Ray_T

I'm in the same boat. but someone just picked him up in my league, so he is no longer on my watchlist either. No biggie. its a nice problem to have when you are happy with your players and dont feel you want to pick up a player like this. I see the potential value. If I had a bottom dwelling team I'd be all over this one.

McDaniel Brought in Hoyer because he knows his system. I think there is a fair chance they start him. when he turfed Carr he brought in 2 players at QB who know his system. That wasnt by accident. only reason they start the kid is if they think the season is a writeoff already.

well, maybe that will make a difference. Pats D is pretty good. so if they can successfully run the ball like the Cards did....there is the potential for an upset.

like I said earlier, I think they will try it. what I dont know is if the Pats O line is up to the task. I heard they were having some O line issues in pre season. dont know how thats worked into the regular season.

the scouting report suggested hes a boom or bust pick. if you look at some old threads here there was another Lions homer who suggested hed light it up as a rookie and.... he didnt. I wasnt expecting someone coming back from an ACL injury to light it up. he is high on talent, but still will struggle with the jam at the line. (as per his draft day scouting report) The Lions coach seems to know what hes doing so I suspect he will find ways to get him free of the jam but he is still basically a rookie and I'd treat him as such. he will have good and bad games. Likely a WR4. Possibly WR5 but he does have considerable upside so he might be worth a roster spot.

I do. the line in Vegas seems to be performing better than the line in Tennessee right now. they showed signs of getting on track last week last week. This week they are up against a weaker run D. I think Jacobs eats em up this week

Dallas d has a lot of speed so running side to side to try to get around the corner (or the end of the line) with a faster back wont likely work. Arizona went power run up the middle against the dallas D last week with some success. as a result, I would not be surprised if Belichek tries the same thing with Zeke up the middle, power run. what I dont know is if the O line in New England is up to the task. but I'd still expect they will at least try it to see if they can exploit some of the same things Arizona did last week

16 teamers are a way different dynamic. in that format you are lucky to get one or two superstars and decent depth. and that is not even a given in this format. anyone who is a #1 WR on their own team is a good player to have in this format.

ok I'm watching the replay now (missed Q1 but watching second Quarter) and this is 100% correct. the o line couldnt keep the pocket from collapsing. the Detroit D was very physical and just pushed them around. Every play Love was running for his life or making a hurried throw. pretty brutal. I cant blame Love for this. you cant get comfortable in the pocket when its collapsing before they can establish it. This Detroit team is looking really good

it appears he is good to go and should be good to play against the rams (barring something unforeseen)

I saw the update on espn but was having trouble getting a link copied (computer issue on my end)

all I am saying is if you are missing starters on the line, the production on the ground wont be as it should be. this is one of those variables. I predict better days are ahead. how much better I cannot say. one of those starters that was gone is now back. I dont know if the other guy is still out or if he has returned already or for that matter if he played hurt in the last game. but I have to think it will improve

well, one of the tackles was out for a gambling suspension. hes back this week. the rookie lineman(I forget his name) was injured. not sure if hes out or if hes playing hurt but the first couple of games may not be a real good indicator of what to make of this run game. I'd give it a couple more weeks before drawing any conclusions.

I hear what you are saying and do not disagree. I personally like to look at stats myself. I do this for a living with things that are not associated with fantasy football. that said stats do not always tell the tale. you need to look deeper to find out what the stats mean. or what is driving the stats (or change in stats as the case may be) The Eye test is often useful if you have the skill to look at a play and figure out why it worked (or didnt work) and whether it was a great play by an individual, or a great block that freed the individual and led to a large gain. RB's are tricky because its not just skill of the RB that matters. the blocking ability of the team in front of him as well as the skill of the QB also factor in because those things may determine how a defense decides to behave relative to a certain setup. so a play with the same personnel could work with Herbert at QB but would flop with a lesser QB because the threat to beat them with a great throw is far greater with Herbert. Thats why The chargers have had decent run production in the past with a subpar line and a good RB. with a lesser QB I'm not sure that Ekeler produces the same way. either way the bottom line is stats only can tell you so much. sure there are other analyitics that can tell you the same thing I just told you but I find its more fun to actually watch the games and see it in action. sometimes seeing for yourself will give you a different perspective that you may have lacked just by looking at the stats.

well, hes a stats guy. and stats do mean something but even for guys like him.... you make the best decision based on what is known. you can never account for the unknowns. if 9 times out of 10 it works out, that doesnt mean you made a mistake the one time it doesnt. it just means the odds caught up with you on that one occasion.

Thats right. They are no longer ranked lower than 30th. this is special and is something to be celebrated.

yes. it is rare when more than one RB is fantasy worthy in a football game. When it happens its usually a case where there is a blowout win (like last week) or where one is a pass catcher and one does most of the running duties and both excelled in their area of expertise. it can happen but its not common. I'd only play both if I thought it was gonna be another blowout or if you had no other good options. but as both of these guys are against the Buffalo Defense this is a highly risky move. if the Buffalo D shuts them down you get blown out. You have other options you should likely be going with one of those and just start one Back from the phins this week. This is one of those situations where you likely want to diversify, not stack.

Thats basically what I said. you go through the process and make the best decision you can. just because it doesnt work out doesnt mean he made a mistake. players sometimes have bad games or have undeclared injuries none of us could have possibly known about that lead to bad results. That does not mean he made a mistake. It just means it didnt work out on this particular occasion.

He should get 10 points. but if he doesnt, does that truly mean you made a mistake? if this is what you need and this is one of like 2 or 3 games this year when he doesnt get it is it a mistake on your part? or just bad luck? just sayin....

its hard to establish the pocket presence if the line isnt doing their part and it sounds like that may have been the case. they had some injuries going into the game and from the sound of it someone else got hurt partway through. I only got to watch the 4th quarter and we were largely in garbage time by then so I missed the important stuff (sadly) but I figured it might be a rough outing for the Pack just based on the state of the line and the general health of the offense who have a few players dinged up.

maybe thats the reason hes not coming back. if the team told him it would be a committee, that would be a bit embarrassing for him. might as well sit out as long as you can get away with it.

I think so. Naj is a great talent, but Pickett is mediocre so far. hes not good enough to scare defenses into backing off the line and the Steelers O line isnt good enough to overcome that. so Naj is a volume based RB1/2 until the line play improves or Pickett plays well enough to force defenses to back off the line a bit. and volume based guys need a good gamescript to be productive. if the Steel are down 2 TD's in the second half, they wont wanna run the ball a whole lot. and that really hurts Naj's value. Say what you will about Rothlisberger, but he was good enough that teams respected him and didnt crowd the line like they are for pickett. And until he proves himself it will likely remain that way.

it sounds like they already tried to get Matt Ryan out of retirement and he said No Way. I think this is one of the better options if they are not gonna go out and spend to bring someone in. Thing is... I think they are fairly limited in their options. Rodgers is on a Big contract. its not like they are flush with cash. and not a lot of guys would want to come here to keep the seat warm for a Rodgers return late in the season. Not without being shown the money. so there are issues there. I have not checked how tight they are to the cap but given the cash Rodgers is costing I cant see them having a ton of cap space to play with.

well, I had Naj as one of those players who would be hit or miss from time to time. I dont mind the matchup in this case. The Houston offense is good enough that Pittsburgh will be looking to kill the clock if they get a lead and Naj should be a big part of that.

if you think the Steel will beat Houston then you should probably start him. I do think the Steelers win the game, so there should be some garbage time carries to bolster his stats. I'd probably give it a go. That said you never told us what your alternatives are. This is usually the deciding factor in any decision to start a player (or sit him)