FFB Week 9: Twelve Takeaways

This might be my personal flu game. 

There’s some bad news to address right off the jump. I have self-diagnosed myself with a mild case of influenza. 

In the endless pursuit of delivering expert fantasy advice to you, my loyal readers, I'm proud to announce that I'm pushing through it. I'm ignoring the river of sweat that's running down my spine and into the crevasse beneath it, I’m getting by with 2% clearance in my nasal passages, and I'm managing the productive Marlboro cough that's causing me soreness in my intercostal region. I'm pushing through it. 

We’re halfway through the NFL regular season and now feels like an appropriate time to remind you: Savor it. Even the shitty Thursday night games will be ones you’re longing for in 3 months when the weather is bleak and the sports are sparse. As a very wise country boy once said: “These’re some good times, so take a good look around, you may not know it now, but you’re gonna miss this.” -Trace Adkins

1. Saquon Barkley pulled off one of the most insane moves I've ever seen in a live game.

The athleticism required for this to actually work is stupid. I'm closer to being personally offended that he’s able to physically pull this off. He's literally doing backwards box jumps over NFL defenders while I'm pulling muscles shitting. We are not the same. 

I'd be remiss if we ignored the fact that that spin move was NASTY and executed to perfection. Love a good spin move. I'm so glad he's healthy and doing fun shit again, can you imagine if he was still withering away as a New York Giant? 

Roughly two quarters after Saquon teabagged a defender, DeVonta Smith made this circus snag and threw his hat into the ring for the “Catch of the Year” ESPY (is there such a thing?). 

Another win in the books for the Birds as they continue to catch the jet stream and soar ever higher despite having a meatball sub for a head coach. 

Special shoutout to the Kelly Greens, the most beautiful uniform set known to man.

Saquon is holding steady at RB3 after a third 30+ fantasy point performance on the season. We're in the midst of a resurgent season for running backs and Saquon is giving fantasy owners 20.9 FPPG, instrumental in the Eagles’ success. Jalen Hurts is QB6 but within 3 points of being QB3 - needless to say, he's playing at a high level averaging 22.6 FPPG. If AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith can stay healthy, the Eagles remain a zesty offense with plenty in the way of top-15 fantasy offerings. 

2. Patrick Mahomes is just straight-up good at winning. 

On Monday night against the Bucs, he was damn near perfect. Specifically on 3rd downs, going 11-for-13 for 126 yards, 10 first downs, and 3 TDs. The Bucs defense did everything right but just couldn't stop the guy and get off the field. 

Maybe someone will find their nuts against the Chiefs this season. Not going for the kill after scoring with 0:27 left and all the momentum was a dire mistake by Todd Bowles and he let the Chiefs off the hook. Even running the risk of giving the ball to Mahomes with the chance to win was the kiss of death. Baker knew as soon as they lost the coin flip that the game was over. 

Mahomes is not like most; he welcomes those moments with open arms and feeds off of them, getting stronger the more pressure there is. 

I'll give Mahomes his flowers after 9 weeks of fantasy slander. He's a delight to watch and appears to be allergic to losing. This isn't new, but it's no less impressive every time he does it. 

He also broke 20 fantasy points for the first time in almost a full calendar year scoring 24.54, good enough for QB4 on the week. I'm still not going to great lengths to acquire shares of Mahomes, and it took overtime on Monday night for him to get over the hump, but you could do worse. Maybe DeAndre Hopkins really was what he needed to become fantasy-relevant again?  

3. Jaylen Waddle had an improbable, comical stat line.

He had 2 catches for -4 yards and a touchdown after this play that went for -24 yards. You know when little kids are playing basketball for the first time and they sometimes get confused about which goal to shoot on? The parents are all on the sideline screaming "THE OTHER WAY!" but the kids just don't quite get it yet? That's what this play reminded me of.

Tua coming back has been an undeniable boost for the Dolphins offense, but they're still without a top-15 fantasy asset (De'Von Achane is RB16) heading into week 10. This is especially egregious when you remember that Tyreek was widely considered to be the WR1 preseason and currently resides at WR41, and he's been healthy all year - talk about an all-time fantasy bust. 

