Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. In this edition: When will the Colts start running the ball? Christian McCaffrey's trade value? Will Sam Darnold keep J.J. McCarthy on the bench in 2025? Declining Travis Kelce. And more.
Question 1
I wonder why coaches don't get fired for having terrible game plans. Green Bay vs. Indy. Richardson throws 34 times and JT carries 12 times. WHY?
Patrick LaMendola (Penfield, NY)
Spot on. Saquon Barkley ran for 109 yards against Green Bay in Week 1. Taylor ran for 103 while averaging 8.6 yards per attempt. Had the coaches been flipped in this game (with Matt LaFleur calling the plays for the Colts and Shane Steichen dialing them up for the Packers) Indianapolis would have won easily, with Taylor running for about 200 yards and Malik Willis throwing 2-3 interceptions.
Question 2
Regarding CMC, are you recommending trying to trade for him, or if you roster him, trying to trade him? What scenarios work best for trading him (i.e. 0-2 start vs. 2-0 start?) And what are you looking to give up or get in return?
Richard Micheli (Washington, DC)
He’s got value, no question. He might be the most productive player in the second half of the season. And with him sitting out in September and October, it might allow him to be fresher late in the year. (If he can get and stay healthy, of course – he’s an older running back). If I’ve got a running back who’s productive and contributing right now, I will take that guy before McCaffrey. A bird in hand. But once those guys are gone, I think McCaffrey gets in the conversation as a potential league winner. A team with a 2-0 record, I think, has more ability to carry McCaffrey – more wiggle room. With an 0-2 team, that’s more immediate pressure to win games right now. To win a fantasy championship, you’ve got to first make the playoffs, and it’s tough climbing out of an 0-3 hole.
Question 3
I'm in a two-QB league where you can retain players for up to three years (keepers) if they're drafted in rounds 9-12 and they remain on your roster all season. I retained Jordan Love, and drafted J.J. McCarthy as a new keeper (plus drafted Sam Darnold in round 14). I also drafted Jonathan Brooks (plus retained Rachaad White). I thought this was a good strategy on draft day but now I've been bitten hard by the injury bug. Besides Love being hurt, I also lost Pacheco and Kupp. I need to drop at least one keeper. Do I drop McCarthy or Brooks to try and get Carson Steele? I'm leaning McCarthy because he's got zero chance to play this year plus Darnold has played well enough that maybe he starts for Minnesota next year anyway.
Andrew Napoli (Alexandria, VA)
In your league, quarterbacks are solid gold real estate. McCarthy looked really good in the preseason, making the downfield throws and looking like he might be taking over as a starter in September. I would be leery of giving him up just yet. Darnold is on a one-year deal, so I would think it’s more likely he cashes in elsewhere. If McCarthy is starting for Minnesota next year, he’ll be ranked in the teens among quarterbacks on my board entering 2025. While your point about Darnold is a good one, I am not ready at this point to give up on McCarthy to make a short-term play on free agent rookie running back who’s iffy to be much of a factor.
Question 4
How concerned should we be about Kelce? I saw the other TE’s running “his” routes, and it seems that Mahomes, for good reasons (better supporting cast) isn’t looking for him as often. Do you think they’re saving him for late season?
Robert Cummings (Los Angeles, CA)
I haven’t noticed any effort to lighten Kelce’s load. He’s been on the field for almost 90 percent of their plays. That ranks 3rd among tight ends. More likely, I think we’re looking at a soon-to-be 35-year-old who’s declining. He spent a lot of time in the offseason working on television shows, movies, podcasts and business ventures while traveling the globe with his pop star girlfriend. That may have caused him to put in less time than usual working on his football, but I can’t say for sure.
| TIGHT END PARTICIPATION RATES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Snaps | Team | Pct |
| Cade Otton, T.B. | 2 | 103 | 112 | 92.0% |
| Tyler Conklin, NYJ | 2 | 99 | 108 | 91.7% |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 2 | 107 | 119 | 89.9% |
| Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 2 | 131 | 147 | 89.1% |
| Tucker Kraft, G.B. | 2 | 120 | 137 | 87.6% |
| Colby Parkinson, LAR | 2 | 111 | 130 | 85.4% |
| Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 2 | 99 | 117 | 84.6% |
| Trey McBride, Ari. | 2 | 107 | 127 | 84.3% |
| Sam LaPorta, Det. | 2 | 123 | 147 | 83.7% |
| Hunter Henry, N.E. | 2 | 111 | 133 | 83.5% |
| Theo Johnson, NYG | 2 | 105 | 127 | 82.7% |
| George Kittle, S.F. | 2 | 117 | 142 | 82.4% |
| Foster Moreau, N.O. | 2 | 98 | 125 | 78.4% |
| Noah Fant, Sea. | 2 | 107 | 137 | 78.1% |
| Dalton Schultz, Hou. | 2 | 107 | 141 | 75.9% |
| Mark Andrews, Balt. | 2 | 100 | 145 | 69.0% |
| Brock Bowers, L.V. | 2 | 84 | 123 | 68.3% |
| Zach Ertz, Was. | 2 | 89 | 131 | 67.9% |
| Evan Engram, Jac. | 1 | 36 | 53 | 67.9% |
| Dalton Kincaid, Buff. | 2 | 71 | 107 | 66.4% |
Question 5
I am starting to think this whole game is fixed. Miami sits Waddle and Hill but feeds tiny Achane the ball repeatedly? They lose Tua and have a talented rookie in Wright.
