Fighting Chance Roundtable: Week 9
We are in the back half of the NFL season sadly, but our fantasy seasons are still rolling and every week gets a little more serious and every matchup has the butt puckering harder. But relax we at Fighting Chance Fantasy have you covered so be sure to follow us all on Twitter! Matt (@dirtyairFC), Joe (@joegallina), Rick (@rickwolf1) and me (@fightingchance) and don’t forget our usual contributors taking a week off Leo (@smooth1074) and Jen (@theonlyjensmith)
Do you feel like the trade to Baltimore was a fantasy upgrade for Diontae Johnson?
Matt: I think it's more of a lateral move fantasy-wise in the short term with some playoff upside for Diontae. I can see a path where Johnson will have an impact similar to Amari Cooper is with Buffalo. A smaller route participation and route tree until he's up to speed with the scheme and timing, with a possibility of some upside as we head into the second-half of the fantasy season. The player I'm more interested in is Zay Flowers. Does he also follow a similar trajectory that Khalil Shakir has followed in the past 2 weeks with Cooper in town?
Rick: For the Baltimore Ravens, it is HUGE. Their wide receiver core was one of the worst in football with only Zay Flowers holding things down. It made them one dimensional. The tight ends and the running backs out of the backfield would get almost all of the work if Flowers was not open. They don't have a wide receiver over 6 foot tall or weighing more than 205. That means the tight ends are the red zone plays. Johnson did VERY well with the red rifle under center, but with Bryce Young, his targets, catches, yards and touchdowns were all down. This HAS to be a step up. Play action passes to a receiver with hands makes sense. With Flowers in the slot taking safety coverage, he will get more single coverage and therefore have more success.
Ryan: For fantasy purposes I kind of think this is a lateral move for him. Sure, the offense is far superior to what Carolina is doing, but Baltimore doesn’t throw it a ton. Lamar Jackson is having a hell of a year, but Zay Flowers is clearly the number one and now with Mark Andrews seemingly having a resurgence and Isaiah Likely having some games, Johnson also has more competition in Baltimore. I think he will be a fine flex play the rest of the season, but I didn’t see this landing spot as a hugely favorable one for him.
Are you buying into Cedric Tillman as an every week starter with Deshaun Watson gone?
Rick: Was buying Cedric Tillman as my last pick all draft season. Third year receiver with size on a team that at that time had only one star receiver and now has none. With the tight end often injured, Tillman was earmarked by me to score seven to eight touchdowns. Well, Watson turned out to be not accurate and Elijah Moore kept making catches. With 21 targets and 15 catches in the last TWO games, this shows you what is possible and regardless of the quarterback, I think that he will continue you to be a flex player in fantasy lineups.
Joe: Yes, in three WR leagues he should be started every week. The Browns have some pretty good WRs who fly under the radar in Jerry Jeudy and Elijah Moore but Tillman led all Cleveland pass catchers with 99 receiving yards and he scored two TDs Week 8. Tillman played 90% of the Browns’ offensive snaps and has got good hands. He’s a deep ball threat and could be the Browns’ WR1 moving forward.
Matt: As long as Jameis Winston is the QB, Cedric Tillman's usage is incredible. At this time of the year, league championships are won by players who were not on anyone's radar back in August. You're starting Tillman until the usage says otherwise.
Ryan: After one week I was still skeptical, but it is hard to not be convinced after two weeks of big fantasy production. I don’t think that Jameis Winston will be this efficient every week, but I also do believe that Tillman is going to remain the number one receiver on the team this year. At worst he is a flex play and at best he could be a WR2 for the rest of the year.
Assuming health, has Tyrone Tracy taken over the Giants backfield going forward?
Rick: Yes. His ability to hit the hole with authority and break tackles after contact makes it clear that the Giants would be smart to have him be the first and second down back and relegate Singletary to a "SINGLE soliTARY" down.
Matt: Tyrone Tracy is a converted wide receiver who is fast. I doubt he's taking a bell-cow role, but he may be getting the higher-value touches moving forward. Durability is going to be a concern, and Singletary or Daniel Jones will get the goal-line and short-yardage work as a 1B to the Tyrone Tracy 1A.
Joe: Despite head coach Brian Daboll’s history with Devin Singletary, there’s no question that Tracy is the Giants’ lead back moving forward. He’s averaging 5.69 YPC in his last four games and as a former WR he’s a threat in the passing game as well. Excluding the Giants’ game against the Eagles where they were shellacked Tracy has averaged a little over 18 carries per game in his last three contests.
