RADIO
There is less room for error for fantasy football owners with each passing week.
With under a month before the playoffs start in most fantasy football leagues, this is not the time to blow lineup decisions as badly as the Indianapolis Colts blow their draft choice decisions. The same goes for players of one-day contests since there are only seven weeks for people to try and win a life-changing payday. Weeding out the fantasy booms and busts is paramount, especially the ones who are not superstars and fly under-the-radar.
Here are some under-the-radar booms and busts for the 11th week of NFL action to help you set a winning lineup. Good luck RotoBallers!
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Week 11 Under-the-Radar Booms
Isaiah Crowell (RB, CLE) vs. JAC
After being about as useful as a spoon is for someone trying to eat a steak for his first seven contests (no touchdowns and no 65-yard rushing games), Crowell has emerged from the ashes to become a fantasy force again with 213 combined yards and two touchdowns over the past two weeks. What Crowell did recently is even more impressive since he did it against Minnesota and at Detroit, two games where fantasy owners were not expecting much from him. Crowell looks like he can keep the good times going this Sunday against a Jacksonville defense that is top-ranked against the pass but only 25th against the run this year. Crowell is nursing a sore shoulder, but that should not stop him from having another good game this Sunday.
Amari Cooper (WR, OAK) vs. NE
The slippery-fingered Cooper’s fantasy value drops with every ball he drops. As long as he holds onto the pinpoint passes Derek Carr floats into his unpredictable palms this week, though, Cooper should have a wonderful weekend, because getting open should not be a problem versus a patsy-like Patriots defensive backfield. Over its past three games, New England’s secondary has allowed Atlanta’s Julio Jones, Los Angeles’ Travis Benjamin and Denver’s Emmanuel Sanders to each have their best games of the season against it. Oakland will likely have Carr light up the sky since he has averaged 44 pass attempts per game over his last three starts in the Raiders’ pass-first offense. If Ccoper can go from being the Jose Offerman of football to being a Gold Glove-caliber pass catcher, 125 yards and a touchdown or two is a real possibility.
Austin Hooper (TE, ATL) at SEA
Hooper has settled in as a dependable but not amazing tight end who gets 40-50 yards per game and catches a touchdown toss every other week. The good news for him is that will be against a Seattle secondary that allowed past-their-prime tight ends Vernon Davis (six receptions for 72 yards) and Jermaine Gresham (five receptions for 64 yards and a TD) to have their way against it. This is also a secondary that just lost top cornerback Richard Sherman to a season-ending injury and allowed Houston’s Deshaun Watson to throw for 402 yards and four touchdowns in Watson’s fantasy swan song before he blew out his knee. Hooper should be able to muster up six receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown, if not more.
Week 11 Under-the-Radar Busts
Joe Mixon (RB, CIN) at DEN
Mixon is still barely averaging three yards per carry and has not blown people away into thinking he is the next James Brooks, yet he has scored touchdowns in his past two games and is the main man in Cincinnati’s anemic running attack because Jeremy Hill is injured and Giovani Bernard has been ineffective. Denver has not done much right the past five games as the Broncos have seen their record go from 3-1 to 3-6, but the one thing they can still do is stop the run. Denver is ranked fifth in run defense and has only allowed one team to run for over 100 yards against them in five home contests. This will not be the week Mixon averages five yards per carry, not when Denver’s season is on the brink and Cincinnati’s offensive line has more problems pushing people around than a pack of 90-pound weaklings.
Alex Collins (RB, BAL) at GB
Collins has bested Baltimore’s mound of mediocrity at tailback and become a pleasant fantasy surprise. He is third in the NFL with 5.6 yards per carry and is atop the depth chart for Ravens running backs. Collins has been a fantasy dud two of the past three weeks, however, and with both Danny Woodhead and Terrance West possibly returning and Buck Allen still getting his carries and third-down work, Collins cannot be expected to get more than 12-15 touches. Green Bay’s run defense is not stout (17th in NFL), but it is not awful, either. Do not go assuming that Collins has 100 yards and two touchdowns written all over him this week.
Nathan Peterman (QB, BUF) at LAC
The fifth-round rookie out of Pittsburgh has shockingly become Buffalo’s starting signal caller after the coaching staff finally had their fill of Tyrod Taylor (haven’t we all?). There is nothing to suggest Peterman will fare any better than Taylor has in recent weeks, however. His first NFL start comes on the road against a Chargers pass defense that is ranked 11th in the league and has held quarterbacks to six touchdown passes while forcing six interceptions over its last half-dozen games. Buffalo will probably keep things conservative with the offense revolving around LeSean McCoy, especially if newly-acquired Kelvin Benjamin still needs to be slowly added to the passing attack plan. Let Peterman have a week under his belt before you start relying on him fantasy-wise.
