It’s @TheBLeagueSays here with this week’s ‘Game Plan, where I give you 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.
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them…”
If there was ever a week where Julio Jones blows up, it’s this week – where he gets to play in his old stomping ground in New Orleans – a team that he has (in all fairness) freakin’ haunted for over a decade.
He has had the odd blip against them, clearly not the norm when meeting the Saints.
And those blips seem more frequent as a Titan than he ever has as a Falcon.
But whatever.
Julio Jones has an average of 9-6-90 – which includes six games with over 100 receiving yards – or one in every three appearances, which is nice to know considering New Orleans give up the fifth-most Draft Kings points to wide receivers (42.6 ppg), aided by 199 receiving yards to wide receivers on average per week as well.
So I’d like to bring to your attention the $5400 price tag Julio Jones has on Draft Kings this week – while everyone will likely be on A.J. Brown, Jones could be a great pivot in your lineup this week.
“Behind every great fortune lies a great crime…”
We got punked.
Punked.
Here we go, with the narrative of ‘we have one of the winningest coaches in college history, paired up with ‘the greatest college quarterback in recent times to take over Jacksonville Jaguars and change their fortunes forever.
And now we get the duo that is going to unlock Laviska Shenault, and Marvin Jones and D.J. Chark will have a career year, and Travis Etienne will go nuts…
Lies.
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All of it.
There was zero need to draft the running back in the first half because James Robinson is indeed a stud – that was a glaring mistake everyone saw and started to scratch their heads with.
“We will use Etienne on third downs and Robinson will start games on 1st and 2nd downs”… Yeah, ok buddy, that mindset might work again West Dakota State, but this is the NFL, get it right.
Just like grabbing Marvin Jones in free agency was a mistake, like hiring Darrell Bevell was a mistake. Their use of Shenault is a mistake, like their bogus trade for Dan Arnold was too.
The fact is the biggest mistake they ‘lucked into’ came via the Jets who won one too many games costing them the chance at Trevor Lawrence and now have Zach Wilson on their roster – or as the locals here now call him “Mike White-lite”.
I can’t stand what they have done this year, which sucks because it could have been so, so, so much better.
This is why I’m taking the Colts +10 at home with the unders hitting, with the line currently at 47.5.
I think a lot will believe they can get themselves together considering their nice ‘win’ over Buffalo last week, but I think it’ll be more of the same garbage we are used to seeing.
“What is past is prologue…”
I’m not going to be the New York Giants homer, that tells you everything is great – it isn’t, and hasn’t been for a while.
I’m not going to be the same New York Giants homer that tells you things like ‘we have to wait it out, and ‘let’s see how it goes’ – that won’t be me.
I’m not the one that will say Saquon Barkley was a good or bad pick, that Odell Beckham was a good or bad trade, or that David Gettleman does or doesn’t know what he is doing – you can make your mind up about that.
But there have been decisions made (or not made, depending on how you look at it, I guess) about one guy that has everyone sorta perplexed.
The Giants didn’t pick up Evan Engram’s option on his deal, making him a free agent at the end of the season – okay, so they have to be trading him, right?
No.
The trade deadline has come and passed us by, and he is still on the roster – so unless they extend him (or tag him) he walks at the end of the season… That can’t be good, can it?
Probably not – they should have tried to get something for him as this ship started to sink, however, over the past few weeks… he’s starting to show up and make moves.
And by making moves, I mean he’s not fumbling or dropping the ball or having guys get an easy read on him not following the play for an intercept… it’s happened.
A lot.
Watch his 2020 season…
Anyways, over the past three weeks, he has worked his way to being the current TE6, with a nifty 11.2 ppg average, and although he is on the bye this week, I’d suggest he could still be an option for you to acquire running into the home stretch of your fantasy seasons.
The Giants can’t stay healthy, and he’s getting the work that goes a long way in fantasy, especially in a position to fill as volatile as the tight end is.
Worth the consideration at least.
“The empty vessel makes the loudest sound…”
The past few weeks have been a headache.
Will they trade Odell Beckham, won’t they trade Odell Beckham…
Will, they just bench him for the year, will they let him walk…
Will they come up with a financial plan fair for all, or will they make him pay it back…
Will he pass waivers, or won’t he…
I don’t care – all the best to the lad but this isn’t about him.
Last week we saw second-year receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones blow up, and on the quiet, we saw speedster Anthony Schwartz lift in snaps and routes.
