Mon Nov 25th 2024

Week Twelve Review

Week twelve was a slow and low-scoring week, and many of the NFL games were blowouts. Thankfully, a few games ended in spectacular fashion. No matter how the games went this week, dynasty managers were on edge since the dynasty playoffs were approaching quickly. I'll be on edge tonight as many of my must-win games come down to the Monday Night Football game.

After following the Sunday games, here are my thoughts from a dynasty perspective.  

---

Dynasty Impact

Oh My!

• Saquon Barkley should be the NFL MVP and dynasty MVP this season. He's absolutely unbelievable. If you played against him this week, you likely lost handily, as managers with the leads against him saw their leads quickly erased on Sunday night. Barkley ripped off 70 and 72-yard touchdown runs Sunday night and had the most yards rushing in a single game in his long career with 255 yards rushing. He already has more than 1600 total yards on the year. He already has more rushing yards this year than in his incredible breakout rookie season. I quickly looked around my dynasty leagues, and Barkley is rostered on almost every first-place team. He's carrying the Eagles and dynasty managers, and it's incredible to watch.

Oh No!

• The 49ers offense looked broken on Sunday. Every offense will look worse with a backup quarterback, but Kyle Shanahan has kept many teams productive with backup quarterbacks before.  Shoot. Brock Purdy used to be one of those productive backups. Apart from George Kittle, every 49er player underperformed against the Packers, who destroyed them. After Brandon Allen was named the starter, I took Juaun Jennings out of most of my lineups and dropped Jake Moody for other kickers. I knew they'd have a rough day. No one would dare take Christian McCaffrey out of their lineups, but in hindsight, they wish they had this week. Kyle Shanahan does not have the magic this year. Dynasty managers need Purdy to get well, or they will see their playoff hopes shattered.

Ouch!

• Gardner Minshew sustained the worst injury on Sunday, breaking his collar bone. He's now out for the season, giving Desmond Ridder or Aidan O'Connell a chance to prove they are worthy of being backup quarterbacks on an NFL team. For the sake of the few fantasy-relevant players on the Raiders, I hope O'Connell comes off the IR to lead the team, but that's uncertain at the point of this article. Ja'Tavion Sanders was carted off the field after a scary neck and head injury. He's said to be okay, but I assume he will miss a week or two. It's a shame because he was growing into an active role in the offense. Still, his future is bright. Carolina will turn to Tommy Tremble in the meantime.

---

Stock Up

Will Levis

• Levis continues to throw terrible interceptions as he did on Sunday and gets sacked by waiting too long in the pocket, but he's improved in recent weeks and played perhaps the best game of his career on Sunday. He's getting better with his accuracy. Sunday, he completed 75% of his passes, bringing his season average up to 67%. What's more impressive about that is how many of his passes are deep balls. He had a season-high 11.6 yards per completion on Sunday. He has a gunslinger mentality, and it's paying off. Moreover, he is starting to show some leadership on the team, and players are playing hard for him as the Titans improve this season.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba

• We can finally say that the takeover has happened. JSN has firmly taken over the Tyler Lockett role. Not only that, he's now competing with D.K. Metcalf for the WR-1 role. He has scored 33.5, 16.8, 16.7 points per game in the last three games. Compare that to D.K. Metcalf's 10.5 and 7.6 the last two weeks (he did not play in the game three weeks ago). He's finally becoming what dynasty managers hoped he would become after drafting him early in the first round two years ago. Those who were patient with him are finally seeing the results, and things are looking up from here.

Michael Pittman

• Pittman's stock has been falling this season as his involvement in the offense has declined and as Anthony Richardson continues to be inaccurate as a passer. Richardson was back to his old self this Sunday. Even so, he found ways to connect with Pittman more than he has all season. Richardson connected with Pittman on six of seven passes, whereas his completion percentage for other pass catchers was less than 50%. Their connection this week does not make me move Pittman far up my rankings, but it instills hope for his future.

