Takeaways from Week 12 as told by the tweets of the Fantasy Stronghold.
This was another one of those weeks that reminded us just how nonsensical fantasy football can be. Heading into the Sunday night game, your top 15 fantasy receivers for the week included Marquess Wilson, Dontrelle Inman, Quincy Enunwa and Taylor Gabriel. That's to say nothing of touchdown catches by Dion Sims and Daniel Brown. For everything we think we know about this game, we are frequently reminded that so much about fantasy is out of our control.
Speaking of Taylor Gabriel, maybe we shouldn't be so surprised that he found the end zone a couple of times this week. The Falcons seem to have found a role for the speedy, agile receiver as something of a gadget guy with his scores today coming on bubble screens. The upside is that it means another weapon in one of the NFL's most potent offenses. The downside is that it means another weapon in one of the NFL's most potent offenses.
In the interest of fairness, Perkins played more overall snaps but Jennings played more offensive snaps. Yet even then, the split was 28-21 in Jennings' favor. The moral of the story is that the Giants apparently can't see a good thing when it's been staring them in the face. After two weeks of Jennings playing the role of team workhorse, Big Blue has once again decided that creating continuity at running back wasn't all that important. Thanks for nothing.
Ajayi's story has actually been the story of the Dolphins' offensive line. When Ajayi has run well this year, it's been because he's been behind a fully healthy and productive offensive line. When Ajayi has struggled, it's usually been because there have been pieces missing along that line. Such has been the case the past two weeks for Miami. If the 'Fins can't get Mike Pouncey, Laremy Tunsil and Branden Albert for some of these tougher matchups, Ajayi will be a lot less attracrive as a fantasy back going forward.
Kaepernick is reminding us how much of a cheat code it is to have a quarterback who can run. He's averaged 62.1 rush yards per game this season and just dropped 113 on the Dolphins in Week 12 -- only Mark Ingram and Le'Veon Bell had more heading into Sunday Night Football. But just as big for Kap has been a lack of turnovers. He's given the ball away six times in six games. It's not great but it's better than he's been in the past couple of seasons. With a fairly favorable schedule down the stretch, Kaepernick could be a key piece on a lot of successful fantasy football squads.
I feel like we've stopped talking about how good Terrelle Pryor's been this season as the Browns march closer to 0-16. But Pryor's been outstanding both for the Browns and fantasy owners. Now we just need Cleveland to find a quarterback who can consistently get the ball to the team's playmakers. Then again, the Browns have been looking for that exact thing for the past couple of decades. Easier written than done, it seems.
Last week, we were giving Derrick Henry his fantasy last rites. This week, the rookie is seeing significant snaps and posting a better fantasy day than DeMarco Murray. Does this mean that Henry is finally going to start getting more work in the Titans backfield? That seems unlikely. But maybe this is hope for the future. Dynasty managers, take heart!
Wait...what?"
- Blake Bortles had more rushing yards than Melvin Gordon, David Johnson, Jay Ajayi and DeMarco Murray.
- Rex Burkhead led the Bengals in rushing yards.
- No Ravens player had more than five targets.
- You, dear reader, had the same number of targets as Antonio Gates and Brandin Cooks.
- Despite an historically bad run defense, the 49ers have held David Johnson and Jay Ajayi to fewer than 60 rushing yards.
And one for the road...
Marcas Grant is a fantasy editor for NFL.com. His snapchat (marcasg9) is a mixture of fantasy football and shenanigans. He's starting to feel a little stuffed up and wonders if he's going to be Patient Zero in the yearly NFL Media newsroom cold. Not that he's worried. Just curious. If you read all of that, congrats. Follow him on Twitter too.
