The Pros And Cons Of Week 9 (#FantasyFootball)

What’s that? A mid-season review is in order? Yep! A mid-season review is in order! Let’s go!

Fine readers of the Going For 2 fanbase my name is @TheBLeagueSays and I am 100% not into Halloween, it’s not a holiday – it’s not really anything. It’s just a poor excuse to get loose and eat garbage. And that’s fine there are no judgments here about that; have at it – but it’s still not a holiday, stop calling it a holiday! And thank you for the awesome feedback and conversations following last weeks Pros and Cons – it seems to have struck a chord with the audience, I think we are all looking forward to seeing how Amari Cooper does for Dallas this week and all hope the best for him. Getting out of Oakland may be the best thing that happened for his career, and I am absolutely looking forward to addressing Week 9 with you. Once again please remember that the articles I bring to you will be based on the Pros and Cons of players or scenarios the Fantasy Football Community has split ideas on heading into future fixtures for your matchups.

So before we get started – Thank you, and enjoy!

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Collaborate and listen…or continue reading. Whatever works. Maybe this is in audio form and you’re hearing it. Either way…

So here we are in Week 9, roughly halfway through the year and some of the questions we had during the offseason, preseason and draft season has been addressed. I mean, kind of. Well, some have. Not really. Huh?

Ok, ok, ok. Let’s rewind the clock.

This year I started writing for GoingFor2.com and the basis of my work (as stated above) was based on the Pros And Cons of players we had hopes and dreams for…or a stack of concern about. Which I have always thought was a decent and basic concept. We have all been online and seen the ‘homerism’, fandom and fanaticism on our favorite players and for those we don’t like, well, it’s not hard to find the bitter disgust for someone you think and believe with all your might who is just terrible. Seriously, it’s all there you can find the highs and lows of the best and worst. And that always has and will be my stance. I have always believed that a player has positives and negatives and we need to address both with the same and equal light. I’ll give you an example: I love Devonta Freeman as a Footballer, a Running Back and a Fantasy player. But I had seen the injuries (whether it be structure or concussions – both bothered me) and in a violent sport, you need to take that into your viewpoint. The Falcons added a Running Back through the draft in Ito Smith, and to be fair Tevin Coleman at times has looked a better player. But only a few seasons ago Freeman was the Number One Running Back to have as he could do it all. So for me when I weighed up Freeman this year as someone to draft I believed that he was too expensive as a second-round asset and was someone I was avoiding unless his Average Draft Position (ADP) dropped greatly.

To be honest with you, when I started writing none of the guys I wrote about this year were particularly players I was massively interested in, some piqued my interest but none were ‘my guys’ that I wanted to delve into like Freeman above as an example was. I mean I liked them for Fantasy but none of them are really ‘my guys’. I am a self-professed Rookie in the Fantasy Football Community so I opted to shut my mouth and observe what people were talking about. I’ll give you another example: the Quarterbacks I selected this year were on Russell Wilson and Eli Manning – both had diverse scenarios they found themselves in at the start of the season and had people talking (I’ll get into more of that later too). But for me, I thought how the Patriots offseason went and with the players that they had lost, potentially losing Josh McDaniels, even the thoughts of a Rob Gronkowski trade or retirement fluttered about in the air. The Rookies they drafted and Free Agents who were brought in (hey, they even traded for Josh Gordon earlier in the season too which is massive) all gave the Patriots a different sort of feel this season, and hey, if all that doesn’t slow Brady down then Father Time will right? So, I thought that Tom Brady would be an interesting piece. But who cares about Tom Brady, right? He has done just about everything so what’s there to say really? I just thought where he has been (and finished as a Fantasy Football Quarterback) and how he could finish with all the returning, healthy veteran Quarterbacks with the influx of Rookie Quarterbacks drafted showed a deeper pool of competition, thus made him a bit more interesting.

But not interesting enough for the masses. So I went with what the consensus was saying each week and looked into each player, where they had been and where they were at and why they could succeed and why they could fail.

