Run It Back: Stats, Blurbs, and Everything You Need to Know about What Happened in Week 4
After a long two week hiatus I will be “running it back” again. My laptop gave up on me after week 1 (Much like a few of my fantasy teams) and now is finally replaced. I am ready to get back at it and share some important stats and insights from week 4 that will better help you understand players current values.
Carolina – Atlanta
Atlanta averaged a whopping 11.3 yards on their 34 first down opportunities. They averaged 10.2 yards on their 13 third downs, but averaged only 3 yards per play on their 18 2nd downs.
Julio exploded for 12-300-1 in the best game of his career. After last week’s dud he is back on track dominating.
Devonta and Tevin split carries 13/8 with Devonta outperforming him 4.4 YPC to 2.4. Tevin out targeted Devonta 4/3 in the passing game and 3/2 with catches. This backfield has had plenty of value while the Falcons are good, but when they struggle they will both be landmines.
Greg Olsen was targeted 13 times but only caught 6 with a nice TD grab.
Kelvin’s struggles continued this week as he only reeled in 3 out of his 7 targets with a TD. If Cam misses any time Kelvin could actually become more consistent, shown when Derek Anderson played in Kelvins rookie year.
Matt Ryan has been playing lights out this year and is currently the QB1 in fantasy. He is a must-start until further notice.
Buffalo-New England
Tyrod played well given his lack of receiving weapons and can be a viable streamer in good matchups due to his running upside.
Lesean Mccoy has been a beast this year and is the only RB to be a Bell-cow back all 4 weeks. He rushed the ball 19 times for 70 yards in one of his least-efficient showings. His receiving work made up for it though catching all 6 of his targets for 38 yards and a TD.
Robert Woods had 10 targets and could be a target hog with Watkins out for a significant amount of time.
@BenCumminsFF and I joked before this game that Blount would have a suck because it is a great matchup and he has been playing well because that’s how football works sometimes. Sure enough, Blount was relatively inefficient and didn’t produce fantasy-wise. He only received 13 carries as game script took away his usual opportunities.
Gronk is still clearly injured as he only ran 13 routes in this game. He didn’t do much of anything but that may change with Brady coming back soon.
Bennett had a good game catching 5 of his 6 targets for 109 yards. Unfortunately, the dynamic of the team is about to change with Brady coming back which may cause for some target redistribution to Gronk and Edelman.
Reminder that when I refer to "Bell-Cow" it is based on @ScottBarrettDFB #BellCowReport
Cleveland- Washington
The Browns are going to shock the world with a win soon. Unfortunately it wasn’t this week against the Skins and won’t be next week against the pats.
ISAIAH CROWELL is 2nd in the league in rushing yards with 394 and first in the league in YPC. This week: 15 carries, 112 yards, and a TD. Guess what? You can find the fine gentleman who predicted this success for Crowell on twitter: @14TeamMocker.
With Corey Coleman’s hand issues and Josh Gordons entrance into rehab, Terrelle Pryor will be a viable WR3 for the rest of the year, possibly ascending into WR2 status. He was targeted 9 times last week but only turned that into 5 catches for 46 yards and a TD. Despite the inefficient day, after watching the game, it is unbelievably impressive how well he is playing. He made Josh Norman look silly on a few plays. If you can still buy-low for him in a few leagues do it because he looks to be the real deal.
Duke Johnson finally got involved in the passing game catching 6/8 targets.
Cody Kessler surprisingly played well, completing 68% of his passes. Still not fantasy relevant.
Jordan Reed had a huge 2 TD week. He drew 10 targets and looks to be back on track as a top 2 TE. I would expect more games like this due to his dominant presence in the redzone.
Matt Jones turned in a very solid game (22-117-1). This isn’t something to get too excited about though, as they were playing against the Browns.
Dallas –San Francisco
Prescott continues to impress as the starter. He is smart and doesn’t turn the ball over. At the moment he is a much better real-life QB than fantasy QB.
Ezekiel Elliot seems to get better each and every week. Finally looking decisive he made some great cuts and had some big runs. Already the leading rusher in the NFL, as he continues to grow he will be a dominant force. (23-138-1) was his best game to date.
With Dez out, Brice Butler and Jason Witten both had 9 targets catching 5 and 7 of them. It is tough for me to trust any WR on this team due to the slow pace that Dallas likes to play at and Prescott’s unwillingness to lock onto any one target. However if Butler and Prescott continue to develop chemistry he could be a WR3 streamer down the road.
Hyde somehow keeps churning out points and TDs despite the offense looking bad. His (15-74-1) line was another solid performance. He is currently the RB6. He may see some regression in the TD category coming soon though. Scoring 5 out of the 49ers 11 total TDs seems like a tough rate to keep.
