Aaron Rodgers became the latest
player to leave with a season-ending/significant injury after breaking
his collarbone on Sunday against the Vikings, joining J.J. Watt,
Odell Beckham Jr., and David Johnson on a growing list of elite
players on the shelf for 2017.
Rodgers’ injury was extra painful for me in that I own
Rodgers, Nelson, and Adams shares in multiple season-long leagues,
and Rodgers happens to be my favorite non-49er player in the NFL.
One could say that I have a bit of a man-crush on Rodgers and
his absence will hurt not only my fantasy teams but also my heart.
Rodgers’ injury is just another example of why DFS is a
better game than season-long leagues. Losing Rodgers likely cost
owners a chance to cash this past week, but at least you can wipe
the slate clean and go after a whole new lineup Week 7.
The following lineup review is from a winning cash game ticket
on DraftKings.
Quarterback: Carson
Palmer Fantasy Points: 21.92
Grade: B+
Palmer was not the best play of the week, but at a bargain price
of $6,100, he was a great value going against a Tampa Bay defense
that cannot stop a college team right now. Palmer failed to reach
the 300-yard mark, but his three passing touchdowns, including
one to my stacked WR Larry Fitzgerald, proved to be a winning
move for me this week.
Now that the Cardinals have a viable ground game with the addition
of Adrian Peterson, Palmer should be able to utilize the play
action pass more and challenge defenses downfield with Nelson,
Brown, and Brown.
In my preview piece I wrote about how successful Buck Allen has
been this year as the primary pass-catching back and the closing
RB for the Ravens in games in which Baltimore took an early lead.
I don’t usually like targeting game script dependent running backs
like Allen or Mike Gillislee, but in this situation, I was convinced
that Baltimore would handle the Bears offense and present Joe
Flacco and the Ravens offense with a big second-half lead to milk.
This assumption proved to be dreadfully wrong as the Bears controlled
the game and the clock with 51 runs, while Allen was relegated
to 49 yards rushing and only three catches. Going forward, I will
not allow myself to use a decent amount of salary on an RB with
such game script-dependent value.
My other back might be even more disappointing considering the
fact that I used $7,400 on Devonta Freeman vs. the Dolphins. In
a season where predicting the outcome of games is an exercise
in futility, I cannot figure out how Miami managed to go into
Atlanta and beat the Falcons after failing to score a point against
the Saints and only one garbage TD against the Jets.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the game is the turnaround
the Miami defense has made in the past two weeks. I anticipated
a blowout win for the Falcons, with Freeman and Tevin Coleman
each posting double-digit games. Instead, Coleman found the end
zone while Freeman left me with just 9.9 fantasy points.
As is usually the case in cash games, I placed my focus on volume
receivers with advantageous matchups instead of touchdown dependent
WR’s who need to score a TD to have value. I high floor
with a possible high ceiling is the goal in cash games, and Fitzgerald
and home against the 31st ranked Bucs defense and Golden Tate
against New Orleans seemed like excellent targets.
With 17 receptions, 234 yards, and two receiving TDs between
them, Tate and Fitz carried my team to victory.
The idea on Randall Cobb was with Jordy Nelson or Devante Adams
shadowed by Xavier Rhodes, Rodgers would target his volume receiver
underneath. Of course, the early injury to Rodgers killed this
plan, but luckily the other two guys hit, so I walked away with
my target of 60 or more fantasy points.
Tight End: Cameron
Brate Fantasy Points: 19.6
Grade: A
Cameron Brate was the no-brainer pick of the week at tight end
and should have been used in all formats. The Buccaneer tight
end has a touchdown reception in four of his last five games,
yet the salary makers at DraftKings have only increased his salary
$200 since Week 3. If he continues to be undervalued by DK, Brate
will be a mainstay in my lineups as a tight end with a hill floor
and ceiling.
As Christopher Harris of the Harris Football Podcast likes to
say, I bought into the coach speak of the echo chamber on Crowder
and it burned me. Redskin head coach Jay Gruden told reporters
that the team wants to get Crowder more involved in the offense,
and evidently, by more involved, Gruden meant three catches for
15 yards and a measly 11 rushing yards.
It wasn’t just coach speak that looked attractive about
Crowder; I also liked the fact that he had a bye week to get healthy
and the Redskins appeared to have a great home matchup against
the 49ers. Needless to say, Crowder will not be in any of my lineups
anytime soon and he will need to have multiple weeks of solid
production to garner any consideration.
D/ST: Falcons Fantasy Points: 3
Grade: F
In a week where it seemed as if every single defense and special
teams unit posted a touchdown of some sort, I chose the wrong
one with the Falcons hosting the Dolphins. Perhaps I read too
much into Jay Cutler’s struggles or maybe my prediction of a similar
performance to what the Falcons did against the Packers at home
Week 2 was in order. Either way, I was wrong, but at least it
didn’t hurt me from winning some money in this cash game.