Now, all of this would be pointless to talk about if I didn’t follow up with how they were traveling at the midway point of the season. So, instead of the current format (yes I know, you’re upset about this but absence does make the heart grow fonder right?) I am going to do a follow up with all the players (except for Robert Kelley, the guy was put in the Injured Reserve after a couple carries and lost his job to Adrian Peterson – there’s your summary of his season – the less we remember the better) and I have added what our ‘Pros’ and ‘Cons’ were and see if anything has ultimately come to fruition. (Please note that player Projections were from my math – which was brutal because I don’t really math – and this was my first attempt at doing so. Current stats are provided by statroute.com / pro-football-reference.com / sharpfootballstats.com) So without further ado…

QUARTERBACKS	A-C-C%-Y-TD-INT	RUSHING A-Y-TDS	FINISH
MY RUSSELL WILSON PROJECTION	527-340-64.7-4075-29-14	90-504-5	QB5 OVERALL
RUSSELL WILSON CURRENT STATS	182-120-65.93-1556-16-4	19-77-0	QB17 OVERALL
16 GAME PACE	416-274-65.93-3557-37-9	43-174-0	LOW-END QB1
MY ELI MANNING PROJECTION	589-364-61.82-3976-27-15	N/A	QB15 OVERALL
ELI MANNING CURRENT STATS	315-215-68.25-2377-8-6	N/A	QB21 OVERALL
16 GAME PACE	630-430-68.25-4754-16-12	N/A	MID-RANGE QB2

(KEY: A-ATTEMPTS, C-COMPLETIONS, C%-COMPLETION PERCENTAGE, Y-YARDS, TD-TOUCHDOWNS, INT-INTERCEPTIONS)

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THE PROS –

‘Russell Wilson can use his legs better than many, if not most Quarterbacks. Russell Wilson can make any Receiver on his team relevant. There is an opportunity for someone to step up and play a big role in his offense.’

Of all the things we had positive to say, there were two big surprises here. Firstly, Wilson has barely used his legs at all. And secondly, Tyler Lockett has stepped up in the first half of the season while Doug Baldwin has been injured most of the year. David Moore has been a nice surprise also.

‘Eli Manning has all his players/weapons healthy. Pat Shurmur worked wonders for Case Keenum, so by default, he should be able to get production out of Manning. A simplified game-plan as opposed to what Ben McAdoo was trying to implement.’

Yeah, for the most part, Manning has had everyone available, outside of a stretch where Evan Engram had an injured MCL, so yes it’s fair to say this far into the year he has had all his team together. Pat Shurmur has used Eli similarly to Case Keenum. The main difference would be, simply that the Giants are chasing games more and Manning is having to throw more often with 53 more Attempts than Keenum (262 Attempts over the first 8 games in 2017) had this time last year.

THE CONS – 

‘Jimmy Graham left 10 End Zone Targeted Touchdowns behind. Schottenheimer wants to run the ball and not throw it. Their O-Line is trash.’

Well, considering Will Dissly was one of the top Tight Ends to start the year I’d say he had squashed Jimmy Graham‘s importance to the team. Add to that, Ed Dickson got his first start last week and bagged a Touchdown also, would lead me to believe the Tight End has success in Seattle, not just who the player is. The O-Line has held up well enough for Seattle to be a more than a competent Run-First team which confirms everyone’s biggest fear – that Schottenheimer wanted to be a run-heavy team over everything else. Statistically, this has kind of killed Russell Wilson being a Top 5 Quarterback that we had drafted him as.

‘Eli will play it too safe. By playing too the yards for his Receivers may not be there. Keenum’s success last year will put pressure on Manning to produce, otherwise, the Giants may look for alternatives.’

Yeah so Odell Beckham Jr had an average of 7.35 Yards Per Target over the first month – and he is their ‘deep threat/playmaker’ which says a lot about how Manning was checking down to Beckham Jr and Saquon Barkley for the best part of the start of the year. Beckham Jr is at 785 Yards for the year so far, but I think he’s had to work harder for them yards than ever before. I don’t believe Manning would have taken much notice about what Case Keenum did last year, it won’t matter. The Giants would have had to have had a winning record to keep the focus off of Manning this year. Currently 1-7 and all but mathematically out of the playoffs, the search for a Quarterback has to be a priority, Manning is on borrowed time.

 

RUNNING BACKS	A-Y-YPA-TDS	T-R-Y-YPR-TD	FINISH (HPPR)
MY LAMAR MILLER PROJECTION	272-984.64-3.62-5	42-28-169.12-1	LOW RB2 RANGE
LAMAR MILLER CURRENT STATS	113-504-4.46-2	18-11-78-7.09-1	CURRENT RB20
16 GAME PACE	258-1150.68-4.46-5	41-25-177.25-7.09-2	LOW RB2 RANGE
MY KENYAN DRAKE PROJECTION	240-1056-4.4-7	63-42-294-7.0-3	HIGH RB2 RANGE
KENYAN DRAKE CURRENT STATS	70-340-4.86-3	41-27-197-7.3-2	CURRENT RB16
16 GAME PACE	140-680.4-4.86-6	82-54-394.2-7.3-4	MID-RANGE RB2

(KEY: A-ATTEMPTS, Y-YARDS, YPA-YARDS PER ATTEMPT, TD-TOUCHDOWNS, T-TARGETS, R-RECEPTIONS, YPR-YARDS PER RECEPTION)

THE PROS –

‘Lamar Miller is quite ‘handy’. His stats with Deshaun Watson were solid. D’Onta foreman was on the Injured Reserve list and there is no real competition in the backfield.’

