Burning Questions: Week 16
Whether you rode an unexpected horse called Ty Montgomery, jumped on board with Brandin Cooks, or were fortunate enough to roll out Zeke Elliott in your semifinal matchup, congratulations for making it this far and getting one step closer to a #footclantitle! Speaking of Montgomery…
Ty Montgomery essentially broke the @PFF elusive rating in Wk 15 with 7 forced missed tackles & an insane 10.0 yds after contact per attempt
— Jeff Ratcliffe (@JeffRatcliffe) December 19, 2016
We will tackle the Packers hybrid RB/WR as well as others in our “Burning Questions” series which rolls on into championship week for fantasy owners. We are following up recent news, fantasy performances, and implications for owners making big decisions this week. Follow our contributors for this week’s Burning Questions: Nate Hamilton (@DomiNateFF), Eric Ludwig (@FF_Gouge), and Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg).
1. After a monster Week 15 performance, would you be willing to start the volatile Ty Montgomery at RB in your fantasy championship next week?
“Of course! He has established himself as the lead running back of the Green Bay Packers and will continue to get a heavy workload while Aaron Rodgers is ailing. Montgomery also shows that he has big play ability in both the run and pass game.” -Nate Hamilton
“Absolutely! If Green Bay can run against Minnesota, Monty will get the majority of the carries. If they can’t run the ball, Monty will get targets. Either way, he gets enough touches to be valuable in fantasy. It doesn’t hurt that it will be a home game while Green Bay is squarely in the playoff hunt.” -Eric Ludwig
“T-Monty was only started in 24% of Yahoo leagues and I’m assuming there will be a large overreaction to his 162 yards and 2 TDs. He’s more of a back-end RB2 next week against Minnesota. If you are out of options based on injury, you could certainly do worse in PPR leagues. But don’t expect to see a 10.1 yards per carry game again from Montgomery.” -Kyle Borgognoni
2. Which player coming off a subpar Week 15 performance should be sat next week?
“Matthew Stafford has not been very good for the majority of the season. He is very hard to trust next week given his finger injury and the fact that he will be away, In Dallas against a hot defense that has improved as the season has progressed.” -Nate Hamilton
“Adrian Peterson is amazing, but he tends to start off slow when returning to action. Look at Weeks 1 and 2 for the past 5 years. He’s been terrible. Not sure if it’s coaching, conditioning, or what but he didn’t do much against Indianapolis and I wouldn’t trust him in my lineup this week on the road against Green Bay.“ -Eric Ludwig
“Anyone who started Adrian Peterson needs to pull in the reins as he was a desperation dart throw at most this past week. He mustered 22 yards on 6 attempts and a lost fumble. Woof. Jerick McKinnon was the more dynamic player with 9 catches and AP was phased out of the gameplan after flopping in the first couple of series. Next week, the Vikings play at Green Bay which currently ranks 8th best against the run. I want no part in AP for the rest of this year. Sit him down.” -Kyle Borgognoni
3. Which WR2/3 has the boom potential to win a championship for fantasy owners?
“Taylor Gabriel has certainly stepped up for the Falcons this season. Even with Julio Jones expected to play in Week 16, there will be plenty to go around for Matt Ryan against a Carolina defense that has given up the 6th most fantasy points to WRs.” -Nate Hamilton
“Drew Brees bounced back in a big way and heads home to face Tampa Bay. Brandin Cooks had a huge day and should obviously be in lineups next week, but I like Michael Thomas. He consistently gets targets and has two multi-TD games this year.” -Eric Ludwig
“Golden Tate has showcased a solid floor during the 2nd half of the season and I think he’s the perfect type of WR2/3 play next week at Dallas. In what should be a high-scoring affair, I like his opportunities to funnel targets from Matthew Stafford and perhaps break a long gain or two. He’s seen double digits targets over the last 3 weeks as the alpha in the Detroit offense. The Cowboys secondary has been atrocious for most of the season and currently ranks 28th against the pass. They’ve given up the 9th most fantasy points to opposing WRs entering into this week and I think Tate could certainly be a championship game winner.” -Kyle Borgognoni
4. Give us one of your favorite stat lines of the weekend and why.
“One of my favorite stat lines isn’t the most impressive but I have my reasons. Andrew Luck threw for 250 yards and 2 TDs against a very tough Vikings defense that ranks 2nd best vs QB fantasy points. Luck was still able to put up over 20 fantasy points without “slappin’ da bass Moncrief”. This should be very encouraging to fantasy owners to start him with confidence next week vs Oakland, a team that is mediocre against QBs this season.” -Nate Hamilton
“2 rushes for -5 yards and a TD. Only Blake Bortles can pull a stat line like that. So bad, but still worth 5.5 fantasy points.” -Eric Ludwig
“DeAndre Hopkins’ 87 yards were the most he’s had since Week 2! His 17 targets seem like a total from way back in 2015. Tom Savage treated Nuk like the top WR he is peppering him with targets, some of which horribly off. On the year he has 134 targets, way off the 192 pace he set last year when he was a dominant WR1. Hopkins is one of my favorite players in the league but he was a prime regression candidate as I shouted in the preseason. His drop in TD also is most alarming and could present a great buy-low opportunity for dynasty owners and redraft next year.” -Kyle Borgognoni