Fantasy Index

Andy Richardson

A Day of Football

Javonte, Taylor among the injured

Another week, another several games of unusual disappointments (both players and teams), with a round of major injuries mixed in. Some slumbering stars stepped up, others got hurt. On to the recap.

Vikings versus Saints in London: Unbelievable game, which ended with a tying 61-yard field goal hitting off the upright and the crossbar before bouncing out. Alvin Kamara out, surprising some who didn't get him out of their lineup in time, but Mark Ingram also missed a chunk of the game due to an undisclosed injury, enabling Latavius Murray to score. I am not second-guessing my decision to start Ingram, who would have been fine but for the missed time. Although we got the not totally unexpected, just unwelcome, Taysom Hill touchdown too. Dalvin Cook played throughout but got vultured on two trips near the end zone by Alexander Mattison and Justin Jefferson on an endaround, frustrating. Big games for Jefferson and Adam Thielen (liked Thielen more than usual with his strong history against New Orleans). Andy Dalton was bad for a lot of this game but not markedly worse than Jameis at the end of the day; Chris Olave had a fine game (Jarvis Landry not so much).

Browns at Falcons: Another big game for Nick Chubb, and also for David Njoku. But the passing game did very little, with Jacoby Brissett's limitations showing up near the goal line, and Cleveland scoring less than it should have. Atlanta, seemingly borrowing from Chicago's playbook and not passing it much at all, leaned on three different running backs, two of whom scored. But the players people started (London, Pitts) had woeful games. I'm not sure what to say about Pitts beyond, it's not happening. Four games in he has one good game, and if his quarterback completes only 7 passes, he's not gonna add to that. Tough to see. Not just a Pitts thing in this one (nobody on the team caught more than 2 passes), but that's small comfort.

Bills at Ravens: This was all Ravens early, with J.K. Dobbins scoring 2 TDs, but mostly Buffalo late (with the Bills defense and offense taking over). Still, Ravens in position to go up late by kicking a short field goal in a 20-20 tie, but went for it, threw an end-zone interception, and then lost on a field goal. Wind and rain didn't help (coaches interviewed during the game said it wasn't an issue, but maybe they were just saying that), but some of it was just defenses doing a good job -- not surprising for Buffalo, more so for Baltimore. Poor day for the passing games (early pick by Allen, 2 picks by Jackson), with both quarterbacks salvaging their days by rushing for 70-plus. Devin Singletary lost a fumble but still got basically all the work. Justice Hill had another decent game as the No. 2.

Commanders at Cowboys: Carson Wentz and the Washington offense struggled throughout, hope no one started them. Jahan Dotson, at least, had a pretty sweet touchdown grab on a perfect throw. Maybe Wentz's lone pretty throw. For Dallas, another good game for CeeDee Lamb, Cooper Rush, all he does is win, and Michael Gallup caught a touchdown (just 1 other catch, but he worked out for if you started him and should be good going forward). Not much from either running game; Elliott is probably washed but Pollard simply isn't getting enough reliable touches as long as Zeke is around to pay off each week. Brett Maher cleaning up in fantasy leagues.

Seahawks at Lions: I'm legitimately mystified at just how bad this Lions Defense is. There is nothing special about Seattle's offense but they had receivers open all day and Rashaad Penny leaving tread marks all over the field. Only possible takeaway I have is to start everyone you can against Detroit, every week. Sure, I'll give Geno Smith some credit too. But really, terrible defense. For the Lions, a huge game by T.J. Hockenson, predictable with Detroit's top 2 wideouts hurt. Also a big game by Jamaal Williams, also predictable, hope you started these guys. Tyler Lockett also stringing good games together these days. Fun game to watch if you don't like defense or had pretty much anyone relevant starting. Josh Reynolds the successful pickup and spot start of the week.

Chargers at Texans: Austin Ekeler joins the season with a huge game, and the same for Justin Herbert and Mike Williams. With those guys eating (and Gerald Everett too), the fringe options (Josh Palmer, DeAndre Carter) were left out. But this game was pretty much all Chargers, making it impressive that Dameon Pierce had a big game, paying off the last two weeks after a concerning start. Nice game and touchdown for Brandin Cooks.

