Takeaways from Week 9 as told by the tweets of the Fantasy Stronghold.
There are definitely two sides to this coin. On the one side, you have the Giants who looked like they'd rather be anywhere else but getting dragged up and down the field by the Rams offense on Sunday. This defense has real problems and should be targeted by fantasy managers in all respects going forward. The bigger story, however, continues to be the emergence of the Rams offense. Todd Gurley has become fantasy's biggest draft bargain and is a must-start every week. Jared Goff is a solid rotational fantasy quarterback and has elevated all of the pass-catchers in the air attack. We don't hand out fantasy awards for NFL coaches but if we did, Sean McVay would be Coach of the Year.
Does anyone know if a tight end scored a touchdown against the Giants this week? That's a rhetorical question ... of course it happened. That makes nine straight games dating back to last year that Big Blue has given up a touchdown to the position. That's pretty remarkable when you think about it. Eventually this gravy train is going to end (maybe next week against the 49ers?) but until it does, jump aboard and ride it until the wheels fall off.
I think deep down we all knew this to be true. It's just been awhile since we've seen it manifest itself on the field. Some of that is owed to the dysfunction going on with the Dolphins offense. Now that Ajayi is in Philadelphia with a quality attack, hopefully we'll see some of the production that we anticipated before the season. Nonetheless, what we saw from Ajayi on Sunday was a surprise. He was expected to have a small workload (17 snaps, eight touches) against a formidable Denver run defense. That he finished with 77 yards and a score was a stroke of good fortune ... if you had the guts to start him, that is.
Back in the spring, I admit that I wasn't very high on Kamara. His college tape yawned "meh" and he was drafted into a crowded backfield that already had Mark Ingram and Adrian Peterson. But his play early in the season made Peterson expendable and he's shown why New Orleans felt comfortable moving on from the veteran. Kamara is a dynamic player whose standard scoring floor has been nearly nine fantasy points per week over the last six contests -- with the rookie tallying double-digits in five of those six games. The best news is that Kamara's ascendance hasn't seriously impacted Mark Ingram, who is still seeing a fairly consistent number of snaps and touches every week. Sometimes when you have two running backs, you actually have two running backs.
Where have you gone, Falcons offense? After a record-setting 2016, there were always expectations of a letdown but nothing like this. Julio Jones has looked like a mere mortal with just two 100-yard games and two double-digit fantasy outings. Matt Ryan has returned to being Meh Ryan. Aside from a solid run from Weeks 2-4, Devonta Freeman has been pretty pedestrian while his fellow Two-Headed Man BrotherTevin Coleman has been an afterthought in the offense for a number of weeks. There are a few soft spots remaining in Atlanta's schedule but it's hard to trust that any of your hoped-for preseason fantasy studs will offer the type of returns you anticipated.
Things weren't great early in the game when Jameis Winston was slinging the rock. They didn't get any better when he left with an injured shoulder and Ryan Fitzpatrick took over. But perhaps the biggest indignity was that Fitz threw a touchdown to Luke Stocker. Luke. Stocker. I mean, if two Harvard guys can't look out for each other when the chips are down, is there really any hope for loyalty remaining in this world?
Wait...what?"
- Kareem Hunt had nine carries today and played just 53 percent of the snaps. Andy Reid, wyd?
- DeSean Jackson led the Buccaneers with 25 receiving yards. Peyton Barber led the team with 34 rushing yards.
- Geno Smith threw two passes on Sunday. He did not complete either one.
- Adrian Peterson had a career-high 37 carries. He plays again on Thursday night.
- No Titan had more than nine carries.
- Russell Wilson ran for 77 yards. Three Seahawks running backs rushed for a combined 71.
- TE Watch: Some of the tight end luminaries to land in the top 10 this week included Trey Burton, Tyler Higbee, Gerald Everett, Marcedes Lewis and Stephen Anderson.
And one for the road...
Marcas Grant is a fantasy editor for NFL.com. He's only now just starting to realize that summer is over in Los Angeles and isn't dealing with it particularly well. He also doesn't want to hear from any of you in cold climates. No one's forcing you to stay in sunless places. You should move. Don't send him your weather-related beefs on Twitter @MarcasG. If you read all of that, congrats. He also dishes out fantasy advice -- and life shenanigans -- on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (marcasg9)