Einstein's Dog

The award goes to Josh Allen and it's not close. They gave it to Lamar last year when Josh had the better stats, but Baltimore as a team did better, now the roles reversed. Josh has had two games in a row in prime time with plays labeled "plays of the year". Against KC Josh went in for a TD on a 4th and two. And yesterday had the hook and ladder with Cooper that set the table for Josh to be the only QB in history for a passing, receiving, and running TD. While Philly with Barkley are doing well, Philly did well last year, the year over year difference isn't significant. The Bills were thought to be retooling this year and instead, behind the play of Allen look to be contenders for the Superbowl.

Bummer.....gonna hold off waivering T Hill until the official resutls come in, but it does not look good. I am going to miss the upsdie potential of Hill, now it's back to the drab 10 pts of Engram or whoever is the new waiver wire darling. As for the consistency of TEs, I see Kittle got.....1.7 ppr. Hoch only 5.8. T Hill had 9.7 on his way out.

This consistency thing seems overblown to me. TE's are notorious for having bad games. Within the past 5 weeks here are some of the games and points of TEs in ppr (and of course it would be even more pathetic in standard) - K Pitts 1.9, Freiermuth 3.4, Kincaid 4.4, Kmet 5.6, Likely 0, T Hoch 3.3, Gesicki 0, Njoku 3.9. M Andrews 4.2, T Kraft 0, Goedert 5.9, C Otton 4.0, Z Ertz 1.5, LaPorta 4.9, H Henry 2.8. So I don't see how his floor is lower than most. The optimistic T Hill outlook is based on the new Interim coach. The new coach has used T Hill as a scoring unicorn in the past 3 games, was successful, and said he would be doing it in the future. And using T Hill is something both the GM and owner would like. If you were the new coach wouldn't you be using T Hill? There are only 5 games left. The narrative above outlining the reasons to continue the unique monster usage out of T Hill is to great for me to pass up.

That's a tough one, both good choices IMO. I lean T Hill because I believe they are now in a featuring T Hill mode. Fantasypros for ppr does have T Hill #9 with Hoch at #4, but ESPN has Hill 5 and Hoch 9. I would go with T Hill. I just think the interim coach realizes featuring Hill is to his advantage. The GM and owner paid Hill a lot of money and having Hill do something makes them look better. Pleasing the GM and Owner is a strong motivator for an interim coach. Further the interim coach said he was going to continue using T Hill and is playing at home. If I were the interim coach I would be making a real effort to feature T Hill, win or lose. While if I were the coach at Minn my only concern would be to win.

T Hill has had 16, 7, and 42 points the last 3 weeks. For comparison, Kelce has had 20, 3, and 12. Fantasypros ranks T Hill as the top TE for week 13! ESPN has T Hill ranked as #5. I have no questions about starting him over Engram. If I had Kelce, McBride, Bowers or Kittle, it would be a tough decision. TE2? In deeper leagues? That is crazy talk. The Saints have a depleted WR room. They have a new Interim coach who has been increasingly using T Hill as a unicorn, been successful with it, and has said he will continue doing it. They just gave Hill 10 targets and goal line work, and the coach says that should continue. Sign me up.

How about 3 games for "on fire"? T Hill has had over 60 points in ppr and over 50 points in standard. This is TE1, as in the top TE, territory. Why are you bringing up years ago? Much more relevant is what has recently happened. The WRs for the Saints are depleted - Olave, Shaheed, and even Bob Means are on injured reserve. The Saints have a new Interim coach and he has increased T Hills usage. It has been successful. The new interim coach says he is going to continue to use T Hill as a unicorn and will have him heavily involved. And you find this hard to believe? But sure, you can ignore all the recent signs that point to a potential league winner because of what happened to your FF team with Hill in 2018.

Don't include me in that group. T Hill is on fire. If your league allows playing him at TE, someone should be picking him up. Sure there is a variance but a lot of TEs suck. T Hill's ceiling is like no other. The Saints just won using T Hill to the max, why wouldn't they try to keep it going?

There are slight differences between ppr and standard. Also if you're looking ROS or just week 8. Hopkins -excellent ROS.. J Jennings another ROS if available.. .D Douglas - looks like a #1 for NE and looks like they will let it fly (why not?)... you didn't mention C Tillman but similar to Douglas looks like a new #1 - looks like an interesting play now with Winston firing it all over the yard.... I think K Shakir in ppr would be an excellent option too,- I think the Bills offense is going to be a lot better going forward.

I'm keeping Engram, hoping he plays this week. I wasn't able to get Kraft. I'm hoping this week starts Engram's trek back to form. If he goes out this week, it will be an ugly trip into a barren waiver wire for a TE - not much in there - Ertz or Henry maybe.

It is surprising. In one of my smaller 15 man roster leagues he is gone, but in my larger money 18 player roster league he is still there. So typing that out, made me think, since it doesn't happen often, where a player of this potential caliber is out there, I need to go even bigger than the normal, 15 leaguers would. IMO, this could be the waiver wire pick-up of the year (J Mason wasn't out there). Analogous to K Williams or Puka from last year.

