Ty'Son Williams proved me wrong last night, delivering what must have been the greatest NFL debut by a former fourth-string running back. Seriously, who could have dreamed this up a month ago. Williams looked like he belongs atop Baltimore's depth chart, and it shows once again that sometimes talent emerges after being buried on RB depth charts for months or even years, and sometimes we never even knew it existed. My warning that he probably wouldn't get a full workload (he earned only 12 touches) proved irrelevant--though it's interesting he didn't touch the ball in the game's final 13+ minutes.
Latavius Murray took over down the stretch, managing 8.8 fantasy points despite a nice TD run. The question, yet again, is whether Murray has enough in the tank to be anything more than a TD-dependent flyer. Another question is whether Williams will be a light-volume lead back, or whether he'll ramp up as he gets more acclimated to the league. I'm very interested in understanding why Murray earned such a heavy load with the game on the line, especially when most of his runs were going for 1-2 yards.
Elsewhere for the Ravens, Sammy Watkins came through with very respectable numbers, while Marquise Brown came up big. I've been pushing Watkins for a while, and it shouldn't have surprised anyone that he led the team in targets and yards. Probably the biggest surprise on offense was Mark Andrews, who was essentially an afterthought after averaging a solid 54 yards per contest the last two seasons. He dropped a critical pass (with the aid of some great defense) that could have been the difference in overtime. One game isn't time to panic, though barely outperforming Patrick Ricard is concerning.
For the Raiders, it was almost all Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller until the homestretch. The supposedly strong Baltimore D was pitching a shutout in the first 24-or-so minutes, and then gave up two third-down conversations. In fact, Vegas converted on third down on all of their touchdown drives, except for the final play. Waller dominated as expected, but Jacobs was a surprising hero. While I steered clear of this backfield in drafts, admittedly I thought Kenyan Drake would earn more carries Week 1 (though his passing-game usage was impressive). Jacobs' goal-line touch (and conversion) in the second quarter says a lot. We'll see how it carries forward.
And until the late fourth quarter, Hunter Renfrow was the only wideout producing. I pushed Henry Ruggs as a preseason bargain. But when Waller's getting 19 targets and Renfrow nine, it's hard to see how Ruggs and Bryan Edwards could both be fantasy assets. It's worth observing whether Renfrow will keep pushing for a a lead-WR role.
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Latavius Murray took over down the stretch, managing 8.8 fantasy points despite a nice TD run. The question, yet again, is whether Murray has enough in the tank to be anything more than a TD-dependent flyer. Another question is whether Williams will be a light-volume lead back, or whether he'll ramp up as he gets more acclimated to the league. I'm very interested in understanding why Murray earned such a heavy load with the game on the line, especially when most of his runs were going for 1-2 yards.
Elsewhere for the Ravens, Sammy Watkins came through with very respectable numbers, while Marquise Brown came up big. I've been pushing Watkins for a while, and it shouldn't have surprised anyone that he led the team in targets and yards. Probably the biggest surprise on offense was Mark Andrews, who was essentially an afterthought after averaging a solid 54 yards per contest the last two seasons. He dropped a critical pass (with the aid of some great defense) that could have been the difference in overtime. One game isn't time to panic, though barely outperforming Patrick Ricard is concerning.
For the Raiders, it was almost all Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller until the homestretch. The supposedly strong Baltimore D was pitching a shutout in the first 24-or-so minutes, and then gave up two third-down conversations. In fact, Vegas converted on third down on all of their touchdown drives, except for the final play. Waller dominated as expected, but Jacobs was a surprising hero. While I steered clear of this backfield in drafts, admittedly I thought Kenyan Drake would earn more carries Week 1 (though his passing-game usage was impressive). Jacobs' goal-line touch (and conversion) in the second quarter says a lot. We'll see how it carries forward.
And until the late fourth quarter, Hunter Renfrow was the only wideout producing. I pushed Henry Ruggs as a preseason bargain. But when Waller's getting 19 targets and Renfrow nine, it's hard to see how Ruggs and Bryan Edwards could both be fantasy assets. It's worth observing whether Renfrow will keep pushing for a a lead-WR role.
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Personalized Fantasy Advice Sign-up: www.fantasyfootballforwinners.com/p/personalized-fantasy-advice.html
Follow on Twitter: @_FF4W