Six Points with David Dorey: Week 15

Six items to ponder from David Dorey

Fantasy playoffs are underway and last week witnessed several players getting knocked out of the game if not the season. That lets others take their turn while the final weeks are also used by NFL teams to try out a few players to see if they are worth keeping.

WR Isaiah Ford – The Dolphin’s seventh-round pick in 2017 first NFL catches came in Week 4 and then not again until Week 14 after DeVante Parker and Albert Wilson both left with concussions. Ford stepped in and caught six passes for 92 yards and one touchdown against the Bills. He started for three years at Virginia Tech and bounced back and forth between the practice squad and active roster. He should see more work if both Parker and Wilson are out. Even if they are not, the Dolphins have nothing to lose by giving the kid more playing time after playing so well in his first game in a starting role. Ryan Fitzpatrick talked him up after the game and the Fins face the Giants this week.

WR Breshad Perriman – With Mike Evans likely out for the season, Perriman became a hot property on waiver wires this week. The former first-round pick in 2015 never really worked out with the Ravens or Browns and now plays for the Buccaneers. He’s manned the slot on most plays but only totaled 16 catches going into last week. He caught three passes for 70 yards that included a 12-yard touchdown that proved to be the winning margin over the Colts. The Bucs play the Lions this week, so there should be plenty of passing to distribute. He should see more work, but he’s not going to replace Evans. His role will see more work though and he turned in five receptions for 87 yards in Week 13 at the Jaguars.

WR Justin Watson – The fifth-round pick last year only had one catch as a rookie. He caught just one pass this season entering Week 13. He played four years at Penn in the Ivy League where he set the record for the most receiving yards in conference play history along with every U. of Penn receiving record. The 6-3, 216-pound replaced Mike Evans last week and ended with five catches for 57 yards and one score. Perriman played the full game and fielded five targets. Watson returned punts but did not play as a receiver until the second quarter and his eight targets were second only to Chris Godwin’s nine. He has a chance to stay on the roster next year with another good game.

RB Raheem Mostert – He plays well, he disappears, he plays well. The 49ers backfield is among the most fluid in the NFL but Mostert was named the official starter (whatever that means). He was originally an undrafted free agent in 2015 signed by the Eagles, Dolphins, Ravens, Browns, Jets, Bears and finally joined the 49ers for the last four years. His previous best was only 34 carries just last year. His four years at Purdue saw his top marks as a senior with only 93 runs for 529 yards and three touchdowns. His first three years had him as a wide receiver that totaled just one catch. He was a special teamer and returner. He’s never been a true running back really. He was ranked as the fastest college football player in 2014 other than Tyreek Hill. Mostert’s path to being a starting running back has been anything but direct.

Primary running backs – Here are two shortlists of the top-ten players who were the highest-scoring back for their team at least nine times through Week 13. This shows using performance points and then with reception points.

Each of these backs has the opportunity to be an elite back and the bigger difference is their offensive lines and schedule strength.

Worst RBBC teams – It is interesting to see which teams featured the most running backs that logged at least one game as the highest-scoring fantasy back.

5 – 49ers
4 – Falcons, Lions, Chiefs, Colts, Dolphins, Patriots, Giants, Eagles, Steelers.

Many of these were the product of injuries. But the 49ers, Falcons, Patriots, and Eagles always use committee approaches. All of these teams could use an elite and durable running back but 2020’s NFL draft isn’t considered to be “RB rich” just last 2019.

6 waiver wire pickups in fantasy football for week 15

Waiver wire targets for the fantasy football playoffs.

It’s Week 15 and that means you’re either in the thick of the playoffs, just started the playoffs or trying not to come in last place. For the lucky postseason contenders, congratulations! In a year of injuries and roller coaster superstars, it has not been easy to develop a consistent roster week to week.

As any fantasy football veteran knows though the tinkering does not end at the end of the regular season. Adding and dropping players continues right up until the championship game and if you aren’t on top of things, it might just cost you a trophy and maybe a good amount of cash.

Some players are just late bloomers and while that might not be the best for fantasy football, its spots like these that you need a guy who is on a hot streak.

