Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. In this edition: Josh McDaniels' receiver-friendly offense. Trading away stars to build for next year. Benching Trevor Lawrence. And more.
Question 1
It’s such a favorable matchup this week for the Raider WRs. Would you start Jakobi Meyers over any of the following three – Olave, Ridley, Lamb?
DON FRANKS (Sparks, NV)
When I was looking at the Cowboys-49ers game, I was surprised how much passing production San Francisco has allowed. Puka Nacua caught 15 passes against them, and the Cardinals had some success moving it. So I would be leery of sitting down Lamb. He caught 10 passes in that playoff game at Levi’s in January, and the 49ers were playing a lot better at that time. But I sure like Jakobi Meyers (pictured). I like the structure of that offense, with everything tending to flow through those two wide receivers. They don’t use their tight ends much, and they don’t use many formations with extra receivers. It’s like it’s 1986 again. Using PPR scoring 69 percent of the Raiders’ passing production has gone to Davante Adams and Meyers, the 2nd-highest portion share in the league, behind only the A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith pair in Philadelphia. And that’s with Meyers missing a game.
| MOST PRODUCTIVE RECEIVING DUOS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Top 2 pass catchers | Players | Team | Pct |
| Philadelphia | A.Brown-D.Smith | 51-698-4 | 88-907-5 | 69.4% |
| Las Vegas | Adams-Meyers | 51-596-5 | 88-866-5 | 68.7% |
| LA Rams | Nacua-Atwell | 61-771-2 | 103-1155-3 | 63.5% |
| Buffalo | Diggs-G.Davis | 43-619-7 | 101-1012-9 | 57.3% |
| Cincinnati | Chase-Higgins | 41-413-2 | 87-664-2 | 57.0% |
| Arizona | Brown-Wilson | 35-476-4 | 87-777-4 | 56.5% |
| LA Chargers | Allen-Williams | 54-683-4 | 104-1076-8 | 56.4% |
| Minnesota | Jefferson-Hockenson | 58-746-5 | 108-1149-11 | 56.3% |
| Chicago | D.Moore-Kmet | 37-490-4 | 79-745-7 | 56.3% |
| NY Jets | Wilson-Lazard | 31-394-3 | 72-629-4 | 55.6% |
| Houston | Collins-Dell | 38-695-5 | 95-1125-7 | 55.1% |
| Tampa Bay | Evans-Godwin | 41-592-3 | 87-858-7 | 55.0% |
| Baltimore | Flowers-Andrews | 38-404-3 | 78-735-4 | 54.9% |
| Detroit | Brown-LaPorta | 48-573-3 | 91-999-6 | 54.3% |
| San Francisco | Aiyuk-Samuel | 34-567-3 | 86-845-5 | 54.2% |
| Green Bay | Doubs-Reed | 32-427-5 | 74-825-8 | 51.2% |
| New England | Henry-Bourne | 33-351-4 | 92-791-2 | 50.3% |
| Tennessee | Hopkins-Ikhine | 30-350-2 | 68-676-3 | 50.1% |
| Seattle | Metcalf-Lockett | 35-425-4 | 81-980-5 | 48.6% |
| Jacksonville | Kirk-Engram | 49-489-1 | 99-917-4 | 48.4% |
| Atlanta | Robinson-London | 30-260-3 | 74-625-3 | 47.9% |
| Carolina | Thielen-Marshall | 43-401-2 | 101-749-4 | 47.6% |
| Dallas | Lamb-Ferguson | 40-456-2 | 99-875-4 | 46.4% |
| Cleveland | Cooper-E.Moore | 35-407-1 | 84-690-4 | 46.2% |
| Pittsburgh | Pickens-Austin | 28-406-2 | 80-737-4 | 45.4% |
| Miami | T.Hill-Berrios | 41-616-5 | 99-1337-10 | 45.3% |
| New Orleans | Olave-M.Thomas | 45-525-0 | 97-907-5 | 44.8% |
| Indianapolis | Pittman-Downs | 43-403-1 | 87-826-5 | 44.7% |
| Washington | McLaurin-Samuel | 38-390-1 | 94-805-4 | 41.8% |
| Denver | Sutton-Mims | 29-458-4 | 89-951-9 | 41.5% |
| NY Giants | Waller-Slayton | 26-285-0 | 92-632-2 | 32.6% |
| Kansas City | Kelce-Rice | 30-295-3 | 95-1024-8 | 31.6% |
Question 2
I'm in a HPPR keeper league in which you can keep 2 players and get them 2 rounds earlier than they were drafted this season (for next year). For example, Kyren Williams was drafted in the 13th round. If I had him, I could keep him as an 11th round pick next year. Due to having an awful team this year, I'm considering trading Herbert and Kelce for players who were drafted very late or picked up off waivers who project to be high draft picks next year. Williams certainly being one option. For context the rest of my current team is (Najee, Mattison, Kirk, Watson, London and Warren. What other names would you look at? At a quick glance, I could get Jerome Ford (13th round next year), DeVon Achane (5th round), Puka (10th round), Tank Dell (10th round), Stroud (10th round), Love (10th round). Others? Just trying to get the most bang for my buck going into next year while still being semi-competitive this year (I'd ride Purdy at QB if I trade Herbert). If I trade Kelce I'd have to go to waivers and grab someone like Henry.
