If you’re new to me, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jon, and I love Jonathan Taylor more than just about anyone. Go check out my Twitter - he’s in my profile picture, my header, and my pinned tweet. He was a phenomenal prospect, and when he went to the Colts, I was overjoyed. This season has not been what I was hoping, but we finally got a workhorse game out of Jonathan Taylor. He finished as the RB12 (Monday Night Football pending) with 15.4 PPR points. His 22 carries are the first time he has seen more than 12 carries since Week 6. His day could have been an absolute monster finish too, if it wasn’t for probably about 50 rushing yards and a touchdown getting called back for holding.
Taylor is giving me life right now. He looked good. He was making decisive cuts, finding the cutback lane, running through people… I was thrilled. His schedule down the stretch and into the fantasy playoffs is the easiest of any running back in the league. I still don’t fully trust the workload, but if he gets another full load next week, I will be over the moon.
As I was watching RedZone yesterday, after identifying Deshaun Watson as a “proceed with caution” last week, I saw Watson score three times.
Welp. Sorry about that. At least I didn’t tell you to bench him.
Watson decided that he didn’t care for any of your silly fantasy football narratives that say New England has been good against opposing quarterbacks. He was on one in a big way, lit up the Patriots for 344 passing yards and two touchdowns, and added 36 rushing yards and a score on the ground for good measure. He was absolutely dominant.
We all know that Watson is one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. He has, somehow, managed to remain a solid QB1 in fantasy, despite the indelible former decision of Bill O’Brien shipping off DeAndre Hopkins. You can’t bench him. Ever. If you play in a dynasty format, the future is bright. They will almost assuredly address the wide receiver position this coming offseason.
I officially cannot trust any receiving option from the Patriots. After four straight games of double-digit fantasy points, Jakobi Meyers took a back seat to Damiere Byrd in this one, which sucked. Byrd had a fantastic day on everyone’s bench, going off for 132 yards and a touchdown on six receptions. Meyers, on the other hand, absolutely stunk: three receptions, 38 yards. That’s it. Maybe Meyers can bounce back against the Cardinals? Maybe? If he gets Patrick Peterson, then that’s a hard no.
*refills coffee* Okay, let’s keep going.
So, apparently Taysom Hill really is a thing. He was the starting quarterback for the Saints, not Jameis Winston. Alvin Kamara has been the overall RB1 on the season, but he didn’t look like it yesterday. I am completely baffled. They played against Atlanta, who suck. They had a quarterback change. Everything was pointing to Kamara being featured heavily in this game, and it just wasn’t the case. What has made Kamara so lethal for fantasy this season and over the course of his career is his ability in the receiving game - he had 67 receptions entering Sunday’s game, and then had… zero. None. Not a one. If Taysom Hill is going to be the starter for at least the next few weeks, Kamara’s passing game utilization is going to need to be watched very, very closely.
In the two weeks since their bye, Sanders has looked very… mediocre. His role is average at best in a terrible offense. Two weeks ago, he had 15 carries and five targets. Yesterday, he had 16 carries and five targets. All those targets are great, but he’s only turned them into a combined 25 receiving yards. He doesn’t have a Touchdown in his last three games played. You drafted this guy to be a RB1, but he doesn’t look like it. The offense looks terrible right now, and Sanders is suffering. He’s the RB23 over the last two weeks. Big, big time yikes.
In the never-ending quest for a second wide receiver behind Davante Adams, it might be Allen Lazard. Or, maybe it isn’t. He was activated from Injured Reserve earlier this week, and many were thinking he would regain his role as the solid second option, but he only mustered two receptions for 18 yards. Granted, Aaron Rodgers is a bit fickle, and after Marquez Valdes-Scantling fumbled in overtime, maybe Rodgers will look more in the direction of Lazard next week, but he isn’t startable right now in any format.
The Gus Bus is officially out of commission. He had been locked in to a decent role in the backfield over the last three weeks, but Harbaugh handed over that backfield to rookie J.K. Dobbins yesterday. Edwards had three carries, Mark Ingram had two carries, and Dobbins had 15. That is a stark difference. Dobbins is the guy now, and after averaging 4.7 yards per carry yesterday and punching in a score, I don’t see that changing.
We only have one more week before most fantasy playoffs get started, so it’s time to make some serious business decisions to secure your spot in the tourney. Reflect on how your roster performed this week before we look ahead to the crucial Week 12 matchups.