---

Stock Down

Sam Laporta

• Laporta continues to fall down dynasty rankings as his role in the Lions' offense continues to shrink, and he falters when he's given chances. He had a drop on a lap-up pass this week. While this could be said of most tight ends, he needs a touchdown to contribute in dynasty lineups. He's scored double digits just three times this season, and those were the only three games he scored a touchdown. He's only had one game with more than four catches. He has all the talent in the world, but he's not involved as much as he was in his rookie season. The offense has evolved, and they now have more weapons, so they don't need him like last year.

Deebo Samuel

• It's hard to be too hard on Samuel a week after he played with a backup quarterback, but his productivity has fallen off this season, even with Brock Purdy on the field. He has just one touchdown catch this season. He's had less than five catches in all but three games this season. Dynasty managers thought he'd be a focal point of the offense given how long Christians McCaffrey was injured and Brandon Aiyuk lost for the season.  He hasn't been. The 49ers passing game has run through George Kittle and Juaun Jennings instead. Samuel will likely become a free agent next season, and I don't think he will improve his play with a new team.

Rhamondre Stevenson

• Stevenson started the season pretty hot, but he's since cooled off considerably.  He's had a couple of lucky weeks scoring touchdowns in recent weeks, so he's looked okay when only considering his fantasy points. However, his play is far worse than his fantasy points suggest. His yards per carry over the last six weeks have been 2.6, 2.4, 1.6, 3.7, 3.6, and 1.6. He's looked like a slow and plotting back. I know his offensive line is among the worst in the league, but he's part of the problem too. The Patriots need to invest in the running back position next year, and they will have the draft capital to draft their future starters. Stevenson's fantasy productive days are nearer to the end than they are to the beginning.

---

Young Guns

Bucky Irving

• Irving played like a superstar on Sunday, scoring the most fantasy points of the season with 24.  He had a 56-yard run and a 32-yard reception. On each play, he was bobbed and weaved all over the field.  He had more explosive plays than that, too. He averaged 7.3 yards per carry and 13.6 yards per catch on Sunday as he lit up the Giants. The Buccaneers still split up their backfield carries, but Irving is proving to be the best playmaker at running back. The Buccaneers have an easy schedule over the next few weeks. I am confident Irving will play well and carry dynasty teams into and through the playoffs. He's an every-week starter from here on out.  

Jordan Addison

• As frustrated as I am at Justin Jefferson's usage in recent weeks, I love seeing Addison prove that he's a weapon. Teams should not focus their defensive game plans on Jefferson alone.  Addison had a massive day with several big plays, including a 69-yard catch and run. He had eight catches for 162 yards and a touchdown. That's an average of 20.3 yards per catch. It was his highest-scoring game of the year, too. He's such a good route runner and finds ways to get open all over the field. He did an excellent job getting open in the endzone as Sam Darnold was scrambling around, getting himself open for a 2-yard touchdown catch. His production has been hit-and-miss this season, making it hard for him to trust in lineups every week, but he's scored a touchdown in three of the last four weeks and could help dynasty managers down the stretch this season.

Trey McBride

• McBride continues to rack up fantasy points without scoring touchdowns. It's unbelievable that he's the year to score a touchdown, but he still remains among the top three scoring tight ends this season. Sunday was the best day of his season when he caught 12 passes for 133 yards. He's a monster on the field, presenting Kyler Murray with a huge target. He has excellent hands and is a powerful runner after the catch. He's a top-tier tight end in the dynasty and is as reliable as any tight end in the league. He averages 7.27 targets and 5.5 catches per game this season. That's more than Marvin Harrison and everyone else on the team.

---

Old-Man Strength

Tony Pollard

• Pollard had his highest-scoring week of the season on Sunday, scoring 20.4 points.  Every time the Titans have given him 17 or more carries this season, he's scored double-digits in fantasy points. For some reason, the Titans got away from Pollard the previous two weeks, giving him just nine carries in those two games. This week, with Tajae Spears in the concussion protocol, the Titans and dynasty managers were reminded how effective Pollard can be when he's fed. He had his second-most number of carries this season with 24, turning them into 119 yards and a touchdown. He had several explosive runs, including a long of 27.  Dynasty managers who slotted him into their RB-2 slot this week loved what they got from him.