David Kennedy (Steamburg, NY)
Agreed. It was curious that the Dolphins to protect Hill and Waddle (understandable) while unnecessarily putting Achane at risk. With that game out of hand, and I would have it would have been a perfect time to put Wright out there for a half-dozen touches. It’s a long season, and I’m sure they’ll need to plug Wright (or Jeff Wilson) into a more substantial role at some point.
Question 6
You guys do amazing work. I have been a reader/subscriber since 1988. Huge props! However, in the Week 3 Redrafter, you said that the Indianapolis Colts play their next 5 games at home. That is not correct, and I'm sure you were just working too hard and missed something.
BRAD CUMMINGS (Seattle, WA)
I’m glad you brought this up. It allows me to clarify that I made the error. I (not Andy Richardson) wrote that capsule. Apologies. It’s actually a double error. Back in May or early June, I pulled from somewhere off the web (the NFL media site, I believe) the NFL schedule. In transferring the schedule to pages 23-25 in the magazine, a couple of Indianapolis games somehow flipped from road to home games. I have no idea how this occurred. On page 24, we’ve got the Colts in Weeks 5-6 hosting Jacksonville and Tennessee. They’re actually playing on the road in those weeks (as indicated in the Jacksonville and Tennessee schedules). I’m not sure how this happened. The error may have come from the press release I was working off, but it’s no longer around. There is a certain amount of format juggling occurs, and I may have introduced the error at that point. I hope those are the only such errors on these pages, but I haven’t audited all 272 games. The schedules on pages 23 (the week-by-week version) appear to be fine. Compounding this error, I worked off page 24 for the Redrafter, repeating the error. I’m embarrassed that it didn’t occur to me to double-check the schedule when I saw those five consecutive home games. The league would never schedule a team to play five straight at home or on the road.
Question 7
Do you think Ricky Pearsall will have any value in a deep league as a late season bye week fill in?
David Hogshire (Plymouth, MN)
It’s possible. His recovery is supposedly going well, with a chance he’ll be activated before November. But with players like Pearsall, I think we’re measuring them against what’s available on the waiver wire in any given week. With injuries and benchings, there are always players of some value showing up on the waiver wire. Perhaps Quentin Johnston, Jordan Whittington, Andrei Iosivas or Jalen Nailor this week, but the quality of what’s available in your league depends on the size of your league and rosters, and the seriousness of the other franchise owners. In general, I think in the vast majority of 2024-only formats, I would rather have what’s available on the waiver wire rather than Pearsall right now. (And by going the waiver wire route, you’re getting to sift through various options, perhaps eventually stumbling onto more of a long-range keeper.)
Question 8
I’ve relied on Fantasy Index TD only information since we started our league in 1990. I’m probably missing something but when did the PDF rankings stop combining TE with WR? It’s convenient to know how they stack up if your league doesn’t have to start a TE.
Todd Guidry (Groves, TX)
There’s a percentage of readers (like yourself) you combine wide receivers and tight ends. But I think the much larger group has them as separate positions. And if we blend tight ends in with the wide receivers, I fear that 15-plus wide receivers will get pushed off the published list, with readers from that larger group then miffed that they can’t see receivers on their roster or options they might want to grab off waivers.
I’ve got a couple of options for you. If you go to the “your products” section of the website, you can find the projected number of points for each player (either by clicking on the rankings there, or in the Excel file for the week).
Question 9
Should I offer Kyren Williams for Christian McCaffrey and his injuries?
MICHAEL HAMER (Springfield, PA)
I would take McCaffrey, hoping I have one of the top few players for the second half of the season. With the Rams, the rash of injuries has me worried that they’re going to be out of it before they can get everyone healthy. I was thinking in August that might be a top-5 offense, but it’s looking like a possible bottom-10 offense now.
Question 10
An embarrassment of riches, i guess, but i can only start 3 out of jonathan taylor, alvin kamara, jordan mason and josh jacobs. also, tank dell or rashid shaheed? lastly, do you think the vikings continue their winning way?
RICHARD VOLLMER (Rocklin, CA)
I would sit down Jacobs. Taylor would be the other possibility. At wide receiver, I’m not sitting down a guy who’s caught touchdowns over 50 yards two weeks in a row for a player who hasn’t been involved much yet. I’m not promising a playoff berth for the Vikings (that division includes Detroit and Green Bay) but they look like they’re for real to me. Good coaches on both sides of the ball.