Will get to the game in a moment. First, for those who went to sleep early, the 49ers reportedly have traded for Christian McCaffrey. Huge ripple effects, obviously. From my perspective, D'Onta Foreman has had--and continues to have--the inside track to be the 1A in Carolina's backfield. Will it matter? For RB-desperate fantasy managers like me, of course. For many of you, probably not.
This remains a poorly constructed offense with little hope of sustaining drives. Last weekend, CMC accounted for 75% of the Panthers' offensive yards. He has 30 of his team's 79 first downs. Carolina's last in the league in first downs. Easy math. This franchise lost its only reliable offensive playmaker. Foreman might be a top-35 RB if things break right. Or at least, that's the hope if you have him.
Meanwhile, CMC joins a team vying for another Super Bowl appearance. It's a great spot for him. But fantasy? It's hard to be bullish. Maybe I need more time to digest it. Will the Niners bench Jeff Wilson and, when he returns, Elijah Mitchell? Or will one of them earn 5-8 touches per game in support of CMC, the workhorse? Or will San Francisco play it cautiously, hand their new star RB 14-16 touches per game, and keep him as injury-free as possible ahead of the playoffs?
Because that's why they acquired him. They could realistically make the postseason without him. But they needed something more to push past teams like the Bucs (on a great day), Eagles, and Cowboys when the matchup matter most. That's why I'm expecting more touchdowns, but fewer receptions and carries. He's currently the overall RB4. I think he'll fall back a bit. Same injury risks, but hopefully a more reliable and manageable workload to carry him through the season as a top 10-14 RB with some TD-dependent pop.
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As for the Cardinals vs. Saints, it took less than two minutes near the end of the 2nd quarter for Arizona to score more touchdowns (three) than the combined TD total of the previous two Thursday Night Football games (two). Four players last night scored 20+ fantasy points. Another four players had 17-20. A total of 17--yes, 17 players--hit double-digits.
Some significant fantasy takeaways. First, Eno Benjamin looked great. We can probably ditch the idea that a healthy James Conner will resume the lead role in this backfield. Maybe he'll continue to be the 1A. Maybe it'll become a hot-hand situation. Arizona paid Conner $13.5 million guaranteed this offseason. He's not going anywhere. But he and Benjamin would cap each other's ceilings at around top 25-30 RB levels unless this offense becomes more efficient.
DeAndre Hopkins is back. Looked pretty good. Took a while for Kyler Murray to lock in on him. If you drafted him relatively late and remained patient, congratulations on securing value.
Rondale Moore took a backseat, which was not unexpected, but it's obviously concerning if you've invested in him. He nearly secured an early TD, which would have changed the post-game narrative a bit. But Hopkins is back to being the alpha, and whenever Marquise Brown returns (fantasy playoffs?), Moore might be unstartable. The same goes for Robbie Anderson. And I might have been wrong about Zach Ertz, who I thought would continue to get his looks. It's only one game. But still . . .
Finally, the closest-score competition. I picked 26-20 Cardinals, which looked good until around halftime. Several of you made far better picks. The best one--the closest one--is from Jeffrey Holub: 34-26. Jeffrey is our third two-time winner this season, joining me and Rick Esterly in the "inner" Winner's Circle, which has exclusive privileges, like a secret Zoom handshake and $5 off your AT&T bill. So, congratulations Jeffrey! And everyone have a great Friday.
This remains a poorly constructed offense with little hope of sustaining drives. Last weekend, CMC accounted for 75% of the Panthers' offensive yards. He has 30 of his team's 79 first downs. Carolina's last in the league in first downs. Easy math. This franchise lost its only reliable offensive playmaker. Foreman might be a top-35 RB if things break right. Or at least, that's the hope if you have him.
Meanwhile, CMC joins a team vying for another Super Bowl appearance. It's a great spot for him. But fantasy? It's hard to be bullish. Maybe I need more time to digest it. Will the Niners bench Jeff Wilson and, when he returns, Elijah Mitchell? Or will one of them earn 5-8 touches per game in support of CMC, the workhorse? Or will San Francisco play it cautiously, hand their new star RB 14-16 touches per game, and keep him as injury-free as possible ahead of the playoffs?
Because that's why they acquired him. They could realistically make the postseason without him. But they needed something more to push past teams like the Bucs (on a great day), Eagles, and Cowboys when the matchup matter most. That's why I'm expecting more touchdowns, but fewer receptions and carries. He's currently the overall RB4. I think he'll fall back a bit. Same injury risks, but hopefully a more reliable and manageable workload to carry him through the season as a top 10-14 RB with some TD-dependent pop.
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As for the Cardinals vs. Saints, it took less than two minutes near the end of the 2nd quarter for Arizona to score more touchdowns (three) than the combined TD total of the previous two Thursday Night Football games (two). Four players last night scored 20+ fantasy points. Another four players had 17-20. A total of 17--yes, 17 players--hit double-digits.
Some significant fantasy takeaways. First, Eno Benjamin looked great. We can probably ditch the idea that a healthy James Conner will resume the lead role in this backfield. Maybe he'll continue to be the 1A. Maybe it'll become a hot-hand situation. Arizona paid Conner $13.5 million guaranteed this offseason. He's not going anywhere. But he and Benjamin would cap each other's ceilings at around top 25-30 RB levels unless this offense becomes more efficient.
DeAndre Hopkins is back. Looked pretty good. Took a while for Kyler Murray to lock in on him. If you drafted him relatively late and remained patient, congratulations on securing value.
Rondale Moore took a backseat, which was not unexpected, but it's obviously concerning if you've invested in him. He nearly secured an early TD, which would have changed the post-game narrative a bit. But Hopkins is back to being the alpha, and whenever Marquise Brown returns (fantasy playoffs?), Moore might be unstartable. The same goes for Robbie Anderson. And I might have been wrong about Zach Ertz, who I thought would continue to get his looks. It's only one game. But still . . .
Finally, the closest-score competition. I picked 26-20 Cardinals, which looked good until around halftime. Several of you made far better picks. The best one--the closest one--is from Jeffrey Holub: 34-26. Jeffrey is our third two-time winner this season, joining me and Rick Esterly in the "inner" Winner's Circle, which has exclusive privileges, like a secret Zoom handshake and $5 off your AT&T bill. So, congratulations Jeffrey! And everyone have a great Friday.