Jeremy Kerley had a solid game this week catching 6/9 targets for 88 yards and a TD. He was left pretty much wide open on his touchdown though. The WR carousel in SF isn’t as predictable as I had hoped in the beginning of the year.
Denver-Tampa Bay
Jameis had a really tough day only completing 43% of his passes for 143 yards with no TDs and 2 interceptions. Yuck.
Mike Evans had 11 targets but only was able to catch 5 and put up 59 yards. In a tough matchup, this wasn’t necessarily unexpected.
Cam Brate is now a TE1 with ASJ gone. His line of 5-67 on 8 targets is really encouraging on a day where Jameis really struggled.
Humphries was a non-factor after being one of Winstons go-to guys the last few weeks. (1-4).
Charles sims struggled mightily and now may lose playing time according to some sources. (15-28) and 2 catches made for a pretty poor fantasy day.
Siemian got knocked out with a shoulder issue and was replaced by Paxton Lynch. Lynch came in and played pretty well posting a 97.1 passer rating.
Sanders (8-88-1) and Demaryius (6-94-1) seemed to have switched roles this year with Sanders being the target hog (13) while Demaryius (7) has received many less but been very efficient with them. Both are WR2s but the lack of targets for DT is concerning.
CJ Anderson really struggled (19-49-1) but a TD saved his fantasy day. After a hot start he is beginning to cool off. Devontae Booker looked pretty good and seems to be getting more touches each week.
Chicago-Detroit
In what was expected to be a shootout this was a dud of a game with both offenses underperforming.
After being a consistent QB1 this year, Stafford stunk. He threw for only 197 yards with no TDs and two interceptions. He should get back on track next week.
Boldin led the team in targets with 8 but didn’t do much with it and only posting 31 yards.
Golden Tate is a HUGE disappointment. He can’t handle playing on the outside and it is showing in a big way. He was benched, but has overall been a huge bust.
After being talked up a bunch, Dwayne Washington received 2 carries, mainly because he was injured.
Jordan Howard is the only highlight of this game (23-111-0) and was a BellCow back. He looked good breaking tackles and finding the hole. It will be tough for Langford to regain his role once he comes back if Howard continues to play this well.
Kevin white continues to out-target Alshon Jeffery for some reason (9-5). Hopefully when Jay comes back he will throw to his more efficient and better WR.
Zach Miller underperformed in a great matchup but still found a way into the endzone.
Indianapolis- Jacksonville
Luck continues to play poorly (193-2 TDS-1INT) and shouldn’t be your started until he starts to play better.
Josh Ferguson caught 7/10 targets out of the backfield being the pass-catching RB. He didn’t do anything on the ground rushing for -2 yards on 3 carries.
T.Y. was also targeted 10 times but mostly on short routes (7-42-1). The TD also saved his day from a fantasy standpoint.
Philip Dorsett caught a 64 yards TD but was useless the rest of the day. He needs to become more consistent if he is to be trusted as a fantasy starter.
Frank Gore had a decent fantasy day against the putrid SD run D (16-68-1).
Allen Robinson again led the team in targets (10) but couldn’t corrall that into much (5-55-1). He continues to be targeted but isn’t doing much with it. He has struggled mightily so far given his target load.
Hurns had an awesome catch and run TD but was still only targeted 4 times on the day. His fantasy relevance hinges on insane efficiency.
Yeldon had a good game on the ground (14-71-0) and receiving (4-46-0). His usage is a good sign for his value going forward.
Bortles had a decent fantasy day because of his 2 TDs but otherwise it wasn’t all that great. He had a 53% completion percentage due to a few errant throws and only posted 195 yards.
Los Angeles- Arizona
The Cardinals averaged 3.4 yards a play on both 1st and second down this week, one of the many reasons they struggled to put up points.
Carson Palmer continues to struggle and now is concussed. He should be on your bench as he will most likely miss his next game against the 49ers.
John Brown stole the show this game racking up 10 catches on 16 targets for 144 yards. He is now a relevant WR3.
Floyd and Fitz both had 7 targets. Floyd continued to be inneficient and was benched for the majority of the game after the drop. He proceeded to come back into the game, drop another pass and then go catch 2 more, one for a TD. There is a good possibility he won’t play a full snap share this week. Fitz played up to his usual standard (5-62).
David Johnson was a Bellcow back this week and performed well on the ground (17-83) as well as catching the ball (4-41).
We are running out of excuses for Todd Gurley. Before it was game script, then it was lack of passing game usage, now it is his poor O-line. Regardless, he has underperformed this year. After the Cardinals were gashed by Shady and Buffalo last week in the running game, Gurley only averaged 1.7 yards a carry. Gurley’s struggles should be terrifying for owners.
