffrey comes over with an injury history himself but has been far healthier this year than in 2020 and 2021 when he missed 23 of 33 games.

Fantasy Impact

This is a significant upgrade for the 49ers’ backfield with a depth chart that becomes reshuffled. The 49ers have already shown a desire to give 20+ touches to their primary back, and none have been the quality of McCaffrey. He’ll slide in as the leading rusher and should see the same 18 carries or more. What remains to be seen is how his role as a receiver is handled. McCaffrey is arguably the best receiving running back in the NFL and recorded over 100 catches in 2018 and 2019 in his last healthy seasons.

The 49ers only ranked No. 19 in  completions to running backs (82) last year. The busiest receiver from the backfield was Kyle Juszczyk with 30 receptions. McCaffrey’s dual role makes him the most dangerous and there’s no doubt that the 49ers’ offense will bend toward using him more as a target.

His inclusion is great for both the team and him since he lands on a contender that has a far better offensive line than what he left in Carolina. But it is not a plus for the other running backs or receivers. McCaffrey may take a few weeks to get up to speed with his new team, but the roles of Jeff Wilson and the rest of the backs likely take a dive below any fantasy relevancy. Elijah Mitchell’s eventual return is now mostly meaningless.

But it is not just the running backs. Deebo Samuel already has 23 rushes for 136 yards – which may continue since he’s been only used for a handful of carries in recent games, but the backfield pass targets are sure to increase with McCaffrey on board and they have to come from somewhere. George Kittle’s role has to be dinged by the short-catch specialist. It won’t happen this week and will evolve over time, but the offense would not acquire McCaffrey without intending to continue his high production. And it could be even higher here with better blocking and enough weapons around him that McCaffrey cannot be the sole focus of the opposing defense.

Six points with David Dorey

Friday’s quick look at six fantasy items to know

The NFL is already dealing with injuries and that’s shaking up offenses. But overall, this is a much lower-scoring season and some top players  just haven’t gotten fully on track. None of the current Top-5 running backs were first-round picks other than Saquon Barkley at the end of August. It’s hard to put a finger on why the overall league is scoring less and seeing greater changes to top player in their position. But it’s all worth tracking and then mining for fantasy value as teams transition.

Here’s six things to think about this weekend:

1.) Better With Age? – The prevailing wisdom for many years is that running backs become more productive later in the year while wide receivers start out hot and then cool as passing games go against worse weather and field conditions, and team scoring invariably declines. So I compared the first three weeks from the last five years against the last three weeks of the fantasy season for the two positions. I only considered the Top-25 fantasy scorers from the position in those weeks as the likely starters. Interestingly, I was wrong.

Running backs did become more productive at the end of the year, and then they stopped for the last two years, actually declining from their earlier stats.

Wide receivers lose points at the end of the season, though nothing that dramatic. And this is for the Top-25 wideouts in each of the final three weeks. That’s still a healthy 20+ points each week on average. So less, but not that much.

Bottom line, even running backs now get worse at the end of the year. And worse year to year.

2.) Wide Receiver vs. Running Back 

The expectation here was that the wideouts would do better in the  first three weeks, and then give way to the running backs later in the season. This is the comparison between the two positions for the Top-25 scorer each week.

This was expected. Those first weeks of the season tend to have higher scoring games, the best weather, and go against many defenses that are trying to install new schemes and personnel. So yeah, wideouts are better than running backs to start the year.

The difference between the fantasy points of the 25 best fantasy scorers in each of the final three weeks of the fantasy season between running backs and wide receivers has not only changed, but it gets worse every year. There is still an argument to be made regarding week-to-week consistency, but this only considers a three-week block.

Putting this all together, top running backs and receivers decline in the final three weeks. But the running backs decline is much sharper than with wide receivers. And it gets worse every year. It bucks conventional wisdom, but don’t be afraid to stick with, or trade for, top wide receivers later in the year.

3.) WR Romeo Doubs (GB) – The second rookie that the Packers drafted attracted all the hype this summer. He was part of the basket-full of marginally productive wideouts for the first two weeks. He caught four passes for 37 yards in the Week 1 embarrassment in Minnesota, then just two receptions for 27 in Week 2. But playing in Tampa Bay against one of the best defenses, Dubs ended with eight catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. He caught each of his team-high eight targets.

Better yet, he was praised by HC Matt LaFleur, who said, “He’s got the body movement skills. He’s got the explosiveness. He plays on his insteps, gets both feet in the ground, and that allows him to get off bump coverage. And the game is certainly not too big for him.” Sammy Watkins landed on injured reserve and Allen Lazard has a lock on a starting spot. Doubs may be the rare rookie wideout that matters in Green Bay. This week against the solid Patriots defense should further define his place in the game plan. The schedule clears up nicely for the next month or so.

