Transcription
There is so much on the line this week that I am legit nervous for my team in the flock league, for my underdog basketball teams. And I've probably spent more time making our weekly rankings than we have at any point this year cuz all I'm doing in videos from here on out is giving you weekly rankings. Nothing else matters. We only got two weeks left in the season.
Starting off with the S tier, McAffrey, Gibbs, Devon Achan, as well as Bejan Robinson are going to be the players that are set it and forget it. No reason to talk about them. Any one of these guys can single-handedly win you your matchup. Maybe the only thing worth pointing out is Bejon typically is in a bad offense. Well, he gets to play against the Arizona Cardinals this week where you actually have the Atlanta Falcons with an implied team total of 25 points. So, Bejon very easily could be going nuclear.
Now, moving over to our A tier, we are going to have James Cook leading us off. Now, in theory, it's a tough matchup going up against the Cleveland Browns rush defense, which was very good at the beginning of the season. They've been much worse as of late. And why I'm going to stand by James Cook is this dude right now is averaging 19 fantasy points per game, 19.5 carries per game. He's averaging two and a half targets per contest. And the Buffalo Bills currently project to be the second highest scoring team in the league and have a spread in this game of 10 and a half points. So, they very easily should be able to go out there and win this contest and run the ball consistently.
Now, with Jonathan Taylor, he was lower in our rankings this past week because he had a really tough matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. And with Philip Rivers under center, you actually had the Indianapolis Colts projected to be the second to worst offense in the league last week. Well, that's not the case this week. You actually have an implied team total of about 20 and a half points here for Indie, which of course isn't great, but it's not like they're supposed to be a horrendous offense. You are supposed to get a bounce back. So, I think you can start Jonathan Taylor and maybe not have the running back one overall expectations that he gave you early in the year, but I think he's going to be a-okay this week.
Now, fingers crossed that Saquon Barkley does something for us here. Barkley over the past two weeks has had 20 carries in both games. And Barkley over the past two weeks has come through and finished as a top 12 running back-back-to-back. Now, am I going to come out here and dance my little booty off thinking that oh my gosh, Shaquin Barkley is all of a sudden going to win me my matchup in the Flock League and send me to the championship this week? It's tough to get there because Barkley has not had a single game all year with 20 points outside of the Giants in week eight, though. You have one game with 20 points this season and that's it. But the volume is consistently there. And when the volume's there, obviously this is an environment that we want to be playing our Eagles against a very bad Washington team.
Now going over to Bucky Irving, it was very frustrating seeing Shawn Tucker take the goal line opportunity this past week. Well, Rashad White's still getting some work as well, but Bucky Irving is now going into his fourth healthy week at this point. So, I think we are going to assume that he is playing the full role that this Tampa Bay Buccaneers team would have for him in the playoffs. And this Tampa Bay Buccaneers team is in the most important game of the season for them playing at Carolina. The Bucs currently have an implied team total of about 24 and a half points. Bucky's averaged about 20 opportunities a game since coming back from his injury. So, I think you absolutely jam him.
Now, a player that is extremely difficult to rank right now is going to be Josh Jacobs. Now, the reports at the moment are saying Josh Jacobs is walking around the locker room with a limp. Josh Jacobs is very clearly injured, but Josh Jacobs has been very clearly injured for a while now, and he's going out there toughening it up and he's playing anyway. Now, I have Josh Jacobs on my own team. If he goes up against the Chicago Bears, I'm going to be playing him with zero hesitation. Now, with that being said, I also have Emanuel Wilson on my team, and if Jacobs were to miss, Emanuel Wilson's the auto jam. But the expectations as of now will be that Jacobs is playing.
Now Derrick Henry is going to be our next running back. I am very surprised to see this with how good the New England Patriots team is. I was honestly expecting them to be favored over the Baltimore Ravens even though Baltimore is playing at home. That shows how much of a casual I am, how little I know because you pull this up and Baltimore is actually favored by three points here over New England. We just saw James Cook go nuclear against this New England rush defense a week ago. Derrick Henry gives you a relatively decent floor. The last time he scored fewer than 10 fantasy points was week five against the Houston Texans. Obviously, you have no receiving role. So, he is more so going to be a touchdown or bust running back, but the Ravens project score a ton of points this week. So, reasonably, there's a chance that Derrick Henry does go out there and score a touchdown for you.
