Daily Dr. Roto—October 21, 2019
Week 7 Prescription Notes
— I think it is time to press the panic button in Atlanta. The Rams defense had been torched for the previous three weeks and the Falcons could not muster up any offense at all. Rams CB Jalen Ramsey is a great player, but not good enough to shut down the entire offense. The Falcons running game is in shambles as Ito Smith left the game with a leg injury and Devonta Freeman tried to pick a fight with Rams DT Aaron Donald and was ejected, mainly out of frustration. If I owned Freeman, I would try to package him right now before he loses all trade value.
— It seems clear to me that the Dolphins are going to move on from RB Kenyan Drake before the trade deadline. Drake has lost his passion to play (at least in Miami) and will get the Dolphins a likely 3rd or 4th round pick in return. The new starter will be Mark Walton who looked very good against the tough Bills defense. Walton had 66 yards rushing but found open holes all game long. He also can catch the ball out of the backfield, so he is a plus in PPR leagues too.
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— There are no words to describe the ineptitude of the Cincinnati Bengals. The Jaguars just lost their best defensive player (Jalen Ramsey) and Andy Dalton still looked miserable and had no time to throw. Even worse is RB Joe Mixon who had 10 carries for 2 yards. I hate to say this, but right now Mixon is nothing more than a BYE week fill-in.
— Lions QB Matthew Stafford had a sensational game against Minnesota, but if you had him on your bench you cannot blame yourself. The entire game script changed as soon as RB Kerryon Johnson left the game with a knee injury. JD McKissic and Ty Johnson are better receivers than runners, so Detroit has no choice but to throw more. If you started WR Marvin Jones, congratulations. I guess it made sense with Golladay drawing the tighter coverage, but it still was not a move I would normally trust.
— If you own Packers RB Aaron Jones, prepare to be frustrated on a weekly basis. On Sunday, Jones had 16 touches compared to only 7 for Jamaal Williams. Jones is by far the better player, but it seems like Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur likes going with the hot hand, which in this game’s case was Jones. Perhaps next week will be different, but I think both players need to be started on a weekly basis.
— No person in America ruined more Fantasy outcomes this week than Cardinals Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury. It seems like all along he knew that he was not going to play RB David Johnson even though the team had him listed as active. Instead, backup RB Chase Edmonds played and had 126 rushing yards and 3 TDs. Fantasy owners were going out of their minds. This one game might end up costing some unlucky Fantasy owner a playoff spot.
— Btw a special prescription note goes out to the Cardinals defense who looked entirely different with CB Patrick Peterson back in their secondary. Giants TE Evan Engram did nothing all game and the Cardinals put tons of pressure on Daniel Jones. It was by far their best defensive game of the season.
— The difference in the Texans/Colts game was that Texans QB Deshaun Watson had less time to pass this week due to the immense pressure that he faced by the Colts defensive line. Watson had impressive stats, but most of it was done in garbage time and not when it counted. WR Will Fuller left the game with a hamstring injury and is week-to-week to return.
— Usually I tell Fantasy owners not to worry about the weather, but admittedly I was wrong. The weather in DC was so bad that the QBs couldn’t throw, the RBs couldn’t run, and the WRs couldn’t catch. The only good starts in the game were K Robbie Gould and the 49ers defense. Moving forward, I still won’t overrate the weather, unless the field looks like it has monsoon-like conditions.
— Just Play Tannehill! Titans QB Ryan Tannehill was superb in his first start on Sunday, finally showing that the Titans do have a passing attack. WRs Corey Davis, AJ Brown, and Adam Humphries are all fantasy relevant once again, and I think that their new balanced attack will help RB Derrick Henry.
— I said it last week and I will scream it from the rooftops: the Chargers need to get Austin Ekeler more involved in their run game. Melvin Gordon looks completely shot and he is holding the team back from winning. His fumble at the end of the game could have cost the Chargers a playoff berth.
Here are some statistics that I saw @EvanSilva regarding Melvin Gordon:
- 27 of his 36 carries have gained 3 yards or fewer with 2 fumbles
- 11 of his 14 targets have gained 3 yards or fewer
- Total plays intended for Gordon are averaging 2.3 yards
- Only 4 plays have gained first downs
- If Anthony Lynn cannot figure this out and put Austin Ekeler back in, then he needs to be fired immediately.
— According to the box score, Bears QB Mitch Trubisky might look like he had a good game (251 yards passing and 2 TDs), but the truth is that he was awful. Trubisky did almost all of his work in garbage time when the Saints were just trying to get out of Soldier Field with a win. The Bears traded up for Trubisky, thinking that he was the answer to their QB situation, but he is highly inaccurate and has no feel for the passing game. He was not that good in college either, so it makes fans wonder what the Bears front office was thinking not only by drafting him, but by trading up to get him.
— Ravens QB Lamar Jackson might have only had 143 passing yards against Seattle on Sunday, but the truth is that normally dependable TE Mark Andrews had a myriad of dropped passes that hit him right in the hands. It was the worst I have ever seen Andrews look and I am not sure if it was the rain, or something else that caused the disaster. Luckily, Jackson ran the ball so well that it didn’t matter. As of this point, Jackson is a top three Fantasy QB and someone who can easily win you a league.
— Sunday night was arguably a season-saving win for the Dallas Cowboys and their Head Coach Jason Garrett. Had they lost to the Eagles, they would have headed to the BYE week on a four-game losing streak with a coaching change on the horizon. But a big win at home against the Eagles shifts the momentum into Dallas’ favor. Over the next two weeks, Amari Cooper and the OL needs to get healthy if the Cowboys want to make a deep playoff run. The even greater need is to figure out how to get Zeke, Cooper, and Michael Gallup all involved on a weekly basis.
