RADIO
Writing about fantasy football began as a hobby for me. I’ve been playing fantasy sports since middle school and always seemed to do really well. Those were the days where I would join a random league with the Yahoo email I made up, it would autodraft and I would just check my lineup during study hall or home room. As I got older, I found talking about fantasy sports and offering my advice was even more fun than playing it. People seemed to like and respect my advice, so I thought it was time to put pen to paper a couple years ago and now here I am. One thing people may not realize is that writing about fantasy football will make you extremely humble. I like to celebrate my wins, but I have to own up to my mistakes as well. When you send me a message Sunday morning asking if you should play Jeremy Maclin or Charles Clay in your flex, I keep an eye on that during the day. When Maclin has three catches for 21 yards and Clay has five catches for 112 yards, I feel bad.
One of the ways I work through this, is putting it in writing. I am going to hold myself accountable for my advice, as should you. If I got something wrong, I’ll own it every single time. That being said, I will continue to defend a player I believe in until someone can prove me wrong. Most of my followers know I have been an avid Ty Montgomery fan since midway through the 2016 season. I still think he is the real deal and will continue to get better. I also know that there are a lot of Aaron Jones fans and they let me hear it last week when Jones ran for 125 yards on 19 carries. I came to the defense of Montgomery for many reasons, including the facts that Dallas has a horrible rush defense and Jones didn’t see any meaningful carries until Week 4 (which only happened after Montgomery AND Jamaal Williams were injured in the same game.) So, while I do think Jones has a chance to be a good back, I’m not conceding that Montgomery is done and this is now Jones’s backfield after one great week. Even though Montgomery is dealing with broken ribs and playing with a Kevlar vest, Jones only saw three more carries against the Vikings last week.
I’m supposed to be writing about being humble though, so I digress. This week for #TrendingNow I am offering up players who I have been wrong about. Players who I undervalued heading into the season for certain reasons but who have been outperforming my rankings. So if you listened to any of my advice this offseason, you may not own these players and for that, I’m sorry. Just make sure you tune in next week for an article about how right I’ve been as well!
Featured Promo: Get any full-season NFL Premium Pass for 50% off and win big in 2022. Exclusive access to our Premium articles, 15 lineup tools, new Team Sync platform, Lineup Optimizer, Premium DFS tools and cheat sheets, and much more! Sign Up Now!
#TrendingUp
Mark Ingram (RB, NO)
Before the season I said Adrian Peterson was going to lead this backfield. Mark Ingram always seemed to be in the doghouse with Sean Payton last season and why would you sign a future Hall of Famer and not use him like one. Well……oops. I missed on this one pretty bad, although I am not 100% sure why. I don’t remember a backfield that was more misused recently. Ingram finally saw his snap count surpass 40 the last two games but it wasn’t until Week 6 against the Lions did he finally turn out a RB1 performance.
After rushing for 114 yards and two touchdowns last week, Ingram appeared to lock in on the lead back duties. Many owners were quick to jump on the Alvin Kamara hype train assuming he would be the main beneficiary of Peterson's departure to Arizona. Kamara is the guy to own in dynasty formats but Ingram needs to be owned as well. The main stat I find most interesting is Ingram’s impact in the passing game. Ingram has 20 receptions on 27 targets compared to Kamara’s 24 receptions on 32 targets. Those splits are not enough for me to buy in on Kamara as a PPR back with upside. Ingram is going to own the backfield moving forward, unless he finds his way back on Payton’s bad side.
JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR, PIT)
There was no way JuJu Smith-Schuster was going to offer any value in 2017. When you have to fight for targets with Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant plus you still have to compete for a starting spot with Eli Rodgers and Sammie Coates, your preseason outlook isn’t great. Before the season got started, Coates was traded to the Browns and Smith-Schuster beat out Rodgers but the biggest win was overtaking Bryant. Even before this past weekend when it was reported that Bryant has been seeking a trade, Smith-Schuster was gaining tremendous value.
He has played more snaps then Bryant every week since Week 2 and he has closed the target gap as well. Smith-Schuster has also caught one more touchdown then Bryant on the season. His long term outlook is great, so dynasty owners want to buy now. There is a good chance Bell is with a different team next year and the Steelers may grant Bryant his “wish”. If that happens, Smith-Schuster is only fighting with Brown for targets. You do need to have some concern on who will be throwing the ball to them in 2018, so the offense could go through a transition period, but when you have defenses trying to cover Brown, you’re bound to get open.
#TrendingDown
Jeremy Maclin (WR, BAL)
Do you have that one player you just can’t seem to stay away from? Even after the player has lost a step and seems to be facing the twilight of his career, you still roster him every year hoping he hits once again. Jeremy Maclin could very well be that player for me. I was all in on Maclin to bounce back in 2017 after dealing with injuries all through last year. Maclin is just over a year removed from a 1,000-yard season and is only 29 this year, but he is struggling to find chemistry with Joe Flacco. To be fair though, the Ravens offense has been bad as a whole.
I’m concerned over the fact that Maclin has seemed to be dealing with an injury every week this season including last week when he didn’t suit up. Mike Wallace appears to be settling in as Flacco’s top target again. After three weeks of single digit reception yards to start the season, he has heated up with 218 yards on 12 receptions over his last three games. If Flacco settles back in with Wallace as his top target, it’s going to hurt Maclin’s value this year. From a dynasty standpoint, Maclin is only signed to a one-year deal in Baltimore and if he doesn’t have a good year, there may not be a ton of suitors next offseason. Tread lightly with Maclin, don’t let him burn you the way he will inevitably burn me.
DaVante Adams (WR, GB)
When you score 12 touchdowns in a season, it’s hard to replicate it from year to year. Even when you play in an Aaron Rodgers led offense, those numbers are difficult to reach for a second consecutive year. It appears that Adams was well on his way to reaching those numbers again with five touchdowns in six games, but then the injury heard round the world happened. If you wanted to argue that Rodgers has had the single most important injury this year, I would let you win that argument. Even though we’ve lost fantasy assets like David Johnson and Odell Beckham Jr, none of them had the fantasy impact as Rodgers because he not only provides individual stats but he is what makes everyone else on that offense so good.
So while I was wrong about Adams before the season, I may be right about him moving forward. My issue with Adams didn’t have to do with talent or receptions, but all about the touchdowns. Will Brett Hundley be able to lift Adams back to 12 touchdowns? I don’t see that happening. The last time the Packers had to live without Rodgers, Jordy Nelson saw an increase in targets while others saw a decrease. Hundley will lean on his top receiver and potentially Martellus Bennett while the Packers will use their new found two headed monster backfield with Ty Montgomery and Aaron Jones. I still expect Adams to offer good flex value, but the touchdown regression will be real.
