Week 5: Enter The 2nd Quarter

Mere hours before his coach and general manager were fired, Matt Ryan didn’t help their cause. Matty Ice looked more like Matty Lukewarm, going 21 of 37 for 226 passing yards, zero TDs and one interception. That stat line is enough to make Ryan hurl, particularly against the middling Carolina Panthers defense.

 

Ryan started off the year hot, throwing for 450 yards in Week 1 and for 4 TDs in Week 2. The defenses he faced those weeks? The Seattle Seahawks, who allow over 400 passing yards per game, and the Dallas Cowboys, who have given up an average passer rating of 114.3 (3rd worse in the league). Since then, Ryan has thrown for only 1 TD and has not scored more than 12.4 fantasy points in a game.

 

No question, Ryan is missing Julio Jones. But with Calvin Ridley, Russell Gage, Hayden Hurst and Todd Gurley, it’s not as if Ryan is without receiving options. The schedule may be his saving grace. Over the next few weeks, Ryan has some favorable match-ups against the Vikings, Lions and (welp) Panthers. Ryan owners shouldn’t hit the panic button yet. But one more poor showing against any of these teams might merit full-blown panic.

 

 

 

Even though Mixon will finish around RB20 this week, he will have done so (1) against the formidable Baltimore Ravens defense and (2) with 30 touches. Yes, 3-0. That number is unreal. Mixon ran the ball 24 times and had 6 receptions on 8 targets. And that was with the Bengals in a negative game script the entire game, down 20-0 going into the fourth quarter.

 

Regardless of game script, the Bengals are leaning on Mixon. Going into Sunday, he had the third-highest opportunity share among RBs with 83% of all Bengals running back rushes and targets. Volume plus talent equals fantasy gold on average. Next week, the Bengals face another formidable defense in the Indianapolis Colts. If you’re a Mixon owner and need a win, it may make sense to sell before another tough match-up. If you’re sitting pretty at 4-1 or even 5-0, Mixon is a fantastic buy low-ish target.

 

Honorable Mention: Todd Gurley efficiently ran the ball against the Panthers with 14 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown. Surprisingly, Gurley was targeted five times, snagging four receptions for another 29 yards. Given the Panthers rank dead last in rushing defense by Pro Football Focus, it’s not a shock. Gurley faces three bottom 10 rushing defenses over the next three weeks (Vikings, Lions, Panthers), so the best may be yet to come for Gurley…at least for a few more weeks.

 

 

One of the most encouraging things for Fulgham owners (and prospective owners) is that Wentz actually had time to throw. Despite facing the league’s second-best pass rush according to PFF, the Eagles offensive lines only gave up five sacks to the Steelers on 35 dropbacks. A number of these were due to the Steelers’ secondary locking up the Eagles receivers. Facing that pressure, Wentz looked Fulgham’s way 13 times.

 

This was the second week in a row the Eagles actually started the same five offensive linemen. Continuity in line play tends to help QBs have time to find their receivers downfield. Plus, Wentz is still down multiple receivers in Alshon Jeffrey and Desean Jackson. And Ertz seems to have disappeared with the emergence of Fulgham. It’s hard to tell with a two-game sample size whether Fulgham is the real deal. He will no doubt be a waiver wire darling this week. Next week, he faces a Ravens defense that is middle of the pack against the pass but does have some stellar cornerbacks in Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey. TBD on TF.

 

Honorable Mention: Fulgham is likely to be overshadowed by Chase Claypool and his 4 TD, 111 receiving yard performance against the Eagles. The Steelers have talked up Claypool quite a bit, but this game also saw Dionte Johnson go out with a back injury early in the game. JuJu was largely a non-factor. Given the number of mouths to feed, including one more I may talk about in juuuuust a second, Claypool still carries a bit of a risk. If Johnson’s injury is serious, however, I’m chasing Chase!

 

 

Two weeks in a row I’m featuring a tight end facing the Eagles defense. Gee, I wonder why. Perhaps because the Eagles have been hooooorrendous against defending tight ends? And Eric Ebron only posted 42 receiving yards with 5 catches on 6 targets and a fumble. So why cover Ebron? Is this a cruel joke I’m playing against myself as an Eagles fan? Yes and no.

 

Big Ben has targeted Ebron at least 5 times in each of the last three games. Although there are a lot of mouths to feed in Pittsburgh, Ebron should continue to see a similar workload as the featured pass-catching tight end. Going into Sunday, he was a top-10 tight end in terms of yards per reception (12.6), according to Fantasydata.com. When he catches the ball, Ebron gets yards, which means you get points. Unless Ebron is on your opponent’s team. Then he or she gets points and you don’t. Don’t let that happen. Get Ebron.

 

Honorable Mention: Irv Smith Jr. caught 4 of 5 targets for 64 yards and no TDs. That may seem paltry, but next weekend he’s facing a Falcons defense that let Green Bay’s Robert Tonyan light them up for 98 yards and 3 TDs in Week 4. Smith is a very talented receiver and could finally break out next weekend if you need a tight end streamer like so many of us do.