Javvante Williams is in a matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers with a pretty high overunder. This game has an overunder of 49 and a half points this week. It's going to be one of the highest projected scoring games of the week. And Javvante continues to just give you consistent volume. I mean, right now this season, he's averaging 16.4 carries per game, 3.3 targets per game. So about 20 opportunities in a game in which the Dallas Cowboys should put up a considerable amount of points.
Now Chase Brown is actually losing share in his own backfield. If you go through and look at Chase Brown with and without Sam Perine this year, there's been a very clear difference between the two backs. Now with that in mind, Chase Brown has actually still been putting up fantasy points even though Sami Perine has been taking a considerable amount of snaps and touches over the past three weeks. I mean, you've had Chase Brown finishing as a top 13 running back every single week since week eight, and this matchup against the Miami Dolphins is a great one.
Now, Travis ETN was an auto start last week. And the reason for that was you could go ahead and look at the usage with B. Shell tuning combined it with I believe the Jacksonville Jaguars projected as a top three offense with an implied team total of 26 and a half points last week according to sports books which leads to Travis CTN being an absolute jam and Travis ETN obviously came through and had three receiving touchdowns of all things and scores 31 and a half points making him the running back one overall in the week. Now, ETN's going to be lower in our rankings this week than he was last week, though, because instead of the Jacksonville Jaguars projecting out to score 26 points, they only project to score 21 and project to be a middle-of-the-road offense against a tough Denver defense at Denver.
Now, Trevon Henderson was a running back that was, I believe, our RB17 last week. However, I am more confident seeing him expand his role in this backfield alongside Rhamondre Stevenson. He drops 30.1 fantasy points. Continues to look like one of the most electric running backs in the entire NFL. Right now, he's averaging 5.4 yards per carry. And at the same time, he's averaging about three targets per game. So now that you're less concerned about Rhamondre given the way that this usage is trending, I think Trevon's an absolute jam. But surprisingly, you do actually have sports books projecting the New England Patriots much worse than usual in this game against Baltimore with an implied team total of only 22 and a half points.
Like you actually have the Los Angeles Chargers with Amari and Hampton projecting to score more here. And with Amari and Hampton, he does indeed end up seeing 16 opportunities against Kansas City Chiefs, demonstrating that he is expanding his role over Kamani Vidal as every week that goes by, he's a little bit more healthy. Obviously, last week it was a really tough matchup against Kansas City. Well, this week he gets a beautiful matchup playing at Dallas. This Dallas rush defense is one that we for sure want to be targeting, especially if they're seeing injuries on that side of the ball. And while the Chargers have been a very bad offensive team as of late, this is a 24-point total for the Chargers offense this week, so they should be better.
Now going over to Kyren Williams, um, obviously he has been crushing. Even with Blake Corum coming through and expanding his own role, it frankly has not mattered because Kyren Williams so far this season has a total of 10 rushing touchdowns and a total of 15 carries inside the 5-yard line. So, he is still their goal-line back. He is still seeing a ton of touchdowns. And we know that this is typically one of the best offenses in the league when it comes to their projections. However, this is going to be a little bit of a different spot because this week they have to go up against the Seattle Seahawks. And obviously the Seahawks have one of the better defenses in the league. So right now you actually only see a total of 23 points here for the Rams. Much worse than usual.
Now going over to R.J. Harvey gets banged up this past week. So it's very difficult for us to put a solidified ranking on him here. I'm going to assume, of course, with this video that R.J. Harvey is okay and R.J. Harvey is going to be playing this week, no problem. And if that's going to be the case, I mean, the volume has been really good where he's had at least 17 opportunities every game since the bye. And I'm not too too concerned about this Jags defense. You do have the Denver Broncos favored in this contest.