With the season winding down, here are six players to add to really put your team over the top:

WR A.J. Brown: 31.3% rostered (ESPN)

The Titans have been a new team in the second half of the season winning six of their last seven games. A large part of their success has been the impressive quarterback play of Ryan Tannehill, but Brown has been the leading receiver on this roster.

Last week against Oakland, the rookie receiver totaled five catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns. The combination of Brown and Corey Davis has really helped this Titans team, although Brown is separating himself in terms of production.

Brown will not be available for long after his big week so make sure if he is available in your league you claim him while you can.

Next game: vs Houston

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It’s impossible to ignore Raheem Mostert’s historic production

Raheem Mostert is playing like an all-time great running back.

Raheem Mostert’s emergence over the last three weeks has buoyed a struggling 49ers run game. It’s not the first time he’s flashed as a productive NFL running back, but now he’s leaving the 49ers’ coaching staff no choice but to play him.

With Tevin Coleman struggling and Matt Breida dealing with an injury, Mostert has become an integral part of the rushing attack. He’s responded to the opportunity with 35 carries for 260 yards (7.4 yards per carry) and three touchdowns, along with five catches for 70 yards and a touchdown.

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His three touchdowns have come in each of the last three games, including one against the Ravens when he set career highs in carries (19) and yards (146).

His 29 carries the last two weeks are his most ever in a two-game stretch.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan said the touches aren’t going away as long as Mostert keeps producing.

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“Raheem’s earned it over these last few weeks,” Shanahan said. “I mean, how many games can you go and how many years can you go averaging six yards a carry, somewhere in there? I mean, we keep trying to balance it out and stuff, but what Raheem has done these last few weeks and has continued to do, we need to give him more opportunities. He’s given us no choice. I’m happy for him and it’s been great. He’s been extremely impressive.”

Mostert is averaging 6.0 yards per carry on 102 attempts. Only 27 players have ever averaged 6 yards per carry on 100-plus rushes over the course of a season, and 11 of them were quarterbacks.

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This is proving to be more the norm than a flash in the pan for the former undrafted free agent. His numbers in three seasons have been eye-popping despite inconsistent work.

Since Shanahan arrived in 2017, Mostert has 899 yards and five touchdowns . on 142 attempts. That’s good for 6.3 yards per carry. Only five other players have ever done that in their careers: Michael Vick, Tavon Austin, Bobby Douglass, Randall Cunningham and Percy Harvin. Mostert is the only running back in that group.

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Shanahan said part of the reason for Mostert’s success is his speed, and teams’ inability to adjust to it:

“Well, he’s faster than most people and I think sometimes it’s a little bit deceptive,” Shanahan said. “I mean, you see guys who have an angle on him and all of a sudden, they just don’t. I don’t know if they don’t know that he’s that fast, because our other guys are fast too. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but when you do it week in and week out, I mean, it’s time for people to notice. I mean, he’s been pretty damn good and he needs some more opportunities because he’s making the best of it.”

Mostert didn’t enter the season with a big role on offense, but he’s played his way into one just in time for the most important stretch of the year.

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Cameron Jordan credits Jimmy Garoppolo and ‘the 15 running backs’ for 49ers’ success

New Orleans Saints DE Cameron Jordan acknowledged that his defense didn’t do enough to slow down the dangerous San Francisco 49ers offense.

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New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan wasn’t pleased by his unit’s effort in their defeat to the San Francisco 49ers, to say the least. Problems plagued them throughout the afternoon; whether his defensive line wasn’t putting pressure on 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo or his teammates in the secondary were giving up too much ground to the San Francisco receivers, New Orleans just wasn’t able to play complimentary football in the 48-46 loss.

“It’s something that we have to deal with,” Jordan said during his postgame media availability. “They (San Francisco) had over 40 points on the board. That is on the defense. When you have an offense rolling the way that they were, with the ebbs and flow of the game, this is something that we have to be able to go back to what we know.”

Jordan pointed to the ease with which San Francisco picked up yards on the ground as one weakness that stuck with him: “You’ve got to be able to stop that run. At the end of the day, they ended up with over a buck-fifty (150 yards rushing) on the ground. Whether that’s Jimmy (Garoppolo) scrambling, whether that’s the 15 running backs that they have in the backfield, it’s something that we knew coming in that we were going to have to stop.”