Rich Wiegard (Frisco, TX)
Wait a minute. Kelce will be this year’s most productive tight end. Herbert might be the No. 1 quarterback. And you’re ready to run up the white flag because you got off to a slow start? I would be more inclined to go the Tomlin route, making roster corrections and working my way back into contention. You need to let these guys put up some of the numbers you were expecting when you drafted them. Kansas City is about to play a four-game stretch against Broncos-Chargers-Broncos-Dolphins. Kelce might score 8 TDs in those games. I would have zero interest in trading those guys for players like Jerome Ford, Jordan Love and Tank Dell, who may or may not have much value a year from now.
Question 3
In near last place and needing to make a shakeup at QB. I have been starting Trevor Lawrence, I have Baker Mayfield on the bench. Looking at Sam Howell for short-term gains so who would you drop? Lawrence or Mayfield?
George Davis (Conroe, TX)
I expect Howell will put up top-5 numbers this week. He looked good at times against Philadelphia, and the Bears have a defense that’s been pretty awful. Three of the quarterbacks who’ve started against Chicago have thrown 3 TDs. Baker Mayfield finished with 317 yards and a touchdown in Week 2, and he really should have had multiple touchdowns. It’s a bad defense. And Howell comes with the added bonus of being a willing and able scrambler around the end zone. He scored 11 touchdowns on his own his final year at North Carolina. I would hand the keys to Howell for Week 5, and I would play the long game with the bench spot (keeping Lawrence and releasing Mayfield).
Question 4
In TD-dependent dynasty league. I have George Pickens in a woeful offense. Would you replace him with one of these options on better throwing teams: Jameson Williams, Josh Palmer, Rashee Rice, Marvin Mims?
Howie Fishman (Hermosa Beach, CA)
No. I think Pickens is special. I would stick with him and wait for the Steelers to turn things around. At some point that will happen. Either Matt Canada will get it done, or he’ll be fired and his replacement will. Last year Pittsburgh ranked next-to-last in scoring in the first half of the season but moved up to 16th the rest of the way. Whoever’s calling the plays, Pickens will still be unbelievably talented.
Question 5
The Packers coach said Aaron Jones was on a pitch count coming back from his hamstring injury. Is this a common thing for players? When Cooper Kupp comes back to you expect that to happen? I own both Kupp and Nacua. Would you try to trade one or both if you owned them?
Brian Boyd (Maple Grove, MN)
I expect Jones will play more this week (maybe a lot more, considering the way AJ Dillon has struggled). A Monday night game against a lesser Raiders defense; that seems like the kind of situation where Jones should have one of his better games. As for Nacua, I think he’s for real. The Rams had a great combo with Kupp and Robert Woods for years, and I think Nacua is the new Robert Woods. Not sure if they’ll activate Kupp this week or not, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use Nacua. (I’m just disappointed that while I mentioned to readers multiple times the value of rostering Nacua before Week 1, I didn’t actually follow my own advice in any of my leagues.)
Question 6
12 team PPR league. I’m wondering about having too many players from a team. I’ve got Hurts, AJ Brown, Goedert and Gainwell from Philadelphia, Allen and Palmer from LAC, and St. Brown and Jameson Williams from Detroit. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Scott Kopischke (Brookfield, WI)
Eagles, Chargers, Lions. Those are great offenses. I wouldn’t worry about having multiple players from those teams. (If you can also have multiple players from 49ers, Dolphins and Bills, that would be a good thing.)
Question 7
Minor issue since it's a kicker, I have Koo in two leagues, is it time to bail, given the offense? Any suggestions? 10-team league. Rest of my team is SOLID since following you guys again.
Tim Sonday (Middleton, WI)
The top 3 kickers on my board have all sputtered so far: Tucker, Carlson and Koo. All are averaging fewer than 7 points per week. Carlson hasn’t yet had a 6-point game. I’m not opposed to staying the course with these guys. It would seem especially weird to release Carlson a few days before he’s playing at home in the first Carlson v. Carlson matchup. And I don’t think Koo (at home versus Houston) stands out as a liability. But especially in a 10-team league, there’s something to be said for bouncing around from kicker to kicker. Joey Slye normally is a bottom-10 kicker on my board, but I would be very comfortable using him tonight against the Bad News Bears (I am, in fact, using him as a replacement in two leagues). There are always one-week options available, and plenty also with more long-term value. A month into the season, six of the current top 10 kickers are players who probably weren’t picked in your league (Aubrey, Maher, Fairbairn, Folk, Grupe and Prater).