Titans at Colts: The Colts. Not sure what to say, except they're underachieving. This week it was Jonathan Taylor getting stuffed a lot, including a key lost fumble, and maybe suffering a high-ankle sprain, and Michael Pittman catching just 3 short passes. Since those were the two guys started everywhere, there's no sugar-coating it. Matt Ryan also had a costly lost fumble when Tennessee was in the process of building a lead, so although his final numbers were good (350-plus and 2 TDs), not a great game for him if you watched it. Couple of touchdowns for Mo Alie-Cox, which wasn't totally surprising -- in the sense that it was a different tight end than last week's star Jelani Woods -- knowing how the Colts use their tight ends. I wouldn't have started Woods this week and wouldn't start Alie-Cox next. Big game for Derrick Henry, nice to see. Treylon Burks also carted off, haven't seen an update yet.

Bears at Giants: There are an unusual number of teams right now that simply aren't passing the ball. A couple of weeks into the season you could say, eh, no preseason, teams still working things out. But it's Week 4, and there was almost no passing in this game. I live in New York, the weather wasn't bad here. The Bears don't pass, we know this, but the Giants didn't either. The two teams combined to complete 20 passes. If you can find someone to trade a decent player for Darnell Mooney off his shockingly serviceable game, now's the time. Khalil Herbert disappointed, in part because the Bears don't pass the ball, so if the running back doesn't score, he'll struggle for double digits. Another big game for Saquon Barkley. Giants under 100 passing yards, so the receivers weren't good.

Jaguars at Eagles: Weather was a factor, and I was here warning people off the receivers Sunday morning. Hopefully it steered some people off Christian Kirk and DeVonta Smith, though A.J. Brown was fine anyway, as was Dallas Goedert (he also dropped a touchdown at the goal line). Miles Sanders was great, Jaguars running backs and Trevor Lawrence not (and I'm pretty sure nobody started Jamal Agnew, catching 2 TDs with Zay Jones inactive). Philadelphia defense is really good; I believe the Lions are the only offense to do much of anything against it.

Jets at Steelers: Mitchell Trubisky struggled early, and was benched for Kenny Pickett. Pickett threw 3 interceptions, but one was a game-ending Hail Mary and one was on the receiver (bounced off Chase Claypool's hands). More negatively from my standpoint he called his own number twice at the goal line, hurting Najee Harris, and didn't target Harris in the passing game -- ouch. George Pickens had the big receiving game, so Pickett to Pickens will be a thing. Meanwhile, Zach Wilson played pretty well in getting the win, using all his different targets (six different players caught multiple passes, only Corey Davis had more than 3). Breece Hall twice as many carries as Michael Carter, so it's happened.

Cardinals at Panthers: Well, Baker Mayfield completed 9 passes for 81 yards and a score to Christian McCaffrey, which is what those with McCaffrey have been waiting for. Otherwise he was 14 of 27 for 116 yards with 2 interceptions. Quarterback controversy coming up? Lousy game, there's talk that Matt Rhule has lost the locker room (he had a quote this week suggesting that DJ Moore and the other wide receivers need to do a better job of getting open), and Carolina's not looking good. Arizona, meanwhile, had one of its better games -- not huge numbers, but good enough. The right guys (Marquise, Ertz) scored.

Patriots at Packers: Naturally, the tap-in Survivor Pool game of the week -- Aaron Rodgers against Brian Hoyer -- went to the final minute of Overtime before being decided. Green Bay could have won it in regulation, but Romeo Doubs (who otherwise had a good game, as did Allen Lazard) dropped a touchdown. New England, with poor field position at the end of regulation, went conservative and played for overtime. Might have worked out, but they didn't move the ball then, either, and lost. Competitive game though, with Bailey Zappe coming off the bench to nearly outduel Rodgers. But not quite.

Broncos at Raiders: When we get stuff wrong, we hear about it. So I am going to spend a minute talking about Josh Jacobs. Not only were we way, way higher on him than everyone else in August, it didn't even seem like that bold a pick. Everyone in the fantasy community, such as it is, thought the Raiders would be using a committee with Bolden, Abdullah and Zamir, and even a 5th or 6th round pick on Jacobs was too early. It was legit weird. I have him on every team and every time I took him I thought maybe I was taking him earlier than I needed to, or everyone else was chuckling. I didn't really understand it then, and don't now. Why the hate? Just because the Raiders didn't pick up a running back's fifth-year option? Anyway, Jacobs was the big reason the Raiders won this game, that and a bad fumble-6 by Melvin Gordon, his fourth fumble in four games. But Javonte Williams left with a significant knee injury, we'll find out today just how bad. Good game for Russell Wilson in defeat, throwing touchdowns to Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy. Was the defense and that costly fumble that disappointed.