Lamar Miller has looked like the serviceable Running Back you drafted in the 4th to 6th Rounds. He has shown signs of being his average self, along with games as he had against Miami (18-133-1) recently where he flat out went bonkers. He hasn’t had the big games as a Receiver but why would he need to be when DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller (well, Fuller up until now, an ACL tear has put an end to his season) have been great. Foreman hasn’t been spoken about really and the Texans don’t seem to be rushing him back as we are nine games into the season and he still hasn’t been activated off the Injured Reserve. Alfred Blue is still Alfred Blue.

‘When Drake took over the Miami backfield he looked fantastic. Has a Coach in Adam Gase that recognizes he can play as a Receiver out of the slot. He should be able to hold off the evergreen Frank Gore.’

Some days Adam Gase loves Kenyan Drake, where he has had 8 games with above 45 yards on the ground which has been complemented with 3 Touchdowns so far with 50% of games having over 11 carries. He has also been really good in the air by seeing on average about 5 Targets a game too.

THE CONS – 

‘Miller’s Yards Per Carry are rough behind a bad O-Line. He did hold off Foreman until he got hurt, but Foreman looked like he was on the verge of a takeover. He is quite expensive to the Texans this year, but can be cut next season.’

Lamar Miller is up above the 4.0 Yards Per Carry (4.46 YPC) so far this year and has only dipped under 4.0 YPC on three separate occasions this season which is great considering the O-Line did not get improved upon this offseason. Foreman (as mentioned above) is still not ready to play and until he is – the Texans Running Back is Lamar Miller for the rest of the season.

‘Adam Gase could leave him in a ‘committee’. That committee exists of a possible Hall Of Fame worthy Frank Gore and a big-bodied Rookie in Kalen Ballage who can be effective as a pass-catching Running Back. Drake only got his chance out of attrition – they are dating Drake but don’t want to marry him.’

Frank Gore has destroyed Kenyan Drake drafters. Gore is the lead back, there is no denying it. But when the Dolphins need a boost then Drake is generally out on the field. Kalen Ballage has barely been seen so that is a positive, however, unless something happens to Frank Gore, or Adam Gase has a change in coaching philosophy then I don’t think that Drake’s usage will all of a sudden change. He is going to have weeks where he carries the ball 3 times, and there are times where he could see 15 touches also. He is a ‘matchup based’ Running Back who you will likely start during the Bye Rounds but is probably a Flex position player as your best case scenario.

 

WIDE RECEIVERS	T-R-C%-Y-YPR-TD	FINISH (HPPR)
MY BRANDIN COOKS PROJECTION	109-70-64.22-1131-16.08-8	HIGH WR2 RANGE
BRANDIN COOKS CURRENT STATS	52-35-67.3-643-18.37-2	CURRENT WR17
16 GAME PACE	104-70-67.3-1285.9-18.37-4	HIGH WR2 RANGE
MY ALLEN HURNS PROJECTION	88-56-64.32-805-14.21-6	MID WR3 RANGE
ALLEN HURNS CURRENT STATS	28-13-46.4-158-12.15-1	CURRENT WR94
16 GAME PACE	64-30-46.4-361-12.15-2	PURGATORY
MY SAMMY WATKINS PROJECTION	70-45-64.6-655.2-14.56-5	HIGH WR4 RANGE
SAMMY WATKINS CURRENT STATS	49-34-69.4-453-13.32-3	CURRENT WR26
16 GAME PACE	98-68-69.4-905.72-13.32-6	HIGH WR3 / LOW WR2 RANGE

 

(KEY: T-TARGETS, R-RECEPTIONS, C%-CATCH PERCENTAGE, Y-YARDS, YPR-YARDS PER RECEPTION, TD-TOUCHDOWNS)

THE PROS –

‘There is a stack of Targets available for the Rams after player departures. Cooks is an upgrade over Sammy Watkins and Sean McVay will have more time to get him to adapt to their schemes.’ 

 

Brandin Cooks is in that 110 Target / 1100 yard range again – it is his bread and butter and has been used in a variety of roles by Sean McVay. McVay has probably utilized Cooks better than he did Watkins but I think having more time to connect with Cooks has shown. Cooks’ numbers would probably look better too, if not for a game where he got destroyed and dipped out with a concussion and put up zero numbers. Cooks looks good, the Rams look good – everything is good!

