Is a Star Fading?

I went into Monday night football needing a mere three and a half points to win in a league. I’m fighting for a playoff spot, trying to get in. I lost Tank Dell on Sunday and I started Jayden Reed over Christian Watson. Despite all that, it was a close game. Add to that that I’ve scored the third most points in the league over the course of the season but at this point, I was on the outside looking in. A win could be huge for me.

To my delight, my receiver makes a big grab to start the game, heck yeah! But my delight turned to horror as Christian Kirk lay on the ground, not getting up after sustaining an injury due to his hard fall after making the grab.

I lost but 0.08 fantasy points. Pain.

Stepping back and looking at this week, what a week for injuries. A theme for this season. It’s always talked about but this season feels worse than usual. I have one dynasty squad that includes defensive players, and on my roster, I have ten, ten, players that are either out or on IR.

On the bright side, Tyreek Hill is going bananas this season, Kyren Williams is continuing his dominance, and Sam LaPorta is just that dude. That’s not to take anything away from Dalton Kincaid or Trey McBride, who have also had great seasons. We’re seeing the next generation of tight ends before us.

Unfortunately, I’m a little short on time, so I can’t go into as much as I’d like to today, but I’ll do my best to make up for it with my Friday newsletter.

News and Notes

• 🤕 ⚕️ The list of players injured this week includes Kenny Pickett, Rhamondre Stevenson, Tank Dell, Christian Watson, Derrick Henry, Brian Robinson, Amari Cooper, Puka Nacua, Marquise Brown, Trevor Lawrence, and Christian Kirk.

• ⚡️ Austin Ekeler managed just 27 yards on 16 touches. No touchdowns to help pad the fantasy score. Only two receptions. Weeks 8-10 he was the RB1 in half-PPR formats. Since then he has been the RB36. Usually, you don’t see a player hit a cliff just like that. I won’t say it’s the end of Ekeler’s career and we’re watching his demise, but if you told me you were sitting him for the likes of a Rachaad White, Jerome Ford, or Jaylen Warren I wouldn’t fight you. In that stretch from week 11-13, do you want to know who has more fantasy points than Ekeler? Royce Freeman, De’Von Achane (who essentially played one game in that stretch), AJ Dillon, Devin Singletary, Zach Charbonnet, and Chuba Hubbard.

• 🐄 Nico Collins is the WR11 on the year and had nearly 200 receiving yards on Sunday. Tank Dell is gone for the season, so Collins is the unquestioned top target in Houston. Expect Dalton Schultz to see an uptick in receiving work when he returns.

• 🐅 I’m on the record for saying I think Jake Browning is not a bad quarterback. I never expected he was going to pass for 354 yards against Jacksonville. Fun fact, that’s more than Joe Burrow had in any game this season. Guess they can forget about Joe Brrrr now, can’t they? Just kidding. Still, Browning has a fairly favorable schedule up ahead of him and is a serviceable streamer going forward.

• Week 13 was the first time Alec Pierce finished about WR45. Don’t go chasing his production. Wait and see with him.

• 🐎 Courtland Sutton can’t stop scoring touchdowns. As long as he keeps it up, he’s worth a start. But don’t expect this success to be a long-term thing past this season. Regression is coming at some point.

• Chris Olave has accumulated at least 94 yards and/or a touchdown in each of the past four games.

• ⚡️ Of course, Quinten Johnston can’t catch until it’s pouring down rain. Well, sort of. He had another bad drop after being hit in the hands (his issue coming into the NFL he was a body catcher in college and didn’t have great hands). But other than that, he caught five of seven targets on the day. That doesn’t mean I trust him. But you gotta start somewhere.

• The 49ers beat the tar out of the Eagles on Sunday. If you started a Niner, you were happy.

• 🦁 Sam LaPorta had the fifth-most receiving yards by a rookie tight end in a game since 1970. Dude has a bright future ahead of him.

Waiver Wire and Trade Targets

• QB: Jake Browning vs. IND, Joe Flacco vs. CLE, Jameis Winston vs. CAR (if Carr misses) - Basically if your name starts with “J” they can be streamed

• RB: Ezekiel Elliot vs. PIT, Kenneth Gainwell vs. DAL, Roschon Johnson vs. DET

• WR: Noah Brown vs. NYJ, Parker Washington vs. CLE, Khalil Shakir vs. KC, Jonathan Mingo vs. NO

• TE: Gerald Everett vs. DEN, Tanner Hudson vs. IND

• DST: Houston vs. NYJ, Green Bay vs. NYG, Cincinnati vs. IND, Detroit vs. CHI

Zeke is the waiver wire of the week without question…

I guess we better get to the Thursday night preview, as much as I despise doing so.

Thursday Night Preview

Pittsburgh Steelers

Kenny Pickett will miss this game due to injury, so Mitchell Trubisky will start. He threw a touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson and completed over 64% of his passes. Which is fine. But the Patriots have put the clamps down on opposing offenses in recent weeks, giving up 8.7 points per game the past three weeks. That’s not a fantasy stat. That is a defense keeping opponents out of the endzone. Hope that Jaylen Warren can get some receiving work and that Diontae operates as a check-down valve. Najee Harris and George Pickens could be in for a tough game unless they break off a long play.

New England Patriots

Ezekiel Elliott is really the only Patriot I can consider starting. If Demario Douglas plays, he can be a desperation start. Other than that, stay away.

You know what? Just sit everyone. Stay out of it. If you want to play the defensive units, that might be the highest-scoring individual “player” of this game in a game with a projected 30-point over/under. Watch your favorite movie or spend some time with your family this Thursday, I’m sure they are dying to see you since your disappearance since the start of football season.

Final Thoughts

That will do it for this edition of the Ballfield Banter newsletter! See you Friday!