Keenan Allen

• On Sunday, Allen looked like his old self when Caleb Williams peppered him with 15 targets. He turned them into nine catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. He looked athletic and explosive again on several catches, including one fantastic concentration catch that was barely overturned on instant reply. He's been hard to trust this season, but the Bears' offense has looked better the last two weeks since they fired their offensive coordinator. Maybe he can be a useful piece for playoff teams down the stretch, as he has done so many times before in his career.

Jaylen Waddle

• Waddle's stock has fallen significantly this season as his role in the offense has diminished with how much Jonnu Smith and Devon Achane have been involved in the passing game. His involvement is still a major concern for me, but he was a focal point this week, even while Smith and Achane got theirs, too. He had the most targets this season with nine, and he caught eight passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. He had his best game of the season and his first double-digit scoring day since week one. I'm not confident he will get that many targets again this season, but it was nice to remember what he can do if they give him a bigger role again.

---

Waiver Watch

Noah Gray

• Gray has four touchdowns in the last two weeks, two per week. It looks like he's the heir apparent to Travis Kelce, not Jared Wiley. Since the Chief's bye week, he's had 70% of the team tight end snaps, while Kelce has had just over 80% of the snaps. They're on the field together often, and Gray is getting more involved in the passing game. He's an excellent player to add to dynasty rosters if he wasn't added last week. I'd spend the rest of my season's FAAB on him if he's available.

Sincere McCormick

• McCormick saw his first NFL action on Sunday when Zamir White and Alexander Mattison were injured. He only had five carries, but he turned them into 33 yards, which is 6.6 yards per carry. He was a very productive running back in college at the University of Texas San Antonio, but he went undrafted two years ago. Given his youth and the uncertainty at the running back position in Las Vegas, I'd like to add McCormick in a few leagues this week.

David Moore

• Moore had a great game on Sunday, though it was mainly because Jalen Coker was inactive. That said, Adam Thielen was back for the first time this week, too, and he still had his most productive day in years. I'd only be interested in adding Moore in the deepest of leagues, but I'll add him to my watch list in all of my leagues.

---

Dynasty Trades

James Conner <=======> J.K. Dobbins, 2025 3rd round pick, and 2026 3rd round pick

• A team in second place in my original Freek league added Conner to assist him in his playoff push. The team that got Dobbins and the two third-round picks in the trade is in second to last place and decided it was time to sell an older player for a younger one and get some picks to boot. This trade is fair for both teams, and it's a perfect example of a trade between a contender and a pretender at the trade deadline.

Christian McCaffrey and 2025 2nd round pick <=======> Tyrone Tracy and a 2025 1st round pick

• A team in second place added McCaffrey to his roster to give his team a boost in his playoff run. The team willing to sell McCaffrey is in second to last place, so he was willing to give away one of his best players for a younger running back and a first-round pick. The second-round pick that he gave back in the trade was not his own. It is the team's second-round pick in first place, so it will be a pick at the end of the second round. The rebuilding team now has two first-round picks, which will be needed in his rebuild because he traded his first-round pick to my team. We're both rebuilding and have two first-round picks next year.  We'll see if McCaffrey can get back to his old self and carry the contending team to a championship.

Roschon Johnson <=======> 2025 2nd round pick

• Johnson's role in the Bears' offense has increased in recent weeks, and he's firmly taken over the role of goal-line back. That was enough to make him worth a second-round pick. The manager who added Johnson also has DeAndre Swift, so he now has the Bears' backfield locked up for the next few seasons.  Johnson was buried on the depth chart of the team that traded him for a second-round pick, so he was willing to part with him for a second-round pick.  This trade was a good one for both teams, but I'd prefer to have the second-round pick.

Leave your comment using the form below

Name
Comment
Enter the code