Brian Quick caught 2 TDs this week but remains a boom/bust WR4.
Miami-Cincinnati
A.J. Green dominated this game (10-173-1) and is now the WR1 in PPR leagues.
Andy Dalton had a great game with a 106.9 passer rating, 285 yards and a TD. If the Bengals come to play every week they can be a contender.
Hill stunk in a great matchup with a great game script (21-74-0). Predicting Jeremy Hill has been a headache this year. He got stopped on the goal line a few times which would have gave him a decent fantasy day.
Miami is kind of a mess at the moment. Tannehill continues to underwhelm and may be on the way out soon if he can’t step it up.
Landry saw the usual 10 targets (7-61-0) and continues to excel due to Tannehills ineptitude at throwing downfield.
The backfield is a disaster now that Foster is out. Gase needs to choose one or 2 backs and stick with them, not use all 4. No fantasy value here at the moment.
New Orleans- San Diego
Drew Brees Home vs Away splits continue to amaze me. Even though he is usually still a solid option on the road he isn’t nearly as good. This week was no exception as he threw for only 191 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs.
Micheal Thomas was targeted the most with 9, but only caught 4 of those for 44 yards and a TD.
Ingram got more involved with the passing game this week catching 6/7 targets for 49 yards.
After week 1 Brandin Cooks hasn’t done a whole lot. He is an inconsistent option but will surely have many more Boom weeks in the future.
Coby Fleener stunk, again. After a small glimmer of hope last week he is un-startable.
Snead was only targeted once but this should increase heavily in the future as he regains health from injury.
Rivers had a good game with 308 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT. If you were to look at the box score here you would have no clue that the saints won the game.
Dontrelle Inman was surprisingly targeted 11 times, turning that into a stellar 7-120-1 line. If he continues to develop rapport with Rivers he could be a great add in deeper leagues. Per @TJcalkins he played 68/70 snaps this last Sunday.
Tyrell Williams was targeted 8 times only turning that into 5-40-0.
Travis Benjamin was a disappointment, only catching 4 balls on 7 targets for 48 yards.
The Saints seemed oddly committed to the run this week (30 total carries).
Mark Ingram had a rough game on the ground as he got sniped by John Kuhn on 2 TDs on the ground and one through the air. He still was able to run one in himself but the 3.2 YPC against a bottom tier run D isn’t good.
Melvin Gordon was a Bellcow back this week posting 24.9 PPR points.
Oakland-Baltimore
Joe Flacco attempted 54 passes against the Raiders, only turning that into 282 yards and 1 TD. He also ran one in giving him a solid fantasy day.
Steve Smith and Mike Wallace led the Ravens with 11 and 10 targets this week. Smith was the much more effective of the two however with 8 catches for 111 yards and a TD. Much of that came on a long TD, but SS looks to be back.
Terrence West may have taken control of this backfield. He ran well (21-113-1) in a relatively tough matchup. Kenneth Dixon coming back may steal some of his glamor but he should still be a big part of the gameplan.
Carr didn’t do in terms of yardage, but he threw 3 TD passes to Michael Crabtree. He ended the day with 4 TDs and 199 passing yards.
Crabtree (7-88-3) was targeted twice as much (12-6) as cooper(5-48-0) and posted a much better line because of it. Coopers lack of RZ usage continues to be apparent and a huge question mark. He won’t become a WR1 until this changes.
Latavius Murray continues to lose carries and snaps to Deandre Washington and Jalen Richard. He was once again outperformed by Washington 30-19 yards on the ground and may lose his job soon if he doesn’t improve. However, Washington did fumble in a crucial situation which may earn him less PT.
Seattle-New York (Jets)
Seattle stunk on their 10 third down plays only averaging 2.1 yards a play and a successful play rate of 30% (3/10 first downs).
Russell Wilson still looked a bit gimpy, but he showed he can still be a good pocket passer. He threw for a 288 yards and 3 TDs, decimating the NYJ secondary.
Jimmy Graham is alive and well. He has been performing as a top tier TE the past two weeks. This week’s 6-113-0 game was a good reminder to keep throwing him the ball. He led the team in targets with 8.
Baldwin had a few very nice catches but unfortunately he only had a few targets as well (4).
Tyler Lockett continues his disappointing season with 3 targets and 1 catch for 13 yards.
C-Mike is going to keep eating as long as Rawls is out. 18-58 on the ground and 5-32-1 through the air this week. He was a Bellcow back this week and should continue to be utilized as such.
Fitzmagic added to his gaudy interception total this week with another 3. He is a bottom end streamer at the moment with how many interceptions he is throwing.
Marshall saw 12 targets this week, but only caught 4 of them. However, this horrendous efficiency didn’t impact his final line too much (4-89-1).
