Ultimate Fantasy Rookie Performances to Follow: Week 18

This is a rough week to be a football fan. One of the biggest games of the season on Monday Night Football and a player gets hurt in such a catastrophic way that the game ends in the first quarter. My heart goes out to everyone who experienced the trauma of Monday night. Good luck, Damar Hamlin. You have everyone in the sports world pulling for you.

It’s hard to think about fantasy numbers and stats after that whole situation but I will persist nonetheless. The following is a list of the top 5 rookie performances based on (PPR points).

Embed from Getty Images

5. Isiah Pacheco (12.9)

Hold up. Before I talk about Isiah Pacheco I need to get something off my chest. The Broncos are absolutely garbage and their two best games of the season came against arguably the best team in the league both times? That just doesn’t make any sense. (I’m still salty I blew an insane amount of auction dollars in a draft on Russell Wilson. It pretty much torpedoed my season. I don’t want to talk about it.)

Pacheco has become the primary running back while Jerick McKinnon catches all the passes and gets the touchdowns. Pacheco did manage to run a touchdown in on his 9 carries for 31 yards. He also had 2 catches for 18 yards. This isn’t as many opportunities as managers would like, but he did pretty well considering.

4. Tyquan Thornton (15)

Tyquan Thornton did not have the most efficient day catching the ball (he caught 3 out of 7 targets thrown his way), but it was a solid day for our prodigal son. He has been a relative non-factor since his big game in week 6. This week, 3 catches for 60 yards and a touchdown helped the Patriots beat the Dolphins. I can’t imagine many managers using him this week unless it was an incredibly dire situation. If you did, PLEASE send me your lineup. I have to see it.

Embed from Getty Images

3. Kenneth Walker III (15.2)

The Jets* locked down the passing game this week but apparently forgot Kenneth Walker was also on the Seahawks. He had 23 carries for 133 yards and 1 catch for 9 yards. You could do a lot worse than having the 13th best RB of championship week.

*I was worried that the Jets weren’t going to make the championship week article. BOOM. Running joke secured. 

Embed from Getty Images

2. Tyler Allgeier (16.5)

Tyler Allgeier has really picked up steam as the season has gone on. Against the Cardinals, Allgeier had 60.6% (20 of 33) for the carries of the run heavy Falcons. Those carries led to 83 yards and a touchdown. He added a single catch for 12 yards on top of that. The future looks bright for Allgeier.

Embed from Getty Images

1. Brock Purdy (17.06)

It has become more obvious to me than ever that the draft is just 32 teams holding lottery tickets and hoping for the best. Clearly, nobody expected Mr. Irrelevant to even see the field this year, and he has been the best quarterback in the whole draft class. Purdy completed 22 out of 35 classes for 284 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had one interception, but that happens. The 49ers have such a good team that Purdy might skate his way to a Super Bowl.

NUMBERS

Thanks for your continued readership. The last two weeks have been admittedly weak (missing the playoffs depression and the holidays) and yet, here you still are reading. We have one week left in the season and even though most championships happened this past week, I need my numbers for the end of the year analysis. Therefore, you have two more weeks to suffer through this if you choose. Speaking of championships, thank your fantasy commissioners. They deal with a lot of things throughout the year and this championship week was unprecedented. Thank you @HardwickRants, @BenjaminB23 and @ScottFish24! There wouldn’t have been a fantasy season without you guys.

Have a good week!

@MeLlamoMoron

ATTN Dynasty Commissioners: Do you want to do something cool for your league? How about a 1-hour live show dedicated to YOUR league? Team-by-team breakdowns, rankings, and more. For details and to book a show, visit: GoingFor2.com/plp.