Despite their plummeting rankings and the struggles at quarterback, if Tua's in the picture then this offense is still capable of putting up top-10 fantasy numbers. Achane has been good coming out of the bye (RB1 with 44.8 fantasy points over the last two games), and when it's all said and done, we're talking about Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. They will get loose, especially Tyreek. It's been a slog so far, but he'll break out of it and a massive second half of the season would pay dividends for fantasy owners that are feeling betrayed.

4. The Colts benching Anthony Richardson looks dumber than ever. 

Let me start by saying that popping off yawns and looking outwardly tired on the sideline isn't advisable for a guy that just got benched for taking himself out of the game because he was tired. In his defense, the Colts scored zero offensive touchdowns, so it was boring, but some self-awareness would be good. 

Message received, lesson learned: just start Anthony Richardson and quit being stupid. 

If their plan was to start Joe Flacco, catch the Texans, and maybe make the playoffs, then that plan can be scrapped. Whatever uptick in passing or offensive production they were hoping for fell flat. You made your point, the offense sucked ass with Flacco and the experiment is over. 

With Richardson, there’s an insufficient sample size to conclude that he’s not the guy and they need to move on. He's started 10 games in his career. Throwing in the towel on him for good over one bone-headed mistake and a forgettable start to this season is shortsighted, especially when the backup is no better and you drafted him 4th overall two years ago. 

5. We got Bountygate Part 2 taking place in NOLA, but this time it’s friendly fire. 

🎵 Allllllll the Saints receivers are on the IR toniiiight🎵

We as fantasy owners must protect Alvin Kamara at all costs. He's RB3, having a fabulous season, but he's in an unsafe environment. 

Saints players are dropping like flies and Derek Carr is getting his receivers killed this year with hospital ball after hospital ball. Chris Olave left the game after he was knocked unconscious over the middle, Rashid Shaheed is on IR after a torn meniscus, and the guy that was supposed to replace them, Bub Means, has landed on IR as well. Here's Chris Olave's brother's take on it:

Then there's Michael Thomas, who had some thoughts after Olave went down.

I just imagine Michael Thomas sitting in a mansion somewhere, living lavishly off his career earnings, live-tweeting the game and roasting Derek Carr into smithereens. 

He's not totally wrong, because Dennis Allen was fired as if that’s the magical cure-all for the Saints’ problems. That's seven straight losses for the Saints and I’ll just leave this stat here for your own interpretation:

6. Jared Goff has completed his last 30 straight passes to Amon-Ra St. Brown. 

Get a load of this.

Goff hasn't thrown an incompletion to his ARSB since week 3. The odds of that happening are roughly 1 in 780,000! 

Here's St. Brown doin' a little headstand plank action after scoring AGAIN this past week, his sixth consecutive game with a touchdown catch.

On the backs of Goff, ARSB, and Jahmyr Gibbs - who has separated himself from David Montgomery a bit over the last 3 games - the Lions have won 6 straight and have overtaken the Vikings (who started 6-0) to lead the NFC North. 

Gibbs is on fire, all the way up to RB4 and has done no worse than 9.1 fantasy points in a game all season. This isn't to say that Montgomery doesn't carry value, he's still RB12 in standard leagues averaging 13.6 FPPG, but Gibbs is the real deal.

7. Puka Nacua is busting this year for fantasy owners.

Besides being perpetually questionable, he got ejected from Sunday’s game for landing a right hook six feet away from a referee.

There’s no more potent self-own than to throw a punch at someone - who is shielded by a football helmet and facemask, mind you - mere inches away from a referee that's watching the whole thing. Automatic ejection, and fantasy owners everywhere are HATING their Puka redraft picks right now. 

8. The Cowboys are dead.

Couldn't have said it better myself, Dak. 

As a little extra salt in the wound, Dak is expected to miss several weeks with a hamstring injury and their only good player, CeeDee Lamb is working through a sprained AC joint. 

As far as fantasy goes, CeeDee Lamb is WR5. Hard to ask for much more out of him and he's delivered on his preseason ADP, picking up where he left off last year. The uncertainty owners are faced with now is whether or not Cooper Rush can get him the ball to keep that elite fantasy value afloat. 

Hopefully trading for Jonathan Mingo doesn't water down CeeDee Lamb's target share (LOL).

9. The Falcons have fully deployed Bijan and it's a sight to behold. 

I think they're learning. 

Here are some stats to digest: In the 5 games spanning from week 2 to week 6, Bijan didn't have more than 19 total touches. He was good, even scoring 2 touchdowns in week 6 en route to 25.5 fantasy points, but it still felt like there was something more there. 

