If all you did was roll out Colby’s
recommendations last week, you probably had a big smile on your
face Sunday and into Monday night. My Shot Caller stunt double flat-out
killed it, folks, starting with a bold Singletary endorsement in
the Sunday morning slot. The only thing missing from the rook’s
fantasy profile to date had been an abundance of opportunities,
which Colby acknowledged, but the Bills’ brain trust (and I feel
I can say that without air quotes this year) wisely gave him more
run against an overmatched Washington team. 23 touches, 140 yards,
one rushing TD, and 20 fantasy points later, the short but stout
FAU product had officially seized his opportunity. Frank
Gore isn’t going anywhere and Buffalo doesn’t play the team
from our nation’s capital every week, but he’s a smart RB2 play
with RB1 upside moving forward. Move forward with him.
Talk about seizing opportunities. Ryan Tannehill was given a second
chance in the Music City and he is absolutely running with it.
OK, not literally most of the time as that’s primarily his
backfield mate’s job, but you know what I mean. It’s
tempting to look at this pending matchup with the Chiefs, who
get Patrick Mahomes back, and think the Titans will need a whole
lot more Tanny than Henry to keep it close. I’m not so sure.
Indy suffocated that juggernaut KC attack back in Week 5 by essentially
playing keepaway (14:30 time of possession advantage) and if I’m
Mike Vrabel et al., I try to replicate that feat. Predicting game
script can be tricky, no more so than when the explosive Chiefs
are involved, but I think Henry will be a huge part of the Tennessee
game plan. Start him on Sunday.
Remember when Matt Nagy came over from KC and freshened up a moribund
Bears offense with Andy Reid concepts? I doubt Nagy even remembers
that freshness now. The personnel is largely the same as last year,
but Chicago is averaging almost 80 fewer yards/game in 2019 and
nearly a full yard per play. That may not seem like a lot on a per-play
basis, but all those lost yards add up over a game and season, which
explains why the Bears are this close to already being out of playoff
contention. Don’t blame Montgomery, though, one of the few new pieces
in the offense. He’s notched 20.7 and 19.6 points in back-to-back
weeks and now draws a Lions D yielding 4.7 rushing yards/carry.
That’s Miami Dolphins bad so expect Coach Nagy to keep it in Montgomery’s
hands and out of Mitch Trubisky’s.
I’m sure we can all agree there wasn’t a more surprising
Week 9 performance than Drake’s MNF showcase. Just three
days after being liberated from the Dolphins, he was lining up
next to Kyler Murray in Arizona’s backfield and squaring
off against one of the league’s elite stopper units. Result?
He straight gashed the Niners to the tune of 162 total yards on
19 touches and a score. Tampa’s defense isn’t as stingy
overall, but won’t take the Bama product lightly and is
still oddly efficient v. the run. The Bucs have surrendered only
12.4 FPts/G to opposing rock toters this season, good for third
overall behind New England and New Orleans. Oh, and did I mention
David Johnson says he’s “definitely playing”
this weekend? Drake won’t go away but this is likely a timeshare
so expecting an encore performance wouldn’t be wise. Sit
him.
Ballage appears to be the last man standing in Miami now that
his former teammate Drake plays for the Cardinals and Mark Walton
has been handed a four-game suspension. Don’t mistake opportunity
for fantasy viability in this case, however. There’s a reason
the former Sun Devil wasn’t even tagged as the starter after
Drake had been shipped off to the desert prior to Week 9. There’s
also a reason he’s never been trusted with even 10 carries
in a game this season. He’s averaging TWO yards per carry
on 35 totes, which would rank dead last amongst RBs (by a full
yard per carry) if he qualified. Guess it’s a good thing
he doesn’t have that many, yeah? Ballage said earlier this
week, “I don’t have nothing to prove.” Truer
words were never spoken. Keep an eye on two other Pac-12 alums,
Myles Gaskin and Patrick Laird.
It’s anybody’s guess how the Browns will incorporate
2017’s top rusher into an already inefficient offense, though
Freddie Kitchens says he’ll “definitely have a role.”
Coaches can be so helpful sometimes, can’t they? It’s
no surprise I’ve been getting trade offers including Nick Chubb all week, as owners now have to consider whether Cleveland’s
only reliable position player is about to take a usage hit. My
guess? He will, though that doesn’t necessarily mean Hunt’s
a worthy starter. Not yet, at least. He’s going to help
spell Chubb as the season grinds on and is definitely a more dynamic
pass-catchter. Plus, don’t the Browns pretty much need all
the help they can get at this point? I’m cautiously bullish
on Hunt the rest of the way, but until we see how Coach Kitchens
intends to utilize him, it’s best to hang back. Wait on
Mr. Hunt.
