Tunnel Vision of Week 12

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

SUNDAY SALUTES
Quarterbacks Yards TD
Ryan Tannehill 259 – 40 4
Jameis Winston 313 – 38 3
Sam Darnold 315 – 16 3
Ryan Fitzpatrick 214 – 45 3
Baker Mayfield 327 – 5 3
Running Backs Yards TD
Derrick Henry 165 2
Leonard Fournette 159 2
Christian McCaffrey 135 2
Nick Chubb 164 1
Rashaad Penny 129 1
Wide Receivers Yards TD
Chris Godwin 184 2
Jarvis Landry 148 2
D.J. Moore 126 2
DeAndre Hopkins 94 2
A.J. Brown 135 1
Tight Ends Yards TD
Jared Cook 99 1
Zach Ertz 91 1
Mike Gesicki 28 1
Logan Thomas 24 1
George Kittle 129 1
Placekickers XP FG
Dustin Hopkins 1 4
Austin Siebert 5 2
Will Lutz 4 2
Chase McLaughlin 4 3
Younghoe Koo 1 3
Defense Sck-TO TD
Jets 1 – 2 1
Redskins 6 – 4 1
Seahawks 3 – 5 0
Buccaneers  6 – 2 1
Steelers 4 – 2 0

Bumps, Bruises and Bowouts

WR Julio Jones – Shoulder
WR Hunter Renfrow – Ribs
QB Mason Rudolph – Splinters
QB Dwayne Haskins – Wrist
WR Paul Richardson – Hamstring

Chasing Ambulances

Week 12 was the most injury-free slate of games that I can remember. Julio Jones hurt his shoulder but went back into the game. Dwayne Haskin’s wrist may be an issue, but he’s already a terrible fantasy play anyway and the Skins would likely benefit reverting to Case Keenum.

Mason Rudolph was benched and Devlin Hodges played better, but the Steelers already struggle when they pass and Hodges is no late-season savior.

There wasn’t an injury that would spawn any meaningful depth chart changes. And that’s likely to repeat until the end of the season because those who were going to get injured, already have. And everyone else is already banged up by now anyway.

Free Agents, Flops and Other Notables

RB Jonathan Williams – The Colts will still miss Marlon Mack for a few more weeks and Williams followed up his surprise 147-yard Week 11 performance with 121 yards and a touchdown last Thursday in Houston. This week at home against the Titans holds a lot of promise.

WR Will Fuller – Missed five games but his first Sunday back and he posted seven catches for 140 yards against the Colts. The next two games go against the Patriots and Titans, so he’s likely to crawl back under the rock.

WR Russell Gage – Hasn’t scored this year but turned in a season-best eight catches for 76 yards in the loss to the Falcons. Notable is that while his two previous games were mediocre and on the road, his only previous homestand since  Muhammad Sanu left was when he caught seven passes for 58 yards. The Falcons play at home versus the Saints and Panthers for the next two weeks.

RB Qadree Ollison – The Falcons rookie power back totaled only 13 touches over the last two games but they were the first with him playing and he scored a touchdown in each.

QB Brian Allen – The Broncos quarterback was held to only 10-of-25 completions for 82 yards and one interception in the loss to the Bills. The Broncos 2.10 draft pick of Drew Lock is practicing again after spending the season on injured reserve because of a wrist injury. He’ll be starting sooner than later and the next three opponents are LAC, @HOU, and @KC. The Broncos will lose, but it could be a good experience for Lock who is bound to throw for more than 82 yards.

WR Sterling Shepard – Returned from his serious concussion and ended with five receptions for 15 yards in the loss to the Bears. This week hosting the Packers isn’t a great matchup, but the Giants will face the Eagles, Dolphins, and Redskins after that.

WR Allen Robinson – Just posted six catches for 131 yards and a score against the Giants. He’s done well only when facing weaker defenses and usually at home. With an ending schedule of @DET, DAL, @GB, KAN, and @MIN he’s going to be very hard to rely on again.

