A majority of today's eight non-dome games are expected to see rain -- probably plenty of rain. All but one contest is assured of clear skies. Wouldn't overreact to rain, but in a jump-ball sit/start decision, it could be a tie-breaking factor.
Keep an eye on the Broncos' and Chargers' RBs. Those teams are facing off on Thursday. Notably, Denver's last defeat came on November 10th, when Jaleel McLaughlin had a season-low two touches. In the three games since -- all wins -- McLaughlin has seen progressively more touches: from four to seven to 15. Meanwhile, Javonte Williams' usage has declined, and he's netted only a single yard in his last 12 carries.
This week's opposing Colts are yielding the fourth-most RB fantasy points. There's an opening for at least one Denver running back to break through. McLaughlin is the most obvious choice. But will the Broncos lean heavily on him today *and* Thursday?
Another though on McLaughlin: As many of you know, I have a spreadsheet of every RB who's entered the league since 2002 -- their college workload, draft position, fantasy production, etc. There are 764 players in this data set. McLaughlin had the second-most college touches. While it doesn't come close to guaranteeing a "bad" NFL career, it's a huge yellow flag. In dynasty I'd sell high on McLaughlin if you can get somewhere close to top-30 RB value.
For the Chargers, not much to say. Gus Edwards remains entirely TD-dependent, and Kimani Vidal -- another heavily worked player in college, and also largely overlooked in the draft -- are not the type of guys managers want to start in the fantasy playoffs. It's notable that Vidal isn't getting many looks through the air, as he had a healthy 92 catches at Troy University. A shifting role could transform him into a mini-Austin Ekeler, or something like that.
The odds of Vidal out-touching Edwards today and/or Thursday are as close to 50/50 as ever. Unfortunately, that won't make either a comfortable streamer.
Good luck today.
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