Ten Things We Learned in Week 14 (Fantasy Football)
We made it Footclan. We finally reached the fantasy football playoffs. It’s time to buckle down and bring home that championship trophy. To help us get there, we have to navigate through last week’s barrage of injuries and adjustments as we approach the first week of the fantasy postseason. By now the waiver wire is barren, FAAB is spent, and quarterbacks keep dropping like flies. Stay one step ahead of your league mates by reviewing our Waiver Wire Pickups, Target Trends, and Injury Report. The daily episodes of The Fantasy Footballers podcast are here to help. And of course, it’s never too late to learn something new about the fantasy season.
1. What to Make Of KC’s RB Room
In their first game without Isiah Pacheco this season, the Chiefs struggled to run the ball with Clyde Edwards-Helaire as their main running back. CEH had 11 carries for 39 yards and caught two of four targets for 29 yards. Jerick McKinnon only had four carries for 19 yards and three catches for 18 yards, but scored a touchdown. They practically split snaps (30 for CEH and 28 for McKinnon) and the latter ran just two more routes. Simply put, neither player is going to give you the numbers Pacheco was putting up when he was the lone RB. Kansas City has a pretty favorable schedule in the fantasy playoffs against New England, Las Vegas, and Cincinnati, so both players should be considered flex options. The good news for Pacheco managers is he looks like he’ll avoid IR, so if he returns quickly, he’s back in the high-end RB2 conversation.
2. Strong Finish in Sight for Zeke
There hasn’t been an update regarding Rhamondre Stevenson‘s ankle injury, but chances are he isn’t going to be back in time to help in the fantasy playoffs. Enter Ezekiel Elliott, who was the RB1 in half-point PPR leagues in Week 14. Zeke had 100% of the running back snaps and a whopping 30.8% target share. The Patriots’ upcoming schedule isn’t great, but they don’t have much to play for any more this year. Expect Zeke to get a ton of work over the next few weeks and he could very well help carry fantasy managers to the finish line.
3. Falcons’ Offense on the Upswing
QB2, RB11, WR2, TE6 – Those were the finishes for Desmond Ridder, Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts in Week 14. Perhaps Arthur Smith is starting to come around to the idea of giving his best players the ball, just in time for the fantasy playoffs. The Falcons have favorable matchups the next three weeks against the Panthers, Colts, and Bears. While Robinson and London are in lineups every week, it’s been a while since they’ve been started with confidence. I think that confidence is back. And dare I say, Pitts can be started as well, albeit with a bit more uncertainty.
4. Baltimore’s Bizarre Backfield
Just when we thought the RBs in Baltimore were narrowed down to Keaton Mitchell and Gus Edwards, Justice Hill ends up leading the team in RB snaps in Week 14. Despite the snap count advantage, Hill saw just two targets and no carries, further complicating matters. Mitchell led the team on the ground with nine carries for 54 yards and Edwards had just six rushing attempts for 15 yards. Although he had a stretch of nine touchdowns in five games, it looks like the Gus Bus has run out of gas, and he belongs on fantasy benches. Mitchell is the only Baltimore RB that is worth a spot start moving forward, and I’d be weary of inserting him in lineups in one-and-done playoff scenarios.
5. What Can Brown(ing) Do for You?
Jake Browning is the QB2 over the last two weeks. No, that’s not a typo. The Bengals’ backup quarterback has been balling as of late, a pleasant surprise for both the city of Cincinnati and fantasy managers who took a gamble on him. The production is a little hard to trust, however, with most of his points last week coming on short passes that his teammates are turning into big plays. Speaking of which, backup RB Chase Brown had his best game of the season with three catches for 80 yards and a touchdown. I think both Browning and Brown should be rostered for the fantasy postseason. Browning is a streaming option this week against Minnesota and Brown is a valuable insurance policy if Joe Mixon were to miss any time.
6. Foreman Back to the Forefront
After missing Week 12 due to injury, D’Onta Foreman returned to Chicago’s lineup and took back his place as the leading rusher. He saw 55% of the RB snaps and carried the ball 11 times for 50 yards. Roschon Johnson, who played a season-high 74% of snaps in Week 12, was relegated back to 28% of snaps and Khalil Herbert had just 17% of snaps. It’s hard to trust any RB in Chicago right now, but if you’re going to roster one of them and potentially play one of them, Foreman is the clearcut answer.
7. Injuries Dampen Fantasy Outlook in Houston
The Houston Texans have been one of the feel-good stories of the season, both for fantasy and in the NFL. CJ Stroud has been a revelation and both Tank Dell and Nico Collins have delivered borderline WR1 numbers. Since Week 10, Devin Singletary has been the RB9, and Dalton Schultz has been a top 10 tight end option. But injuries have hit the Texans hard. Dell is done for the season, Schultz has missed the last two weeks, and both Collins and Stroud got hurt in Week 14. The rookie QB is in concussion protocol and may still be able to suit up in Week 15, but Collins will likely miss time due to his calf injury. It’s a big letdown because the Texans take on the Titans twice in the next three weeks, who bleed points to opposing wideouts. If Stroud is able to play, he is still good enough to get others involved, but the major question becomes who will be the beneficiary if Collins misses extended time. Noah Brown, who missed a handful of games this year, has had no catches since returning in Week 13. Robert Woods has not been involved as of late. Could it be John Metchie or Xavier Hutchinson, who played 73% of the snaps last week? In terms of wideouts, I’d rank them as follows: Brown, Metchie, Woods, then Hutchinson. If Schultz is back in Week 15, he could be the main target for Stroud.
8. Goff’s Play Not up to Par
It’s been a rough go for Jared Goff in the second half of the season. Through the first six weeks, he was the QB5 and had three games where he scored 20 or more fantasy points. He’s had only one of those games since and is the QB18 from Week 7 through now. He’s on the road for two of the next three games, where historically he doesn’t play as well. I’d be hesitant to start him, especially in the fantasy championship against Dallas. It’s difficult with so many quarterbacks going down to injury, but I’d probably start Baker Mayfield, Russell Wilson, and the aforementioned Browning over Goff in Week 17 if I had no other options.
9. Bench All Panthers
This is just a friendly reminder that no Carolina Panther should be started the rest of the season. There is no continuity in the backfield between Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders. Adam Thielen has fallen off a cliff and is the WR60 over the last three weeks after a hot start to the year. Jonathan Mingo is seeing more targets but has been pedestrian with them. And Bryce Young has been so bad that you can’t even come close to starting him in SuperFlex formats.
The only thing worse than having no quarterback is having no quarterback and being stuck with it. This is a Bryce Young tweet.
— Andy Holloway (@andyholloway) December 10, 2023
10. Time to Panic About Diggs?
Stefon Diggs has been the WR47 since Week 10 and has only scored double-digit points once in that span. He’s still the WR9 overall because of his fantastic start to the season, but managers who roster him can’t be pleased as of late. Don’t fret, Diggs is a superstar who is just going through a lull. He had only four catches against Kansas City on Sunday but still led the team with 11 targets. Josh Allen is starting to ramp up his play and with that, Diggs will get his. With games against the Chargers and Patriots in the fantasy semifinals and championship round, he’s going to help bring home fantasy trophies.