Ryan: Well, when I asked this he hadn’t cleared concussion protocol so I guess we don’t have to assume health anymore. But the easy answer to this is a resounding yes. We all know that Devin Singletary is a plodder and one of the least exciting running backs in the NFL. The question was could Tracy get up to speed of the NFL game and also be a proficient enough blocker to stay on the field. If there was ever a doubt, he erased that Monday night as he torched the for 145 yards on the ground and outcarried Singletary 20-2. Tracy has become an every week fantasy starter the only question is will the Giants stay close in enough games to consistently give him 15-20 carries a game.
With Christian Kirk gone and Brian Thomas dinged up, who benefits most in Jacksonville?
Matt: Tank Bigsby. He's shown spark, has stayed fairly healthy, and is getting usage over Travis Etienne. I think Engram gets a bit of an uptick, but none of the other pass options are going to shine as an alpha.
Rick: Brian Thomas Jr is practicing with a non-contact jersey as is Gabe Davis. Need to watch to see which one practises in full, but Trevor Lawrence has two tight ends to rely on in Evan Engram and Brenton Strange. Engram lines up in all three wide receiver spots at different times and Strange will release from the blocking formation for the seam passes. Engram is the MAN. I stay away from all the rest including Gabe Davis.
Ryan: Obviously, Evan Engram is probably the short answer, but I picked up Parker Washington is as many leagues as I could (at a reasonable FAAB price, of course). He has some explosive abilities and had the most targets among wide receivers after Thomas and Kirk last week. Am I wholly confident in Parker? I am not. Brian Thomas has a chance to play this week which could hurt his stock some. However, Trevor Lawrence has looked less sucky of late and Kirk isn’t coming back which should put Washington as the second wide receiver in a decent offense.
Who do you think will be the most reliable fantasy wide receiver in Buffalo?
Rick: Keon Coleman is beginning to come into his own, learning the offense well now. Fourteen catches in the last two weeks shows it. You can simply dismiss Amari Cooper though. He has big game potential all the time. He is a veteran. He will be the most reliable down the stretch.
Matt: None. Josh Allen spreads the ball around. Keon Coleman had a season-high 22% target share in Week 8. The ceilings are awesome with Allen, but the floors are 3/40.
Joe: Khalil Shakir, for now. QB Josh Allen hasn’t been shy about professing his love for Shakir’s abilities as a pass catcher and as the longest tenured Bills WR he’s Allen’s go to guy. Keon Coleman could eventually be a co-WR1 with Shakir in Buffalo. His offensive snaps played percentage is usually higher than Shakir’s but even though Shakir missed Week 5 he has more overall targets than Coleman.
Ryan: At this point, even with Amari Cooper there I am saying Khalil Shakir. While Keon Coleman is starting to come on in the second half of his rookie season, Shakir has been the most reliable all year and lit up the Seahawks with nine catches for over 100 yards. He has five targets or more in five of the seven games he has played, and one he left early with injury. Although he hasn’t had a touchdown in over a month, Shakir is showing week in and week out that he has become Josh Allen’s preferred target when he needs to make a play.
Do you have any trust in Nick Westbrook-Ikhine after scoring in three straight games?
Joe: Touchdowns are tough to predict for but he did play 92% of the Titans’ offensive snaps in Week 8. Unfortunately that only resulted in four targets. Calvin Ridley is obviously the WR1 in Tennessee and Tyler Boyd and Chigoziem Okonkwo’s targets will increase moving forward. As for Westbrook-Ikhine, I would consider starting him in deeper leagues when he has a good matchup during the NFL’s bye weeks. Although I don’t think it’s likely, he could develop into an every week starter. Westbrook-Ikhine is worth adding off the waiver wire as long as you don’t use too much of your FAAB to do so.
Matt: If you cashed in on your all-hyphenated last name best ball teams, congratulations! Otherwise, the Regression Reaper is waiting patiently. He's a playmaker for the Titans on a team that just isn't doing much otherwise, so, no I don't trust it.
Rick: Hard to trust anyone on the Titans. He is a big red zone target, but if I recall, he was second option on all three touchdowns and one was a broken play with a scramble by Rudolph this past week. My personal belief is that we start seeing the touchdowns go to Ridley and Pollard. All of them. Won't be many...but all of them to Ridley, believe it or not!
Ryan: Ahhhhhh, no. Those touchdowns didn’t come with many targets or catches and even with DeAndre Hopkins out of town, I don’t put much stock in the Titans offense. If you are in a 16 team league or perhaps one with large starting rosters I could see having Westbrook-Ikhine on your bench for injury or bye week insurance, but I sure wouldn’t want to count on him.