Kansas City at Buccaneers: At some point Cris Collinsworth pointed out that when Kansas City is on its game, they're impossible to stop. That's how this one played out, helped somewhat by Rachaad White fumbling away the opening kickoff. But the Bucs, whose defense had played so well to this point, had no answer for Travis Kelce or pretty much anything Patrick Mahomes wanted to do. Chris Godwin proved healthy, Mike Evans was his typical amazing self, Brady (probably mostly on benches) did what he could. But there's no overcoming a quarterback as hot as Mahomes was last night.

Monday, Monday: Rams-49ers is one we saw plenty of last year, here we go again. I'm interested to see if Jimmy Garoppolo looks like he's going to win some games for this team or not, and if the Rams offensive line can protect Matthew Stafford. Plenty of star power on the field. I'm not a big believer in Garoppolo, so I'm going Rams 24, 49ers 17.

33 Reader Comments:

Dean Stewart

Seagoville, TX
2022-10-03T13:13:11Z
Yes you were right on Jacobs ty he was higher in our custom ranks but only by a few points I should've pulled the trigger

Craig Gray

Bemidji, MN
2022-10-03T13:40:11Z
I’m still trying to recover from my Allen Robinson pick, but should have listened about Jacobs. ?

Matt Funke

Olathe, KS
2022-10-03T13:45:32Z
Yes, Jacobs had a great game yesterday, but was averaging 10.7 pts going into yesterday in standard PPR.

Eric B

Seattle, WA
2022-10-03T13:56:48Z
Andy - your notes on Josh Jacobs perfectly mirror my experience. I got him at pick #80 in my redraft league and still thought I was the sucker (Ken Walker went ahead of him!). Not anymore. Kudos to the Index for the calls on Jacobs and Dameon Pierce.

Rich Nadler

Aurora, IL
2022-10-03T14:08:30Z
Assuming the Javonte Williams knee injury is serious who do they go to at RB? Could they possibly trust Melvin Gordon at this point or would they try Boone first? Could they be looking to sign Philip Lindsay off the Indy practice squad (which I understand would have to be after this weeks game against the same Indy team per NFL rules).

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-03T14:12:47Z
They really have to be apprehensive about putting Gordon on the field at this point. Four fumbles in four games is dreadful, and have factored significantly into both losses. But I think they'd give him another shot in the lineup, only leading with Boone if Gordon again fumbled. Lindsay is a guy they could look at, or perhaps some unemployed veteran. I've already seen people speculating about trades, but that doesn't seem as likely to me.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-03T15:16:06Z
Speaking of Lindsay, the Colts will probably elevate him this week, with Taylor (ankle) unlikely to play.

Dwight Dummer

Warren, OR
2022-10-03T15:31:30Z
Plus calls thus far on D. Pierce (on three of three of my PPR teams) and J. Jacobs (on none). Not feeling as good about Pittman (all three teams) or A. Robinson (was on one team since traded) or N. Hines (on two teams).
Staying away from, not considering Pitts in two redraft leagues was a good call by FI for the price folks were paying as well.

Dwight Dummer

Warren, OR
2022-10-03T15:36:05Z
Have to add that D. Harris ended up on two of my teams with later round picks and I believe FI was higher on him than most. He's been a good flex at a minimum so far

Bob Heaps

Portage, MI
2022-10-03T15:43:44Z
FFI was definitely higher on Jacobs and D. Harris then most. I picked Jacobs early in the 6th after considering him two rounds earlier and Harris in the 8th. If only I hadn't tried to get too cute by startng Khalil Herbert ahead of both this week.

Ben Hogevoll

Siletz, OR
2022-10-03T15:53:45Z
Dwight Drummer may consider Hines next week vs Den THUR. prime time if and a big IF Taylor sits due to ankle injury.Hines only has value as a handcuff.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-03T15:54:47Z
I honestly didn't mean to brag, I know we've had good and bad calls, as always. Jacobs just stands out as someone it was perplexing to me all August why no one (and by no one I mean not just no regular people but no fantasy professional types) liked the guy. Was just weird that people totally dismissed him putting up 1,200-plus scrimmage yards and 9 TDs in each of his first three seasons because of the presence of guys like Bolden, Abdullah and a fourth-round rookie.

