Wild Card Round Studs & Duds
Wild Card weekend has come and gone. While it wasn’t wild from a real football perspective as all the home teams won easily, the fantasy scoring lived up to the name. The home teams were the main beneficiaries of the fantasy production, but a few roadies got in on the action as well. Here’s the breakdown of the Studs and Duds from the week that was.
Studs
Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers vs NYG
-362 passing yards, 4 TDs
Aaron Rodgers did it once again in sub-freezing conditions. Rodgers and the Pack put on a clinic starting with the Hail Mary to Randall Cobb to end the first half and outscoring the Giants 24-0 the rest of the way. All of this was accomplished without Jordy Nelson for most of the game.
Russell Wilson vs DET
-224 passing yards, 2 TDs
Compared to Rodgers’ numbers, these seem ordinary. Yet the fact is that Wilson did everything the Seahawks needed him to do and 20 fantasy points is still 20 points.
Running Backs
Thomas Rawls vs DET
-27 carries, 161 rushing yards, TD, 1 reception, 1 receiving yard
Write this game down somewhere. Tell your diary how Rawls running roughshod all over Detroit made you feel. This is the kind of thing you will want to remember when the C.J. GOAT-sise hype builds during the offseason.
Le’Veon Bell vs MIA
-29 carries, 167 rushing yards, 2 TDs, 2 receptions, 7 receiving yards
Here’s your number 1 pick in all formats next season. There is nothing you can say today to convince me otherwise. Bell just set the Steelers post season game rushing record and he looks like he’s out for a leisurely stroll.
Wide Receivers
Doug Baldwin vs DET
-11 receptions, 104 receiving yards, TD, 12 targets
Doug Baldwin has said that he feels bad for stealing his TD from teammate Jermaine Kearse. Something tells me that fantasy owners don’t mind.
Davante Adams vs NYG
-8 receptions, 125 receiving yards, TD, 12 targets
I have no idea how Adams does it. One play he runs the wrong route, then he makes a great play on a TD catch and then a little while later the ball just clanks off his hands. I guess you can afford to take the bad with the good when Aaron Rodgers is the QB.
Randall Cobb vs NYG
–5 receptions, 116 receiving yards, 3 TDs, 7 targets
Cobb is the real hero of the receiver corps in Green Bay. After missing the last two weeks due to injury, Cobb returned with a bang and the answer to another epic Rodgers Hail Mary.
Antonio Brown vs MIA
-5 receptions, 124 receiving yards, 2 TDs, 9 targets
In the first 10 minutes of this game, Antonio Brown had 3 receptions for 119 yards and 2 TDs. The game was over by then and Brown basically took the final 3 quarters and change off. Next.
Jarvis Landry
-11 receptions, 102 receiving yards, 14 targets
When the run game wasn’t working for the Dolphins, they resorted to running the ball through the air. Landry is the best in the league in that department.
Tight Ends
Will Tye @ GB
-4 receptions, 66 receiving yards, 7 targets
I guess Tye can go here in the stud category. I don’t really know what to do when the #1 TE for the week has 8.6 fantasy points.
Duds
Quarterbacks
Matt Stafford @ SEA
-205 passing yards, 15 rushing yards
I wouldn’t wish a road playoff game in Seattle on my greatest enemies, but that’s what Stafford had to deal with on Saturday. And he did it with 4 fingers, so this performance shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Connor Cook @ HOU
-161 passing yards, TD, 3 INTs
I don’t mean to pile on the rookie. Especially considering he was the first QB to make his debut as a starter in a playoff game since, I don’t know, sliced bread or something. 45 pass attempts on the road isn’t ideal.
Running Backs
Jay Ajayi @ PIT
-16 carries, 33 rushing yards, 3 receptions, 12 receiving yards
I usually give injured players a pass, but Ajayi played most of the game before being sidelined. This game serves as a stark contrast with Ajayi’s last bout with the Steelers when he ravaged them for 207 total yards and 2 TDs.
Latavius Murray @ HOU
-12 carries, 39 rushing yards, TD, 1 reception, 12 receiving yards
I guess you can put the Oakland coaching staff in the dud section as well. They went into a road playoff game with their 3rd string rookie QB and only gave their lead RB 12 carries. Murray saved owners who used him with a TD but this was a poor showing.
Wide Receivers
Golden Tate @ SEA
-3 receptions, 25 receiving yards, 5 targets
Again the @SEA insignia should tell you everything you need to know, but Tate isn’t getting out of jail free since Marvin Jones did alright and Jones has been awful.
Amari Cooper @ HOU
-2 receptions, 10 receiving yards, 10 targets
Michael Crabtree @ HOU
-2 receptions, 33 receiving yards, 7 targets
Atrocious performances from two stud WRs. Connor Cook needed his top WRs to do more than 4 receptions on 17 targets. The dropsies appear to be contagious for this group.
Odell Beckham Jr. @ GB
-4 receptions, 28 receiving yards, 11 targets
I bet Odell was wishing he was in sunny Miami on a boat or something instead of pooping in his big boy pants in frigid Wisconsin. Still, I’d rather be a fantasy owner than the wall he punched in the locker room after the game.
Tight Ends
Jimmy Graham vs DET
-3 receptions, 37 receiving yards, 4 targets
Of the TEs playing in the wild card round, you could argue that Jimmy Graham was the only one who even owns a pair of big boy pants, and he pooped in them.
C.J. Fiedorowicz vs OAK
-2 receptions, 35 receiving yards, 4 targets
The Mad Hatter was likely a popular pick amongst owners who didn’t want to pay up for Jimmy Graham. It should be of some comfort to those owners that all TEs struggled this week so it shouldn’t have hurt you too bad in your DFS/Playoff Challenge leagues.