Daily Dr. Roto—October 28, 2019
Week 8 Prescription Notes
— The Chargers might have pulled out a lucky victory when Eddy Pineiro’s kick sailed left, but they better be anxious about their run defense. Bears RB David Montgomery rushed for 135 yards and a TD. This makes three straight weeks that the Chargers run defense has been a sieve. Green Bay is on deck in Week 9, and there is no doubt that Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams will have field days if the Chargers don’t figure this out quickly.
— As I was watching the games, someone on Twitter lamented playing Bucs WR Chris Godwin, just as WR Mike Evans had a career game with 11 catches for 198 yards and 2 TDs. This is just silly. All fantasy owners need to start both Godwin AND Evans because both can have those types of games every week. Some weeks will be better for Evans, some better for Godwin, and every so often, both will have great games together.
— Was it disappointing that Seahawks QB Russell Wilson only attempted 20 passes against the Falcons? Yes. Was it surprising? No. The Seahawks are a team that wants to run the ball as much as possible and throw it when they need to. Once they were up 24-0 at halftime, there was little reason to put Wilson at risk by having him throw it. Is that frustrating for Fantasy owners? Absolutely, but with Wilson you are going to have some amazing games, but you are also going to have a few mediocre ones like this.
— One of my followers on Twitter expressed his anger about how Rams WR Robert Woods was playing. Sadly, I had no words for him except to be patient. The truth is, though, I am not sure how patient Woods’ owners can be. Cooper Kupp dominates the target share and TE Gerald Everett is more involved in the offense than ever. I think I would trade Woods now before it’s too late.
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— Kudos to my radio partner, Adam Ronis, who called for the Eagles road victory against Buffalo. The Bills lacked a running game, which was expected due to the Eagles tough run defense. What wasn’t expected was how well the Eagles pass defense was going to play. They frustrated Josh Allen all game long. More importantly, it’s time for the Bills to unveil RB Devin Singletary and start giving him a full load of carries. Singletary is incredibly explosive, as he showed on his TD reception, and needs more playing time ASAP.
— In beating the Broncos, the Colts showed why they are one of the top teams in the AFC. It was obvious from the onset that the Broncos contained Jacoby Brissett and T.Y. Hilton, but the Colts maintained their composure, ran the ball effectively with Marlon Mack, and were patient on offense. Brissett’s scramble and throw to Hilton was perfect (in addition to the dumbest horse-collar penalty that I have ever seen) as it led to the game-winning FG. Good teams need to win ugly games to make the playoffs, and the Colts did that on Sunday.
— I think it is now time to be concerned about Jets QB Sam Darnold. I was willing to look past last week’s nightmare ghost-seeing game against New England to see if he would be able to right the ship against Jacksonville. Darnold threw another three interceptions and wasn’t reading the coverages well at all. Now it seems like the Jets want to trade WR Robby Anderson before the trade deadline. If that happens, the Jets will have no speed WR downfield, making life even worse for Darnold.
— The 49ers were incredibly impressive on Sunday. Not only did they play great defense, Tevin Coleman and the offensive line imposed their will on the Panthers defense and scored 4 TDs. What will be overlooked, though, is how good WRs Emmanuel Sanders and Deebo Samuel played. The 49ers barely needed to throw the ball, but now with Sanders and Samuel they can do so if needed. This should balance their offense out and give them a real chance to make a run at the NFC Championship.
— If you played Texans WR Kenny Stills and got burned in seasonal leagues and DFS, you did nothing wrong. Stills had a plus matchup and should have had a better result. We would call him bad chalk. That said, I would play him next week as most people will stay away from him due to recency bias. By the way, TE Darren Fells is playing great football and is one of the main reasons the Texans beat the Raiders.
— I know the Patriots won easily, but the Browns might have exposed the slightest chink their armor. Browns RB Nick Chubb looked tremendous (131 rushing yards) and found every crack in the Patriots run defense. Will other teams be able to take advantage of this? I am not so sure, but I know that the Patriots play the Ravens in Week 9, and I will be watching closely to see if Mark Ingram and Lamar Jackson can do as well as Chubb did.
— Now that all the Chiefs WRs were healthy and playing, it was interesting to see how Andy Reid decided to use rookie WR Mecole Hardman. Hardman is taking over Tyreek Hill‘s spot on special teams and is used creatively in gadget plays on offense. While this might be good in real-life football, for Fantasy owners it is supremely frustrating. The problem is that it’s difficult to cut Hardman since he is only one injury away from being an integral part of their offense.
— It’s amazing to think that the New Orleans Saints are dominating teams with an imposing defense and three offensive players: their QB (whether it be Drew Brees or Teddy Bridgewater), their RB (Alvin Kamara or Latavius Murray), and WR Michael Thomas. Should it be that hard to stop two players? It seems like it is. And I wonder why I don’t start Thomas each week in DFS. He is automatic.
— I hate to say, “I told you so,” but I told you not to bid crazy FAAB dollars on Lions RB Ty Johnson. Johnson is a good player, but he’s not close to being ready to get 20 touches per game. The player I would pick up is WR Danny Amendola. The Lions are running a short passing offense, and then taking their shots downfield. Amendola is the perfect fit for this new offense.
