RADIO
It was a wild Week 3. I feel like I have said that hundreds of times since Monday night ended but it’s the truth and I feel like I need to say it more just to believe all the craziness. Most of us should just put last week out of mind and let’s get ready for Week 4.
We have a lot of young players who will be stepping into the limelight soon with Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen getting ready to start for their teams. Kerryon Johnson had the first 100-yard rushing performance for the Lions since 2013. Sony Michel is looking towards a larger role as well. There are enough articles out there stating the obvious, so let’s look at some other players who also will see a shift in value soon.
Before we get into the players for this week, let's break it down first. #TrendingNow is all about a player’s current value and whether it is #TrendingUp or #TrendingDown focusing both points on the long-term outlook of the player. So, if a guy had a huge first week, but he’s not listed here, either I didn’t have enough room, or I haven’t jumped on his long-term bandwagon as of yet. Enough of the small talk, let’s get to it!
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#TrendingUp
Aaron Jones - RB, GB
After serving a two-game suspension to start the 2018 season, Aaron Jones was ready to return and build on a 2017 that was successful while he was healthy. That is the key word though, healthy. After he went down with an injury last season, Jamaal Williams stepped in and never let go of the job. The tables have slightly turned this time however and it is now Jones who is looking to take the job.
Right now, Williams is only averaging 3.8 yards per carry, which is up slightly from last season, but he hasn’t looked nearly as explosive. For that reason, Jones is coming for Williams job. Jones is a much more explosive player and that’s what the Packers need from the position. Jones walked back onto the field last week and grabbed 29% of the touches (the same as Williams) and averaged 6.7 yards per touch. The game script led to more touches for Ty Montgomery, but Jones will see a larger workload each week. This will be his job soon.
Dallas Goedert - TE, PHI
The Philadelphia Eagles celebrated the return of Carson Wentz in Week 3 with a 20-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Wentz being back under center was supposed to bring an upgrade to everyone on offense, but there was one surprise player this week who was most excited to see Wentz back.
Dallas Goedert had a huge day, hauling in seven catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Goedert leads the team in receptions and was second to Zach Ertz in targets. It was difficult to imagine two tight ends making an impact in this offense with some of the weapons they have at wide receiver and at running back, but they may be able to. This is a big deal to watch due to the depth at tight end this year. The future continues to look bright, but if Goedert can carve out a big role now, you will want to jump on him sooner rather than later.
#TrendingDown
Rashaad Penny - RB, SEA
As I already mentioned, Week 3 brought several surprises for all of us. One of the biggest surprises for me was the disappearing act that was Rashaad Penny. In Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys, Penny only saw 8% of the touches for the Seattle Seahawks while Chris Carson saw his touch share balloon to 92% while also putting together 124 total yards on 34 touches. This was shocking based on the week before.
Penny had 53% of the touches in Week 2 compared to only 32% for Carson. When you invest a first-round pick in a running back, you typically try to get him on the field as much as possible. It seemed like the Seahawks were moving in that direction for Week 2 but did a complete change of direction. The matchup against the Cowboys was tough. The Cowboys were able to shut down Christian McCaffrey and Saqoun Barkley the first two weeks of the season but as soon as the Seahawks were able to put them in a negative game script, they let Carson loose. At this point, it appears the Seahawks have lost confidence in Penny for the time being and have given the lead role to Carson for the foreseeable future. If you own Penny, you can’t do anything except hope for an opportunity.
Duke Johnson - RB, CLE
We knew heading into 2018 that the Cleveland Browns backfield was going to be crowded with talent. The newly acquired Carlos Hyde figured to be given the first shot at taking the job and he hasn’t let go. Coming off a career year that pegged him as the RB11 in PPR leagues, it would seem crazy to think the Cleveland Browns would just forget about Duke Johnson. That seems to be what has happened though.
So far this season, Johnson has only seen an 18% touch share. The reasoning behind such a low touch share doesn’t make much sense either and Johnson has averaged 4.5 yards per touch, a full yard more than Hyde. We need to keep an eye on the change the offense may experience with Mayfield taking over. Will having Mayfield starting at quarterback be good for Johnson or has Todd Haley completely left Johnson out of the game plan?
