| SUNDAY SALUTES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks | Pass-Rush | TD |
| Jared Goff | 421-21 | 4 |
| Anthony Richardson | 272-32 | 3 |
| Bo Nix | 307-5 | 4 |
| Matthew Stafford | 295-4 | 4 |
| Joe Burrow | 356-28 | 3 |
| Running Backs | Yards | TD |
| Saquon Barkley | 26-146 2-52 |
2 |
| Breece Hall | 16-78 7-43 |
2 |
| David Montgomery | 15-75 3-20 |
2 |
| Josh Jacobs | 18-76 4-58 |
1 |
| De’Von Achane | 17-73 4-32 |
1 |
| Wide Receivers | Yards | TD |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown | 11-161 | 2 |
| Cooper Kupp | 6-106 | 2 |
| Jerry Jeudy | 6-142 | 1 |
| Tee Higgins | 9-148 | 1 |
| Ja’Marr Chase | 7-75 | 2 |
| Tight Ends | Yards | TD |
| Taysom Hill | 7-138 8-50 |
3 |
| Brock Bowers | 13-126 | 1 |
| Jonnu Smith | 6-101 | 2 |
| David Njoku | 9-81 | 0 |
| Zach Ertz | 6-47 | 1 |
| Placekickers | XP | FG |
| Chris Boswell | 0 | 6 |
| Jake Bates | 7 | 1 |
| Jason Sanders | 4 | 2 |
| Joey Slye | 1 | 3 |
| Matt Gay | 1 | 3 |
| Defense | Sack – TO | TD |
| Denver | 4-1 | 0 |
| Buffalo | 2-2 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh | 2-3 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 5-1 | 0 |
| LA Rams | 3-2 | 0 |
Bumps, Bruises and Bowouts
How great is this short list?
RB Alexander Mattison – Ankle
RB Zamir White – Quad
RB Tyjae Spears – Head
WR Darnell Mooney – Hamstring
Chasing Ambulances
RB Alexander Mattison – Left the loss to the Dolphins after five carries and his status will be determined on Monday. The Raiders turned to Zamir White, who was lost with a quad injury. This is the No. 30 fantasy backfield, but it is notable when they lost their top two backs in the same game.
Free Agents, Flops and Other Notables
WR Christian Watson – The oft-injured Watson turned in his annual big game, turning four catches into 150 yards in the win over the Bears. He caught passes for 17, 25, 48, and 60 yards. Before you grab your wallet and run to the waiver wire, that was roughly the same yardage he totaled from all games since Week 3. He managed that against a Bears secondary rated No. 3 versus wide receivers, so it was impressive. The question is whether it can be repeatable.
WR Brian Thomas Jr. – The Jaguars rookie led the team with five catches for 82 yards, though most of that came later in the humbling beatdown by the Lions. He was the only Jag with more than 30 yards in the game, and even with seven more games to play, the Jaguars looked like they were breaking camp and folding up the tents. Like Malik Nabers, we cannot know how good Thomas is while starting his career on a sinking ship.
HC Doug Pederson – Already expected to be on the chopping block, losing 52-6 should see him fired this week. The Jags will turn the team over to an interim coach and whoever that is, it cannot be any worse than what the Jags have become this season.
TE Brock Bowers – The Raiders may be yet another team in a slow-motion crash-and-burn, but the rookie tight end has been a saving grace, catching 13 passes for 126 yards and one touchdown versus the Dolphins.
RB Ameer Abdullah – While this backfield may not produce any fantasy-relevant numbers, injuries to Alexander Mattison (5-19) and Zamir White (5-9) were both injured in the loss to the Dolphins. Abdullah only ran once, but he caught three passes for 16 yards and a touchdown later in the game. Dylan Laube was a preseason sleeper who hasn’t been involved and was inactive last Sunday. But the Raiders may need to scrape their depth chart for running back help when the Broncos visit this week.
TE Jonnu Smith – The Dolphins have relied on tight ends as just blockers during the rein of HC Mike McDaniel, but Smith has been consistent with four or five catches per game. Facing the Raiders, he just turned in a career-best game with six catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns. The Miami offense has not thrown as well to their wideouts, but Smith has been the best tight end they’ve thrown to in years.
QB Jameis Winston – The Browns rushing offense appears to be on a permanent vacation this season, but Winston is posting surprising stats as their season swirls down the drain. He passed for 395 yards and two scores in their loss to the Saints and passed scores to Jerry Jeudy (6-142, TD) and Elijah Moore (6-66). Even David Njoku (9-81) turned in big stats. The Browns’ NFL season may be realistically over, but their fantasy output has been stronger with Winston as the starter.