‘With Elliott and Prescott available for a full 16 games like in 2016 the opposition with a focus solely on the run game with stacked boxes, opening up space for Allen Hurns. Massive Target share available after Dez Bryant was cut and Jason Witten retired; someone has to catch the ball. Hurns could be the potential WR1 for his team and can be picked up into the late double-digit rounds of Fantasy Drafts.’

Teams are stacking the box against Ezekial Elliott, that much is definitely true… And someone does have to catch the ball – it’s a concept used in Football, frequently, which is also true… There is a reason why Hurns was falling late in your Fantasy Draft… Hurns has been a massive disappointment and I can’t imagine a Fantasy league where he is on any rosters at this point.

‘He’s healthy. He’s finally healthy – and Watkins has a full offseason with an offensive guru. Watkins doesn’t need to be the 1A, but if he can be in the mix he can be effective. Touchdowns, he finds a way to get them either stretching the field or in the end zone.’

This (Watkins and Kansas) has been one of the better stories of the year. Ok, the odd hamstring issue for Watkins had popped up but it was almost as if (for once) he has been managed correctly in his rehabilitation and Andy Reid has used him better than anyone else ever has. Watkins, at times, looks to be the star they recruited and Kansas currently (when on fire) have a 1A in Tyreek Hill, a 1A in Sammy Watkins and a 1A in Travis Kelce. If I can speak on behalf of Watkins truthers and doubters alike – it’s about damn time!

THE CONS – 

‘Is Cooks the answer to be the Rams’ Top Wide Receiver? The current Receivers are really talented so maybe Cooks ends up as Sammy Watkins did in 2017.’

Prior to getting injured Cooper Kupp was clearly the better Receiver and Robert Woods has chipped in quite efficiently as well, but Cooks was doing what he does. Big ‘spike’ games with some ‘lulls’ thrown in too, however, those low yardage games came after his concussion and has gone up in yards each week since. But with Kupp, Woods and Gurley all crushing it this year outside of more Touchdowns I’m not sure what more he is meant to do.

‘The Cowboys stance of spreading the ball around as opposed to a central lead receiver. Hurns’ Targets dropped significantly in a run-dominant game last season and in that, case Hurns goes missing and even when there isn’t a star receiver near him he can still go missing.’

The only thing to sum up Hurns’ season can be found in the above statement: Hurns has gone missing. And with the arrival of Amari Cooper via trade last week and with Michael Gallup starting to look like he is adapting to the NFL over the past two games I would say that Allen Hurns‘ career in Dallas is in trouble. He needs to do something significantly better (like be a better Receiver?) to have any impact for the Cowboys for the rest of the season.

‘Watkins will not be their Number One Receiver considering how much they paid him is that really a good idea? The TD rate is high, can he keep it up? What is Pat Mahomes going to be?’

Tyreek Hill is the Number 2 Receiver in the league currently. Travis Kelce is the Number 2 Tight End in the league currently. Kareem Hunt is the Number 5 Running Back in the league currently. All of these things were happening last year before Watkins arrived and he has slotted in regardless of their production and carved out a significant role of his own. Watkins is on pace for 6 Touchdowns for the season which is a slight regression from last season. But in a team like Kansas right now, if he was to walk away with 900 yards with the 6 Touchdowns as his 16 Game Pace would predict then that (to me) would be a huge success for his first year at Arrowhead.

 

TIGHT ENDS	T-R-C%-Y-YPR-TD	FINISH (HPPR)
MY TREY BURTON PROJECTION	95-59-61.9-656-11-21-7	TE8 OVERALL
TREY BURTON CURRENT STATS	38-27-71.1-343-12.7-4	CURRENT TE6
16 GAME PACE	86-62-71.1-787.4-12.7-9	TOP 5 TE
MY JIMMY GRAHAM PROJECTION	98-64-64.4-721-10.92-6	TE7 OVERALL
JIMMY GRAHAM CURRENT STATS	49-28-57.1-370-13.21-1	CURRENT TE12
16 GAME PACE	112-64-57.1-846-13.21-2	TOP 10 TE

(KEY: T-TARGETS, R-RECEPTIONS, C%-CATCH PERCENTAGE, YPR-YARDS PER RECEPTION, TD-TOUCHDOWNS)

THE PROS –

‘He played a role in a Superbowl win and came to Chicago with a fantastic catch percentage. Mitchell Trubisky is extremely efficient in the middle of the field, where Burton gets to work. If you are going to be compared to Travis Kelce then you gotta be figured in.’

