RADIO
Eli analyzes disappointing players from last week to find potential Week 14 fantasy football buy-lows, sleepers and risers based on play-calling and historical data.
We now enter the 13th week of this series, where I dive into offensive areas that will improve or decline based on coaching in order to glean insight as to fantasy football value.
In Week 13, we saw stat lines such as the Philadelphia Eagles running backs combining for 174 rushing yards, the Arizona Cardinals wide receivers seeing just eight targets, and the Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers combining for 275 receiving yards.
After these types of performances, it is important to look at each of these teams' coaches and their play-calling tendencies to see if these performances are likely to continue, if they will change for the better, or if they will change for the worse.
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Fantasy Football Improvement Ahead?
This article will take a look at which of these areas are in line for improvement and which areas are in line for a decline in future weeks. Let's dive in! These are the areas and positions that will likely improve in the coming weeks, based on the team's play-caller tendencies in the past.
Washington Football Team Wide Receivers
Scott Turner
| WR Rec. | WR Tgts | WR Rec. Yds | WR Rec. TD | |
| 2020 Washington Football Team | 12.13 | 18.44 | 141.25 | 0.5 |
| Scott Turner Prior (20 games) | 12.1 | 19.15 | 140.05 | 0.45 |
| Washington WRs vs. Las Vegas Raiders | 10 | 13 | 71 | 0 |
The Washington Football Team wide receiver room wasn't utilized much in the win over the Las Vegas Raiders, combining for 10 receptions on 13 targets for 71 receiving yards and zero receiving touchdowns. After this game, this group has totaled 138 receptions (11.5 per game) on 222 targets (18.5 per game) for 1648 receiving yards (137.33 per game) and nine receiving touchdowns (0.75 per game) on the season. Based on this information, it's clear that there will be better games than this past Sunday for the Washington Football Team wide receivers that are more in line with the current season averages/Scott Turner's career averages of about 12 reception, 19 targets, 140 receiving yards, and 0.5 receiving touchdowns per game.
Fantasy players this impacts: Terry McLaurin, DeAndre Carter, Dyami Brown, Curtis Samuel, Adam Humphries, and Cam Sims
Arizona Cardinals Wide Receivers
Kliff Kingsbury
| WR Rec. | WR Tgts | WR Rec. Yds | WR Rec. TD | |
| 2020 Cardinals | 16.13 | 23.5 | 180.25 | 0.94 |
| Kliff Kingsbury Prior (32 games) | 15.5 | 23.59 | 174.34 | 0.88 |
| Cardinals WRs vs. Chicago Bears | 5 | 8 | 58 | 1 |
The Arizona Cardinals wide receiver room combined for just five receptions on eight targets for 58 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown against the Chicago Bears this past Sunday. This group has now totaled 178 receptions (14.83 per game) on 239 targets (19.92 per game) for 2236 receiving yards (186.33 per game) and 16 receiving touchdowns (1.33 per game) on the season. Given the 2021 Cardinals wide receiver room's current season averages and the fact that Kliff Kingsbury has been one of the best coaches for wide receivers over the last few seasons, it seems likely that we see much better performances from this group going forward than this past Sunday.
Fantasy players this impacts: DeAndre Hopkins, Rondale Moore, Christian Kirk, and A.J. Green
Indianapolis Colts Tight Ends
Frank Reich & Marcus Brady
| TE Rec. | TE Tgts | TE Rec. Yds | TE Rec. TD | |
| 2020 Colts | 5.13 | 7.44 | 55.94 | 0.5 |
| Frank Reich Prior (112 games) | 6.32 | 9.47 | 69.29 | 0.69 |
| Colts TEs vs. Houston Texans | 3 | 4 | 19 | 0 |
The Indianapolis Colts' tight end room didn't see much action in the victory over the Houston Texans as they combined for three receptions on four targets for 19 receiving yards and zero receiving touchdowns. After this game, this group has now totaled 54 receptions (4.15 per game) on 86 targets (6.62 per game) for 610 receiving yards (46.92 per game) and seven receiving touchdowns (0.54 per game) on the season. This isn't the most talented tight end room that Frank Reich has coached, but at the same time, you'd still expect a bit more work for this group than they saw this past Sunday based on his career averages. Expect a bounce-back performance after the BYE week from this group.
