Going For 2 fanbase my name is @TheBLeagueSays and in this week’s ‘Game Plan for the Week’, I will give to you some plays to make for seasonal and daily roster construction, prop bets, and dynasty evaluations. Before you make any start and sit decisions this weekend make sure you check out our weekly rankings also.
Thank you, and enjoy!
Slant Route
Still going overlooked:
Is Keenan Allen, who over the past four weeks sits with the 11th most PPG overall (23.3 PPG). We have at times as a community tended to look in other directions when talking about the elite of the elite at wide receiver and Allen’s 2020 should be in that conversation, yet rarely is. Tell me, has anyone that’s spoken about D.K. Metcalf, Davante Adams, Calvin Ridley brought up Allen as well? I’d doubt it. So overlooked is what Keenan Allen has done for Justin Herbert that Allen is rocking the second-most targets in the league, the second-most receptions in the league, second-most first downs amongst receivers in the league, and he’s done that in one less game than some of the leaders in those categories have. So unsung is Allen’s stellar season, he is on track to top most of his career metrics, with his career-best season of 159-102-1393-6 back in 2017 where he finished as the WR3 overall, we are currently looking at a 172-124-1302-8 season from the eight-year veteran.
All the L.A. Chargers have over the next month are mouth-watering matchups, which include the Dolphins, Jets, Bills, Patriots, Falcons, and Raiders. If you are looking for that boost to take your fantasy team to the next level and potentially seal a championship, Keenan Allen is that guy to go and get before your league’s trade deadline.
Flat Route
It’s a hattrick:
Of losses for the Chicago Bears who were somehow 5-1, to the bewilderment of everyone. But in recent weeks the Bears have been cruising down ‘Struggle Street’ and everyone who has spent 3 minutes watching them on any given Sunday can see as much. The Bears have the second-most passing attempts in the league and couldn’t be more boring and uninspired. The 5-4 outfit has a big few weeks ahead of them, which sees them against all of their NFC North compatriots in that span, and even so, their schedule after that gets a little ‘soft’ with Houston and Jacksonville wedged in there as well.
There isn’t a lot of silver lining to look at. But by taking the ‘Bears Stink’ goggles off, the breadcrumbs looking backward tell a different story. A weak-ish schedule coming up for a team that throws the ball more than not with a playoff birth on the line who gets to do so by knocking off divisional opponents in succession? Crazy when you look at something through a different lens sometimes, and it’s with that said that it may well be worth your time trying to acquire pieces of this team like Allen Robinson, Jimmy Graham, Darnell Mooney, and Anthony Miller also before your league’s trade deadline hits.
Comeback Route
Speaking of obscurity:
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Last year one of the surprise stories for fantasy football was a tight end that seemingly popped up out of nowhere, which doesn’t seem that surprising because those sorts of shenanigans happen all the time at that position, isn’t that right Lee Smith? But for what it’s worth over the span of the full season he finished as the TE23 and that doesn’t seem that interesting at all. Other than the fact that he didn’t play until Week 7, and from that point on he was the TE12 in 2019. He ended up with the third-most targets on his team with 59, and with only two games with less than four targets. Jacob Hollister‘s back half of 2019 was anything but quiet which makes the start to his 2020 campaign even more frustrating. Greg Olsen turned up, Will Dissly regained some fitness, while D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett went bonkers to start the year; Jacob Hollister ultimately became an afterthought. However, over the last three weeks, his snap percentage has nearly doubled (28% to 48%) while Greg Olsen‘s snap percentage has gone in the opposite direction (83% to 40%), while he pulled off an impressive 7-5-60 weekend against the Bills where he also had three red-zone targets.
On the surface, it’s nothing, and I’m chucking anything against the wall to stick to make fetch happen, and while that may well be, he’s barely rostered anywhere and has a soft few weeks ahead with the Eagles, Giants, Jets, and the Rams twice as well, who he gets this week with an OPRK of 18th against tight ends too. So we have a small reason to give Jacob Hollister ($2600) a shot in this format at least because the price is right and if he heats up like he did this time last year it’s a good enough reason to give him make him a speculative add for your rosters as well.