The Browns have to look somewhere for explosive plays with Nick Chubb in the COVID-19 protocol, and no one else aiding in explosive plays.
If they are on your waivers still, somehow, then it would behoove you to grab them and see how this plays out over the upcoming weeks.
“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once…”
Sam Darnold cost the Carolina Panthers minimal, in the grand scheme of what a quarterback can be to acquire.
The Jets were selling, the Panthers were taking a risk.
I get it.
They could have also drafted Justin Fields or Mac Jones.
And now their recruit, who has had a shocking two months, has somewhat broken his scapula and now is set to miss what looks like the rest of the season.
As if that hasn’t been said enough this week…
But speaking of not having enough, Carolina has turned to former club legend, who is also a free agent, in Cam Newton who will come back and help steer the team forward unless P.J. Walker pulls a rabbit out of his hat.
Why he has a rabbit in his hat is something I do want to know more about, but still, that’s what it is going to take for him to see more than one more week as their starter.
I’m not suggesting you do anything out of the ordinary. If you are considering picking up Newton, you probably have picked up worse players along the way.
He is a deep league, Superflex adds that maybe you’ll use on a bye week.
Other than that, this needs to be just a nice walk down memory lane seeing ‘1’ in black, white, and teal for eight more weeks and ending on better terms.
“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs…”
All the rage this week is going to be stacks of runbacks, and runbacks of stacks in the Atlanta at Dallas matchup this week.
And why shouldn’t it be?
Dallas will hold the more expensive players in this one, as they look to rebound after an embarrassing loss at home to Denver, who over the past few weeks look like they couldn’t punch themselves out of a wet paper bag.
But the Cowboys get Michael Gallup back, and that trio with Dalton Schultz and Ezekiel Elliott could put up massive numbers against a team that allows the eighth-most points to quarterbacks and running backs while being middle of the back against wide receivers and tight ends.
And on the other side of the coin?
Atlanta, without Calvin Ridley, without a run game, with cheap bit-part players that no one used was the team to load up with last week against the Saints in a surprisingly high-scoring game.
Both teams were unpredictable, and everyone is going to chalk them up.
But more important than our DFS stacks? Your punting!
The Cowboys are 3-1 going over at home, and Atlanta is 3-1 going over on the road this year. And while the already high implied total of 54.5 might scare a few off, backing in Atlanta (who have won three of their last four outings) at +9 shouldn’t.
“The golden age is before us, not behind us…”
I understand that Detroit seems the be the cure that ail’s ya this year.
But I feel bad for them regardless.
They try.
They don’t quit.
They put in continual effort despite the continual losing.
Takes a lot of mental fortitude to be able to keep getting up from ‘L’s’ every week.
Just ask Matt Stafford, who with the same franchise had more losing records than I care to count.. we forget those days though!
This week Detroit goes on the road to Pittsburgh who has somehow found ‘form’ or whatever you want to call it, with four wins on the trot, against Teddy Bridgewater, Geno Smith, a banged-up Baker Mayfield, and now rookie Justin Fields.
And now they get the 0-8 Lions?
Chalk them up, right?
As a home favorite, Pittsburgh has only hit the ‘over’ once and is 0-4 as the same home favorite against the spread.
They are currently sitting at -9 home favorites, a margin of which they are yet to win this year.
Add to that no Chase Claypool, no JuJu Smith-Schuster, a leaky secondary, and all of a sudden…
We have a closer game on our hands than we think. And if that’s what we think…
Then I think fading Deandre Swift in DFS this week because it’s a ‘tough matchup’ is a big, big mistake.
Yes, the Steelers give up the second-fewest points per game, yards, and targets to the running back, you would think that I would be crazy to tout him.
But the last time I was on board with Swift… it was against what was meant to be his toughest matchup of the year against the L.A. Rams, where he finished the week as the RB2 – where he pulled in 10-8-96-1 in the receiving game alone.
So my hail mary this week?
Despite ‘CMC’ being back and Dalvin Cook and Alvin Kamara finding form, with juicy matchups for guys like Najee Harris and Aaron Jones – and as your pivot play for pricing – Deandre Swift ($6800) will finish as your RB1 in fantasy this week.
Bone for tuna!
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 @GothamCity_STR podcast out (Linktree) – subscribe, rate, review, share, and listen.
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