Football Daily Dose: Dose: Chiefs Backfield Split?
It’s Week 13 and we’re officially heading down the home stretch of the fantasy season. As you’re doing your own research, purveying your weekly start-or-sit decisions, and hopefully earning a first round bye in your league, be sure to check out Ray Summerlin’s Waiver Wired for Week 13 adds plus Rich Hribar’s stat-filled Worksheet.
Let’s hit Wednesday’s most important news.
Editor’s Note: Stay up to date on all the breaking news at the Rotoworld Player News page, and follow @Rotoworld_FB and @GrahamBarfield on Twitter.
The Headlines
Devonta Freeman (concussion) has passed the league’s concussion protocol and is cleared to play in Week 13 on the road against the Buccaneers. This is an interesting spot for Freeman and an equally important week for the Falcons as a whole. Atlanta is averaging 23.6 points per-game (14th in the league) on offense this year, but have scored just 15.7 points per contest (27th) in their last three games. Their struggles on offense can largely be placed on the shoulders of Matt Ryan who has thrown multiple interceptions in four of his last seven games, including five total INTs in his last two. As for Freeman, he’ll return to a fairly rough Week 13 draw against a Bucs’ run defense that ranks 2nd in Football Outsiders Run Defense DVOA and 28th in yards per carry allowed to opposing running backs (3.55). Despite an expected decrease in rushing efficiency, Freeman should still be fired up confidently in season-long leagues. He has at least four receptions in seven of his nine games, not including his early exit in Week 11.
In other concussion-related news, Allen Hurns (concussion) remains in the league’s protocol and did not practice on Wednesday. He’s still in the early stages of the protocol and is seemingly a long shot to play in Week 13 against the Titans. Without Hurns, Allen Robinson will continue vacuum targets on the outside and we can safely bump up Julius Thomas’ target projection as well. Thomas has 18 total targets in his last two games and has seen eight or more targets in three of his last four outings. His weekly PPR finishes over the last month of action are: TE29, TE36, TE8, and TE1. Thomas has seemingly found a usable floor of fantasy points in his last two games and has five red zone targets (18.5% share of team red zone targets) during that aforementioned four-game span. It should be noted that Julius Thomas beat the Titans for 5-28-1 (8 targets) on Thursday Night Football back in Week 11. Tennessee is currently giving up 0.73 touchdowns per-game to opposing tight ends, tied for the fifth highest rate in the league.
With Chris Johnson (broken leg) on injured reserve and Andre Ellington battling turf toe, rookie David Johnson will likely be the Cardinals’ starting running back for at least Week 13. For those unfamiliar, Johnson is a 6’1”, 224 lbs athletic freak with a 94th percentile SPARQ score who accounted for 40.8% of his teams total yards and touchdowns while in college at Northern Iowa. As noted by 4for4’s Chris Raybon, Johnson has scored a touchdown every 7.7 touches, which leads the NFL among running backs with at least 50 touches. Obviously this needs to be held with the disclaimer that Johnson only has just 54 touches on the year, but he now possesses a massive amount of opportunity for the near-term as Arizona’s lead back. The other running backs behind Johnson on the depth chart if Ellington is indeed out in Week 13 are Stepfan Taylor and practice-squader, Kerwynn Williams. The Rams played decent run defense earlier in the year, but have since given up 34-129-1, 26-93-0, and 26-102-0 to Bears, Ravens, and Bengals running backs over the past three weeks.
Charcandrick West (hamstring) practiced in full on Wednesday and is on track to play Week 13 against the Raiders. This is a very interesting situation to monitor closely throughout the week as Spencer Ware shredded a below-average Bills run defense for 19-114-1 and ran for 11-96-2 in relief of West in Week 11 against the Chargers. I won’t begin to bet whether or not Ware or West will be the full-blown starter, but Andy Reid’s coaching history has been very friendly to fantasy running backs and suggests he usually finds a lead back and rides him. Ware and West could buck that trend and become a version of a one-two punch, but that information remains to be seen.
Another situation to monitor is Tyler Eifert’s (neck) status for Week 13. Eifert sustained a stinger in the second half in Week 12 but tests revealed no structural damage to his neck. He did not practice on Wednesday. Eifert’s fantasy finishes (PPR) are nothing short of fantastic on the year, his to-date resume is as follows: TE1, TE5, TE8, TE3, TE12, TE19, TE2, TE30, TE4, and TE13. Eifert also has seven red zone targets since Week 9, tied for the third most among running backs, receivers, and tight ends during that four game span.
Editor’s Note: For updated rankings, fantasy news columns, IDP, injury analysis, dynasty and much more, check out the Rotoworld Season Pass.
Quick Hits
Darrelle Revis (concussion) is unlikely to play against the Giants. The Jets may also be down Revis’ Week 12 backup Marcus Williams (MCL) as well. … Ben Roethlisberger (concussion) was cleared to practice on Wednesday, but he remains in the league’s concussion protocol. … Austin Davis was named the Browns starting quarterback in Week 13. Josh McCown (collarbone) was placed on injured reserve. … Karlos Williams (shoulder) did not practice on Wednesday. … Leonard Hankerson (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday. … Martellus Bennett (ribs) practiced in full on Wednesday. … Ryan Mathews (concussion) still isn’t practicing. … Heath Miller (ribs) did not practice on Wednesday. … Finally, John Brown (hamstring) and Michael Floyd (hamstring) were both limited in practice on Wednesday.
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