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| Wednesday, October 14, 2020 |
| We didn't get much news from around the NFL Tuesday — maybe it's because there was an actual game on the schedule? — but we'll start off today's newsletter with two of the biggest notes we did get: Le'Veon Bell's release and Dalvin Cook's groin injury. |
| Cook had an MRI on the groin injury he suffered Sunday, and while it is not considered a serious issue, he seems likely to sit out Week 6 against the Falcons — the Vikings' Week 7 bye makes that a bit easier of a calculation, because he could get two weeks to heal up for the second half of the season while only missing one game. Alexander Mattison should be started in absolutely every league if Cook is out because he should be a top-five back with this opportunity. |
| As for what to make of Bell's release, how the Jets plan on replacing him, and the five best landing spots for his Fantasy value, read on. We've also got Heath Cumming's Week 6 Position Previews and a recap of everything you need to know from Tuesday's matchup between the Bills and Titans. |
| More Week 6 help: QB Preview | RB Preview | WR Preview | TE Preview | Biggest Questions | Waivers | Cut List | Trade Values | Winners and Losers | Believe It or Not |
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| Bell released: Best landing spots |
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| The Bell era in New York ended sooner than expected, and not soon enough. Bell butted heads with Adam Gase from pretty much the word go, and Gase never could figure out the right way to use Bell. Whoever his next coach is will have a better idea — that's been the constant of Gase's career as a head coach. We'll get to my top five landing spots for Bell, but first, here's what it means for the Jets: Not much! |
| We just saw what they looked like without Bell: Frank Gore got 49 carries in three games without Bell, rushing for a whopping 150 yards with no touchdowns and La'Mical Perine added 15 carries for 56 yards, while they combined for four catches. It's just hard to see how anyone has much value in this offense, especially with Sam Darnold (shoulder) out. If you want to speculate on someone, at least Perine has some theoretical upside. We saw what Gore does with an expanded workload, and there is absolutely nothing to get excited about. He's nothing more than an extremely low-end, desperation play. |
| Bears — Bell is a more dynamic version of David Montgomery, and he would surely see plenty of looks in the passing game if he ended up here. This is the ideal combination of need and fit. Chargers — Bell could fill the Austin Ekeler role as long as Ekeler is out, and then could slide into the Melvin Gordon role when Ekeler returns. Seahawks — The Seahawks can never have enough backs, and with more targets going to their running backs this season, Bell fills a need. As good as Chris Carson is, he's had trouble staying healthy and is mostly being limited to under 60% of the team's snaps most weeks, so there's an opportunity here. Chiefs — The Chiefs aren't afraid to make a splash, and while RB hardly looks like a position of need, it didn't really look like one when they spent a first-round pick on Clyde Edwards-Helaire. This wouldn't be to supplant Edwards-Helaire, but it would be a heck of an insurance option. Bell would have league-winning upside if he got a significant role here. Cardinals — The Cardinals moved on from their disappointing incumbent around midseason in 2019, and they have no investment in Kenyan Drake beyond 2020. There's precedent here, and Bell's abilities as a pass catcher would make for an ideal fit. |
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| Week 6 QB Preview |
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| The absence of Dak Prescott looms over everything at QB right now. Can you trust Andy Dalton in his absence? He has the weapons and coaching to be a top-12 option, and the upcoming schedule (vs. ARI, @WAS, @PHI) is pretty enticing. |
| Numbers to know: 6.2 — Opposing QBs are averaging 6.2 yards per attempt against the Rams and Colts, compared to a league average of 7.4. Joe Burrow gets the Colts in Week 6, while the 49ers (and either Jimmy Garoppolo or C.J. Beathard) get the Rams, and none are worth using against these matchups in a one-QB league. Matchup that matters: Teddy Bridgewater vs. CHI — Bridgewater is coming off a solid run, but the Bears are allowing just 12.2 Fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. If you've been streaming Bridgewater, you'll want to hang on to him because he has the Saints in Week 7 and Falcons in Week 8, but it'll be hard to trust him this week. |
| Consensus Expert Rankings |
| Patrick Mahomes Josh Allen Kyler Murray Aaron Rodgers Lamar Jackson Deshaun Watson Matthew Stafford Ben Roethlisberger Gardner Minshew Ryan Fitzpatrick Tom Brady Jared Goff |
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Week 6 RB Preview
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| With Josh Jacobs, Alvin Kamara, Chris Carson, Joshua Kelley and Justin Jackson are on bye this week, so the RB group is even shallower than usual, and there was no can't miss RB add on waivers. That means you may have to rely on PPR specialists like James White or Nyheim Hines this week, as ugly as that sounds. |
| Injuries: Dalvin Cook (groin) — Likely to miss one week, with the Vikings bye on the way in Week 7. Alexander Mattison will be a must-start option in Cook's absence … Christian McCaffrey (ankle) — Eligible to return from IR, but he's still awaiting clearance to return from his ankle injury and seems like a long shot for Week 6 … Leonard Fournette (ankle) — Was available as an emergency fill-in for Week 5, and should be back for Week 6. But what will his role look like? It'll be hard to trust him after watching Ronald Jones put together consecutive 100-yard games in his absence. Matchup that matters: David Montgomery @CAR — The Panthers are allowing the most points to opposing running backs of any team in the league. The ghost of Todd Gurley just torched them for his first 100-yard game in nearly two seasons. Montgomery has a hugely valuable role in Chicago's offense, and he'll take advantage of this matchup. |
