Daily Dr. Roto — November 4, 2019
Week 9 Prescription Notes
— One of the most surprising things that I saw was the effectiveness of the Texans’ defense. Without J.J. Watt and much of their starting secondary, they were still able to hold Jaguars WRs D.J. Chark and Chris Conley in check. Gardner Minshew had a chance to secure the starting QB job for the Jaguars, but after this listless performance, I would expect to see Nick Foles back starting in Week 11.
— For those of you who follow me closely, you know how high I have been on Bills RB Devin Singletary all season, and now you know why. Singletary has a gear than no other Bills RB possesses. It made perfect sense for the team to give him the bulk of the carries against the Redskins. Moving forward, I expect him to be the lead running back, only seceding touches to Frank Gore in short-yardage and goal-line situations.
— More important than Christian McCaffrey‘s success this week for the Panthers was the success of WRs D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel. With Cam Newton likely done for the year, the team is going to need QB Kyle Allen to make sure that his receivers are involved and making plays consistently.
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— I need someone to tell me RIGHT NOW why the Jets don’t fire Adam Gase. The team looked listless in Miami, and it puzzles me why they want to trade S Jamal Adams, who is their best player on defense. I am debating whether I feel bad for RB Le’Veon Bell or not. I know he got paid his big money, but he can’t be happy with the way the team is playing. The Jets seem to be phasing WR Robby Anderson out of the offense. They probably know that there is no way he will re-sign with the team next season.
— Trust me when I tell you that I am dying to blame Bears QB Mitch Trubisky for the team’s loss to the Eagles, but I can’t. The vaunted Bears defense could not make a stop on the Eagles’ last drive even when they had them in 3rd and long situations numerous times. This confirms what we say every year: Last year’s best Fantasy defense is seldom this year’s best Fantasy defense.
— I think the thing that shocked me most in the Vikings/Chiefs game was not that WR Stefon Diggs was virtually shut out. It was that RB Dalvin Cook could barely find any running room. Perhaps the Chiefs were able to change their defensive strategy when Vikings WR Adam Thielen left the game with an injury. Looking forward, I want to see if the Chiefs’ front seven is improved, or if Minnesota’s OL was not creating the holes that they usually do.
— I am not sure how the Steelers were able to defeat the Colts with their two top wide receivers (JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson) going for four catches for 19 yards. RB Jaylen Samuels was an absolute beast on offense catching 13 passes for 73 yards. If the Steelers want any chance of making the playoffs, QB Mason Rudolph is going to have to learn to throw the ball downfield and stop with the dump passes to his running backs.
— I know that Matthew Stafford threw for over 400 yards passing against the Raiders, but there was a time in the second half when the Lions fell back in love with their running game. It was about the same time that the Raiders pulled ahead and took charge of the game. The Lions need to realize that their offense passes to set up the run and not vice versa. I was also a little surprised that Danny Amendola did not contribute more. It does go to show that Fantasy owners can’t go chasing last week’s production when setting the next week’s lineups.
— If you read my start/sit column this week on SI Fantasy, you will see that I touted Bills RB Devin Singletary and Seahawks TE Jacob Hollister as plays of the week. Hollister might have looked like a random play, but he was not. The Bucs are the second-worst team against opposing tight ends, and he was in a great spot to do well in what was supposed to be a high-scoring game. I hope you locked him into your DFS lineups Visionary style and cashed!
— The week’s most shocking result was the Packers’ pathetic display on the road against the Chargers. Aaron Rodgers couldn’t get anything going, and the Chargers held Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams to 40 yards rushing. The only good news in this game was that Packers WR Davante Adams was back healthy in the lineup. Expect a huge offensive rebound from the Packers in Week 10.
— One thing going unnoticed is how good the Broncos defense has been playing in recent weeks. After getting obliterated by Leonard Fournette and the Jaguars weeks ago, the Broncos have stepped up their run defense and held Browns RB Nick Chubb to 66 yards on 20 carries. Brandon Allen looked respectable at QB, and he might end up keeping the starting job for a few weeks until the coaching staff is sure that rookie QB Drew Lock is ready to play.
— On my Friday podcast (and on my radio show), I said that I thought the Ravens were going to give the Patriots their first loss of the season. I think it comes down to the fact that the Ravens are a terrific running team (I mentioned to start Mark Ingram) and use a three-tight end set that no other team in the NFL uses. If Bill Belichick has time to prepare for the Ravens (like he might in the playoffs), there might be a different result. That said, the Ravens played inspired football, and Lamar Jackson is clearly in the MVP conversation — both in Fantasy Football and in real life.
