Yesterday I laid out the main reason why my preseason ranking for Jimmy Garoppolo (QB-11) looked pretty stupid these days. In fact, he was performing worse than his preseason QB-21 ADP. The problem was not ability or even efficiency (though his seven interceptions didn't help). It was the fact that he was averaging only 27 throws per game. His .47 fantasy points per pass attempt was just shy of QB1s Tom Brady (.49) and Kyler Murray (.49), and was far better than more fantasy-friendly QBs like Jared Goff (.41), Philip Rivers (.41), and Andy Dalton (.38).
Jimmy's remaining schedule isn't easy, though he does get Arizona again, as well as Atlanta--two bottom-tier pass defenses. But that's not as important as game flow: whether the coaching staff will turn him loose more, or even need to turn him loose more. Although the addition of Emmanuel Sanders has sharply strengthened the passing game, Jimmy's fantasy success going forward will hinge on whether he throws 36-42 times a game vs. 24-30 times a game.
Back to Sanders: talk about making an impact. It's not entirely a coincidence that San Francisco's enjoyed its two biggest offensive outputs since trading for the veteran receiver. He's drawing opposing teams' top cornerbacks, creating more opportunities for up-and-comers like Deebo Samuel and Dante Pettis. Sanders has transformed a passing attack that for more than a year has been as one-dimensional as any in the league.
As for the running game, wow, and yet it shouldn't be "wow." After racking up six touchdowns in his previous four contests, Tevin Coleman took a backseat to Matt Breida. It was a devastating fantasy development for managers expecting Coleman to be at least an RB2. Admittedly, he seemed safe entering last night. Heading into Week 10, it's anyone's guess which RB will outplay the other.
For Arizona, Kyler Murray entered the night with zero touchdown passes in four of his previous five games. In spite of that--and in spite of a barely pedestrian 85.8 QB rating--the rookie has been a QB1 all year. On one throw he went from a fairly quiet game to a dominant one, thanks to an 88-yard TD pass to rookie speedster Andy Isabella. Murray has proven me wrong this year, playing like a franchise QB out of the gate.
I was down on Christian Kirk and Larry Fitzgerald yesterday, and neither did much. And while I generally recommended starting Kenyan Drake only as a "dart throw" given the coaches' warnings about his usage, in the bigger picture I've pushed Drake all week as an underrated talent who would challenge David Johnson and Chase Edmonds for the lead backfield role. And in the even bigger picture, I've been warning for more than a year that David Johnson's sub-4.0 YPC going back to the middle of his breakout 2016 campaign would eventually catch up to him--that he's been a middling rusher who's benefited from a huge passing-game role and plenty of goal-line touches.
It's not a stretch to say that DJ could not have accomplished what Drake did last night. Some of you have asked me this week what to do with DJ. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe my responses have been pretty consistent: trade DJ while you can. Get RB2 value if possible. After last night, managers will be lucky to get RB3 value.
Jimmy's remaining schedule isn't easy, though he does get Arizona again, as well as Atlanta--two bottom-tier pass defenses. But that's not as important as game flow: whether the coaching staff will turn him loose more, or even need to turn him loose more. Although the addition of Emmanuel Sanders has sharply strengthened the passing game, Jimmy's fantasy success going forward will hinge on whether he throws 36-42 times a game vs. 24-30 times a game.
Back to Sanders: talk about making an impact. It's not entirely a coincidence that San Francisco's enjoyed its two biggest offensive outputs since trading for the veteran receiver. He's drawing opposing teams' top cornerbacks, creating more opportunities for up-and-comers like Deebo Samuel and Dante Pettis. Sanders has transformed a passing attack that for more than a year has been as one-dimensional as any in the league.
As for the running game, wow, and yet it shouldn't be "wow." After racking up six touchdowns in his previous four contests, Tevin Coleman took a backseat to Matt Breida. It was a devastating fantasy development for managers expecting Coleman to be at least an RB2. Admittedly, he seemed safe entering last night. Heading into Week 10, it's anyone's guess which RB will outplay the other.
For Arizona, Kyler Murray entered the night with zero touchdown passes in four of his previous five games. In spite of that--and in spite of a barely pedestrian 85.8 QB rating--the rookie has been a QB1 all year. On one throw he went from a fairly quiet game to a dominant one, thanks to an 88-yard TD pass to rookie speedster Andy Isabella. Murray has proven me wrong this year, playing like a franchise QB out of the gate.
I was down on Christian Kirk and Larry Fitzgerald yesterday, and neither did much. And while I generally recommended starting Kenyan Drake only as a "dart throw" given the coaches' warnings about his usage, in the bigger picture I've pushed Drake all week as an underrated talent who would challenge David Johnson and Chase Edmonds for the lead backfield role. And in the even bigger picture, I've been warning for more than a year that David Johnson's sub-4.0 YPC going back to the middle of his breakout 2016 campaign would eventually catch up to him--that he's been a middling rusher who's benefited from a huge passing-game role and plenty of goal-line touches.
It's not a stretch to say that DJ could not have accomplished what Drake did last night. Some of you have asked me this week what to do with DJ. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe my responses have been pretty consistent: trade DJ while you can. Get RB2 value if possible. After last night, managers will be lucky to get RB3 value.