Let’s begin with an apology. I’m sorry, I thought OBJ was still hampered by a nagging injury. I thought Tennessee and Seattle were a bad match up for one another. I thought Seattle’s front seven would bottle up DeMarco Murray, and the Titans’ defense would take advantage of Seattle’s weak offensive line. I was wrong, sort of. Neither TEN or SEA scored in the first quarter, going into halftime the fantasy stud of the game was TEN K Ryan Succop. With a 7-9 score, I felt confident in my picks and recommendations.
Then early in the third quarter, Chris Carson caught a pass for a TD from Wilson, I told you to pick up Carson last week, I was elated, but it began to make my advice to sit Wilson look a bit shaky. Still, Mariotta threw two TD’s for Tennessee and it was all working the way I had predicted. But Wilson just kept throwing, then with just over a minute left in the third quarter, DeMarco Murray busted free for 75 yds and a touchdown. It was downhill from there.
If you take out Murray’s 75 yd run he had 13 rushes for 40 yards and no touchdowns, the advice was sound in that regard. Three of Wilson’s Four touchdowns came from the 10 Yard line or closer, in most instances, those are rushing TD’s instead of passing TD’s – the logic is sound. OBJ caught 9 passes for 79 yards, an average of less than 9 yards per catch – and still managed to vulture two touchdowns out of that. He obviously wasn’t 100%, he didn’t have break away speed, his two scores came on consecutive drives and were caught from 4 yards and 10 yards out respectively. I underestimated Eli Manning’s reliance on OBJ in the red zone. For all of that, I am sorry. You probably got burned if you sat any of those three players. But, we will move forward – we will rebuild – we will overcome adversity.
In a week of high highs and low lows, rumors run rampant through the hallowed halls of the Capitol, and as speculation abounds Scott “The Beacon of Truth” Faughn sheds light on the situation through via Facebook.
Becky “Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain” Lohman places a 1 in the win column finally with the type of show of force normally reserved for a UFC octagon, while trampling the dreams of Robert “Ramen Noodles” Knodell. 140.6-77.3
Noel “Fire Your” Torpey “-Does” regresses substantially as his entire team deflates faster than a whoopie cushion owned by Edward Scissorhands, losing substantially to “Dolla” Bill Eigel. 38.5-84.8
Scott “I wish every holiday was Oktoberfest” Faughn finds his first loss at the hands of Tom Brady as Jane “Deflate This” Dueker derails the West Butler County Express. 61-111.8
Caleb “Subscribe to My Pandora Station” Rowden barely squeaks out the win over John “Fo’” Rizzo behind the stellar performance of Todd Gurley, who put up 32.9 points. 109.2-94.5
Elijah “My Team Plays” Haahr defeats Crystal “I’m Not Related to Randy or Dennis” Quade 78.2-36.2
The tallest senator in state history continues to come up short as Treasurer Eric Schmitt falls to 0-3 against the undefeated Ryan “I’m Not Even Tryin’” McKenna. 98.9-105.3
Week 4 Waiver Wire
Prospects
- Deshaun Watson, QB, HOU – Owned in 12% of leagues, Watson is the type of QB those who drafted Cam Newton hoped he would be returning from injury. He put up 20 against the Patriots and seems to be settling in well.
- Wendell Smallwood, RB, PHI – With Darren Sproles out expect Smallwood, owned in 2.9% of leagues, to take over passing down duties and to exhibit some of the same playmaking ability as Sproles. He rushed 12 times for 71 yards and caught 1 pass Sunday, as opposed to LeGarrette Blount, who is owned in 97% of leagues, who rushed 12 times for 67 yards and was not targeted.
- Travis Benjamin, WR, LAC – Benjamin was targeted 8 times and hauled in 5 receptions for 105 yards. Only owned in 1.4% of leagues Benjamin is one of the biggest high risk-high reward players, but for anyone who owned Desean Jackson in the past, or may currently have a slew of banged up WR’s on your bench, Benjamin makes the most sense out of those available.
- Ryan Griffin, TE, HOU – Like a nice bottle of Sine Die and a can of Cheez Whiz, pairing Griffin with Deshaun Watson just works. Especially for anyone who took the Cam Newton/Greg Olsen handcuff disaster in their draft. Griffin is the go-to TE target in HOU, and now that he’s medically cleared he should benefit from being part of an offense that relies heavily on the TE position. Griffin also has the added benefit of being a check down option for a rookie QB.
Don’t Buy the Hype
- Marcedes Lewis, TE, JAX – Every year Lewis has a breakout game and throngs of fantasy players rush out to pull him from the waiver wire, don’t. Lewis is primarily a blocking TE and would be highly unlikely to repeat his output against Baltimore again this season.
- Robby Anderson, WR, NYJ – Anderson had 3 receptions for 95 yards. His inflated stats this week come from 1 long reception where he torched a blown coverage. The likelihood that Anderson remains consistent is slim, the likelihood he remains consistent and averages over 10 points per game is virtually non-existent.
- Jacoby Brissett, QB, IND – Brissett looked brilliant on Sunday passing for 259 yds and a TD and running in 2 more… against the Browns. Don’t expect the same level of performance against more substantial defenses and keep in mind that Indianapolis plays in the AFC South where he will face Houston, Tennessee, and Jacksonville – all of whom are considerably better than the Browns, twice each.
Start/Sit
Start
- Carson Palmer, QB, ARI – Give me Palmer against SF all day. Yes, he will get hit, and probably sacked a few times – but he has thrown for over 300 yards in each of his last two games and has thrown 3 TD’s to 1 INT. Meanwhile, SF made Jared Goff look like Joe Montana last Thursday.
- Tarik Cohen, RB, CHI – Give me Cohen and a dump pass-happy Mike Glennon against the Packers on a short week. The Packers have a high QB pressure rate, but gave up 28 to Atlanta and then turned around and allowed the Bengals, who had 0 touchdowns on the season, to score 18 against them.
- DeVante Parker/Jarvis Landry, WR, MIA – If you have either receiver they should be starting this week against a week NO defense who has given up 29 points to Sam Bradford and 36 to Tom Brady so far this year. NO defense has scored negative fantasy points twice in three games.
Sit
- Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB – Do your double take – now that that’s done consider this; Chicago gave up 12 fantasy points to Ben Roethlisberger and outside of one long Austin Hooper touchdown in week 1, Matt Ryan was held in check for about 250 yards and no touchdowns. GB has two receivers battling injuries, one of whom may not play at all. I pass on Rodgers.
- C.J. Anderson, RB, DEN – Facing an Oakland defensive line that held Washington’s starting RB to 49 yards on 19 rushes, and with the reemergence of Jamaal Charles, expect less than Anderson’s projection this week.
- Sammy Watkins, WR, STL – Watkins has been a boom or bust player in the past and has a habit of coming off a big game with a letdown performance the next week. Combine that with a reported concussion and this is an easy pass, even if Watkins is cleared to play.