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"Go big or go home" is the theme of my week 14 fantasy football bold predictions. I'm filling in for Dennis Sosic this week on his weekly column and I just hope my predictions are bold enough! This week's predictions include some big names like Ja'Marr Chase and D'Andre Swift, but also a few lesser-known players like Chigoziem Okonkwo and Greg Dulcich.
For those unfamiliar, we'll provide some fun player predictions for fantasy football each week of the NFL season. While we wouldn't expect these things to happen, we also feel it's within the range of outcomes.
These bold predictions are fun and potentially edgy and should not alter your strategy for setting fantasy football lineups. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading. Good luck in Week 14, RotoBallers!
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Jared Goff...
Throws for 300+ yards and 3 touchdowns on his way to a QB1 finish
Yes, you heard that correctly. This is Jared Goff week and everything is lining up here for him to have a tremendous week for fantasy owners (and DFS players like myself). Let's consider the following.
- The Vikings have allowed the most passing yards to opponents this season of any team in the NFL (283.6) and have given up a whopping 345.7 per game over their last three games. Mike White threw for 369, Mac Jones for 382, and Dak Prescott for 276 (in three quarters before being pulled in a blowout win).
- Goff's home splits (and I am not a huge home/road splits guy) are tremendous this year as he has a 104.8 passer rating and a 17/3 TD/INT ratio. He's fresh off a 340-yard outing against Jacksonville and went for 378 passing yards earlier this year against Seattle.
- This game has a massive 51.5-point total, which is 5 points higher than any other game this weekend. And that total feels low, doesn't it? The Lions aren't likely to stop the Vikings on defense either, forcing Goff into a shootout scenario where they either have to pass a lot to catch up (if playing from behind) or keep up (if the teams are trading scores in a close game). For what it's worth, I like the Lions to win this game.
- Goff has a healthy D'Andre Swift at his disposal in the passing game along with a dynamic 1-2 punch of Amon-Ra St. Brown and DJ Chark Jr. These guys are going to get open and are all threats to turn short passes into big gainers. He doesn't have to throw the ball down the field all that often in this offense, he can be efficient and still pile up stats.
- Goff also has the third-most passing attempts from inside the 10-yard line. Fourteen of his nineteen passing TDs have come from within 10 yards. The Lions aren't afraid to throw it down there and it's easy to see a path to 3-4 TDs for Goff if the Lions' offense continues to play well.
D'Andre Swift...
Piles up 150 yards from scrimmage and a TD, finally paying off for frustrated fantasy managers everywhere!
The time has come for Swift to make amends for a rocky season. He was taken early in drafts due to his elite potential and teased everyone with a massive game against the Eagles in the opener. But then he missed four weeks due to an ongoing injury and has been slowly eased back into the mix by Detroit's coaching staff as they've been reluctant to pile on the work with the fear of a potential re-injury.
Well, this is the week we see him go nuclear! I already went on quite a bit in the Goff section about how much fantasy potential this game against Minnesota has and Swift is poised to be a big part of a big day for Detroit. He saw his involvement last week go back to where it was in week one as he tied his season-high with 18 touches. He's been so dynamic with his touches this season as he's averaging 6.4 yards per touch. The Vikings' defense has been better against the run than the pass but hasn't been very good at all for most of the season. Whether he gets there with a few big runs or receptions, it's not hard to see a scenario where Swift gets 20+ touches and turns them into 150 by breaking a 50+ yard run or taking a swing pass to the house.
I just finished recommending his rushing + receiving prop at 63.5 yards for you bettors, that seems like one of the softest spots on the board. I think he crushes that number and ends up being a DFS slate-winner for the week as well as setting up his season-long owners for a run at the title in their leagues. Let's just say that Taylor Swift isn't the only Swift out there doing damage!
Dallas and Miami running backs ALL have themselves a day
Though it might be annoying at times to have Tony Pollard on your roster and then watch the Cowboys continue to feed Ezekiel Elliott the ball despite everyone (other than Jerry Jones) in the stadium knowing that Pollard is a better, more explosive back, this week it's simply not going to matter.
The Cowboys are the biggest favorites we have seen this season at -17 at home against the Texans. This game is the mismatch of all mismatches as Dallas has a great offensive line and two solid runners against the worst run defense in the league. Dallas is coming off a second-half beat down of a pretty decent Indianapolis defense last week in which both backs went for 70+ yards on the ground and scored (Pollard had two TDs). It's quite likely in my opinion that we see Dallas dominate this game early and pave the way for both backs to be fed in a positive game script. I think both guys can approach (or exceed) 100 yards on the ground and get in the end zone this week.