Since then, in weeks 7 through 9, he's averaging 24 touches and 22.8 FPPG in PPR leagues. 

He's gone over 100 total yards in the last 4 games, he's RB1 in that span, and the Falcons are finally using him how we'd envisioned.

10. It's nice to know that Justin Jefferson could buy me and all my earthly possessions just with the precious gems implanted on his teeth.

 WR2 on the year, absolutely dominant, iced out of his mind. Everybody loves JJettas. 

11. Rookie QB update: Jayden still rolling, Caleb might stink, Drake Maye Magic

Does Caleb Williams stink? Many are asking.

I happen to think his situation isn't quite what we thought it was. Ryan Poles committed to him in the form of Keenan Allen and DJ Moore, which is good, but he forgot one very important component: the offensive line. He's gotten banged up a bit and he's still learning to throw passes on time and with anticipation. It's been a tough start, some of the metrics are discouraging, and the team is seemingly turning on Matt Eberflus before our eyes, but all is not lost. 

His film is not fun to watch, but from a fantasy standpoint, he's averaging 15 points a game and had a two week stretch where he scored 23.6 and 29.6 leading up to Chicago's bye week. He's currently QB21 and it's in there, the skillset is special, but there's gonna have to be some development and environmental tweaks to make things easier on him.  

Jayden Daniels, on the other hand, is revitalizing the Commanders franchise. They won again on Sunday, beating the Giants to move to 7-2. Jayden Daniels is QB3 on the year, averaging 20.3 FFPG and making everyone around him better. The connection Daniels has made with Terry McLaurin (WR7) has been heartwarming and McLaurin can finally enjoy catching passes from a competent quarterback.

Drake Maye is another product of a bad team, but he's showing flashes. He's been QB9 since becoming the starter in week 6, scoring a solid 17.9 FPPG, and showing off the mobility that goes under the radar at times.

It's a full rebuild for the Patriots, so next year should be a more reliable taste of what he has to offer, but if he's able to produce without much going on around him then the future is bright.  

12. Hell yes.

BONUS: Jason Kelce slamming that phone rocked and that punk kid deserved worse.

Why would anyone mess with him as he's walking around carrying a 12-pack of beer minding his own business? I know he had to issue an apology because he works for ESPN now, but I know he didn't mean it and regrets no part of that exchange.

WEEK 10 WIN THE WAIVER WIRE sponsored by Olive Garden:

Thank you to our new sponsor, Olive Garden, for believing in us here at the Fantasy Football Boys Fantasy Football Department. 

"When you're here, you're family™"
Pasta Noods

Be advised... the injuries don't stop. 

  • Braelon Allen - It's a little thin at RB on the waiver wire, but Allen is still an important handcuff to Breece Hall.
  • Ray Davis - He's a big play waiting to happen in a good offense. If James Cook misses time he's next up.  
  • Tyler Allgeier - The Falcons love him in the red zone, still a touchdown/injury dependent pickup.
  • Khalil Herbert - He's the new RB2 in Cincy behind Chase Brown.
  • Isaac Guerendo - If CMC isn't back and Jordan Mason's shoulder isn't a full go, then he's a good rental for another week or so.
  • Cedric Tillman - Jameis giveth and Jameis taketh away (3 picks, it was bad) but Tillman still caught a touchdown in garbage time this past week. He's the Browns' WR1 and if he's still around, grab him.
  •  Xavier Legette - He had a wrist injury that held him out briefly in last week's game, but he's caught a touchdown in 3 of the last 4 games and has a nose for the endzone.
  • Quentin Johnston - The breakout is imminent, WR1 QJ 2024. He's back from injury and last week was a career-high 118 yards and a TD.
  • Mike Williams - He's found a new home in Pitssburgh and assumes the WR2ish role behind George Pickens.
  • Nick Westbrook-Ikinhe - The Titans WR1, which is a very risky play in and of itself, but he's scored in 4 straight games.
  • Jalen McMillan - Baker is one of two quarterbacks to be >200 fantasy points at this point in the season (the other being Lamar Jackson), and there are literally no other receivers for the Bucs. Everyone's hurt! He should have a fairly prominent role until Mike Evans comes back. 
Get out and win the waiver wire. Thanks for reading, now I'll go take some more Dayquil. 

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