Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. In this edition: Weighing 21-year-old Tee Higgins versus 32-year-old Antonio Brown. Deebo Samuel's hamstring injury. Can Chase Edmonds outperform Clyde Edwards-Helaire? And more.
Question 1
I have 2 Keeper league TD dependent questions: Which TE between Gronk and Trey Burton? Which WR between Tee Higgins or Antonio Brown?
Howie Fishman (Hermosa Beach, CA)
Higgins and Brown, I don’t think that’s even a discussion. Higgins is 21, and looking like he might be Cincinnati’s best wide receiver for the next half-dozen years. He looks like he might be another A.J. Green. The Bengals have successfully landed an up-and-coming quarterback, and Higgins looks like he’ll probably be his favorite receiver. Brown, on the other hand, is 32 and a ticking time bomb. The Steelers, Raiders and Patriots all decided they’d be better off without him. There’s been a host of off-field incidents, including an ongoing civil suit that includes allegations of sexual assault (additional NFL suspensions are possible). And the Bucs have three other wide receivers that they really like. How anybody could get to the point where they would be picking Brown over Higgins, I don’t see it. With Gronk and Burton, I could go either way. Gronk has been coming on recently (and that’s a powerful offense) but I have some concerns about the Bucs having so many other pass-catching options. Burton doesn’t have the same kind of resume and has had all kinds of injury issues, but it looks like he might be developing into a key weapon for Indianapolis. He’s caught 9 passes and a touchdown in his last two games. I was also intrigued to see him line up as a quarterback and run for a touchdown in their last game.
Question 2
I procrastinated in my standard PPR ESPN 10-team league. Is it crazy for me to offer CEH for Chase Edmonds?
Jeff Carter (Franklin, TN)
If we look at just the next month, I don’t think there’s any question that November Edmonds will put up better numbers than November Edwards-Helaire. With Kenyan Drake out, Edmonds will be playing essentially full-time, and I think he’s going to be a really good back – I think he’s better than Drake. Edwards-Helaire, on the other hand, is now sharing time with LeVeon Bell. So far the next month, I’m pretty sure Edmonds will be better in essentially every statistical category – touchdowns, rushing yards, receiving yards, catches. Trying to forecast what happens in December is more difficult. Most notably, will the Cardinals put Drake back in the starting lineup? Assuming he’s healthy, would they go to more of a committee approach. That can be debated. I think there’s something that can be said for taking the guy you think will be better right now.
Question 3
Thoughts on the outlook for Deebo Samuel for the remainder of the year?
Ryan Finnegan (Eden Prairie, MN)
He’s got a hamstring injury. Those are worrying. You can’t tough it out and play through a pulled hamstring. A muscle is like a fabric; when it’s torn, it simply doesn’t work. It takes time to heal, and there’s no rushing it. You come back too early, and there’s considerable risk of simply re-injuring it and having to start over. Not until Samuel sits out for a few weeks and then comes back and plays a few games can we start to get some confidence that the hamstring issue is probably solved. When healthy, he’s a good player. Once the ball is in his hands, he might be the most physical receiver in the league – he’s the best receiver in the league on end-around plays. I would like to see them do more with him as a traditional wide receiver – using him more on downfield routes.
Question 4
Curious your thoughts on Lazard. You’ve got him at #70. Seems awfully low with him coming back soon. Thinking of dropping Sterling Shepherd or DeVante Parker for Lazard (free agent pick up).
Rich Wiegard (Frisco, TX)
The rankings I’m doing are numerically driven. So when you have a guy who’s definitely going to miss a game or two, that adversely affects where he appears. At this point in the year, a game represents about 10 percent of what’s left in the season. So in our grading system, Lazard comes in behind a bunch of comparable receivers who are more likely to be available every week. Different fantasy GMs, of course, are looking for different things. If you’re 3-4 and in need a body right now at wide receiver, Lazard isn’t a great fit. If you’re 5-2 and have ample depth at the position, Lazard would be a more appealing option – a receiver who might give you team a nice boost late in November. I can’t speak to those issues. In general, Lazard to me looks like a receiver you could stash away in hopes of getting a decent fantasy starter (perhaps as early as Week 10). DeVante Parker is a good receiver and a No. 1 guy. I wouldn’t be thinking about releasing him to make room for Lazard. Shepard, maybe. In PPR scoring, Shepard could be a pretty decent option; he’s only played in two full games this year, and he’s caught 6 passes in both of them. I would think Shepard will average more catches than Lazard (with Lazard probably providing more touchdowns and big plays).
Question 5
What’s with the love affair between Pete Carroll and Ken Norton? Since Norton took over as defensive coordinator, Seattle has been consistently one of worst defensive units in NFL, especially against the pass. On any other NFL team Norton and the secondary coaches would have been fired last year. But here we are again worst defensive unit in football. High schoolers play better defense than Seattle. It is embarrassing and makes no sense. Pete is putting their friendship before the team and really to do so should get him fired as well. There is absolutely no excuses for Norton to still be the DC. What's going on with this Norton-Carroll love affair?