Now Miami is a little different story. The Dolphins want to throw the football as their best offensive players are lining up at wide receiver each week, not in the backfield. But this matchup against the Chargers is a fantastic one for the Miami running game and I'd like to think that their coach is smart enough to take advantage.
Last week the Dolphins had to abandon the run quite early as they were playing from behind and facing a stout run defense in San Francisco. This week they would be wise to pound the football as they should have a major advantage in the trenches. The Chargers have been run over by opposing backs pretty much all season, but it's been really bad lately as they've allowed Josh Jacobs (144), James Connor (120), and Isiah Pacheco (107) all to eclipse the 100-yard mark in their last three games.
The last time that both Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. were healthy and in a great matchup, they both performed well with Wilson Jr. going 17-119-1 and Mostert going 8-65-1 against the Browns. I expect Miami to feed their backs in this one and take some pressure off Tua from having to throw it as often as he's had to lately.
Ja'Marr Chase...
Returns to dominant form with 125+ yards receiving and two touchdowns against the Browns
Ja'Marr Chase has a top-5 matchup of any receiver this weekend against a Browns secondary that has been victimized quite often this season. Denzel Ward has taken a big step back in terms of his coverage ability this year and both Greg Newsome and Martin Emerson are middling coverage guys at best. Chase is a big-play receiver and this Bengals passing attack has the ability to take the top of defenses as both Chase and Higgins are downfield threats while Tyler Boyd operates underneath. Cincy has the third-most offensive plays of 20+ yards and the sixth-most plays of 40+ yards this season.
Joe Burrow and the rest of the #Bengals were so psyched after @Real10jayy__ game winning 60-yard touchdown.
Chase received the game-ball after the game.pic.twitter.com/WBXx3vEzDb
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 20, 2022
Not all long touchdown passes are bombs down the field either, as Chase's longest of the season (60 yards against the Saints) was a short route and a long run. Any way you slice it, the guy has game-breaking ability.
Chase missed the first meeting with Cleveland, which was the Bengals' worst loss of the year as they fell 32-13 to their cross-state rivals. But he looked great last week against Kansas City, securing 7 of 8 targets for 97 yards. I think he's ready to break out another huge game this week and remind everyone just how special he is. We've seen him do it before (he had 130+ and 2 TDs in back-to-back games in weeks 6 and 7) and it really feels like the Bengals' offense is rounding into form just in time for a playoff run (kind of like they did last year).
No-Name Tight Ends...
Outscore the big names this week again. Dulcich and Okonkwo > Kelce and Andrews
Have you seen any of Chig Okonkwo's highlights this season? He hasn't been used much, but holy moly this dude looks like the real deal.
CHIG‼️
Okonkwo opens up the Titans offense with a 48-yard run 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZxrZonwOUi
— Inside the Black & Gold (@Insideblackgold) November 7, 2022
The Titans are down to two healthy receivers and their offensive coordinator has a fetish for tight ends. We could very easily see Chig either deployed as a receiver and split out in some formations or the Titans play a bunch or two and three-TE sets with Austin Hooper and Geoff Swaim. Any way you slice it, I think we see Chig get the ball in his hands as he's easily the most dangerous player that Tennessee has on offense other than Derrick Henry. His coach went on record saying they were going to draw up ways to get him the ball and Tennesse is going to need to be creative this week as they likely won't be able to just cram Derrick Henry down the Jags throats 30 times.
Are you ready for another big Greg Dulcich week, too? The Broncos' rookie TE had himself a game last week with 6 catches on 8 targets for 85 yards. With Courtland Sutton out for Denver, we can expect Dulcich, Jerry Jeudy, and Kendall Hinton to soak up most of the targets this week from Russell Wilson in a game where Denver should have to throw often as they are heavy underdogs at home against the Chiefs.
YOU ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO SEE IT.
📺: ESPN | @Greg_Dulcich pic.twitter.com/JDh8s1kyjJ
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 18, 2022
Dulcich is a stud and after last week's big game, you'd think that Wilson will be looking his way often again this week. The Broncos could be keying on Travis Kelce on the other side of the ball and force Mahomes into using his other receivers and Mark Andrews has a tough matchup against the Steelers and a backup QB. I think we see some parity in scoring across the TE position again this week.
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