QB Anthony Richardson – That two-week “think about it” vacation seemed to work. The second-year player faced the Jets in New York and left with a win and the best performance of his career. Richardson completed 20-of-30 for 272 yards and one touchdown pass, plus rushed for 32 yards and two scores on ten runs. The top three receivers were all the starting wideouts. He played noticeably better.
QB Russell Wilson – There was plenty of anticipation about what he could do versus the Ravens’ worst secondary in the NFL. Ends up not much, but just enough. The Steelers took the 16-18 win but Wilson only passed for 205 yards and one interception. George Pickens (8-89) shined, but no other receivers did. The Steelers’ defense played one of their best games of the year, and that depressed the needed scoring. However, the Steelers will continue to rely on their backfield and defense to win most games.
WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine – The Titan scored in five of the last six games but rarely has more than two receptions. He did it again against the Vikings with two catches for 117 yards, including a 98-yard touchdown catch. Calvin Ridley (4-58) provides the No. 1 wideout role but has just three touchdowns on the season.
QB Bo Nix – The Denver rookie is everything we hoped (from Caleb Williams) and totaled 13 touchdowns in the last seven games. He boosted that progress with a healthy 307-yard, four-touchdown effort in the win over the Falcons. Nix passed to ten different receivers and none had more than 78 yards. His development has already exceeded expectations.
RB Audric Estime / Javonte Williams – In Week 10, Javonte Williams was scaled back to only one rush and two catches, while the rookie Audric Estime ran a season-high 14 times for 53 yards, including five carries in the final drive that should have won the game (blocked field goal). The expectation was that the more effective rookie would take over the primary role but that was premature. Williams started the game with three carries in the opening drive, while Estime showed up for the second series. But Estime only gained 16 yards on six runs while Williams gained 59 yards on nine runs with one score. He also caught four passes for 28 yards compared to three receptions for nine yards from Estime. The bad news is that both runners are involved in the committee and limit each other. There is no good news.
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba – He was a disappointment as a rookie but certainly not a bust. He logged seven catches for 180 yards and two scores in Week 10, then led the Seahawks with ten receptions for 110 yards in the win over the 49ers. DK Metcalf (7-70) was back on Sunday, so Smith-Njigba’s recent success isn’t from a lack of options for Geno Smith.
WR Xavier Worthy – His four catches for 61 yards and a score paced the Chiefs in their loss to the Bills. Worthy also ran once for seven yards. The only real hole in the offense for the Chiefs is a lack of a top-flite wideout. DeAndre Hopkins (3-29) was ineffective versus the Bills defense, so any improvement from Worthy will make a difference.
RB Isiah Pacheco – He is expected to return for Week 12 after rehabbing his broken fibula and getting in practices last week. Kareem Hunt (14-60) may have just had his final game as the clear primary back, but it is highly unlikely he will stay on the sideline. The Chiefs play in Carolina and are coming off a loss, so there should be plenty of touches to share. For this week, anyway.
Huddle player of the week
Taysom Hill (NO) – With Chris Olave out, the psuedo-tight end Hill has been worth around 50 yards per game but only scored once since Week 4. That level of production likely left him on many fantasy benches for Week 11 when he thrashed the Browns who had been rated as the No. 5 defense against tight ends. Hill ran for 138 yards on just seven carries with three touchdowns, plus caught eight passes for 50 yards. That was a career-high in catches, touchdowns, and rushing yards. He heads onto his bye, so he gets to enjoy this landmark game for two weeks.
Salute!
Drama 101 – Somebody has to laugh, somebody has to cry
| Comedy | Yards | TDs | Tragedy | Yards | TDs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Jameis Winston | 395-8 | 2 | QB | Lamar Jackson | 207-46 | 1 |
| RB | Cam Akers | 10-25 2-11 |
1 | RB | Tony Pollard | 9-15 2-14 |
0 |
| RB | Ameer Abdullah | 1-1 3-16 |
1 | RB | Aaron Jones | 15-39 1-4 |
0 |
| WR | N Westbrook-Ikhine | 2-117 | 1 | WR | Terry McLaurin | 1-10 | 0 |
| WR | Christian Watson | 4-150 | 0 | WR | Jaylen Waddle | 2-37 | 0 |
| WR | Elijah Moore | 6-66 | 1 | WR | Garrett Wilson | 4-18 | 0 |
| TE | Taysom Hill | 7-138 8-50 |
3 | TE | Travis Kelce | 2-8 | 0 |
| PK | Chris Boswell | 6 FG | PK | Justin Tucker | 1 XP 1 FG | ||
| Huddle Fantasy Points = 165 | Huddle Fantasy Points = 46 | ||||||
Now get back to work…