The 49ers feature one of the league’s deepest running back corps; Raheem Mostert (608 rushing yards), Matt Breida (596), and Tevin Coleman (460) have each taken turns leading the team in making big gains on the ground, and they combined for 129 rushing yards against the Saints on Sunday. As Jordan himself said, allowing that kind of productivity just isn’t good enough. That he and his teammates knew it and still weren’t able to do much about it is disquieting.

This one stings, and it’s going to haunt the Saints for a while. And Jordan is acutely aware of the role the unit he leads played in this loss, summing it up as, “At the end of the day, we didn’t do enough to get a win.”

That’s tough medicine to swallow, but it’s what the Saints need to hear right now. They can’t continue wasting the opportunities they’re given with Drew Brees, a Hall of Fame-bound quarterback, at the helm. Having leaders like Jordan in the room will help keep everyone accountable and optimistic, and that’s something fans can feel confident about. With the immediate 24 hours from this loss behind them, rest assured that Jordan and his teammates are dialing into their next opponent.

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WATCH: Raheem Mostert strolls in for TD, gives 49ers 1st lead vs. Saints

The 49ers finally got a lead in New Orleans, and it came late in the first half thanks to Raheem Mostert.

It took nearly the entire first half, but the 49ers finally took a lead Sunday vs. the Saints. An 18-yard run by Raheem Mostert put the 49ers at the Saints’ 5-yard-line, but a false start on Garrett Celek moved them back to the 10.

The yardage didn’t matter for Mostert, he cruised in for an easy score on the first, first-and-goal play:

Oh lawd, 🎶@RMos_8Ball made another one#SFvsNO pic.twitter.com/IWXtAVhEpG

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 8, 2019

Mostert has 60 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, 35 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. What a first half for the 49ers’ running back.

WATCH: Emmanuel Sanders throws TD pass to Raheem Mostert

The 49ers went into their bag of tricks vs. the Saints.

The 49ers got tricky on their fourth series. A 21-yard pass to Deebo Samuel and a 19-yard run by Raheem Mostert put the 49ers at the Saints’ 35-yard line.

Then things got weird.

🤯@ESanders_10 to @RMos_8Ball 🏄‍♂️#GoNiners #SFvsNO pic.twitter.com/3AzpuJVbPE

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 8, 2019

That was perfectly executed by the 49ers when they badly needed a score in a back-and-forth game.

49ers run game takes center stage vs. Saints

The 49ers run game needs to be at its best Sunday in New Orleans.

The 49ers offense has its work cut out for it Sunday in New Orleans. The Saints, once a dominant offensive juggernaut, now has a terrific defense to compliment an offense that may have taken a step back.

New Orleans’ defensive talent is good enough to match an equally talented 49ers offense. The room for error Sunday on offense is minimal against a Saints defense that’ll take full advantage of miscues.

San Francisco’s offense is at its best when it’s running the ball effectively. Here are the six players the 49ers need playing well to maximize their offensive production:

RB Matt Breida

The 49ers have sorely missed Breida’s explosiveness while he’s been out with an ankle injury. He’s missed the last three games, and until Raheem Mostert broke out last week, the rushing attack has suffered greatly from a lack of big-play ability on the ground. Breida has game-changing speed that can turn a short gain into a long touchdown with one missed tackle. He leads the team with 542 rushing yards, and he’s going at 5.0 yards per carry in his third season. Breida may only get 10 or 12 carries, but the 49ers should benefit a lot from having him back.

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Sean Payton reminds Saints fans to show out, get loud for early 49ers game

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton values his homefield advantage, and wants fans ready for an early kickoff with the San Francisco 49ers.

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New Orleans saints head coach Sean Payton appreciates the impact his home crowd can make inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and he’s doing all he can to inspire their support again this week. And it isn’t the first time he’s gone out of his way to compliment — and challenge — the rowdy Who Dat Nation; back in October, Payton suggested fans would wake up easier with help from a Bloody Mary cocktail on their way to a noon kickoff against the Arizona Cardinals. He’s driving that point home again ahead of Sunday’s game with the San Francisco 49ers.

