Fantasy Football
Fantasy football under-the-radar plays — League winners
Dec 20, 2018, 5:04 pm
Derrick Henry has been a beast. Photo via Titans/Facebook
It's championship week for most fantasy leagues, so I'm back to give out more sleeper plays. My standard for a good fantasy game is around 100 total yards and/or a TD, and this is for PPR scoring. A game with a lot of catches helps too, obviously. Of course, the bar is a little lower for TEs.
My plays are below and these players are in no particular order.
QB
Nick Foles (PHI): This week Foles gets his shot at the Texans' underwhelming secondary. Over the past 4 games Houston has allowed almost 26 FPTS/G to opposing QBs.
Aaron Rodgers (GB): I know, it's crazy to have him in this article, but he hasn't been good this year. He was only decent last week in comparison to how bad the QB play was in Week 15. He gets the Jets on Sunday, and they have been bad.
Mitchell Trubisky (CHI): Trubisky gets the 49ers this week, and they have given up 9 TD passes to opponents over the last 4 weeks. He should have a nice game.
RB
Marlon Mack (IND): He got it done last week and this week he gets the Giants defense which is allowing over 31 FPTS/G to running backs over their last 4 games.
Spencer Ware or Damian Williams (KC): If Ware misses the game against Seattle this week, Williams is a must-start. The Seahawks really struggle against pass-catching RBs. They've allowed 36 catches to RBs in their last 4 games. Pay attention to the practice reports and try to get a feel for which player is expected to get the most work. If it's going to be a committee this week, knowing which guy to start will be tough.
Jaylen Samuels (PIT): START HIM if James Conner remains out. That is all.
Sony Michel (NE): He gets a nice matchup against the Bills, and I think New England pounds Buffalo. The Bills have allowed 6 TDs to RBs in their last 4 games.
Derrick Henry (TEN): You've seen what he's done the last couple weeks, right? He's been great, and he gets a nice matchup against Washington. The Redskins are allowing 5.28 yards per carry over the last month to RBs. Henry looks like a league winner.
Jamaal Williams (GB): He should be active against the Jets, and he's a nice option if you need him.
WR
Alshon Jeffrey (PHI): He gets the Texans this week, and only the Jets are a better matchup for WRs over the past month. The Texans allow almost 43 FPTS/G to WRs over their last 4 contests. Jeffrey is going off.
Doug Baldwin (SEA): Baldwin is in a great spot playing the Chiefs this week. They are giving up over 40 FPTS/G to WRs in their last 3 games.
Julian Edelman (NE): I pushed him hard last week, and he came through. I think he goes off on the Bills this week. He should see an uptick in targets with Josh Gordon out of the picture. Edelman has made a career out of lighting up the Bills.
Jordy Nelson (OAK): If you're stuck this week, Nelson has a good matchup, and he's been decent for fantasy the past few weeks. The Broncos are a Top 7 matchup for receivers over the last 4 weeks.
TE
Jared Cook (OAK): If you have him, you've probably been starting him regularly. He gets Denver this week, and they've allowed 24 catches to TEs over the last month. You'll be pleased if he catches 6 passes.
Cameron Brate (TB): He's in this article almost every week, and he killed a lot of owners in Week 15. On the bright side, the Cowboys have good corners and I could see Brate getting some extra looks this week. Plus, Dallas is allowing over 14 FPTS/G to TEs over the past month.
That's all I have for this week. For more fantasy info, make sure you check out my show Moneyline on ESPN 97.5 every Sunday from 10-noon. Jerry Bo and I will get you ready for kickoff and answer any questions you may have. Also, follow us on Twitter.
Good luck in Week 16!
How 3 major x-factors could tip the scales in Texans-Colts: Week 1
Sep 5, 2024, 7:27 pm
Each football game of a season carries much more weight than one game in a 162 Major League Baseball schedule. That reality, combined with the National Football League campaign opening and with it the most anticipated season in Texans’ history, the Astros are relegated to second banana this weekend. Just the way it goes despite the Astros’ phenomenal extended run from 10 games out of first place in mid-June to now having control of the American League West race and a likely (though definitely not yet certain) eighth consecutive year of postseason play.