RB Benny Snell – With James Conner sidelined, Snell was given another start and he ran for 98 yards on 21 carries at the Bengals. His only other start was Week 6 when he posted 89 total yards at the Chargers. Keep an eye on the Conner situation because the Steelers face the Browns and Cardinals next. Jaylen Samuels wasn’t a factor and he comes into play only as a receiver when the Steelers are facing a tough defense and need to dump the pass off to a running back. Conner (shoulder) never practiced last week so he may miss a second game.

QB Baker Mayfield – Comes off a season-high 327 yards and three touchdowns in the win over the Dolphins. Mayfield has been a major disappointment to many, but the Browns slogged through a murderous schedule. Mayfield threw for two or more scores in the last three weeks (all at home).  He plays at the Steelers this week but then faces the Bengals and Cardinals.

WR D.J. Moore – The Saints were without CB Marson Lattimore in Week 11 but still held Mike Evans to only 69 yards on four catches and that was in Tampa Bay. But this week in New Orleans, Moore turned in six receptions for 126 yards and two scores for a career-best performance. Moore’s first score was on a 51-yard catch and run.

RB Josh Jacobs – was held to only 34 yards on ten carries and only caught one pass for two yards. The rookie merely went through his first NFL trash game and Derek Carr only threw for 127 yards and no scores. They were also likely thinking ahead to this week in Kansas City.

QB Sam Darnold – He passed for 315 yards and two scores and even ran in a touchdown. That came on the heels of 293 yards and four touchdowns last week at the Redskins. Granted, the Skins and Raiders didn’t feature top secondaries, but neither will the  Bengals and Dolphins the next two weeks. Even Robby Anderson (4-86, TD) came to life.

RB Rashaad Penny – Chris Carson is the starter, but he only gained 26 yards on eight runs while Penny became the “hot hand” at the Eagles and ran for 129 yards on 14 carries. Penny never had a catch while Carson ended with four receptions for 31 yards. There’s no changing of the depth chart and this is the same back that only gained two yards last week while Carson turned in 101 yards and a score at the 49ers.

RB Bo Scarbrough – The Week 11 surprise took his second start and ran for 98 yards on 18 carries. He still has not caught a pass and realize that he’ll be facing the Bears, Vikings, and Buccaneers next. That won’t be nearly so accommodating.

RB Derrius Guice – The Skins 2018 draft pick only managed ten runs for 32 yards at home versus the Lions who brought the No. 32 defense against running backs. With Dwayne Haskins as the starter, this offense has lost all punch. The out schedule is worse but there is a chance that Haskin’s wrist is bad enough to bring back Case Keenum.

RB Leonard Fournette – He ran for 97 yards and two scores plus caught nine passes for 62 yards in the loss in Tennessee. It was his only score since Week 5 and these last two weeks with Nick Foles as the starting quarterback resulted in season-high seven and nine catches, respectively.

Huddle player of the week

Chris Godwin  –  The only safe fantasy play is to start both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin if you could somehow draft both because you’re probably going to receive a monster game from one of them every week. Never both. And a tough call as to which one will go off. But this week, Godwin led all fantasy scorers with seven receptions for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He was already one of the best sleeper types and now helped win many fantasy games this week.

Salute!

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

Comedy Yards TDs Tragedy Yards TDs
QB Ryan Tannehill 299 4 QB Dak Prescott 216 0
RB Rashaad Penny 129 1 RB Jaylen Samuels 32 0
RB Benny Snell 103 0 RB Josh Jacobs 36 0
WR Robby Anderson 86 1 WR Amari Cooper nope 0
WR Will Fuller 140 0 WR T.Y. Hilton 18 0
WR Allen Hurns 42 1 WR Mike Evans 50 0
TE Mike Gesicki 28 1 TE Darren Waller 41 0
PK Dustin Hopkins 1 XP 4 FG PK Jake Elliott 1 FG
Huddle Fantasy Points = 122 Huddle Fantasy Points =  27

Now get back to work…