Barber topped 100 rushing yards last week
should have a positive game environment in Week 12.
Grab a Helmet
Peyton
Barber v. SF: A league mate of mine who’s been playing
Fitzmagic/Winston roulette all season joked he’d be better off
playing the Tampa signal caller who DOESN’T start in Week 12 than
the one who does. Ha! That’s three in-game QB swaps and counting
so far, two of which resulted in frantic comebacks and very serviceable
fantasy digits for the relief pitcher. Maybe Dirk Koetter et al
could make it easier on BOTH men by transferring a little from
their plates and onto Peyton Barber’s? After a painfully slow
start to the 2018 campaign (4 FPts/G through Week 4), Barber’s
made a mini-resurgence of late, averaging 10.3 PPG in his last
six contests. The floor is still pretty low—he only averages 13.5
carries/game—but the Bucs should be competitive at home vs. the
Niners. Rolling with Barber this Sunday could pay dividends.
Gus
Edwards v. OAK: I pride myself on knowing every conceivable
fantasy contributor (or at least knowing OF them), but Edwards
was purely a mystery man for me when I pored over last weekend’s
box scores. Gus who? And he rushed for how many yards? And he
was still out-touched and outgained by his QUARTERBACK??? In my
defense, Edwards is one of those rare NFL’ers who was only a bit
contributor at the collegiate level. He played behind Duke Johnson
and then Mark Walton at The U before shuffling off to NCAA bottom-feeder
Rutgers for his grad transfer season. Guess I need to brush up
on my Scarlet Knights football, huh? Edwards will benefit from
a dangerous backfield mate and a run-heavy game plan Sunday, maybe
even historically so. It’s a critical time of year to be trusting
a virtual unknown, but I’d start him over many other tried-and-true
options.
Josh
Adams v. NYG: Maybe the former Packers quarterback
should call the current Packers coach for running game inspiration.
It took Mike McCarthy too long to hand things over to Aaron Jones
and Doug Pedersen, similarly, seems to be hesitating on Adams.
Unlike the aforementioned Edwards, Adams wasn’t a college unknown
(1,500 total yards at Notre Dame in 2017) and only went undrafted
due to concerns about a surgically repaired foot. In three games
since assuming a larger role in the Philly offense, he’s flashing
the size/speed combo that made him such an intriguing pre-injury
prospect. The former Golden Domer is averaging an Aaron Jones-esque
7.0 yards/carry since Week 8 and, though not as sudden, is actually
faster. He ran a 4.48 40 at his ND Pro Day, a touch speedier than
Jones’ 4.56 at the combine. Did I mention he’s five inches taller
and 20 pounds heavier? Start Adams.
Grab a Gatorade
LeGarrette
Blount v. CHI (Thu): Kerryon Johnson is looking like
a sure scratch for the early Thanksgiving matchup in the Motor
City, making Blount a suddenly viable option. I should say SEEMINGLY
suddenly viable. Blount, in his ninth NFL season, has fully transitioned
to a short-yardage role and is averaging a pathetic 2.3 YPC. That’s
dead last amongst 49 qualified backs and the next closest, Jacksonville’s
Leonard Fournette, is a full 0.7 yards north in the rankings.
If that fact doesn’t dampen your enthusiasm for LGB, this surely
will: Chicago is surrendering only 12.9 FPts/G to opposing runners,
tops overall, and has only allowed a single one of them to reach
paydirt. That one was none other than Kerryon Johnson in Week
10, but Blount only chipped in with four yards on six carries
in that same Bears’ victory. Stick with turkey instead of Duck
(GO DUCKS!!!) in Week 12. LeSean
McCoy v. JAX: McCoy landed on this list just two weeks
ago, prompting a commenter to flame me for recommending you sit
an obviously underperforming player. Well, wouldn’t you know,
but Shady promptly went out and posted his best totals of the
season in the Bills’ shocking 41-10 throttling of the hapless
Jets. Shame on both of us, I guess. Coming off the bye week, it
appears Buffalo will have Josh Allen back under center, which
could be unwelcome news for those GMs encouraged by McCoy’s recent
explosion. In games the rookie QB has started, Buffalo’s meal
ticket has averaged a mere 7.7 points per. He scored 23.8 in that
single Matt Barkley start. Not much is going right for Jacksonville
these days, but the Jags are stoning opposing ball carriers and
could make life miserable for McCoy and his “trash” QB (Google
it). I’m Doubling down this Sunday.
Derrick
Henry @ HOU (Mon): Henry’s another repeat grabber of
Gatorades who, despite a recent renaissance, seems to be headed
back toward oblivion. Tennessee’s bruiser averaged a very
useful 13.2 FPts/G in Weeks 7, 9, and 10 (the Titans had a Week
8 bye), mostly on the strength of four trips to the end zone.
That all changed in Week 11 after Marcus Mariota suffered yet
another injury, making the red zone seem like a million miles
away at Lucas Oil Stadium. An earlier-than-usual Thanksgiving
week deadline means we still don’t have much clarity on
Mariota, but the Tennessee powers-that-be have been pretty conservative
with him this year and he was limited in early practices. The
extra day of rest helps and you could certainly wait it out on
Henry, but if Blaine Gabbert gets the nod, I suspect you’ll
be sorry. Be safe and sit Henry down Monday night.
