Burning Questions: Week 17
Maybe you are crying tears of joy or tears of sadness after making it all the way to the fantasy finals. Wherever you are at this Monday morning, we’re hear to tackle some “Burning Questions” heading into Week 17. 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: Travis Strickland (@DFS_Travis), Eric Ludwig (@FF_Gouge) and myself, Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg)
1. Which Week 16 dud cost fantasy owners the most?
“It was a tough week for any RB whose last name was Murray. Latavius and DeMarco would have both been started with confidence on a lot of championship contending teams and for good reason. Unfortunately, both let you down when you needed them most after being pretty consistent and reliable all season.” -Travis Strickland
“I’m sure a lot of championship teams had one of the top RBs including DeMarco Murray. Murray was shut down with 60 total yards from scrimmage in a game where most people expected Murray and Tennessee to roll past Jacksonville. This was a disappointing performance for Murray owners and Tennessee fans alike.” -Eric Ludwig
“DeMarco Murray had been as consistent as any fantasy performer all year long but the Titans laid an egg in a juicy matchup with Jacksonville, a team they destroyed in Week 8. Murray had only 42 yards on the ground, his lowest since Week 1, and actually lost out on some red-zone looks to rookie Derrick Henry. He looked like a dependable RB1 going into championship week but definitely was a disappointment.” -Kyle Borgognoni
2. Which player’s stock for 2017 has risen the most during the fantasy playoffs?
“Jay Ajayi had a bit of a roller coaster season. From not getting to travel with the team in Week 1, to back to back games with 200+ rushing yards in Weeks 6 and 7. He followed those up with several average to below average games but he might have improved his 2017 draft stock by a full round this week. It’s the sort of thing that rushing for 206 yards in the fantasy championship week can buy you.” -Travis Strickland
“Allen Robinson had a terrible year. We were close to being able to write off 2015 as a fluke until two things happened with Jacksonville: Gus Bradley got fired followed by ARob going off for 147 yards on 9 receptions. These two events may be enough to keep ARob’s draft stock from dropping through the floor.” -Eric Ludwig
“Cam Meredith has been an animal during the playoffs going for an insane 33 targets over the last 3 weeks, the 3rd most in the league behind only OBJ and Doug Baldwin. He’s averaged 8 catches and over 100 yards in that span and has the makings of a legitimate WR2 candidate next year especially if Alshon Jeffery is out of town. Despite not having any semblance of involvement until Week 5, Meredith is trending upwards going into 2017.” -Kyle Borgognoni
3. What was the most unlikely league winning start you saw played this weekend?
“I started Robert Turbin in a league out of, let’s face it, desperation. I was hoping for the TD based on his redzone usage of late. He got it and finished in the low-end RB2/high-end flex range. I’ll take it. #FootClanTitle” –Travis Strickland
“I couldn’t believe the number of people that were forced to play Charles Clay and then he throws up an 8/85/2 stat line. I can’t imagine the frustration of playing against someone who had Clay in their lineup only to see him post by far his best game of the year.” -Eric Ludwig
“One of the wildest starts I saw this weekend was someone starting Adam Thielen AND JJ Nelson in a final. It was a deep league but that takes some guts. And in our FFBallers writers league championship, I actually picked up trash-worthy Blake Bortles off the wire and started him while gritting my teeth the day before. He posted top 5 numbers and somehow caught a TD from WR Marqise Lee. Will I ever trust Bortles again? Probably not, but it definitely will be a memorable start for a long time. #FootClanTitle” -Kyle Borgognoni
4. Give us one of your favorite stat lines of the weekend and why.
“How about Matt Barkley going full gunslinger-mode in the fantasy playoffs? He has supported 3 WRs that have all finished as WR3 or better in back to back weeks for the fantasy playoffs. I’ll grant you he didn’t look that great doing it, but if he somehow retains that job then we could have a new Bortles-esque garbage time maestro on our hands.” -Travis Strickland
“28 of 38 for 347/4 and a rushing TD. Remember when people were freaking out because Aaron Rodgers went 12 straight games without throwing for over 300 yards? Since Week 6 he’s had at least 300 yards passing or 3+ TDs in all but two games. He’s the #1 fantasy QB…again.” -Eric Ludwig
“This is just plain weird… a player coming into Week 16 with only 8 targets on the season somehow sees 14! And that player is Cody Core! Who?!? Yes the Bengals rookie WR saw a crazy increase in targets with Tyler Eifert and AJ Green out. Despite leading the team in targets, he only caught 8 of them for a measly 39 yards. The 6th round pick out of Mississippi is a huge physical specimen at 6’3, 210 pounds. But don’t buy into that freaky stat line for DFS next week.” -Kyle Borgognoni