It is reality that getting swept out of Cincinnati cost the Astros two games in the standings to Seattle the last two days and trimmed their division lead to four and a half games going into this weekend. There was nothing shameful about getting swept. It’s not as if they choked. They got outplayed and beaten in all three games. Stuff happens within a 162-game season. The 2019 Astros were vastly better than the 2024 Astros. The 2019 ‘Stros posted the best record in franchise history at 107-55. In Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole they had the two best pitchers in the AL. The Reds finished 75-87 in ’19. In the lone Astros-Reds series five years ago, Verlander and Cole started two of the three games. The Reds swept the Astros out of Cincy by scores of 3-2, 4-3, and 3-2. Stuff happens. The following week the Astros called up Yordan Alvarez. There is no Yordan coming to fortify the offense now, but wait! Is that Kyle Tucker's music?
The Astros host the NL champs this weekend
It’s highly unlikely but it’s still a possible World Series preview at Minute Maid Park this weekend with the Astros home for three games versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. The reigning National League Champions woke up under .500 July 11, but since then have been sizzling with 33 wins against just 15 losses. Over the same time frame the Astros are 27-21. The Diamondbacks by a large margin have scored the most runs in MLB this season, and that’s while playing the last nearly three weeks without Ketel Marte because of a high ankle sprain. Marte has been far and away the best second baseman in the game this year. He may return this weekend in a designated hitter role. The Arizona offense overall has been sensational, however it has vulnerability against left-handed pitching, in significant part because it typically takes lefty-hitting platoon beast Joc Pederson out of the lineup. The D’Backs are 55-35 in games facing right-handed starters, just 24-27 in games started by opposing southpaws. The Astros have lefties Framber Valdez and Yusei Kikuchi set to go in the first two games this weekend. While the Astros deal with the Diamondbacks the Mariners are in St. Louis for three against the Cardinals.
Eleven Diamondbacks have had at least 200 plate appearances this season. Only one of them has an OPS below .725. The Astros also have 11 guys with at least 200 PAs. Five of them lug around sub-.715 OPSes: Jeremy Pena (.714), Jake Meyers (.664), Mauricio Dubon (.645), Jon Singleton (.697), and Chas McCormick (.566).
Maximizing Tucker's return
Speaking of returns, Tucker fiiiiiiinally should see action for the first time since his June 3 bone bruise. Oh wait, broken leg. Shame on the Astros for their BSing over this and other injuries. Yeah, Alex Bregman slept funny. Whatever. To boost the lineup Tucker doesn’t have to be the .979 OPS MVP candidate he was when felled. Ben Gamel has done some good work, but over time he’s Ben Gamel. Same for Jason Heyward. If Tucker's legs are under him his power is a B-12 shot and only Yordan is in his league in on-base percentage. Joe Espada has decisions to make as to how slot the batting order. Against a right-handed starter Jose Altuve, Tucker, Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, Bregman one through five makes sense with Tucker dropping down below Yainer against a left-handed starter. No question those are the top five in some order. How much of a workload Tucker is ready for bears watching. Presumably he doesn’t initially play the outfield day in day out. When Tucker DHs obviously Bregman (and Yordan) can’t so Alex’s ailing elbow holding up is key. One might say hopefully the bone chips don’t fall where they may. Tuesday the Astros start a stretch playing 16 days in a row.
Keep hope alive!
If you’re an Astros fan holding out hope of chasing down the second seed to avoid having to play the best-of-three Wild Card series, say it with me, whatever nausea it may induce: “Go Dodgers Go!” Hurt as it might, business is business. The Dodgers play host to the Guardians. The Astros trail Cleveland by five games with just 22 to play, but do finish the regular season with three games at Cleveland. It's pretty much over for the Astros to catch both the Orioles and Yankees.
Season-long trends mean nothing once the playoffs start, and that’s a good thing for the Astros provided they are in the playoffs. They continue to flat out stink in close games. Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds has the Astros record in one-run games at 15-24. In two-run games they are 10-14. Correlatively, the Astros also continue to routinely fail late in close games. The Astros have played 14 games that were tied after seven innings. They have lost 11 of the 14. In games tied after eight innings they are 7-13. Every team loses an extremely high percentage of games when trailing after eight innings, but the Astros haven’t pulled out a single game they’ve trailed going to the ninth. 0-50. Oh and fifty. But hey, the White Sox are 0-92!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.