| Consensus Expert Rankings |
| Ezekiel Elliott Mike Davis Aaron Jones Alexander Mattison Kareem Hunt Derrick Henry James Conner James Robinson Clyde Edwards-Helaire Miles Sanders Jonathan Taylor Devin Singletary Joe Mixon Todd Gurley David Montgomery Myles Gaskin Raheem Mostert David Johnson Ronald Jones Antonio Gibson Kenyan Drake Melvin Gordon Devonta Freeman Le'Veon Bell Darrell Henderson |
| Week 6 WR Preview |
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| Even with injuries and bye weeks, there are more viable starting wide receivers than spots in most leagues, and that isn't necessarily a good thing. Because, while it's always nice to have more options than spots, No. 26 in Fantasy points per game (Tyler Boyd, 14.9) and No. 44 (Marquise Brown, 12.0) are separated by fewer than three points, and a whopping 61 players are averaging double figures. That makes it awfully hard to actually choose from those last few starting spots. |
| Injuries: D.J. Chark (ankle) — We didn't really get any kind of update on Chark on Tuesday, so we'll have to watch practice reports, beginning Wednesday. If he can't play, Laviska Shenault becomes a viable starting option, with Keelan Cole available as a flex play if needed … Diontae Johnson (back) Johnson has gotten pretty beat up so far this season, derailing what could have been a breakout campaign. However, the hope is this injury won't cost him time, so he could be back in Week 6 …. Sammy Watkins (hamstring) — This injury will likely cost Watkins at least a week, and could make Mecole Hardman a nice high-upside flier in Week 6 against the Bills … A.J. Green (hamstring) — This might be your excuse to let go Green, who hasn't looked good even before this injury. Matchup that matters: JuJu Smith-Schuster vs. CLE — First, it was Diontae Johnson earning No. 1 WR targets over Smith-Schuster. In Week 5, it was Chase Claypool. The one constant has been Smith-Schuster being used more like a role player. If he can't get loose against the Browns, who allow the second-most Fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers, when can you trust him? |
| Consensus Expert Ranking |
| DeAndre Hopkins Davante Adams Tyreek Hill Allen Robinson Calvin Ridley Stefon Diggs Adam Thielen Mike Evans Kenny Golladay Robby Anderson Terry McLaurin Jamison Crowder Will Fuller Robert Woods Cooper Kupp Amari Cooper Odell Beckham Tyler Boyd DeVante Parker CeeDee Lamb Darius Slayton A.J. Brown D.J. Moore Marquise Brown |
| Week 6 TE Preview |
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| There are five tight ends you can feel confident about starting in Week 6: George Kittle, Travis Kelce, Jonnu Smith, Darren Waller and Mark Andrews. And it'll be hard to sit Robert Tonyan, and I still believe in Zach Ertz. After that? It's a free-for-all. Throw a 12-sided dice to see who is going to score a touchdown this week. |
| Injuries: Noah Fant (ankle) — He wouldn't have been able to play in Week 5, which makes Week 6 seem like something of a long shot … Dawson Knox (calf) — Left Tuesday's game with the injury and could push Tyler Kroft into a larger role … Jordan Akins (concussion) — Darren Fells saw a bigger role with Akins out, but neither is more than a desperation start. Matchup that matters: Evan Engram vs. WAS — Engram is supposed to be one of those tight ends you can trust, but this Giants offense is a mess and he's been used almost exclusively on short area routes. I still believe in the talent, and I'll have him in my lineup for this great matchup but … I don't feel great about it. |
| Consensus Expert Rankings |
| Travis Kelce Mark Andrews George Kittle Jonnu Smith T.J. Hockenson Mike Gesicki Evan Engram Robert Tonyan Zach Ertz Dalton Schultz Hayden Hurst Eric Ebron |
| TNF Recap: Titans 42, Bills 16 |
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| This looked more like the 2019 version of Josh Allen, though if the bad version of Allen still scores nearly 20 Fantasy points, you'll take it. |
| Winner: A.J. Brown. I was a bit worried about how Brown would fare returning from what proved to be a pretty tricky bone bruise, so it was nice to see him hit the ground running without much practice time. Brown showed as a rookie he has the skills to be one of the best receivers in football, so it would have been a shame to see his season derailed by injuries. I'm starting him with confidence as a No. 2 WR moving forward. Loser: Devin Singletary. When a player in a timeshare gets an extended opportunity to have the full role to themselves, you want them to take full advantage of that opportunity. After his 11-carry, 25-yard showing Tuesday, Singletary has 152 rushing yards on 42 carries (3.62 yards per carry) with 10 catches for 79 yards on 11 targets in three games with Zack Moss sidelined by a toe injury, which is … fine. Singletary certainly won't lose his job with that showing. However, putting up 13.03 Fantasy points per game in PPR leagues without Moss is hardly promising, given that Singletary averaged nearly a 90% snap share without Moss, compared to below 60% in the first two games. Singletary didn't help himself in this stretch. What you might have missed: Jonnu Smith ranks third among all tight ends in PPR points despite playing just four games so far — he passed Mark Andrews with his second touchdown Tuesday. But should it have been a touchdown? Tannehill sure looked like he was past the line of scrimmage on the fourth quarter throw to Smith. Replay confirmed the score, but … look, it probably shouldn't have counted. If you lost because of that Smith touchdown, you belong in the Bad Beat Hall of Fame. Not to take anything away from Smith: He should be viewed as a top 10 tight end, for sure, moving forward, and possibly even more than that. |
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