Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. Special Thanksgiving edition. Jerry Jeudy to the rescue. Fumbling Tyrone Tracy. FAAB bidding recommendations. Rest players. And more.
Question 1
Could you tell me who you would start between Jonathan Taylor, Rico Dowdle or Tyrone Tracy?
RICHARD VOLLMER (Rocklin, CA)
I can offer a thought on each. Taylor is one of the top half-dozen backs in the league and playing against a lesser defense, so he kind of smells ready for a bust-out kind of game. He’s too good to stay down for long (but he’s not much of a factor at all in the passing game, which puts him on an uphill climb in some scoring systems). Rico Dowdle has an uber-choice matchup on Thanksgiving, with the Giants having perhaps the worst run defense in the league. Typically, it would be crazy to ever consider starting Dowdle ahead of Taylor, but I think it can be fairly considered this week. Tracy has had big fumbles two weeks in a row – the game-loser in Germany, and another against the Bucs. So I heard Andy poking around some about the possibility of the Giants going to more of a time-share backfield involving Singletary. But I sure like Tracy a lot; I think he’s going to be a big-time back. As great as Saquon Barkley has been for the Eagles, I think there are probably many teams who would rather have Tracy at $4.3 million for four years rather than Barkley at $37.8 million for three. (Tracy also has a good matchup, but with the fumbles let’s call him #3 of these guys for this week.)
Question 2
A little advice, if I may. Still in contention for a wild card spot in my TD only league. Two regular season games left, with our playoffs and championship in NFL weeks 15-17. Time to cut bait on Lamb and McCaffrey?
Philip Haines (De Pere, WI)
I wouldn’t be looking to bench Lamb. While Cooper Rush has his limitations, he’s been reliably pumping a lot of balls in Lamb’s direction. They’ve played three games together, and Lamb has caught 6, 8 and 10 passes in those weeks. When Rush started five games in 2022, Lamb caught 7, 8, 6, 5 and 5 passes. That’s 55 catches and 2 TDs in eight games. Rush knows where his bread is buttered. McCaffrey, on the other hand, I’m getting tired of watching. If you’re using him, I hope it’s at least in a PPR league.
Question 3
31 year subscriber here. That was the highlight of the week when that FFI fax scrolled off the machine back in the day! Not sure if there was an investment with better ROI when I would roll into the draft with my freshly faxed cheat sheet and the other clowns would be drafting off of magazines that were written up in May! Different world now of course, with even the laziest FF players having easy access to timely information. Despite being early players in the FF world, you guys have done well to remain relevant. The only area where I would suggest that you haven't kept up is in the world of FAAB. It seems like the majority of leagues are now utilizing that system for free agent acquisition. I think it would benefit your subscribers if you provided FAAB value content, much like most of your competition. It might require bringing in some new blood to quantify values, but I think that it would be a worthwhile addition to your Tuesday content. Would love to hear your thoughts on that. Cheers!
BRIAN BARRETT (Midway, UT)
I appreciate the feedback. I have seen a few mentions by writers saying, “spend 5-10 percent of your budget on this guy” or “spend 20-30 percent on that guy.” I’m not sure how such values would be calculated. Seems like they would change based on the size of the league and the needs of the individual owner. But Andy and I can take this suggestion as an indication at least one reader wants more clarification on which free agents to go after. Typically in the Redrafter, we put them in descending order. And at times (like with Jeremy McNichols this week) I try to underscore that I like him better than the other free agents of the week.
Question 4
Love your materials and having a great year thanks to them! Would it be possible to have the redrafter rankings include points per week on the custom scoring pages in addition to total points? At this time of year, the presence or absence of an upcoming bye can really move a guy up or down in the rankings. The stats spreadsheet gets me close to PPG, but the custom scoring isn’t always the same as the spreadsheet, plus it means having to got to yet another page to look up data (on top of the league site and the custom ranking page). I’m at a point where week 14 will be meaningless in some leagues, so I’m more focused on average scores expected in the playoffs, not total points for the season. Thanks!
Aaron Vander Vorst (West Fargo, ND)
Points per game definitely the way to go. That’s not going to happen this year (we’ve got too much other stuff we’re working on), but possibly in the future. Best bet for Aaron for 2024 would be to use the Excel stat download. To match your league’s exact scoring system, you would have to have some ability to key in a formula in the document.
Question 5
I’m thinking about giving up DeVonta Smith for Jeudy. Hamstring, possible player rest situation as Philly gears up for the playoffs in a couple of weeks. What do you think about that move? Thanks as always!
Robert Cummings (Los Angeles, CA)
Hamstrings are tough. You can’t tough it out and play with an injured hamstring. That just results in an immediate re-injury, and you have to restart the clock. (I’ve done it multiple times myself). So point for Jeudy in that regard. I’m not crazy about the upcoming schedule: at Denver, Kansas City, at Pittsburgh. (On plus side, Jeudy had a 3-TD game against a good KC defense when he was with the Broncos.) Note with Smith that he had a pair of 7-catch games when A.J. Brown was out. Now that Brown is back, Smith has tended to be modestly used – a No. 2 option on a team that ranks last in the league in pass attempts. Smith has caught only 20 passes in his last six games (with 3 TDs, at least).
Question 6
with brock purdy with a sore arm would i be better with Matthew Stafford?
Ed Gruber (Faribault, MN)
I think so. He’ll be working against a defense that doesn’t have either of its starting cornerbacks from Opening Day (one via injury, and they traded Marshon Lattimore). I like the idea of Stafford throwing to Nacua and Kupp against backup cornerbacks.
Question 7
Do you prefer to have 3 healthy top 30 RBs or WRs during the final 3 weeks (Week 15-17) of normal fantasy football playoffs? Most teams have to start at least 2. I'm wondering if it is better statistically to have RBs or WRs. Do RBs numbers drop off if a team is 1-2 game ahead in their division? Or does a QB sit and the WRs take a hit? Or is this when some guys from lesser teams, usually WRs, demand the ball to pad their stats because RBs get blasted on each run? Be interesting to see say the top 30 of each for the past 3-5 years if you can run an analysis. Love this site always!
Mike Gola (Trenton, NJ)
I don’t think the issue of teams resting players is as relevant anymore. With the league adding that 18th week, the vast majority of those games have now been moved off the fantasy football calender. It’s an unusual team, I think, that’s looking to shut guys down in Week 17.
Question 8
Suppose LVRBs White and Mattison are out, do you recommend A. Abdullah over Estime?
MICHAEL HAMER (Springfield, PA)
Estime would be just a stab in the dark. He’s carried only 6 and 3 times in the last two weeks, and they haven’t used him yet at all in the passing game. Abdullah (or some other free agent) would be the play, with the likelihood he’ll be catching a few balls. Abdullah last week had 8 carries and also caught 5 passes. In PPR scoring, if a running back catches 4 passes for 35 yards, that’s equivalent to a ground-oriented back like Estime rushing for 75 yards.