Now, another player that got banged up, it's going to be tough to know if he's playing or not, will be Woody Marks. Now, if Woody Marks is a-okay, 100% playing, then I think you have to go ahead and jam him in. Considering the matchup that you see against the Raiders, where this Raiders team is arguably the worst team in the NFL at this point, the spread on this game is 14 and a half points. The Houston Texans are going to absolutely stomp on the Raiders.
And honestly, it could be to the same extent that we had with the Jags-Jets game last week, which this week for the Jets should be a hell of a lot closer. While they were a 12-point dog last week, this week against the New Orleans Saints, the spread in this game is actually only about 4 and a half points. So, I do think we're going to be in a small Jets bounceback spot. And for that reason, I have Breece Hall on my own team and I'm going to be starting him with little to no hesitation.
Like right now, the Jets only project to score about two and a half points fewer than the New York Giants this week where Tyrell Tracy obviously looked incredible this past week in a really easy matchup against the Commanders. Well, this week it's going to be a little bit tougher having to play against the Minnesota Vikings, but at least you're home and obviously the Giants could potentially win this game. They could potentially be going out there and running the ball consistently in the second half.
Now, Rico Dowdle did take a leap forward over Chuba Hubbard this past week with the opportunities, but of course, it's not like Dowdle got back to where he was previously with 30-plus fantasy points. This ranking is under the assumption that Rico Dowdle is okay, 100% healthy for this game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And again, I would rank him in a very similar spot to where we did last week because I believe that he is still going to be the lead back in this backfield.
Going over to DeAndre Swift. DeAndre Swift had himself a phenomenal day this past week with multiple rushing touchdowns and he had 55% of the carries here for the Chicago Bears. That's a higher carry mark than any game that he has seen this season since week one. So it looks like Khalil Herbert maybe not the biggest threat at this point, but Khalil Herbert is still there. And of course, this Green Bay Packers matchup isn't as concerning with Micah Parsons tearing his ACL.
Then going over to Quinshon Judkins, this Buffalo Bills rush defense is no bueno. But the Cleveland Browns currently project to be the second worst offense in the league this week. While the spread in this game is 10 and a half points. So Quinshon Judkins in this game especially is going to be a running back that does not catch the ball in a game that looks to be a blowout where he's on the wrong side of it. So, it's going to be tough to expect that he gets too too much volume, but those top 23 running backs are the auto starts. Those are the guys that you have to absolutely jam in most fantasy football formats. Obviously, if you're playing in a 10-team league where you only serve two wide receivers, one flex, maybe you can go ahead and bench one of those names.
Now, where we get over to the players that I would prefer to bench if you can. It's going to start off with Devin Singletary. Devin Singletary, if I guess if he plays and he has zero um injuries, zero expectations, you could go through and you could say that he's going to be just fine, but more likely than not, I think Devin Singletary is probably going to miss this week. The matchup against the Jets would be great though if he did play. And if he is 100% healthy, you'll see him a lot higher in our flex rankings later this week.
Now, Austin Ekeler going up against the Houston Texans, we are gonna have to rank him lower than we have at any point so far this year because if you look at the Raiders, they project to score 12 points this week. They projected to be the lowest scoring offense in the league last week against the Philadelphia Eagles with an implied team total of 13 and a half points which is why it was a pretty easy spot to say we could have Ekeler pretty low in our rankings but this week it is even worse with the projections. So he's going to be even lower. The only saving grace that you have with Austin Ekeler is obviously the target volume has been consistent but the matchup playing at Houston is horrible for him.
Now, Aaron Jones is a running back that last week had a good matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. And with that good matchup, he had 15 opportunities and only scored nine and a half fantasy points. This week against the Giants, I mean, the Minnesota Vikings have a fine total here, 23 and a half points. So, I guess you could look in his direction, but honestly, I'm actually probably going to move him a little bit lower because I have Kenneth Gainwell on my own team and I think I would rather start Kenneth Gainwell over Aaron Jones. Again, I have Gainwell on my team. He is going to be on my bench this week. Unless the comments can convince me to start him over, I guess the bench would be Breece Hall. If you can convince me to start him over Breece Hall, DK Metcalf, or Jaylen Waddle, you work your magic. But with Gainwell, you love the fact that one, he's leading this team in receiving, and two, this matchup against the Detroit Lions is one in which the Pittsburgh Steelers project to lose this game quite comfortably. And if that's going to be the case, there's a very realistic shot that they are just in garbage mode having to throw the ball consistently in the second half.
