Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. In this edition: Is Justin Forsett a late-season sleeper? Is it time to pull the plug on Jerick McKinnon? And what happened to Ryan Fitzpatrick?
Question 1
Where do you see Justin Forsett ranked for the remainder of season now that he is reunited with Kubiak? In the rankings, what RBs is he similar too?
ANDREW DAMIANI (Westfield, IN)
I think he’s one of the top 10 backup running backs. That’s setting aside third-down types like Rex Burkhead and Chris Thompson. Looking at just true No. 2 tailbacks, I think Tevin Coleman and Kenneth Dixon are the top options. After that, I’ve got Forsett in the next tier of backs, which includes Mike Gillislee, Alfred Morris, Tim Hightower, Paul Perkins, Jacquizz Rodgers and Derrick Henry. This might seem odd, with Forsett having struggled last year and been released by three different teams this year – Baltimore twice and then the Lions. He’s a 31-year-old who weighs only 195 pounds and doesn’t have much speed. He’s very much just a guy. But Forsett knows this offense. When Gary Kubiak was the offensive coordinator in Baltimore in 2014, Forsett ran for 1,266 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry. And Denver has a tailback problem. Devontae Booker will be a very good running back someday, but right now he’s pressing. He’s gone five games in a row without averaging better than 3.3 yards per carry. The easy excuse is to blame that on the offensive line, but Kapri Bibbs came in last week and started ripping off runs. Had Bibbs not suffered a high-ankle sprain in that game, he might be starting this week. Kubiak says Forsett looks good in practice, and that the plan is for him to split snaps. I expect the veteran will get at least a third of the playing time at tailback this week, and if Booker doesn’t pick it up, I suppose there’s a real chance Forsett will lead this team in rushing in two or three of the remaining games.
Question 2
Looking for release candidates on my roster. What is your assessment of Jerick McKinnon in dynasty terms? For this year I'd drop him in a second.
MARTIN DONNELLY (Elmhurst, IL)
He has the athletic ability. At times he looks like the heir apparent (and I doubt Adrian Peterson will be back next year). He scored a 68-yard touchdown late last year. He’s put together a couple of decent games this year, running for 85 yards on 18 carries against the Giants and 41 yards on 9 attempts against Dallas. (Both of those games were in prime time; maybe what the Vikings need to do is arrange to have more games on Monday and Thursday nights.) But too often McKinnon has fallen short. He doesn’t catch the ball as well as you would expect. He’s averaging only 3.1 yards per carry this year. I understand that the offensive line is terrible, but the Vikings at times have chosen to use Matt Asiata as their primary tailback, with McKinnon as just a change-of-pace guy. McKinnon is completing his third season, and at this point I doubt that he’ll ever develop into a starting running back – a player that a team is going into a season with as its No. 1 runner.
Question 3
How could Fitzmagic turn to Fitztragic in just one offseason ... and then have all the blame fall on his shoulders? I'd rather blame the Jets front office, who apparently failed at trying to take a page from John Elway's playbook while trying to lowball the guy who had just set team records the prior season. It's clear to me that the front office completely blew up the team’s chemistry while low-balling Fitzpatrick, keeping him out of training camp and most of the preseason ... costing an offense valuable reps and killing all momentum from the previous year ... and then as if this wasn't enough they went even further to crippled the offense by asking their 10-year All-Pro left tackle to take a pay cut ... leading to an abrupt retirement ... great move again. Why hasn't anyone talked about this mess of a front office? Instead they seen to heap praise on them saying that they were right not to have invested in Fitzpatrick in the first place? As far as fantasy goes I will be avoiding all Jets in the near future.
GARY DETRICK (Carlsbad, NM)
I don’t see a front-office problem. They were backed into a corner. On the one hand, Fitzpatrick had a great season. But at the same time, they knew he wasn’t actually that good, and that they didn’t want him taking up too much cap space. I can’t blame them for that. And with D’Brickashaw Ferguson, I him as similar to Josh Sitton and Jamie Collins. All of those players were considered to be very good at their position, but in each case, the team looked closely at the on-field production and decided they weren’t. Hard to fault any of those front offices – they know those players better than anyone else. If Ferguson was an elite left tackle – even one of the top 20 in the league – some other team would be paying him a lot of money right now.
