Week 6: Fantasy Studs and Duds

Studs

DeMarco Murray- Murray has started the season off in fantastic fashion, look for this form to continue. Murray currently ranks in the top five for all fantasy running backs, and a lot of this comes down to his offensive line, which is currently ranked first in the league per pro football focus. Whilst Murray is healthy keep rolling him out and watch this Titans offence lean on his ability to control the game with his legs. This week is a perfect matchup for Murray and this Titans offence, going up against a Browns defense that has been bleeding points this season, they will have no answer for Murray, Henry and Mariota. Lock Murray in for another big day at the office.

LeSean McCoy- Shady has been on fire, he comes into this matchup posting over 10 fantasy points in the last three weeks, and in that time has also had two games in which he has run over 100 yards. With the Bills switching out their offensive coordinator after an embarrassing loss to the Jets in week two, this offense has seen a major boost. A lot of this comes down to the Bills doing what they do best, run the ball, and run it with efficiency.

This week the Bills play at home against a 49ers team that has been getting ravaged on the ground. In the last two weeks both the Cowboys and Cardinals have run all over this defense, whilst both of those teams possess elite running backs, McCoy is no different, he has the speed and patience to record a huge day. Look for Shady to get into the end zone and easily run over 100 yards

Ryan Matthews- Even though the Eagles lost last week, the run game was still relativity effective. Matthews from a fantasy perspective has been consistent when on the field this season, posting 10+ fantasy point in 3 of the 4 games he has started, look for this trend to continue against a borderline average redskins run defense. Matthews is used in a multitude of ways within this offense, which only boosts his chances of getting into the endzone. If Matthews can get on a roll and the Eagles give him enough carries, this may be his best game of the season to date.

Antonio Brown- What more can be said of AB to start the season, he has shown that he is the best receiver in football. Even with the emergence of Sammie Coates, Brown is still the undisputed target hog of this offence, getting over 10+ targets in all but one game this season, he is the epitome of consistent. Brown gets a great matchup this week, taking on a Dolphins secondary that looks woeful, and was torched by A.J. Green just two weeks ago. Look for all of these Steelers receivers and LeVeon Bell, to feast upon a Dolphins defense that is looking inconsistent and lethargic in coverage. This Steelers offence lead by Big Ben looks like it is only just warming up, it may be a tough time for the Dolphins at home this week.

Bills Defense- This Bills unit has been quietly achieving some very impressive statistics, posting 10+ fantasy points every week, except in their week two matchup against the Jets. This Bills defensive unit looks like it is finally clicking, gaining a few players back from suspension and injuries, they have been harassing and dominating opposing offensive units. The key to their success lies in their ability to get to the quarter back and force pressure, in the last three weeks they have recorded 12 sacks, and created crucial turnovers from this pressure. This week as mentioned, they take on a 49ers team that has looked average at best. All reports are that Kapernick will be starting in place of Gabbert, so expect Rex Ryan to welcome Kap back into the starting job with exotic blitzes and pressure up the middle. This could get ugly fast for a 49ers team that is relying on Hyde to carry them offensively at the moment, start the Bills with confidence this week.

Duds

Julio Jones- Whilst Julio is a dominate and polarising receiver, he runs into a tough matchup this week. He was also listed in this portion of this column last week, and confirmed everything that I thought would happen. Whilst the Falcons got a surprising win against Denver, it wasn’t on the back of Jones. Julio only recorded two catches last week for 29 yards, and whilst this was against the best secondary in football, this week he takes on in my opinion the second best secondary. The Seahawks at home dominate teams, this is especially true for their vaunted and respected secondary, the legion of boom. Expect Julio to be targeted a few times, but don’t expect a 100-yard game. This Falcons team possesses one of the best run games in the NFL right now, further taking volume and targets away from Julio. Now Matt Ryan does not have to throw it up to Jones constantly, for offensive production. Look for another down week for Julio.

Matt Jones- Jones has been very inconsistent this season, and now comes up against a Philly defense that has been very good against the run game. Jones was bottled up last week against a very good Ravens defense and only found some success in the passing game. Don’t expect big things from Jones, the redskins offensive line has been bad at times this season, which has had a knock on effect against Jones value. The inconsistency of the Redskins backfield lead by Jones is concerning, for whilst the Skins need a good run game in order to help Cousins, they haven’t committed to it in earnest yet this season.

A.J. Green- Green has been struggling this season, whilst he has had two massive games with over 100 receiving yards and touchdowns, outside of these games he has been ineffective. A lot of this comes down to the amount of weapons the Bengals lost in the off season. Loosing their offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, and two other receiving weapons in Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, they are struggling offensively. Last week we saw a suspect Cowboys secondary hold Green to only 50 yards receiving on the day, a surprising result considering the Cowboys deficiencies in their secondary. This week Green goes up against a Patriots defense at home that will game plan to stop him, the Pats defense also ranks as the 7th best against opposing receivers. Whilst it is hard to bench Green, until Eifert comes back and this run game gets going, we could see Greens fantasy totals fluctuate week to week.

Isaiah Crowell- Crow has come out of nowhere and emerged as a viable fantasy option, temper expectations this week though. Last week the Patriots completely shut down the Browns run game, restricting Crow to only 22 yards rushing for the day. Look for the Titans to employ the same game plan. Whilst Crow is talented, he is on an average offense, that may be rolling out its third string rookie quarterback to start. The Titans will look to control the clock by running the ball, and forcing the Browns to make mistakes. The game script could also work against Crowell, I expect the Browns will be down early, thus limiting the Browns commitment to the run game. Whilst I think Crow will have a better week this week than last, he is still facing the fourth best run defense in fantasy, and could find it hard to find open space in which to exploit.

Mark Ingram- Whilst Ingram is the undisputed number one in this Saints backfield, he has been having red zone touches taken away from him. Before the Saints bye, we saw the cult hero John Khun vulture three touchdowns from Ingram, thus significantly deflating Ingram’s value on the day. Whilst Ingram is a good back, this Saints offense loves to throw the ball, and this week wont be any exception. Playing a Panthers team that is desperate to get their season back on track, look to see Newton (if healthy), pepper and exploit this terrible Saints defense, thus limiting Ingram’s workload. Ingram might be an okay flex play, but his upside is severely limited this coming week.