Enunwa was targeted 7 times catching 6 for 60 yards. Decker’s absence should continue to open up more opportunities for him.
Powell is starting to get more involved. He had 9 targets this week catching 6-54 yards. He also had 4 carries for 26 yards.
Forte’s workload was finally scaled back in this game. He only received 14 carries turning them into a measly 27 yards. He was only targeted 3 times in the passing game and caught 2 of them for 16 yards. It is looking like the coaching staff is starting to understand Forte won’t be able to handle 30 touches a game. Or they just want to get Powell more involved, we will see in upcoming weeks.
Tennessee- Houston
Will Fuller has now out-targeted Deandre Hopkins in 2 out of the 4 games this season. He is proving to be a late-round stud. His hands are a little suspect at times but his route-running is much better than was advertised and his athleticism has been on show. He will be a solid WR2 if this kind of target share continues.
Hopkins caught one ball for 4 yards this week. I had him down as a dislike before the year and thought some regression was coming but I didn’t think it would be this dramatic. If he doesn’t get targeted more he will struggle to return his 1st round draft value.
Lamar Miller needs to find the endzone. He has been a very inefficient runner this year (less than 4 YPC). He has been used in the passing game but not enough to return value on his ADP. The positives are that he has gone over 100 total yards every game and has gotten massive workloads. He has also been a Bellcow back most weeks this year.
Marcus Mariota hasn’t been playing well and that continued on Sunday. 43% completion rate with no TDs and 1 INT.
Walker and Sharpe led the team in targets with 8 and 7. Both only caught 2 balls. Until Mariota can improve it will be tough to depend on any of these receivers.
Demarco Murray is the lone bright spot in this offense (25-98-2). He is currently the RB1 and looks like he is back to his Cowboy days.
Pittsburgh- Kansas City
Alex Smith threw the ball 50 times as the Chiefs tried to get back in the game after going down early. He completed exactly 30 as he proved to be a viable streamer this week (287-2-1)
Ware was as disappointment in what was expected to be a very good spot. 13-82 is a good line, but he only caught 1 ball for 14 yards.
Maclin received only 8 targets (5-78-0) in an underwhelming performance.
After Maclin, a smorgasbord of mundane receivers got targeted. Chris Conley (7), Albert Wilson (8), and Tyreke Hill (7).
Kelce was targeted 8 times but only had 5 catches for 23 yards and a TD.
Now onto the fun team: Big Ben and the Steelers came out firing. He was 22/27 with 300 yards and 5 TDs.
Le’veon Bell had a phenomenal game (18-144-0), (5-34-0). Unfortunately he didn’t score a TD but this workload is fantastic as he was a Bellcowback. He is a locked in elite RB going forward.
Antonio Brown wasn’t even utilized that much because they were up by so many points early. He still caught 2 TDs and did Antonio things.
Sammie Coates was the #2, getting 8 targets and turning that into 6-79. He is doing a good job of putting his early season struggles behind him.
New York (NYG) - Minnesota
Eli looked/played scared and that showed up on his statline. (261-0-1)
Darkwa dominated carries and had a few nice runs. If Jennings continues to be hindered by an injury he will be a worthy flex/RB3 in better matchups. Perkins and Rainey played a lot despite Perkins blowing at least one key pass protection. Darkwa was targeted twice by Eli but both were poor throws as Eli had a LB breathing on him.
Eli was a checkdown machine late in the game, giving Bobby Rainey 7 catches, 5 of which were on the last drive.
Cruz drew 9 targets (5-50) and looks to have returned to being one of Eli’s trusted targets.
I hope Odell can grow up. He is acting like a child in a man’s game. Passion and emotions are normal, but when it gets to his head enough to affect his game he needs to figure it out. This was apparent all game as he battled (literally) with Xavier Rhodes, while not getting ejected despite the fact that he should have. Anyways, he turned his 9 targets into a pathetic 3-23 line, dropping a long throw on what would have been a nice one-handed catch.
Sam Bradford had another great game and is yet to turn the ball over this season.
FREE MCKINNON. 18 carries for 85 yards and a GL carry made many owners very happy this week.
Asiata Plodded his way to a 6-6 -1 line. The most Asiata line I have ever seen. Woof.
Charles Johnson made two nice catches that turned into 70 yards. He only had 4 targets though and isn’t really startable in Fantasy.
Kyle Rudolph is Bradfords security blanked and is being utilized like a TE1. (5-55-1) on 7 targets is another solid performance.
Diggs was a bit disappointing in a solid matchup going 5-47-0 on 7 targets. Bradford missed him on one throw pretty badly.
Cordarelle Patterson was randomly quite involved, catching 5/6 targets for 38 yards.