Cal Hoskison (Houston, TX)
I’m not ready to pin it all on Ken Norton. The Seahawks came into the season knowing they were going to have pass-rush problems; they had only 28 sacks last year. They signed Bruce Irvin, but he wasn’t going to help a ton and is now out for the year with a knee injury. They just traded for Carlos Dunlap, which makes a lot of sense. He’s 31 and had 9 sacks in 14 games last year. If Seattle can cobble together some semblance of a defense, it will be a Super Bowl contender. Right now it seems too badly flawed on that side of the ball to compete against teams like Green Bay and Tampa Bay. Seattle is 5-1, but three of the wins have been last-minute nail-biters against New England, Minnesota and Dallas (flawed teams that are a combined 5-14).
Question 6
What's your take on Cam Newton? Is he worth holding onto or should I cut bait? My other QB is Stafford but Jimmy G is available on the waiver wire.
Alex Konop (Northport, NY)
Newton has been pretty terrible recently. I wouldn’t be opposed to cutting him loose if there’s somebody available. But Jimmy Garoppolo hasn’t been great either. For Week 8, I would leave Newton on your bench and see what he does at Buffalo. Newton looked very good in Week 2 at Seattle, throwing for 397 yards. We could get into a deal where he’s running for 50-plus yards and a touchdown in a lot of weeks. In most fantasy formats, that kind of production tends to translate very favorably.
Question 7
What's your thought on Josh Jacobs ROS outlook in a PPR league? I feel underwhelmed by his production so far: 5th in rush attempts but RB14 in PPR, and his two big weeks have been aided by multiple touchdowns. There's also the concern of limited pass game work. Would you rather have him or Kareem Hunt moving forward (taking into account Chubb's return)?
Matthew Evans (Ontario, CA)
Jacobs isn’t a great pass catcher. He’s caught 2-3 passes five games in a row. That’s what he is, and I think we’ll continue to see Devontae Booker and Jalen Richard rotate in to help out in that regard. And as a runner, Jacobs isn’t a transcendent kind of talent. He’s fine; he’s a starting running back. But he shouldn’t have been selected in the first round. I’m not crazy about him. But I’m not at the point where I would even be considering dropping him below Kareem Hunt. After this week, Nick Chubb will be back, and then Hunt will be demoted back down into being more of a time-share guy. If we were walking into a draft today, I would definitely be selecting Jacobs before Hunt.
Question 8
DeAndre Swift or Antonio Brown, rest of season as a Flex. Not a PPR league. 6 points for TD (a little added extra for longer TD's). 1 point per 10 yards either rushing or receiving.
Rick Cwik (Lemont, IL)
I’m not a Brown fan. Talented guy, but massive off-field risk and the Bucs are well stocked with other pass catching options. Is Brown even one of the top 3 wide receivers on his own team? I can’t see him outperforming Chris Godwin or Mike Evans, and I think Scotty Miller is more than just an afterthought. Miller right now leads that team in receiving; against the Raiders on Sunday, he caught one touchdown and came up a yard short on another. Swift, meanwhile, seems to be taking charge of the backfield in Detroit. If we’re walking into a draft today, I would be selecting Swift long before I would be considering Brown.
Question 9
Thanks for all the hard work over the years. I hope your updated redrafter comes through for me. Standard scoring with superflex. I got edmonds, gurley, k. allen, and tannehill. I gave up e. elliott, tyreek hill, d.singletary, and d. jones. Not feeling so hot about it now. Thoughts?
SCOTT TINSMAN (Laona, WI)
Looks good to me. I definitely like Tannehill more than Daniel Jones. I’m not a Gurley fan, but I would definitely select him before Devin Singletary. Clear-cut edges on those guys. Weighing Allen vs. Hill is more difficult. Hill is consistently scoring touchdowns, but Allen is catching a ton of balls – without looking up the exact numbers, I would think Allen right now is the most heavily featured pass catcher in the league (piling up a ton of catches). And I like Edmonds right now a lot more than Elliott. One guy is a hungry back on the upswing on an emerging team. The other is a highly compensated star stuck in a completely dysfunctional dumpster fire. It would be natural for many players in Elliott’s situation, I think, to ease up and keep one eye on the 2021 season (when the Cowboys can perhaps reboot into a playoff contender).
Question 10
I am in a 12-team PPR league sitting in 8th place. Should I trade Hopkins and Stafford for Russell Wilson and Tyler Boyd?
Tom Clark (Suffern, NY)
According to my projections, I’ve got Wilson outscoring Stafford by almost 8 points per week. Hopkins is higher than Boyd on my board, but by only slightly more than 3 points per week. So the Wilson-Boyd combo projects to be about 5 points better than the Stafford-Hopkins tandem.
Question 11
Wanted to get your thoughts. I traded Melvin Gordon and a 7th round pick for Chase Claypool and a 9th round pick. This is a keeper league so I could keep Chase Claypool for a 16th round pick. I’m currently in a rebuilding phase for next year and would need to win out to even have a shot at the playoffs.
Chris Clay (Santa Monica, CA)
I’m on board with that. I would think Claypool might be one of the first 10 wide receivers drafted next year. If you’ve got the chance to secure him at the cost of a 16th-round choice, I would think that would be one of the best keeper values of any team in your league.
Question 12
Dynasty league. I have Dak as my QB2. Do you like dropping Dalton Schultz for Logan Thomas as my TE2 going forward? Hard to know if Schultz will be that much better when Dak is back in a year, or so.
Shaun Hawkins (Albany, GA)
Sounds good to me. With these guys, I would focus on what they’re doing right now. I’m not sure either would be much of a contender to still be on your team’s roster next September.