Pacheco got 7 screws and a plate into his leg along, with possible ligament damage. Sounds to me, like he's going to be out for a while. A power runner with a gimpy leg/ankle, I wouldn't expect to see him until December Is this the K Hunt show for the foreseeable future? Hunt looks like a top priority add to me. How much FAAB (percentage) are people using who still have a chance to get him? I'm considering about 40%. If Hunt is a full-time RB1 for KC for around 8 weeks that is a possible difference maker.

So is it D Robinson over T Johnson? People with hurting WR's need to know. Both Puka and Kupp out, someone has to get something.

I had the good fortune to draft a lot of useful B level RBs. Was trying to move one for an upper level WR (I have J Jeff- ouch). Standard/redraft. RBs Mixon/Montgomery/Kamara/Mostert/+Ford. I wanted to upgrade WR (Hopkins/M Thomas) Many rejects - offered Mixon/Hopkins for D Adams/J Taylor early on - the guy was starting D Jackson. Offered Mostert + M Andrews for Kelce - no go. Offered Mostert for Tua -no go. Tried Mixon (or any RB)/Hopkins/M Andrews for Diggs/Kelce. Tried Mixon (any RB)/Hopkins/Cousins for J Chase/J Taylor (when A Rodgers went down). Offered Ford for P Nacua (after the devastating J Jeff news). He countered with Mostert for Puka. I accepted and have been violently ill since Sunday.

Saw on Rotoworld that Ekeler has the Doubtful designation.

I would.

Hard to get info on Ekeler, rotoworld hasn't reported anything yet. But on his podcast the part below caught my attention: I'm doing everything I can to get back, and be healthy, and not have any major setbacks. That blurb makes me think he is out until the Monday night Dallas game after the bye (as I predicted long ago). Not that it matters much to me because I'm not starting J Kelley over Ford or K Williams again (even though it is home against the Raiders).

I've been trying to think of ways to get Kelce. I think he will be head and shoulders above the other TEs, in a tier to himself. Unfortunately Kelce was drafted high so there is no easy way to get him. I tried M Andrews and Mostert (who I think is a sell high candidate) but no luck.

I watched the video, got to admit Ekeler is saying all the right things and not showing any grudge at all (just the way we would have told him to do it). No need for a grudge, they say, you just need to realize this is a business. From Ekeler's business perspective the games that really matter now are the Monday night against Dallas and then the national KC game. According to the Charger report, Ekeler did not practice again today (Thursday). Odds are now Ekeler won't play on Sunday. If Ekeler doesn't play Sunday, you can then see the logic of if he stays out for the Raiders game he will then get the bye and two weeks rest to be 100% for what is a big showcase game for him.

On NBC sports, the old Rotoworld, they have a podcast with Matthew Berry where they are baffled by the "no timetable for return" for Ekeler. They apparently haven't pieced it together. They love Ekeler because he is a FFer, talks about it, invested in it. Anyways, Ekeler did not practice Wednesday. Odds continue to increase that he won't suit up this weekend. J Kelley needs to get his act together. Much better opportunity this time with Minnesota.

Maybe he'll get some more chances. Per Rotoworld: Chargers HC Brandon Staley told reporters there is “no timeline” for Austin Ekeler’s return from his ankle injury. Well, that went from bad to worse real quickly. Expect Joshua Kelley to continue serving as the team’s lead back in his absence, after Kelley played a massive 79 percent of the team’s offensive snaps in Week 2. Fantasy managers that sunk first-round capital into the veteran back have to be struggling to fill the void left behind.

That stunk.

The signs are there that Ekeler is furious. The team balked at extending him, at giving him guaranteed money. Probably told him they would ease his workload and understand and respect his position. But then when the game was on the line they sent him back in when hurt. Playing hurt, or playing through injury, is the last thing Ekeler should be doing if he wants to maximize his value for his next contract. There is a subjective element to the dreaded "high ankle sprain" diagnosis. It would not surprise me if Ekeler's doctor came to this conclusion. Sitting out through the bye week and being 100% healthy for the large audience games of Dallas (at night) and KC is a real possibility.

My underlying premise continues. Health is only part of the issue. Ekeler's actions look the part of someone who is furious with the organization. If he feels as I mentioned that he was hurt in the early part of the 4th quarter and they sent him back out because it was close. He now has had time to process that. Ekeler claims he played through injury last year. Then LAC doesn't extend him - no added money/extension/guarantee. Says he can find a trade partner - but LAC wants high draft picks for him. Guess what - no team wants to give up good draft capital and pay a high salary to an RB. Faced with no trade partners he comes back. And then the first game back this team sends him back out while injured. If you were part of the advisors to Ekeler what would you be telling him to do? When I said "so it begins"., this is what I was referring to.

Ekeler with the DNP on Friday. Odds are now in favor of him sitting out Sunday. J Kelley starting to look like a possible top 15 RB play this Sunday.

They weren't preserving Ekeler's health, after Ekeler was injured they sent him back out because the game was in doubt. I think Ekeler knows he has to watch his own interests now, and those interests are not totally in line with the teams. The team will play him while he is hurt. As for J Kelley, it looks to me like K Moore's plan all along was to move him up to 1b. It just makes sense for several reasons. One Ekeler isn't built for full time abuse, even though he survived previous seasons doing it, it wasn't wise. Moore came from a Zeke/Pollard situation. It's a long season so having more than one good RB will help keep the offense going. Fourth, you've got a couple more years of cheap labor out of Kelley and the plan will be to let Ekeler walk.