Question 4
Made it into the playoffs as a wild card (8-5 record for this league which is non-PPR). My WRs are: Donte Moncrief, Sammy Watkins, Allen Robinson, Cole Beasley and Will Fuller. I currently have Donte Moncrief and Will Fuller in at WR. Moncrief's got the hot hand (six-game scoring streak, Luck is playing well, and HOU-IND is a crucial divisional game). That's in part why I am leaning towards Fuller, too -- crucial divisional game where I think Houston will go all-out to win. You guys have Beasley ranked higher than Fuller for reasons I can understand -- Giants will focus on Zeke and Dez, leaving the short routes available to Beasley and Witten, which is exactly how the first game unfolded. Because this is a non-PPR league, I am reluctant to put in Beasley over Fuller, but am willing to hear your assessment. Allen Robinson has been so utterly inconsistent and infuriating that I can't put my playoff game on his shoulders. Plus the Vikings D. Sammy Watkins has the highest ceiling, but can I really trust him as my starter? He did get 9 targets last week but he had a terrible conversion rate -- just three catches. It's win-or-go-home time!
Andrew Napoli (Springfield, VA)
To me, Moncrief is definitely playing. Put him down in ink. With the other spot, you can make a case for any of the four guys. They all have their plusses and minuses. I spent substantial time looking at these four guys, coming to the conclusion that they should be ranked Beasley-Fuller-Robinson-Watkins. Not a huge difference between the four. So at this point, I am willing to put Beasley out there and live with the consequences. Keep in mind that with the other three options all being good players, there’s probably about a 70 percent chance one of them will finish with better numbers. That’s the game we play. You can’t bet yourself up on those decisions, which often come down to whether a player can get two feet down in the end zone on the potential touchdown. You can chase your tail for three days heading into the game, but you can’t correctly forecast that. I’m just getting ready to make final adjustments to the projections now. Keep in mind that with two of your options (Fuller, Robinson) you don’t have to worry about weather potentially taking a big bite out of their production.
Question 5
Luckily, I was able to get a bye in week 14 and am looking at the waivers to plan for week 15. I'm carrying 3 tight ends -- Rudolph, Ebron and Witten and want to drop one to pickup Miami's defense playing against the Jets. I also have KC, which I don't want to drop. Who of those TEs is droppable? At first glance I thought Witten.
Bill Petilli (Harrison, NY)
That makes sense. I think you’re fine at tight end with Rudolph and Ebron. With Witten, I think his value goes down after the Cowboys have clinched (and he might not be better than those guys anyway). The way Kansas City’s defense keeps scoring touchdowns, however, it would be tough to sit them down (even for a defense with a seemingly great matchup).
Question 6
Some lineup help if you would. I'm in the first-playoff round in my points-only league, and have to make QB and RB decisions. Based on points allowed by the opposing defenses I'm starting Jonathan Stewart and Matt Barkley (all I've got at reserve QB) over Ezekiel Elliot and Dak Prescott (passing TDs worth the same as rushing TDs). Sounds funny I know, but again, points only, and the Giants D has been pretty good at limiting scores. Your thoughts please.
Philip Haines (Seattle, WA)
I play matchups more than most. I am very willing to use a lesser player in a better situation. But how are we getting to the point where we’re using Matt Barkley rather than Dak Prescott? Barkley had one good game, throwing for 316 yards and 3 TDs against Tennessee. I’m not ready to call him a competent quarterback, and I don’t think the matchup this week is particularly good. The Lions just held Drew Brees without a touchdown pass, and they allowed only 5 TD passes in their previous five games. That included holding Kirk Cousins to one touchdown (another quarterback who’s way better than Barkley). Prescott, on the other hand, has put up 23 combined touchdowns in his last 10 games – multiple touchdowns in all but one of those games. The running back decision is a little more interesting. Stewart has been playing well, punching in 7 TDs in his last seven games. The Chargers have allowed 16 rushing touchdowns (one short of most in the league). Elliott’s matchup isn’t as appealing (the Giants have allowed only 9 rushing touchdowns). But Elliott has played well enough that I think he’s kind of earned that spot. He’s scored 13 touchdowns.
Question 7
First round bye this week. For Week 15, which two of the following #3 WR's looks best to you? K Britt (At Sea), D Inman (vs Oak), S Smith (vs Phl), S Shepard (vs Det), M Floyd (vs NO), T Ginn (at Wash) R Cobb (at Chi), T Lockett (vs LA). Yardage, TD, 1/2 ppr. Gratzie.
john smulowitz (Harveys Lake, PA)
If I were picking right now, it would be Cobb, with Inman and Smith as the alternates. I think we can rule out Kenny Britt; he’s got great matchups on both sides of Week 15, but I wouldn’t have any interest in using him against the Seahawks.