Ben Hogevoll

Siletz, OR
2022-10-03T16:27:45Z
Scorigami alert!!The 48-45 final score between Seahawks and Lions is the first ever in NFL history.

Cody Hager

Portland, OR
2022-10-03T16:28:17Z
C'mon Andy. Let's be intellectually honest here. Aside from the point you mentioned about not picking up Jacobs 5th year option, they got a new coach who has a strong history of RBBC, played him in the first pre-season game with all the back-ups, they drafted Zamir White in the 4th round, and they were treating Ameer Abdulah in the pre-season as if he was going to be one of their star players by sitting him out with the likes of Adams and Carr. But you don't understand why people were low on Jacobs? This was the same rhetoric that Ian used when examining why fantasy players were selecting Meyers rounds earlier than Bourne. Listen, I don't mind strong takes but the dismissive statements of the other side of the argument just gets under my skin. Guess that's a me problem but still. Props to you for reading through the pre-season noise, but there were solid arguments to the counter. And as one reader already pointed out, he was RB30 going into yesterday's game so wouldn't take the victory lap too soon.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-03T16:48:59Z
What I'm saying is that on almost every player you've got people arguing both sides (50-50, 60-40, 70-30) of the issue -- why he'll be great, or why he won't be. Josh Jacobs in August seemed like a unique case to me of groupthink where no one believed there was any chance he'd be featured, even without any kind of statement to that effect by the team. Most everyone looked at everything that happened -- not picking up his fifth year option, starting him in the Hall of Fame game -- and used it to write the guy off. I don't give a damn about victory laps. I'm talking about a very productive, healthy player who the entire industry let drop into the 6th round of every draft (including money drafts) and universally scoffed at him being drafted even there. I didn't understand it then and still don't.

As for RB30...I'm not calling him a superstar. He could still end up getting hurt or whatever. I'm just looking at a player who was being drafted behind every other starter and some No. 2 running backs based on arguments that nearly everyone accepted as true. It's not something that happens very often. I'm not dismissing the other side of the argument. I just didn't and don't understand why it was such a landslide opinion. I'm not sure how much more honest I can be.

Craig Larimer

Portland, OR
2022-10-03T17:10:21Z
In my points no waivers redraft league where we play 2 qbs each week, I made a colossal draft mistake. I drafted Fields. Oh my. He’s been beyond terrible. 3 total TDs in 4 games. Putrid. And I could have had Goff or a few others who have been better than expected. Painful! Moral to the story? Avoid Bears offensive players if possible.

Stephen Paschall

Lone Tree, CO
2022-10-03T17:32:29Z
Javonte Williams gone for the year with torn ACL.

Robert Schule

Oakland Gardens, NY
2022-10-03T18:16:41Z
Absolutely sucks for Javonte. Arguably the most exciting up and coming RB in the league. It’s insane the Broncos still didn’t figure out a way to feature him more. I’m sure I’ll be heavily invested in him again next year hoping for the breakout just because of how talented this guy is.

Cody Hager

Portland, OR
2022-10-03T18:19:56Z
Thanks for the clarification. For me, it just depends on which Jacobs we get for the rest of the season. In the 6th round in redraft, I'm looking for RB2. But if this is an outlier game and Jacobs plays at RB30 or worse for the season, that's Round 8 territory. But it was very trendy during the summer to avoid what some people call the dead zone for RBs in rounds 4 through 6.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-03T19:26:47Z
The worst thing about the Javonte news is that apparently it was not just the ACL but multiple ligaments. Seemed like they had just made the decision to commit to him too.

Drew Paterson

Ferndale, WA
2022-10-03T19:35:33Z
First Elijah Mitchell and now Javonte gone from my RB room, at least I got Herbert on waivers, so I have to hope he carves out a role with the Bears, and that their offense improves, even after Montgomery returns. Even though this is a 4-player keeper league, I dropped Mitchell. Now I need to decide whether to hold onto Javonte - although at this point in the season, that roster spot is valuable.

Robert Kurek

Blacksburg, VA
2022-10-03T20:07:34Z
Andy - how do you see B Robinson in Washington? Their RBs did ok in Dallas yesterday. They seem to like Robinson when healthy.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-03T21:22:25Z
I liked him a lot in the preseason. They did too. When he’s healthy, I think he’ll be their lead back. But I don’t know exactly what week that will be. I like him as a bench stash.