If in his first season as a starter in a new team with a first-time Head Coach would it be a success if Burton walked away with over 750 yards and 9 Touchdowns? I’d think so! He is being used similarly to Travis Kelce was at times (shovel passes anyone?). Allen Robinson hasn’t looked to be the star he was and Jordan Howard has been up and down too. But as far as Burton’s performances? He is currently in 6th place amongst Tight Ends and is only 18 points off George Kittle who had a monster game this week.

‘Jimmy Graham was the most targetted player in the end zone in 2017, and Aaron Rodgers has one of the highest Red Zone completion percentages along with a 221:9 TD-INT ratio. He is the best tight end to land in Green Bay for some time now, so if anyone can smash that stigma of the Packers not using that position then it’s going to be him with either the yards OR the TDs.’

Jimmy Graham has had the quietest 370 yards (8th amongst Tight Ends) I can remember anyone having. Weird season for Graham, because just like the quiet yards, he’s also had the quietest 49 Targets (6th amongst Tight Ends) as well.

THE CONS – 

‘In a high powered Eagles Offense, he was naturally overshadowed by Zach Ertz unless he (Ertz) was out. A stack of unknown about his role with free agent and rookie additions. Travis Kelce comparisons, surely they’re premature.’

I think everything said about Burton this season has been fairly self-explanatory. He is playing his role as well as he can. Trubisky is finding him when he has to and Burton has performed and executed plays as well as we thought he could have. He is no Travis Kelce, but who is? As long as Allen Robinson is out, Burton remains the primary End Zone Target which is a bonus and there is no real reason to take him off the field at any time. Anthony Miller and Taylor Gabriel have not really interfered with Burton’s role or production.

‘Graham was a focal point in Seattle last year because outside of Doug Baldwin who was there? In Aaron Rodgers‘ career, they’d hit 100 Targets to the Tight End in a year only 4 times. Graham is a 5th round value for a brutal position like the Tight End? For him to be taken there he needs to play above that.’

1 Touchdown of 6 Targets in the End Zone really inefficient and that is not what we know Jimmy Graham for in that area of the field. This is as big of a letdown as it is disappointing, considering he has only caught only 3 of those 6 Targets also which makes it seem even worse. He is on track for over 100 Targets but as we know of the past few seasons, Graham will either get you the Yards OR the Touchdowns. He has only the one score this year – so something has to pick up quickly for him to return that 5th (yuck, 5th Round ADP still grosses me out) Round selection.

SUMMARY

So here we are, again looking forward to what the rest of the season can look like and what our subjects for this year’s Pros And Cons can produce. So here is what I am going to do; I am going to set a marker for each player for us to follow to check in on by the end of the year to add to the last week of the season’s recap. Think of it as a bonus round!

Russell Wilson: Let’s see if Wilson can get back on track on the ground with 300 Yards Rushing and 2 TDS to go with it.

Eli Manning: Let’s see if Manning hasn’t been replaced by Rookie Kyle Lauletta.

Lamar Miller: Let’s see if Miller (who is on Pace for 5 Touchdowns) can get over 6 Touchdowns by the end of the season.

Kenyan Drake: Let’s see if the season turns to trash for the Dolphins if Drake gets replaced by Kalen Ballage.

Brandin Cooks: 1100 Yards and 8 Touchdowns is Cooks’ calling card. Let’s see if he can get there again.

Allen Hurns: Just like Eli Manning, let’s see if Hurns has a role with the Cowboys by the end of the year!

Sammy Watkins: Let’s see how far Sammy Watkins can go this year. He is projected for under 1000 Yards at the pace he is going, I want to see if he can crack it!

Trey Burton: Let’s see if Burton can finish as a Top 5 Tight End (Half Point Per Reception) by the end of the season.

Jimmy Graham: Let’s see if Graham can hit his 16 Game Pace of 846 Yards. It seems like a stretch but hey, who knows!

I want to thank you for getting this far and taking in everything I have presented. If I can, I’d like to wish my beautiful wife K a fantastic Birthday this weekend. I’m looking forward to celebrating it with you by watching seven hours of uninterrupted football…or maybe not! Set your lineups accordingly and check out the DFS and Weekly Content all the hard-working staff is pumping out to get you best prepared. Also – download the Going For 2 app, then and rate, review and share with your loved ones. You all deserve it!

You can as always follow and find me at @TheBLeagueSays and offer any view or conversation about this. Let’s all get better together!

Once again, Thank you and Enjoy!

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