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Mike Fanelli gives his fantasy football bold predictions for the Divisional Round of the 2024-25 NFL season. Should you start or sit Jalen Hurts, Derrick Henry, Terry McLaurin?
The NFL playoffs are underway, and I’m back with another edition of fantasy football bold predictions. This week’s list of bold predictions will include Jalen Hurts, Derrick Henry, Terry McLaurin, Dalton Schultz, and Dallas Goedert.
Every week, I will provide some fun and bold fantasy football predictions. While these bold predictions aren’t the most likely outcomes, they are things I believe could happen this week.
Let’s look at my five bold predictions for the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.
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Jalen Hurts…
Struggles against the Los Angeles Rams
Last week, Hurts had a solid performance in the Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers. The star quarterback completed 61.9% of his 21 pass attempts for 131 yards and two touchdowns. However, his on-the-field play was far from elite.
More importantly, Hurts struggled in the Week 12 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. He completed 68.2% of his pass attempts for 179 yards, a touchdown, 12 rushing attempts for 39 yards, and 15.1 fantasy points. The former Oklahoma star ended the week as the QB15.
The star quarterback didn’t have an impressive fantasy performance because of Saquon Barkley. The likely Offensive Player of the Year Award winner had his best fantasy outing of the year. He had 26 rushing attempts for 255 yards, two touchdowns, and four receptions for 47 receiving yards, totaling 44.2 half-point PPR fantasy points against the Rams.
SAQUON. PERIOD.
📺: #PHIvsLAR on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/OBVX9o6oqV— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2024
Meanwhile, Los Angeles made life awful for Sam Darnold. The veteran quarterback completed 62.5% of his pass attempts for 245 yards, one touchdown, an interception, and a fumble recovered for a touchdown. Fantasy players should avoid starting Hurts this week, instead building their lineups around Barkley.
Derrick Henry…
Has his first game with 200 or more rushing yards this season
While some fantasy football experts labeled Henry a bust candidate heading into the 2024 season, the future Hall of Famer had one of the best years of his career. The superstar ended the season as the RB3, averaging 19.2 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. Furthermore, he finished second in the NFL with 1,921 rushing yards.
Despite being on the wrong side of 30 this year, Henry had the second-highest rushing total of his career. The veteran has six career games with 200 or more rushing yards. Yet, none of them came this season. Instead, his season-high in rushing yards was 199 in Week 4.
Henry had that 199 rushing-yard performance against the Buffalo Bills, his same opponent for Sunday night’s playoff matchup. The superstar averaged 8.3 yards per rushing attempt in the Week 4 win over the Bills, totaling two touchdowns.
Last week, Henry had 186 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 26 attempts against a talented Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Don’t be surprised if the future Hall of Fame running back has over 200 rushing yards on Sunday night, especially given the expected weather conditions in Buffalo.
Terry McLaurin…
Finishes with over 100 receiving yards and a touchdown
In my bold predictions article last week, I predicted McLaurin would have his way with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers secondary. While the Pro Bowl wide receiver didn’t have a massive performance, the former Ohio State star played well in the win.
McLaurin finished the Wild Card Weekend matchup with seven receptions for 89 receiving yards and a touchdown, scoring 18.4 half-point PPR fantasy points. The veteran had an excellent regular season, ending the year as the WR6, averaging 13.3 fantasy points per game.
Furthermore, McLaurin had a career season in several categories, including receiving touchdowns. The Pro Bowler had 13 receiving touchdowns in 17 games, a career high. He also broke the franchise record for most receiving touchdowns in a year, previously owned by four players with 12, with the most recent being Ricky Sanders in 1988.
Jayden to Terry backyard football 🔥
📺: #WASvsNO on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/WrptjCjvNo— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2024
Unfortunately, the Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions didn’t face off during the regular season. However, McLaurin had four receptions for 75 receiving yards in his last meeting against the Lions, coming in 2022 with Carson Wentz under center. More importantly, Detroit gave up the most receiving yards to wide receivers during the regular season.
Dalton Schultz…
Is the second-highest-scoring tight end this week
The Houston Texans dealt with several significant injuries on offense this year. They lost Stefon Diggs to a torn ACL in the Week 8 win over the Indianapolis Colts and Tank Dell to a significant knee injury in the Week 16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Unfortunately, the Texans will be without two of their top weapons for the rematch against the Chiefs on Saturday. While Nico Collins is C.J. Stroud’s clear-cut favorite option in the passing game, expect Schultz to step up this week.
Last week, the veteran tight end had a quiet performance against the Los Angeles Chargers. However, that won’t be the case this week against Kansas City. The Chiefs were one of the worst teams defending opposing tight ends during the regular season.
Kansas City surrendered 12.5 half-point PPR fantasy points per game to tight ends this year, the seventh-most in the NFL. They gave up five receiving touchdowns to tight ends, the 11th-fewest in the league. However, the Chiefs allowed opposing tight ends to average 70.1 receiving yards per game, the most in the NFL.
Dallas Goedert…
Ends the week as the TE1
While fantasy players should have high hopes for Dalton Schultz this week because of his matchup, Goedert will be the highest-scoring tight end during the Divisional Round of the playoffs. The veteran struggled during the regular season, ending the year as the TE27, averaging 8.3 half-point PPR fantasy points per game.
Unfortunately, Goedert missed seven games because of multiple injuries, including the final four contests of the fantasy football season with a knee injury. However, he has played well over his past few outings. The veteran had seven receptions on 10 targets for 90 receiving yards, a touchdown, and 18.5 fantasy points over his final two regular-season contests.
More importantly, Goedert had a solid performance in the first-round playoff matchup against the Green Bay Packers. The former South Dakota State star had five receptions for 47 receiving yards, a touchdown, and 13.2 fantasy points. Fantasy players should expect even more production from him this weekend.
DALLAS GOEDERT ANGRY RUN 😡
📺: #GBvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/rxRDVME91z— NFL (@NFL) January 12, 2025
Goedert has an excellent matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. Last week, they gave up five receptions for 64 receiving yards, a touchdown, and 14.9 fantasy points to T.J. Hockenson. More importantly, the Rams surrendered 24 receptions on 30 targets for 243 receiving yards and three touchdowns to tight ends over their final two regular-season outings.
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