Screen Route
Put that money in the slot:
Speaking of Seattle, they absolutely cannot stop slot receivers. Adam Thielen (13-9-80-2), Russell Gage (12-9-114), Calvin Ridley (12-9-130-2), Christian Kirk (8-5-37-2), and Julian Edelman (11-8-179) are examples of how bad Seattle has been against clinical route runners while giving it up in the middle of the field. A team that has given up 13 touchdowns to wide receivers off of 28 red-zone targets as well. Put bluntly, they suck at stopping anything right now, as it’s been beaten over our heads that Seattle has given up more targets, passing yards, and ultimately fantasy points than anyone in the league. So when we think that Seattle gets the Rams off the bye, well, the mouth tends to water, doesn’t it!
Which naturally means that Cooper Kupp ($6900) is the most logical, straightforward play for you this week, right? He’s logging around 88% of team snaps and around about 54% of those come from the slot and I mean the last time we saw Kupp he had 20 targets (not kidding) against Miami. However, IF you are feeling cute, Josh Reynolds ($3500) is seeing around a 70% snap share and is getting about 16% of those snaps from the slot so if you are looking to get a piece of this potential shootout on the cheap in DFS, he could be a game-changer for your lineups.
Out Route
She said it best:
On Monday night when our very own Gladys Lousie Taylor on our Monday Night Show was talking about her favorite team the Pittsburgh Steelers, that ‘they play down to their opponent’. And last week that couldn’t have seemed more prophetic as the Steelers nearly cost their flawless record at the hands of Dallas who have been just horrific since Dak Prescott shattered his ankle. A team lead by Garrett Gilbert nearly did them in, which came down to the wire would have shocked the league more than probably anything we would see this year. But they escaped, luckily, and now meet local rival Cincinnati who despite their record have made some good strides this year with rookie wunderkind Joe Burrow.
They’ve had a tough week have the Steelers, a hard victory followed by some key players including star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger entering the COVID-19/reserves list, who along with Vance McDonald, Jaylen Samuels, Vince Williams, and Jerald Hawkins could miss this weeks game. All signs point to them probably being available however, we saw with Detroit in Week 9 (Matt Stafford was on the COVID-19/reserve list) how dysfunctional a team can look with their quarterback missing during the week due to their inability to join their team. I always believe that proper planning prevents poor performance, and I’m not a fan of disruption so I’m taking the Bengals as +7 underdogs on the road.
The Go Route
Now he’s Cooks’ing with Watson:
In a tale of two halves, Brandin Cooks gets the Jekyll and Hyde performance award for 2020 at the midway point of the season. The Texans had a tumultuous start with an 0-4 record which saw Head Coach Bill O’Brien get fired, and in that span Cooks was sinking in Fantasy Football as the WR84 with a mere 6.0 PPG. Since then, Cooks in his next four games ranks as the WR9 with 20.9 PPG. I love that recent form by Cooks, and while their run game is struggling Deshaun Watson has been leaning on his receivers even more. But what is even more important is that on the road against the Browns this week (OPRK 27th against wide receivers), Cooks is coming in as the cheaper Texans receiver at $5600 compared to Will Fuller $6700, in a game with a decent implied O/U set at 49.
Hail Mary
Oh no, I’m not falling for this one again… or am I?:
I can’t drink from the D’Onta Foreman cup again… And neither should you. Neither should anyone. But here we are, again, looking at the waiver wire, and (I’ll be honest, I hadn’t noticed) we are seeing Foreman on the Titans roster. That means next to nothing in general. That’s Derrick Henry‘s world and Foreman is just living in it. But it is that time of the year, and guys like Derrick Henry, Dalvin Cook, Josh Jacobs, and yes, even James Robinson are seeing a ridiculous amount of volume and for that reason alone I am looking to stash guys like Alexander Mattison, Devontae Booker, and even D’Onta Foreman who has had 5 carries in the Titans past two matchups. We have to remember that at times in Weeks 15-16 that it isn’t always who you expect to step up that does for you. Rex Burkhead, Jamaal Williams, Elijah McGuire, C.J. Anderson, and Zach Zenner are guys who have won people championships in the past. So having the backup stashed on your bench to a perennial bell-cow isn’t the worst idea, is it?
***As of writing, Foreman just had a receiving touchdown against the Colts on Thursday Night Football. How about that!
I want to thank you for checking this article out! As always you can follow me at @TheBLeagueSays and feel free to check out my @BackRowGiants podcast out (https://linktr.ee/TheBLeagueSays) – subscribe, rate, review, share, and listen.
Let’s all get better together!
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