“We think about a lot of things, we think about everything, is it going to be loud, can we be louder?” Payton said during his Thursday media availability before Saints practice. “It’s going to be a noon game. Does the crowd realize how much of an impact they can have. Do they truly realize that?”

However, the visiting team isn’t quite so mindful of the crowd. 49ers running back Raheem Mostert has been impressed by how well fans have traveled this season for road games with teams lacking homefield support, like the Cincinnati Bengals, Washington Redskins, and Los Angeles Rams. He’s said he expects Sunday’s game in the Superdome to feel like a neutral site game.

We’ll see how that works out for him. If Payton gets his way and Saints fans turn out in droves even with a midday kickoff, there shouldn’t be any doubt by the time the final whistle calls.

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San Francisco’s Raheem Mostert expects 49ers fans to pack ‘the Voodoo Dome’

The New Orleans Saints won’t enjoy a homefield advantage when the San Francisco 49ers visit the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, one player insists.

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The New Orleans Saints will not enjoy a strong homefield advantage when the San Francisco 49ers visit the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for Sunday’s game, some players think. Or at least that’s what 49ers running back Raheem Mostert believes. He doesn’t expect his experience in New Orleans to go much differently from what he’s seen in other venues around the NFL this year.

“I have not played a game in the Voodoo Dome,” Mostert joked during an appearance on 97.9 The Game in San Francisco, “and I have heard multiple stories about how crazy the fans are in there, and the atmosphere, and all that. How I see it is it’s going to be a neutral site because I know our fans are going to show up because every game we’ve gone to, so far, has really felt like a home game, especially for these away games.”

In his defense, Mostert and the 49ers haven’t packed out stadiums that boast the NFL’s most fervent fanbases: they’ve played road games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins, Arizona Cardinals, and Baltimore Ravens. Those aren’t franchises boasting years-long waiting lists for season tickets, and in some cases (like Cincinnati, Washington, and L.A.) are teams struggling to even lure out home fans due to various states of disappointment, instability, and indifference.

But Mostert doesn’t see much of a difference, though he is eager to see what all the fuss is about from his more-experienced teammates: “Even in Baltimore, we had a lot of fans cheering for us. We’re going to see how it goes this week when we play the Saints, but, like I said, it’s going to be a nice atmosphere, and I heard nothing but great, crazy things about it.”

Mostert is one part of the three-headed rushing attack coordinated by 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, and he’s turned 92 carries into 539 rushing yards this season; teammates Matt Breida and Tevin Coleman have each been effective with 542 and 454 yards on the ground, respectively.

They’ll be the toughest test yet for a Saints run defense that has snuffed out every opponent they’ve faced the last few years, including then-MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey not too long ago. New Orleans has established the longest streak of games without allowing a 100-yard rusher in the NFL (38, including the playoffs). We’re about to find out what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.

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9 fantasy football sleepers for Week 14

Quarterbacks Gardner Minshew and Devlin Hodges highlight Touchdown Wire’s Week 14 list of fantasy football sleepers.

NFL coaches and players always talk about how the playoffs bring a whole new level of intensity. It’s true.

The same is true of fantasy football and its playoffs are now upon us. At this point, you have to go for broke. Sometimes, desperate measures are needed. That sums up what the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars are doing in reality.

The Jaguars have no margin for error for the playoffs. The Steelers don’t have much more room for error. But they’re going with rookie quarterbacks Devlin Hodges in Pittsburgh and Gardner Minshew in Jacksonville for the rest of the season.

Are they good enough to start in fantasy? I say yes.

Let me explain my reasoning a little deeper as Hodges and Minshew highlight Touchdown Wire’s weekly list of nine fantasy football sleepers.

9. Gardner Minshew, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars benched high-priced quarterback Nick Foles last week after falling behind, 25-0, last week. The turned back to the rookie Minshew, who went 4-4 as a starter when Foles was injured early in the season and he sparked the Jaguars to two quick scores. That led to the Jaguars announcing that Minshew will be the starter the rest of the season. Minshew has a favorable matchup against the struggling Los Angeles Chargers this week.

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