My Kupp runneth over

This season is flying by! The days are long but the weeks are short! It’s football time!

We’ve got our usual Thursday night football recap, plus we’ll take a short look at the Cooper Kupp and Jonathan Taylor situations as those two fantasy superstars join back in the fray.

And of course, I’ve got my notes on things I’m watching and looking for this week, plus starts (and some sits) to go along with it all!

Thursday Night Fantasy Recap

The Bears broke their losing streak! I’ll admit due to my love for Sam Howell and Brian Robinson, I was rooting against the Bears. They could score, but please just lose. It was not meant to be.

DJ Moore was the story of the night, catching eight passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns. My guy Darnell Mooney came close to having several big grabs of his own, but failed to haul in any of his four targets. Khalil Herbert, Roschon Johnson, and Travis Homer were all out by game’s end due to injury. Hopefully at least one makes it back for next week.

For the Commanders, it’s a disappointing loss. The defense did nothing to slow down Fields in the first half. The second half was much more competitive, but it was just too big a deficit for the offense to overcome. Sam Howell played well, completing over 72% of his passes for two scores and a pick. The offensive line has to be fixed some how if Howell is to keep standing and avoid a David Carr career. Or to have a career in general. Logan Thomas is an every-week start at tight end at this point. The game got away from Brian Robinson quickly, but it was encouraging to see him catch four passes for 33 yards. McLaurin, Gibson, and Dotson all had “meh” nights. Curtis Samuel starting to come alive though.

Things to look out for in Week X

• 🐏 Cooper Kupp Returns: Alright so it does look like Kupp will play against the Eagles. He starts, you play him. You’re starting Puka either way, ok? Tutu is more of a flex for me if Kupp plays, and Kyren is a starter on volume alone.

• Jonathan Taylor, back? He just might play for the Colts this week. After all that drama, he could play for the Colts this Sunday. It’s against Tennessee so temper expectations, but if he plays, I don’t know how you sit a guy of his caliber.

• 🐴 Speaking of the Colts Michael Pittman and Josh Downs are both starts for me in season long and in DFS this week. I prefer Downs in 50/50 contests. Anyway, Joe Burrow struggles aside, Tennessee has been a great matchup for wideouts so far this year, and I think Richardson is going to have a bounce-back week passing after hardly throwing a complete pass last Sunday.

• For the London game, don’t forget to set lineups early! Trevor Lawrence is tough to trust against the Bills defense that has shut down QB’s so far this year. If you have to you have to though. Ridley is startable but also tough to trust. I am ok with Christian Kirk and Evan Engram. It’s funny how Kirk was buried after week 1 and has since then been the most productive wideout on the team. But, things can change again.

• 🦬 Start your Bills btw. As if that needed to be said.

• Can C.J. Stroud keep up this insane level of play? Atlanta may provide yet another decent test for the rookie quarterback. I’m still starting him and hoping Nico Collins and Tank Dell come through. Dalton Schultz can be an option at tight end but is tough to trust.

• 🦁 For your Detroit players going against Carolina, see note above about the Bills. ARSB, Montgomery, Gibbs, LaPorta, Goff. Yup. For Carolina, it’s pretty much Adam Thielen (who IMO is a great cash/DFS play) and I’m out.

• 🐬 For your Miami players, see note above about Buffalo. The one guy I do have questions about is Jaylen Waddle. He’s not been good to start the year, but he’s an absolute week winner when he hits. Start him if you have other dependable WRs. If not, bench him.

• 🏙️ Saquon Barkley, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Darren Waller are the only Giants I’m personally concerned to start with this week. Wan’Dale has been receiving a lot of targets relative to his role, which is a great sign. If he hasn’t been picked up in your league and you have the space, scoop him up.

• ❓️❓️ Some teams I’m having a hard time getting into my lineups? Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New England, and New Orleans. Olave is in. Lamar is in. Rhamondre and George Pickens are in. And Rhamondre I’m a little wary and just want to sit back and watch if I can.

• I like the Cardinals this week against the Bengals. Zach Ertz finds himself in a plus matchup and is second in the NFL in tight end targets. Michael Wilson popped off. Don’t forget about Hollywood Brown and James Conner either. I wrote up Joshua Dobbs as a QB Streamers this week on a site I write for in addition to this newsletter. Check it, and them, out.

• 🏹 I think that Rashee Rice is in sneaky sleeper territory this week against the Vikings. He leads Chiefs’ wide receivers in targets and receptions on the year so far, and he gets a very suspect defense this week.

• ☠️ For Monday night, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Luke Musgrave are all players I like against the Raiders. Watson caught a touchdown in his limited number of snaps against Detroit in week 4, so I’m curious to see how he looks with a full complement. On the other side, the enthusiasm I have for Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, and Josh Jacobs depends heavily on Jimmy Garappolo, who looks like will play.

That will do it for this Friday's edition of the newsletter! If you want to make any suggestions for content you’d like to see in it, make sure to let me know on the discord! Love to see you there!