RADIO
I planned on writing up a long introduction about this current fantasy football season, but I had computer issues the entire time I was working on this week's column, so something had to suffer due to time constraints.
I don't think it would be a good idea to let the actual bust picks suffer, so in lieu of some multi-paragraph thing, here's a short list of thoughts about this season so far.
- With the bye weeks winding down, teams will be back at full strength. This probably makes it easier to highlight players to avoid, because owners aren't forced to start players on bad matchups as often.
- Prediction: the first week Josh Gordon returns to the field, he makes this column. The second week, he makes it again, but I end up regretting it that time.
- Isaiah Crowell might have graduated from this column. Finally.
- The Houston Rockets put up 90 points in the first half of a game against the Suns. This is not football related, but it popped up on my phone while I was working on this and I just had to mention it.
- Tom Savage is not on this week's list. This is because all fantasy owners should know to never start him.
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Recap of Last Week
Quarterback: Kirk Cousins rushed for two touchdowns, which is not a thing that any metrics I was using suggested was a possibility. Know why? Because football doesn't make sense! Philip Rivers had an okay day, but when you factor in the fact that he threw two touchdowns AGAINST JACKSONVILLE then he really had a pretty good day.
Running Back: Rob Kelley had just ten yards, but Ameer Abdullah had 52 yards and a touchdown. And Isaiah Crowell? A season-high 90 yards and his second touchdown of the season. Are we finally seeing the player that everyone overdrafted back in August???
Wide Receiver: Will Fuller has two catches for 15 yards. Jordy Nelson had three catches for 20 yards. Davante Adams had five catches for 90 yards and a touchdown because it is not possible to get them all right.
Tight End: Jason Witten was fairly productive, finishing with seven catches for 59 yards. Austin Hooper was also productive, finishing with six catches for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Alright. Let's look at 10 dudes who will disappoint you this week now!
Top 10 Busts - NFL Week 11
Eli Manning (Quarterback, New York Giants)
Manning gets to play the Chiefs, who are actually allowing the fifth-most points to opposing quarterbacks. So why is he on this list? Because Manning himself has been bad this season, and his only real weapon right now is tight end Evan Engram. The Chiefs are in the top half of the league against opposing tight ends, which ends up limiting Manning's upside.
Matthew Stafford (Quarterback, Detroit Lions)
Don't look now, but the Chicago Bears defense is actually pretty food. They're giving up, on average, less than 15 points-per-game to quarterbacks. The Lions are on the road for this one, which matters because Stafford's three lowest scoring fantasy games this season have all been road games.
Kenyan Drake (Running Back, Miami Dolphins)
I like Drake. I like that he gets to play Tampa Bay. But I don't like that the Dolphins still seem unready to commit to Drake as THE guy in Miami. As long as he's still sharing touches with Damien Williams, I'm hesitant to rely on him as anything more than a solid play in my flex spot. I'd be worried he doesn't get enough touches this week.
Samaje Perine (Running Back, Washington Redskins)
Maybe this column needs a designated position for whichever Washington running back not named Chris Thompson is getting playing time. Perine hasn't done much to impress anyone this season and now faces a Saints defense that has allowed just three rushing touchdowns to running backs this year.
Todd Gurley (Running Back, Los Angeles Rams)
You aren't going to bench Gurley, but the Vikings are the best fantasy defense against running backs so...don't be too upset if Gurley gives you 60 yards and no touchdowns, okay?
Robert Woods (Wide Receiver, Los Angeles Rams)
There's always that one person in your fantasy league who rides the hot hand too much. That person is starting Robert Woods this week, even though Minnesota has a good defense and Woods just got to play the Giants and the Texans in back-to-back weeks. Hmm. His other double-digit fantasy week was against the 49ers. Hmm. Hmm hmm hmm.
Jordy Nelson (Wide Receiver, Green Bay Packers)
Yeah, let's just keep Jordy on here. Davante Adams seems to be the only Packers wide receiver worth starting at this point (says the person who just traded him away), and Jordy--I mean look, do you feel comfortable starting him again this season? I wouldn't. (The Ravens are also second-best against fantasy wideouts.)
Demaryius Thomas (Wide Receiver, Denver Broncos)
Denver plays Cincinnati, who are in the top ten against opposing wide receivers. Thomas has scored in consecutive weeks since Denver switched to Brock Osweiler at quarterback, but any trend that relies on Osweiler throwing the ball feels risky, especially when Denver's increasing reliance on a three-headed running game is factored in.
Charles Clay (Tight End, Buffalo Bills)
Not only are the Chargers one of the best teams in the league at limiting fantasy points to tight ends, Clay gets to play this game with Nathan Peterman at quarterback, who is starting in place of the just-benched Tyrod Taylor. Someone in one of my leagues messaged me after the Bills made this move to say that Nathan Peterman sounds like a generic X-Files one-off villain and not an NFL quarterback. That sounds right. (Peterman did throw a garbage time touchdown to a Bills tight end last week, but that was Very Garbage Time, so I'm going to disregard it.)
Jimmy Graham (Tight End, Seattle Seahawks)
I'm not quite sure on this one because the Seahawks are a team that are hard to predict. The Falcons are among the NFL's best defenses against fantasy tight ends, but middle-of-the-road against running backs. The Seahawks don't...really have running backs, which may mean Graham is a little more matchup-proof this week than I'm predicting because Seattle will be forced to throw the ball his way more than a more balanced team would. Still, he's had issues with his hands that factor into this as well. You'll start him, but temper some of those expectations.
