Fantasy Football

Christian Kirk spent Week 17 on the reserve/COVID-19 list. This closed out a pedestrian season for the third year receiver. He surpassed 100 yards just once this season (Week 9), and had nine games with 50 receiving yards or less. He saw a Slot Rate of only 11.4-percent this year, a third of his 2019 usage. A potential Larry Fitzgerald retirement may help the Cardinals move Kirk back inside more.

With Hunter Henry on the reserve/COVID-19 list for the final two weeks of the season, XFL standout Donald Parham was handed increased opportunity. Logging Snap Shares of 84.9-percent and 57.6-percent in Weeks 16 and 17, The 6-8, 240-pound XFL standout produced a serviceable five receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown. With Henry set to test free agency in 2021, the 23-year-old Parham makes for a decent bench stash.

With Jamaal Williams out and Aaron Jones hindered by a hip issue, A.J. Dillon got his chance to show what he’s capable of. He saw a season high 58.1-percent Snap Share and rushed 21 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns in a Week 16 win against the Titans. With Williams and Jones scheduled for free agency this offseason, Dillon becomes an intriguing dynasty asset moving towards the NFL playoffs and offseason.

With Clyde Edwards-Helaire shelved due to a leg and hip injury, veteran Le’Veon Bell was not the answer for the Kansas City Chiefs running game. Bell has been an underwhelming addition to the Chiefs roster, topping out at 64 yards (Week 15) and 53.2-percent of snaps (Week 13). He has scored just one touchdown. He slides eight spots to move down from RB33 to RB41.

Welcome to the Tier 1 receiver group, Stefon Diggs. He, Davante Adams, and Tyreek Hill are the only receivers to average 20-plus PPR fantasy points per game in 2020. Every other receiver listed banked at least 16-plus PPR fantasy points.

Christian McCaffrey was good when he played, but he only played three games. He’s still the top fantasy back for us. Many an offseason debate will question if Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara, or Derrick Henry should be ranked No. 2. Each back averaged 20-plus PPR fantasy points per game. After that, insert your preference here.

There was much skepticism surrounding Josh Allen and the Bills offense coming into 2020. He finished the season as fantasy football’s QB1. The run-first approach many predicted resulted in the team ranking top-15 in pass attempts per game, and Allen ranked No. 7 among qualified quarterbacks with 547 pass attempts and No. 2 with 84 Red Zone Attempts. Doesn’t sound too run-heavy after all.

It became abundantly clear over the course of the season that it didn’t really matter what quarterback you selected this year. It only mattered if they could run. Jalen Hurts dropped into starting lineups in the home stretch and was the QB3 over the final three weeks of the season, accounting for 238 rushing yards and a rushing score to go along with 847 passing yards and five scores through the air. He would’ve been the QB23 over the same period without those ever-important rushing numbers.

Tony Pollard made good on his shot at a lead role following Ezekiel Elliott’s surprise inactive designation in Week 15. Playing 92.9-percent of the snaps versus the 49ers, Pollard rushed a dozen times for 132 total yards and two touchdowns, going six of nine in the passing game. He was the fantasy RB1 on the week. He gained 22.81 Lifetime Value points to rise from RB37 to RB27 on the dynasty rankings.

With his ankle injury nagging and with high postseason hopes, the Saints opted to place Michael Thomas on injured reserve heading into Week 15. Obviously, this ends his availability for dynasty leagues in 2020. Hopefully a return to form in the post season can help to rejuvenate his dynasty stock. For now, the soon to be 28-year old is among the biggest losers Lifetime Value points, slipping from WR8 to WR11 on the rankings .

Jalen Hurts is a rare high-floor, high-ceiling fantasy asset. The matchup is exploitable this week, too. Up against a Cowboys defense allowing the ninth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, including a three-touchdown performance by Nick Mullens last week, and ranking as the 11th-worst pass DVOA, Hurts is in what #fantasyfootball Twitter calls a smash spot. Cowboys-Eagles have the fifth-highest implied point total of the week as well.

Darnell Mooney has scored in consecutive games, totaling at least a 73.0-percent Snap Share and 27 routes run in each outing. Mooney’s Target Rate last week was 18.5-percent as well. The Bears average 40.7 (No. 8) Team Pass Plays per Game and face off against the Jaguars this week — a defense allowing the ninth-most PPR fantasy points to opposing receivers and ranking as the league’s worst pass DVOA.

Last week, with Rudolph sidelined, Irv Smith set new season-highs with an 88.9-percent Snap Share and 35 routes run. The Snap Share was also the second-highest mark of his two-year career. The former second-round selection out of Alabama is beginning to become a weekly fringe-TE1 option and this development shouldn’t be the least bit surprising.

On the year, Chris Godwin does not have a single game with 100 receiving yards or even 100 Air Yards. With the additions of Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown to this team, Godwin has simply not been able to draw targets in the face of steeper competition for looks. He is one of the hardest players to sit this week, but the numbers simply don’t add up to him being a good fantasy play.

Will Fuller led the league in Production Premium in his 11 games played. He was also top-5 in Expected Points Added and Fantasy Points per Target, more evidence of this stellar pairing with Deshaun Watson. Pretty good numbers for a player often pigeon-holed as a pure deep threat in the DeAndre Hopkins era. Fuller’s reinvention into an all-purpose player in 2020 certainly boosted his dynasty market value.

Couple Jameis Winston’s resume of fantasy success with comments this week from Sean Payton that he is “going to have the opportunity to start the minute Drew Brees leaves,” and you’ve got an intriguing buy-low opportunity a-brewing. For the cost of acquiring Winston, and with how long established QBs stick around in this league, he’s worth a speculative offer at the very least.

Jalen Hurts completed 24 of 44 passes for 338 yards and three scores, also recording 11 carries for 63 yards and another touchdown on the ground in the explosive matchup of Oklahoma QBs. Kyler Murray outdueled him, but Hurts stamped his mark as a franchise player with his furious comeback attempt in a back and forth game. Carson Wentz is a goner.

Bills Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll has been among the best in the league this year, leaning on Josh Allen’s dual strengths and fitting the scheme to the player as opposed to the inverse. Allen is seventh in pass attempts and top-10 in red zone attempts on what was considered a run-heavy team. It’s the ideal plan for a player who gets you net-positive results the more touches he gets, and the Bills are Super Bowl contenders because of it.

Todd Gurley’s phone isn’t the only thing falling into the toilet this week. His dynasty stock has also dropped 17.58 Lifetime Value points and five spots, moving outside the Top 30 to RB34 on the dynasty rankings. Recently landing on the injury report with a knee injury and forced to sit out in Week 12, Gurley hasn’t looked close to 100-percent. Here’s to hoping that he can clean it up and get back to scoring touchdowns.

On the season, Jonathan Taylor sits second in rushing yards for rookies behind James Robinson, but his receiving metrics have been equally impressive, if not more. He leads all qualified RBs with 9.2 Yards Per Reception and a 93.9-percent Catch Rate. Taylor is No. 12 at the position and fourth among rookie RBs with 286 receiving yards through Week 14. He gained 9.97 Lifetime Value points to move up four spots to RB4 on the dynasty rankings.