Yesterday I wrote that the Thursday Night Football fantasy storyline I was watching most closely was the chemistry between Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr., because thru the first three weeks both had struggled relative to preseason expectations. Murray's short-yardage passing "attack" was lowering his weekly ceiling, and Harrison's drops and miscues weren't helping.
The first half was a worst-case scenario. The second half was (possibly) a realistic best-case scenario, where Murray threw for 133 yards and two scores. Not stellar, but certainly passable. Harrison produced what should end up being roughly top 14-18 WR numbers. Not stellar given his WR19 preseason ADP, but certainly a relief to managers (like me) who need him to play at or above expectations.
Trey Benson's relatively low volume could be blamed on a negative game script. Even if Emari Demercado hadn't scored, the newly elevated backup RB would be a must-add in many leagues. Demercado looked solid in a couple of spot starts during his 2023 rookie campaign and would be a borderline must-start if Benson went down.
I wouldn't overreact to Benson's poor performance. He'll see better days, at least this season. Next season? Well, that's the subject of today's FF4W podcast, which walks through the past 25 years of running backs entering the league, and the 148 running backs who -- like Benson -- had less than 350 college touches.
For Seattle, an impressive road win that solidifies their standing as a legit NFC West title contender. The balanced attack probably frustrated many of you. Sam Darnold led the way with 16.1 points -- again, a great floor in this offense, but not yet the ceiling I had envisioned when the season began. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Kenneth Walker, Zach Charbonnet, and AJ Barner all ended up between 12 and 13 points. Cooper Kupp is purely bench fodder until/unless his target share improves. Five looks per game won't cut it.
Back to Walker and Charbonnet: some of you drafted both of them. Last night was the first time since since Week 4 last year that both guys had double-digit fantasy points in the same game. Some of that is due to injuries. But it's also become increasingly difficult to predict who will outperform the other. Rostering only one makes less and less sense to me. If you have Walker or Charbonnet, I would trading him away unless you're weak at RB. The "should I or shouldn't I start him" dilemma will continue as long as both guys are active.
Final score prediction contest: Joe Duncanson (23-21) and Raymond Clymire (24-20) nearly won it. One point off. Not too shabby. But the mighty Greg Slack picked it on the nose: 23-20 Seahawks. Greg is the clear favorite to go back-to-back next Thursday. It's up to the rest of us to do something about it.
---