In his first season as a starter in 2023, Jordan Love had to overcome more RB, WR, and TE injuries than most QBs, as perennially excellent Aaron Jones miss six games, 2022 second-rounder Christian Watson miss eight, and rookie Luke Musgrave miss six. This year the situation is even worse, as Jayden Reed as seen the field only twice and Watson three times, while Matthew Golden and Dontayvion Wicks have also missed time. Oh, and Tucker Kraft is out for the year.
Despite all this, he entered last night as the QB16 in points per game. Now he's the QB18. Last year he was the QB19. This seems to be who he is at 27 years old: a middling streamer with room to rebound if only Reed, Watson, Romeo Doubs, Golden, and Kraft could string together at least a month of healthy living.
But it's probably more than that. Losing Reed opened the door wider for Doubs and Wicks. There is a "next-man-up" expectation for Green Bay WRs. That's not the case at tight end. Kraft is irreplaceable. Love has a career 135.0 QB rating when targeting his #1 TE. This year it was a blistering 148.6 before Kraft went down. 62% of Kraft's career catches have resulted in a first down. That's higher than elite young tight ends like Trey McBride (53%), Brock Bowers (55%), and Tyler Warren.
With Doubs exiting early, it's possible that Bo Melton and Savion Williams will be even more involved in Week 11. It shouldn't be that way. But sadly it's become expected when you draft Love or any other Packers playmaker.
For Philly, AJ Brown was coming off a 6-121-2 receiving line in Week 7 before getting hurt. Last night he posted 2-13-0 on three targets. Maybe he wasn't as close to 100%. as reports suggested. Or maybe Green Bay deserves credit for denying him the ball. I wouldn't consider keeping Brown on your bench next weekend. He'll be among the top rebound candidates next week against Detroit's more beatable defense.
And a quick word on Saquon Barkley, whose 25 touches were one off his season high. He's the only Eagles RB averaging less than 4.0 yards per carry. He's on pacee for 332 regular-season touches. If this team reaches the Super Bowl, Barkley might go over 400. Despite this year's struggles, next year's are shaping up to be worse.
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* Today's FF4W podcast, episode 112: "High-Flying Josh Jacobs vs Low-Crawling Packers Offense" -- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-for-winners/id1800490745