Phew… this past week was rough for everyone: Ravens fans as well as fantasy players. I was feeling very confident last week, especially after writers from the likes of CBS Sports, PFF and ESPN all mentioned most of my players last week as great plays too. It was definitely one of those weeks that just makes you want to smash your head into a brick wall. For the first time this year, I lost money in my DFS lineups.
With that said, it’s the name of the game. Fantasy does things like this to us. Regardless, I am feeling as confident as ever this week. We are going to kill it.
Like last week, we will look at some matchups in the Ravens game as well as some plays across the league.
Without further ado:
Ravens-Colts Fantasy Outlook
Start em’
Hollywood Brown
Man, I really thought Hollywood was gonna break out against the Steelers last week. Matchup and game-flow were a dream. Even Hollywood himself expressed his frustration on Twitter this week (before deleting it after a call from Harbs).
Against the Colts, Hollywood is gonna be our best bet for fantasy points. While he did catch a TD pass last week, he received a season-low two mtargets. You aren’t going to win when you target your best receiver twice all game. Also with Brown expressing frustrations, I expect him to be a big part of the Ravens game plan. The Colts are one of the best defenses in the league, 8th overall and 9th in pass defense. However, they give up the 14th most fantasy points to opposing receivers.
In a game where there will not be many fantasy points to go around, Hollywood is our safest option with massive upside, as always.
Trey Burton
We hit on Eric Ebron last week and we are going to look at the TE again this week. Until the Ravens prove otherwise, we are to assume opposing tight ends will have success against Ravens coverage. Most often, Patrick Queen has this role. While the Ravens are still the best in the league in overall defense and 3rd in passing defense, they let up the 16th most points to opposing TEs.
And as we all know, Philip Rivers loves his tight ends (no pun intended).
Sit em’
Mark Andrews
While Andrews is always a strong bet to lead the team in targets, the Colts are the #1 defense in fantasy against opposing tight ends. Against this stout Colts defense, yards should be scarce and trips to the Red Zone will not be plentiful. If Andrews is going to provide fantasy relevance this week, it will need to come from touchdowns. He has as much of a shot at a TD as any other receiving option on the Ravens, but it is too risky and the matchup is just too difficult.
Jonathan Taylor
This was a tough one. Not because there are many good options on the Colts side of the ball, but because I really don’t trust anyone on the Colts offense to provide points for us this week. Of all the players that could be a trap for fantasy managers this week, Jonathan Taylor is the most important one to mention. He has the big name, the draft capital, and the excitement (somewhat). Many of us will feel pressured to start him depending on our options, but I urge you to bench him this week. The Ravens are the 2nd toughest matchup for fantasy running backs and Rivers mentioned to the press this week that Taylor is nicked up. Last week, Taylor saw limited opportunities with poor efficiency due to this. Bench him with confidence.
Streamin’ Around the League
Lets look at some of the best streaming options in other matchups.
QB: Matt Stafford
Stafford eclipsed the 20-fantasy point mark for just the second time this season against the Colts stout defense. While he will be missing his top WR Kenny Golladay, that didn’t seem to shake him last week. The Vikings have been bad on defense this year and they give up the 25th most points to opposing fantasy QB’s. Vegas has the Lions as four-point underdogs, but I think its going to get a lot uglier than that. The Lions will be playing from behind most, if not all, of this game. Dalvin Cook is gonna look like freaking Bobby Flay out there the way he’s gonna be cookin’. Stafford is going to need to have a big game if the Lions have any chance against this Vikings team. He will have a high floor with big upside this week.
RB: Justin Jackson
Jackson shocked many of us with a solid game last week against a stout Denver defense. This week he gets a struggling Raiders defense that has given up the 28th most fantasy points to opposing RBs. The Raiders also rank 30th in Rush defense. The chargers are 1.5-point favorites but honestly, it might not even be close. Justin Herbert is going to have a good time picking apart this team. Jackson got 17 rush attempts and five targets last week as the clear #1 back in his offense. The game script and matchup are fantastic. Start him with confidence.
WR: Jerry Jeudy
It looks like the Broncos may have finally realized that it is smart to utilize their first-round stud rookie WR (took them long enough). For the first time in his career, Jerry Jeudy received double-digit targets (10). While they are not always quality targets from Drew Lock, opportunity is king. Jeudy should be heavily involved while they play from behind against a bad Falcons defense that is 32nd in overall pass defense and give up the 28th most fantasy points to opposing fantasy WRs.
TE: Evan Engram
Engram has received 19 targets in the past two weeks. The Giants are 3.5-point underdogs against the Washington Football Team. The Washington defense is solid for sure, but they are weakest against the pass, ranking 15th and they quietly give up the 29th most fantasy points to opposing tight ends. Also, Engram got robbed last week. That was a touchdown. Anyway, if Engram is again utilized as the Giants’ best receiving option, he should be a fine streamer.
Fire & Ice
These are my picks to most outscore their projections (Fire) and most likely to bust this week (Ice), besides the obvious elite options. It was a tough Week 8 for all fantasy analysts, but we will get back on track this week.
Fire
QB: Josh Allen
RB: David Johnson
RB: Justin Jackson
WR: Stefon Diggs (If Allen can throw accurate passes)
WR: Marvin Jones
TE: Noah Fant
D/ST: Pittsburgh
Ice
QB: Ryan Tannehill
RB: Ezekiel Elliott
RB: Jonathan Taylor
WR: D.K. Metcalf (thanks to Tre’Davious White)
WR: Darius Slayton
TE: Robert Tonyan
D/ST: Miami
