Sneaky play in New York: Robby Anderson
will try to make it three weeks in a row as a fantasy WR1.
Grab a Helmet
Brandin
Cooks @ ARI: The high-flying Rams have been in quite
a funk of late, tallying a mere 29 points in consecutive losses
to the Bears and Eagles. That’s fewer than they’ve scored in every
game but one this season (23 v. Denver in Week 6). Cooks’ numbers
have tailed off considerably as opponents have started to take away
the deep strikes which are his stock and trade and a staple of the
Los Angeles offense. Since that Monday night slugfest with the Chiefs,
in fact, he’s averaging fewer than 5 FPts/G (standard leagues).
That won’t cut it come championship week, but two things encourage
me here: 1) Sean McVay is really smart and will counterattack these
schematic ploys; and 2) Cooks notched 159 yards on 7 catches in
the first game v. Arizona. If Patrick Peterson shadowed him, it
sure didn’t work. Trust the wunderkind coach and start Cooks.
Robby
Anderson v. GB: Nobody will confuse the Jets offense
with a high-flying outfit, but Sam Darnold appears to be settling
in as the franchise man in Gotham. He still turns the ball over
too much—his 15 INTs tie for the league lead—but has started to
establish a real connection with New York’s most explosive receiver,
Anderson, the past two weeks. The targets were actually always there
(no fewer than five in every game since Week 6), but Anderson hadn’t
done much with them until he went off for 13.6 and then 15.6 points
(standard leagues) against Buffalo and Houston, respectively. Those
two teams are much better at shutting down opposing wideouts than
this weekend’s foe, Green Bay. The Packers have so far failed to
see much return on their heavy investment in the secondary. I like
Anderson this Sunday, especially with Quincy Enunwa trending toward
another DNP.
Michael
Thomas v. PIT: You wouldn’t think we’d have to mention
an auto-start asset like Thomas, especially with the type of season
he’d been having (15.2 FPts/G in standard leagues through Week 11).
Starting about a month ago, though, New Orleans’ superstar pass-grabber
started to look very average, statistically speaking. The targets
and ridiculous catch percentage were still there, but he simply
wasn’t scoring many points (5.6 FPts/G from Week 12 on). For that
matter, neither was New Orleans. Like the Rams, the Saints seemed
to be suffering a late-season power outage. There’s no way of knowing
whether that will continue in Week 16, but marquee matchups in the
Superdome tend to bring out the best this offense has to offer.
They dropped 45 on Los Angeles and 48 more on the defending SB champs,
so I have a hunch we’re in store for lotsa points this Sunday. Trust
Thomas.
Grab Some Wood
Tyrell
Williams v. BAL (Sat): The toast of tiny Turner, Oregon
missed out on the Williams touchdown party last Thursday night
in KC. While Mike, Damien, and even Darrel were scoring six-pointers,
Tyrell tallied a modest 71 yards on six receptions. To be fair,
Philip Rivers desperately underthrew him for a sure touchdown
early in the win over the Chiefs. Nevertheless, it’s disappointing
he wasn’t able to do more, especially when Keenan Allen, who typically
vacuums up the vast majority of Rivers’ targets, succumbed to
a hip injury. Mike Williams emphatically assumed the role of WR1
for Los Angeles (27.5 standard league points) and in a game that
very much mattered for playoff positioning. Tyrell, typically
a boom or bust candidate, looks like a distant third option with
Allen back in the fold this Saturday. Sit him down against arguably
the league’s best defense as he’s more likely to bust.
D.J.
Moore, Curtis
Samuel v. ATL: The drop-off from Cam Newton and his
wounded wing to the painfully inexperienced but healthy Taylor
Heinicke might not be as big as some think. The Panthers decided
to shut their franchise down this week in a move that surprised
nobody with two eyes who winced through the big guy’s Monday night
performance. If you missed it, here’s a recap: Cam couldn’t hit
the broad side of a barn. On comes the Old Dominion product—by
way of Minnesota, New England, and Houston—who helped shepherd
the Monarchs from FCS to FBS. Heinicke was productive at both
classifications thanks to above-average accuracy and athleticism,
but hasn’t played much in four professional seasons and is more
rhythm soft-tosser than needle-threading flame-thrower. That worries
me since he hasn’t played meaningful snaps with the current Carolina
receivers. Starting Christian McCaffrey is safe, but be careful
with other Panthers.
Dante
Pettis v. CHI: Pettis played for a hated rival of mine
in the Pac-12 (Washington’s Huskies) so it’s been
only mildly surprising to watch him emerge as a real weapon for
the 49ers the last month or so. “Mildly” because that’s
exactly what he was up in Seattle as a collegian, a weapon, but
surprising nonetheless because he sure didn’t start the
season on anyone’s fantasy radar. Pettis has only played
in eight games in this, his rookie season, but is averaging a
solid 9.3 FPts/G in standard leagues 12.3 in PPR formats. He’s
been especially stellar the last three weeks (14.6 and 19, respectively),
good for top five overall. Nobody predicted that, I’m guessing,
but Week 16 might be time to pump the brakes. The Monsters of
the Midway are coming to the Bay Area and could make things really
rough for the Niners’ collection of inexperienced playmakers.
Good luck, folks, and have a great holiday weekend!