Fantasy players this impacts: Jack Doyle, Kylen Granson, and Mo Alie-Cox
Houston Texans Wide Receivers
Tim Kelly
| WR Rec. | WR Tgts | WR Rec. Yds | WR Rec. TD | |
| 2020 Texans | 14.94 | 20.94 | 207.38 | 1.38 |
| Tim Kelly Prior (32 games) | 14.59 | 20.84 | 192.72 | 1.13 |
| Texans WRs vs. Indianapolis Colts | 3 | 13 | 38 | 0 |
The Houston Texans wide receiver room struggled this past Sunday against the Colts as they combined for just three receptions on 13 targets for 38 receiving yards and zero receiving touchdowns. On the season this group has now totaled 134 receptions (11.17 per game) on 213 targets (17.75 per game) for 1545 receiving yards (128.75 per game) and seven receiving touchdowns (0.58 per game). There have been some rough games for this wide receiver room this year, but we should still expect a little bit of a bounce-back from Sunday's performance based on the current season averages and Tim Kelly's career averages.
Fantasy players this impacts: Brandin Cooks, Nico Collins, Chris Conley, and Danny Amendola
Decline Ahead?
A mentioned above, this article also looks at which teams and areas are in line for a decline in future weeks. These are the areas and positions that will likely decline in the coming weeks based on the team's play-caller tendencies in the past.
Los Angeles Rams Wide Receivers
Sean McVay & Kevin O'Connell
| WR Rec. | WR Tgts | WR Rec. Yds | WR Rec. TD | |
| 2020 Rams | 15.81 | 22.81 | 171.75 | 0.75 |
| Sean McVay Prior (112 games) | 13.76 | 21.5 | 179.74 | 0.96 |
| Kevin O'Connell Prior (32 games) | 13.5 | 20.38 | 150.72 | 0.81 |
| Rams WRs vs. Jacksonville Jaguars | 17 | 25 | 233 | 3 |
The Los Angeles Rams wide receivers went off against the Jacksonville Jaguars this past weekend, combining for 17 receptions on 25 targets for 233 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. On the season this group has now totaled 206 receptions (17.17 per game) on 318 targets (26.5 per game) for 2964 receiving yards (247 per game) and 23 receiving touchdowns (1.92 per game). While Sean McVay has been one of the better coaches for wide receivers in his time in an offensive coordinator or head coaching role, it's hard to expect any position group to score 3+ touchdowns each week. Expect a slight dip in production next week against the Arizona Cardinals.
Fantasy players this impacts: Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson, Robert Woods, and Odell Beckham Jr.
Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receivers
Zac Taylor & Brian Callahan
| WR Rec. | WR Tgts | WR Rec. Yds | WR Rec. TD | |
| 2020 Bengals | 14.69 | 24.44 | 169.69 | 0.81 |
| Zac Taylor Prior (37 games) | 13.86 | 24.11 | 171.89 | 0.68 |
| Brian Callahan Prior (32 games) | 14 | 24.34 | 170.97 | 0.69 |
| Bengals WRs vs. Los Angeles Chargers | 19 | 29 | 275 | 1 |
Despite the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers went off this past weekend, combining for 19 receptions on 29 targets for 275 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. This group has now totaled 168 receptions (14 per game) on 259 targets (21.58 per game) for 2331 receiving yards (194.25 per game) and 15 receiving touchdowns (1.25 per game) on the season. Zac Taylor and Brian Callahan have been very wide receiver friendly coaches during their careers so we should expect better numbers than average from their wide receiver room, but not necessarily to the level we saw this past Sunday against the Chargers. Expect this group to have performances more in line with their season averages during the rest of the season.
Fantasy players this impacts: Tee Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, and Auden Tate
Philadelphia Eagles Running Backs
Nick Sirianni & Shane Steichen
| RB Carries | RB Rush Yds | RB Rush TD | RB Rec. | RB Tgts | RB Rec. Yds | RB Rec. TD | |
| 2020 Eagles | 17.38 | 84.38 | 0.5 | 3.75 | 6.06 | 27.25 | 0.06 |
| Nick Sirianni Prior (48 games) | 24.08 | 110.33 | 0.83 | 5.85 | 7.31 | 42.42 | 0.17 |
| Shane Steichen Prior (24 games) | 24.08 | 99.33 | 0.54 | 8.29 | 10.17 | 67.46 | 0.21 |
| Eagles RBs vs. New York Jets | 36 | 174 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 55 | 0 |
The Philadelphia Eagles running back room performed very well against the New York Jets this past Sunday, combining for 36 carries, 174 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, eight receptions, eight targets, and 55 receiving yards. On the season, this group has now totaled 279 carries (21.46 per game), 1346 rushing yards (103.54 per game), 11 rushing touchdowns (0.85 per game), 60 receptions (4.62 per game), 82 targets (6.31 per game), 422 receiving yards (32.46 per game), and one receiving touchdown (0.08 per game). At the start of the season, this was a group that was underperforming relative to what we've typically seen from their coaching staff, but they've seemed to right the ship in recent weeks to bring up the season averages to the same ballpark as head coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen's career averages. While this group may not have another game like the Jets game this season, the current season averages seem very sustainable for the final four games of the regular season.
Fantasy players this impacts: Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell, Jordan Howard, and Boston Scott
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