4.) QB Zach Wilson (NYJ) – The Jets are only 1-2, but Joe Flacco has been serviceable if not an asset. He’s thrown for over 285 yards in every game and totals five touchdowns on the year. But he was always a placeholder for Wilson who was the 1.02 pick last year. And he only managed 2,334 yards and nine scores over 13 games as a rookie. But he had almost no weapons aside from Elijah Moore, so the Jets drafted Garrett Wilson, who has already impressed.

So far, Moore hasn’t repeated his productive ways of last season. But Wilson already logged his first 100-yard game and has been better than Moore each week. There’s no denying that the schedule is not a friend this year. But there are plenty of fantasy points that will come from this offense.  This week versus the Steelers will be a great test to see what Wilson does in his first game with an upgraded set of receivers.

5.) WR Kenny Golladay et al (NYG) – The Giants just lost Sterling Shepherd to injured reserve, and he was easily the primary wideout with 13 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown. The Giants have David Sills and Richie James as the other starters, and both are playing beyond expectations though that still doesn’t say much. Kenny Golladay is spending time with the second-string which is probably a waste of his $17.750 million salary this year. Kadarius Toney is supposed to be a starter but is out with a hamstring injury and is constantly dinged up and underperforming. Wan’Dale Robinson was their second-round pick that also hasn’t played with a knee injury.

This is one of the oddest set of wide receivers in the league. The most talent of the group are either injured or fell from favor. Losing Shepherd means that they have to replace him. That should spell a chance for Golladay to start. Something has to happen on this offense in the next month to straighten out the receivers and get them productive. The Giants surprised at 2-0 but then couldn’t hang with the visiting Cowboys using a back-up quarterback. Their two-game hot start may be their only winning streak if they cannot get healthy, productive receivers on the field.

6.) Carolina Panthers – Christian McCaffrey hasn’t practiced for two days with a quad injury. As not shocking as that is, the entire offense revolves around him and if he doesn’t play or is limited, things will change. His backup isn’t even clear, with Chuba Hubbard returning for his second season and D’Onta Foreman coming over from the Titans, where he covered for Derrick Henry from Week 9 and onward. The official depth chart has Foreman as the No. 2 but both backs likely play.

But the passing game has been stuck in first gear under Baker Mayfield. That’s not a killer as long as McCaffrey is cranking 100-yard games.  But he’s already hurt and the Panthers are at home in three of the next four weeks. Facing the Cardinals, 49ers, Rams, and Buccaneers are not going to be won by rushing. If McCaffrey is out this week, it pushes Mayfield to throw more than 30 passes for the first time as a Panther. And D.J. Moore and Robbie Anderson are always going to lead in targets if only because there are no other real options at receiver.

The Panthers offense has been unbelievably bad outside of McCaffrey. They are going to have to make changes soon or Matt Rhule has to be on a hot seat.

 

Studs and duds from Panthers’ 22-14 win over Saints

Once again, Panthers LB Frankie Luvu made his presence felt. And this time, it came in a win.

The Carolina Panthers finally secured their first win of 2022—topping their NFC South rival New Orleans Saints, 22-14. And that victory wouldn’t come without some notable performances—both good and bad.

Here are our studs and duds from Sunday’s game.

Fantasy Football: 5 important handcuff running backs for 2022

Alexander Mattison is the clear choice to top this list of running back handcuffs to target in fantasy football.

There are some NFL backfields with two fantasy-relevant running backs who have standalone value in fantasy football even if both RBs stay healthy.

And there are other backfields that feature a backup who doesn’t offer much standalone value but is still a must-roster player due to the workload he’d assume if the starter went down. That’s a handcuff running back, or an insurance running back, and these are five of the top candidates you should consider this season.

WATCH: Baker Mayfield throws 1st TD pass with Panthers

Panthers QB Baker Mayfield found the end zone on his second drive at Bank of America Stadium.

Baker Mayfield took the Bank of America Stadium turf for the first time as the Carolina Panthers starting quarterback on Friday night. It also didn’t take him too long to find the end zone for the first time with the team.

Following a brisk three-and-out on their opening possession, Mayfield and the Carolina offense trekked down the field for a 12-play, 53-yard touchdown drive against the Buffalo Bills. The touch was capped off by a 2-yard pass to running back D’Onta Foreman for six.

To that point—the 6:05 mark of the first quarter—Mayfield constructed a pretty clean outing. He completed seven of his first 11 throws for 59 yards and that score.

Two of Mayfield’s completions found the hands of two young risers for the Panthers—tight end Stephen Sullivan and wide receiver. The former reeled in a 21-yard grab with the latter going for a strong 15-yard catch-and-run.

Mayfield and the bulk of the starters are expected to play through at least the first 15 minutes.

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