Paul Desimone

Hayward, CA
2022-10-03T21:40:49Z
Drew, does your league have IR spots for injured players? If so, it would make sense to hang on to Williams. Likely you had to spend a quality draft pick to draft him. Not that that should be the main criteria, but none of us who have had Williams have yet gotten what we are looking for. At the very worst, holding on to Williams gives you a commodity that might be worth something in trade in 2023 if you hold him. Personally, I don't think we'll ever see that Javonte Williams in Denver, particularly if Nathaniel Hackett and company are still around this time next year.

Kyle Kintner

Carlsbad, CA
2022-10-03T23:59:27Z
Sad situation with Javonte. Really feel like we were looking at one of the leagues most dominate running backs and it’s unlikely he will get back to the potential he would have reached this year without the injury. Hoping for the best for him and his career.

Jon Schrempp

Coon Rapids, MN
2022-10-04T01:05:21Z
I'm kinda on the Cody Hager side of things (BUT I guess it all depends on the size and rules of your league too). Are you saying that after 3 weeks and 14 carries and 64 yards (as averages) was that J. Jacobs was undervalued in most drafts ?? And then BOOM he's good in week 4. Couldn't you say that about these guys and their Avg.'s for 3 weeks #1 (11 car / 47 yds) -- #2 (14 car / 60 yds) I realize you can make numbers look however you want, but I found those interesting concerning a draft. And as the word Fantasy projects, are you NOW thinking that 23+ carries and 120 yds should happen more frequently or once every 4 weeks ??

Jose Montana

Rosemead, CA
2022-10-04T01:42:28Z
No complaints here. 4-0 first in points

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-04T02:20:45Z
Definitely not saying Week 4 was typical production for Jacobs.

But the previous two weeks he had 20 and 18 touches and 81 and 97 total yards. Didn't have huge fantasy numbers because he didn't score, but even before this last game, he was getting the touches and workload you want out of a starting fantasy back. It was apparent before yesterday he should have been selected earlier in drafts, it just becomes easier for everyone to see when he also gets in the end zone and has a better fantasy day.

What's made that workload possible the last two games is that Bolden and Ameer Abdullah mostly played special teams. Which is what those guys have primarily done the last few years.

Robert Johnson

Pearland, TX
2022-10-04T02:41:01Z
Javonte's injury is in the range of 2 years for a full recovery

Drew Paterson

Ferndale, WA
2022-10-04T06:53:30Z
It's tough being a running back in the NFL. News on the severity of J. Williams knee injury does not sound good. Reminds me of Penny's knee injury, which occurred towards the end of his sophomore season and basically took a year and a half to rehab. Fortunately for him, as a 1st round draft pick, he maintained a positive attitude through years 3 and 4, and the Seahawks brought him back on a 1-year prove-it deal, now he's in a good position to get paid if he doesn't get re-injured. Williams might be in that same situation as he may not be right until year 4 of his rookie contract and the Broncos won't want to give him a long-term deal.

Dwight Dummer

Warren, OR
2022-10-04T13:52:22Z
Ben Hogevell...agree N. Hines but his preseason FI with Matt Ryan projection had me believing he could return closer to his flex consideration production of a couple years ago with Philip Rivers. Still holding him where I have him for closer to that possibility still (and Taylor getting dinged) but yes to this point he's not more than just a handcuff based on the first four weeks.

Cody Hager

Portland, OR
2022-10-04T14:24:51Z
You want your starting RB to be involved in the passing game. In Weeks 1 & 2, Jacobs only got 3% of the target share getting roughly 9 PPR per game. Not good and not worth a 6th round pick. Fantasy players were getting similar production many rounds later or just playing the waiver wire. But when Hunter Renfrow went down with a concussion, Jacobs target share rose to 14% in Week 3 and 20% in Week 4 resulting in 15 PPR in Week 3 and 35 PPR in Week 4. The real test is what does the offense look like when Renfrow comes back. Is this a permanent role change for Jacobs that he's an all purpose back or will they move him back to the positive game script TD dependent role we saw him play in the first two weeks? So it's not apparent to me until I see Jacobs role on the field with Renfrow.

Larry Zebko

West Bloomfield, MI
2022-10-04T18:31:18Z
Supplemental draft tomorrow and thinking of risking the first pick on Jameson Williams. Any thought's are welcome. Only free agents are G Wilson and Boyd, Parker...
Sign in to add a comment

Fantasy Index