Similar to each Monday morning's fantasy rundown, let's take a closer look at the most notable fantasy implications of Thursday's games:
Vikings -- Case Keenum was undrafted after college. The Texans signed the local University of Houston product. He now has three straight games with a 70%+ completion rate with eight TDs and only two turnovers. He's never had such a good receiving corps. This is no fluke.
Lions -- A crushing defeat for a team that's now outside the playoff bubble. I've continued to warn about starting Ameer Abdullah as anything more than an RB3. His remaining schedule makes him unstartable in smaller leagues and an RB3/4 in deeper leagues. Say what you want about supposed guaranteed volume. He now has 14 or fewer touches in six of his past seven games after exceeding that total in his first four games of the season.
Chargers -- The biggest push-back I've received all week was predicting Austin Ekeler would outperform fantasy's sixth highest scoring RB, Melvin Gordon. It nearly happened, with Gordon posting 11.8 compared to Ekeler's 10. Gordon once again simply was not very good, barely cracking 3.0 YPC. While Ekeler's nine touches were well short of Gordon's 24, anyone watching this game could see Ekeler deserves more looks.
Cowboys -- Never saw this coming. I told many people to start Dak Prescott with confidence. Instead, he was once again horrendous, and has now been unstartable in four of five games. Dez Bryant--a guy I pushed hard this summer--is barely a WR3. This is an ugly situation for a team that's lost three straight and could be eliminated from postseason contention before Ezekiel Elliott returns.
Giants -- I thought the Giants would be blown out. That said, their offense was as anemic as expected. If you heeded my warning to bench Orleans Darkwa, you avoided a huge letdown. Despite his solid play, rookie Wayne Gallman isn't going anywhere.
Redskins -- Samaje Perine further solidified his RB1/2 status, as he and Jamison Crowder once again rewarded those who drafted them, then regretted drafting them, then were resigned to keep them out of some combination of stubborness and "there's no one better on waivers." Crowder's first TD of the season underscores the fact that he's been Kirk Cousins' primary target these past four weeks.
Vikings -- Case Keenum was undrafted after college. The Texans signed the local University of Houston product. He now has three straight games with a 70%+ completion rate with eight TDs and only two turnovers. He's never had such a good receiving corps. This is no fluke.
Lions -- A crushing defeat for a team that's now outside the playoff bubble. I've continued to warn about starting Ameer Abdullah as anything more than an RB3. His remaining schedule makes him unstartable in smaller leagues and an RB3/4 in deeper leagues. Say what you want about supposed guaranteed volume. He now has 14 or fewer touches in six of his past seven games after exceeding that total in his first four games of the season.
Chargers -- The biggest push-back I've received all week was predicting Austin Ekeler would outperform fantasy's sixth highest scoring RB, Melvin Gordon. It nearly happened, with Gordon posting 11.8 compared to Ekeler's 10. Gordon once again simply was not very good, barely cracking 3.0 YPC. While Ekeler's nine touches were well short of Gordon's 24, anyone watching this game could see Ekeler deserves more looks.
Cowboys -- Never saw this coming. I told many people to start Dak Prescott with confidence. Instead, he was once again horrendous, and has now been unstartable in four of five games. Dez Bryant--a guy I pushed hard this summer--is barely a WR3. This is an ugly situation for a team that's lost three straight and could be eliminated from postseason contention before Ezekiel Elliott returns.
Giants -- I thought the Giants would be blown out. That said, their offense was as anemic as expected. If you heeded my warning to bench Orleans Darkwa, you avoided a huge letdown. Despite his solid play, rookie Wayne Gallman isn't going anywhere.
Redskins -- Samaje Perine further solidified his RB1/2 status, as he and Jamison Crowder once again rewarded those who drafted them, then regretted drafting them, then were resigned to keep them out of some combination of stubborness and "there's no one better on waivers." Crowder's first TD of the season underscores the fact that he's been Kirk Cousins' primary target these past four weeks.