An atrocious offense can make even the bet defense break down. Denver might not have the best D, but as a fantasy unit, they're useless until the offense figures things out, which at this point might not be until next year . . . or the year after.
Trevor Siemian isn't struggling because Emmanuel Sanders has missed the past two games. In his last five contests Siemian has three TDs and nine turnovers. The Chiefs' D, meanwhile, had forced a sub-par eight turnovers through the first seven games. They tacked on five more last night and are suddenly near the league leaders.
Strangely, there are many similarities between this Broncos team and the 2015 Super Bowl champs. Two years ago Peyton Manning was flat-out awful (though Brock Osweiler played the game manager role pretty well when forced to step in). Meanwhile, the running game was competent, and both Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders carried the receiving load.
So early this morning I looked this over. Why is this team struggling while 2015's squad was largely successful? The biggest difference as I can tell is that Denver's elite D mostly counterbalanced the team's weak passing game. Denver had a net minus-4 takeaway/giveaway; in other words, they had four more turnovers than they forced. This year? They're on pace for a minus-25 ratio--the worst in the NFL.
That pretty much says it all. The defense is second-best in rushing yards per game and sixth-best in passing yards per game. But they can't keep up with the offense's turnovers. And unfortunately for the Broncos, their backup QBs aren't any better.
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Switching gears, here are some guys fantasy managers are needlessly rostering. It's time to dump them to make room for higher-upside options:
Martavis Bryant -- As explained yesterday, I completely missed the ball on JuJu Smith-Schuster's breakout. At the same time, I warned about Bryant last week: "When role players act like prema donnas, they should consider themselves lucky to remain as role players. The fact is, Smith-Schuster is outperforming Bryant on every basic metric, including attitude. Tomlin knows this, and this will inform Bryant's (at best) minimal role going forward." Bryant was rostered in 81% of ESPN leagues when I wrote that. Today he's at 60%. He should be at 10%. Dump him.
Willie Snead (rostered in 56% of leagues) played four snaps on Sunday. Drew Brees has only 11 TDs thru seven games, putting him on pace for his lowest TD total in over a decade. In a high-powered passing game, Snead would be a nice stash to see if he can climb back to the #2 spot. But currently he's unstartable, but probably will remain that way most of the rest of the season.
Carson Palmer (rostered in 22% of leagues) could return in Week 16. *Could*. He won't, though.
Eli Manning (rostered in 34% of leagues) is getting Sterling Shepard back. But that won't be enough. Down his top two receivers for the rest of the year, Eli is barely on the two-QB-league radar.
Mike Gillislee (rostered in 76% of leagues) is the least effective of New England's four main running backs. He's 100% TD-dependent with zero role in the passing game, which makes him no different--and at times worse--than a dozen or more dart-throw RBs available in most leagues.
Wendell Smallwood (rostered in 51% of leagues) -- As shared yesterday, Corey Clement got the love on Sunday; Smallwood got the bench. You're rolling the dice too many times if you think Smallwood will suddenly be startable.
Finally, Eddie Lacy . . . To the 28% of you still rostering Lacy: move on. It's not all his fault; this offensive line would have made first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Barry Sanders look like a second-ballot Hall of Famer.
Trevor Siemian isn't struggling because Emmanuel Sanders has missed the past two games. In his last five contests Siemian has three TDs and nine turnovers. The Chiefs' D, meanwhile, had forced a sub-par eight turnovers through the first seven games. They tacked on five more last night and are suddenly near the league leaders.
Strangely, there are many similarities between this Broncos team and the 2015 Super Bowl champs. Two years ago Peyton Manning was flat-out awful (though Brock Osweiler played the game manager role pretty well when forced to step in). Meanwhile, the running game was competent, and both Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders carried the receiving load.
So early this morning I looked this over. Why is this team struggling while 2015's squad was largely successful? The biggest difference as I can tell is that Denver's elite D mostly counterbalanced the team's weak passing game. Denver had a net minus-4 takeaway/giveaway; in other words, they had four more turnovers than they forced. This year? They're on pace for a minus-25 ratio--the worst in the NFL.
That pretty much says it all. The defense is second-best in rushing yards per game and sixth-best in passing yards per game. But they can't keep up with the offense's turnovers. And unfortunately for the Broncos, their backup QBs aren't any better.
--
Switching gears, here are some guys fantasy managers are needlessly rostering. It's time to dump them to make room for higher-upside options:
Martavis Bryant -- As explained yesterday, I completely missed the ball on JuJu Smith-Schuster's breakout. At the same time, I warned about Bryant last week: "When role players act like prema donnas, they should consider themselves lucky to remain as role players. The fact is, Smith-Schuster is outperforming Bryant on every basic metric, including attitude. Tomlin knows this, and this will inform Bryant's (at best) minimal role going forward." Bryant was rostered in 81% of ESPN leagues when I wrote that. Today he's at 60%. He should be at 10%. Dump him.
Willie Snead (rostered in 56% of leagues) played four snaps on Sunday. Drew Brees has only 11 TDs thru seven games, putting him on pace for his lowest TD total in over a decade. In a high-powered passing game, Snead would be a nice stash to see if he can climb back to the #2 spot. But currently he's unstartable, but probably will remain that way most of the rest of the season.
Carson Palmer (rostered in 22% of leagues) could return in Week 16. *Could*. He won't, though.
Eli Manning (rostered in 34% of leagues) is getting Sterling Shepard back. But that won't be enough. Down his top two receivers for the rest of the year, Eli is barely on the two-QB-league radar.
Mike Gillislee (rostered in 76% of leagues) is the least effective of New England's four main running backs. He's 100% TD-dependent with zero role in the passing game, which makes him no different--and at times worse--than a dozen or more dart-throw RBs available in most leagues.
Wendell Smallwood (rostered in 51% of leagues) -- As shared yesterday, Corey Clement got the love on Sunday; Smallwood got the bench. You're rolling the dice too many times if you think Smallwood will suddenly be startable.
Finally, Eddie Lacy . . . To the 28% of you still rostering Lacy: move on. It's not all his fault; this offensive line would have made first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Barry Sanders look like a second-ballot Hall of Famer.