Ultimate Rookie Report Week 10

I want everyone to appreciate how great a performance Josh Dobbs was in the Vikings 31-28 win this week. Minnesota traded for Dobbs after losing Kurt Cousins for the season because they needed a backup to their rookie Jaren Hall. Hall needed the most help since he was having his first ever start this week so Dobbs worked with the assistant quarterbacks’ coach. Jaren Hall had to leave the game because of a concussion after one quarter and that left Dobbs as the only other quarterback on the roster. He didn’t know teammates’ names. He didn’t know the plays. He apparently didn’t need any of that to pull off a last minute upset against a supposedly good Atlanta Falcons defense. Dobbs has been a backup on five different teams in his five year career. I’m not just talking him up because I had him as a waiver wire add a few weeks back. I am legitimately impressed with how much adversity he had to overcome to win a game like this. He is not a rookie, obviously, but he deserves our love just the same.

If you started one of these rookie players in a PPR league, you would probably be pleased (unless you started Tyson Bagent, but you probably didn’t, did you?).

5. Tyson Bagent (15.8)

Tyson Bagent would have had a more respectable game if he didn’t have so many turnovers. 18/30 for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns and 70 rush yards is a really solid fantasy stat line. 3 interceptions and a fumble absolutely crushed him. Unfortunately, Justin Fields will return soon and the Tyson Bagent experiment will end. With a little work though, who knows how this could have turned out.

4. Dalton Kincaid (16.1)

Since Dawson Knox got injured, Dalton Kincaid has become a target monster. Josh Allen looked his way 11 times on Sunday night and Kincaid caught 10 of them. Volume is king in fantasy, but especially in a PPR league. He gained 81 yards. Kincaid was TE8 on the week, even without a touchdown. LaPorta has a stranglehold on rookie TE1 this year, but Kincaid still has plenty of time to make himself a fantasy staple as well.

3. Keaton Mitchell (20.4)

Are you telling me you never heard of Keaton Mitchell? You haven’t heard of the 4th string Ravens undrafted rookie running back from East Carolina? With his first 9 carries of the season, Mitchell ran for 138 yards and a touchdown. Considering the Ravens are so good at running, it never feels like they have a good running back. Mitchell looked like the best back out there on Sunday. Hopefully they continue to use Mitchell in the weeks ahead.

2. Tank Dell (29.6)

WR1 for the week is a pretty impressive feat for a rookie. There are A LOT of amazing talents at the position. Tank Dell pulled it off this week in one of the better games I’ve seen in a long time. The man they call Tank had 11 targets, 6 of which he caught, for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns. I am legitimately excited and terrified for what Dell and Stroud can become in the future.

1. CJ Stroud (41.8)

CJ Stroud had a record setting day. Literally. The previous record holder for yards in a single game was Jeff Garcia for the 49ers in 1999, who passed for 437 yards. Stroud smashed that with 470 yards. He also tied the record for most passing touchdowns by a rookie in a single game with 5. It was an incredible performance, completed under a lot of pressure. His final touchdown of the day went to our pal Tank Dell with 6 seconds left in the game (with no timeouts to stop the clock on the 40 second drive). Carolina picked the wrong QB in the draft this year. Stroud is currently QB7 and a must start. This one game may have skewed the points a bit, but Stroud is currently beating such quarterbacks as Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Trevor Lawrence, and Joe Burrow in the rankings 

Good luck positioning yourselves for fantasy playoffs!

Sincerely, 

@MeLlamoMoron

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