Now going over to Kenneth Walker. Um Kenneth Walker horrible matchup against the Rams and Kenneth Walker himself has been horrible. Zach Charbonnet continues to play just as much, sometimes more. This was the first game all year where Kenneth Walker did not see 10 carries. And it's not only that Kenneth Walker hasn't been getting the opportunities. At the same time, over the past two games, Kenneth Walker's had 19 total carries and the man hasn't even cracked 50 total rushing yards. Over the past two games, he's had four targets and he's had one positive receiving yard. Like Kenneth Walker doesn't look great. The workload doesn't look great.
Um Tony Pollard, the workload looks better for. And honestly, at this point, Pollard may look like the better back between the two, as crazy as that sounds. Like Pollard's averaging 4 and a half yards per attempt for the Tennessee Titans. But the issue with Tony Pollard, and I have him on my team as well. I plan on benching him this week, too, is one, you're still a Tennessee Titan. That has not changed. And two, you have to go up against Kansas City Chiefs.
Now, Jaylen Warren continues to lose more and more to Gainwell. And y'all heard me say a thousand times at this point, the dude hasn't cracked 20 fantasy points at any point so far this season. Um, yeah, does not look great in this matchup against the Detroit Lions is one in which the Lions are heavily favored by about a touchdown. So, I'd assume that the Steelers are having to throw the ball in the second half.
Now, Michael Carter could end up being much higher in our flex rankings once we get to them. Yea, no Bam Knight. All eyes are going to be on if Dameon Pierce plays or not. But if Dameon Pierce does not play, Michael Carter's in a really good matchup against the Atlanta Falcons where the overunder this game's 47 and a half points. They're going to be a ton of points scored. We know the Arizona Cardinals just go into I mean garbage time the second that the game gets kicked off. And Michael Carter is a receiving back so he should be able to get a ton of target volume.
Khalil Herbert um committee back that's had double-digit carries every single week over the past five weeks. But if the touchdown's not there, he's absolute garbage. And again, I don't love the matchup against Green Bay.
Um David Montgomery continues to get phased out of this offense. If it wasn't for the Wildcat touchdown this past week, he would have been unstable. He scored a touchdown in the past three games, but if you remove that touchdown, then he would have scored 3, 8, 6, 6, 4, and 10 fantasy points over his past six games.
Now, Chuba Hubbard, committee running back. Uh, I guess you could go through and play him if you really need to, but it's double healthy. No reason to.
Um, Blake Corum, the lesser of the committee with Kyren Williams. Blake Corum looks like an incredible talent. 5.5 yards per attempt so far this season. Horrible matchup against Seattle.
Kamani Vidal is getting phased out of this offense, of course, with Amari and Hampton back in, but the benefit that you have is it's a great matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.
Um, Zach Charbonnet in a garbage matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. Really tough team to go up against.
Going over and looking at Chris Rodriguez or Stevenson, Tyler Allgeier, maybe somebody's interested in this group of guys. We didn't rank Chris Rodriguez last week in our running back rankings. Honestly, I didn't even know that he was going to miss the game. I just thought that oh, no interest in a starting running back for the Commanders is not going to catch the ball, especially not that they have to play against Philadelphia Eagles this week. Rhamondre is losing more and more of course going up against Stevenson. And then with Tyler Allgeier, it's a great matchup against Arizona Cardinals, but he had two carries last week.
So, I think that's all we got for y'all in this video. Again, I understand the stakes could not be higher this week. I'm going to do my absolute best with the weekly rankings every single day until we get to kickoff. Um, and yeah, I'm not only rooting for my teams heavily, but I'm going to be rooting for yours as well. Best of luck, ladies and gentlemen. I'm really, really hoping you take it down this week. And yeah, thank you for.