There is nothing better than some overreactions after the dust settles on a football Sunday. All of us armchair quarterbacks go and make our critiques and tell all our friends and family about what we would have done differently.
The great thing for me is, they asked me to do this and YOU’RE sitting here reading it! How about that?
For this piece, each week we’ll take a look at some players that either potentially overachieved or underachieved and what the outlook for them is moving forward — specifically for next week’s game. Are they set up for more success or could someone have simply had a bad week? My job here is to try and figure that out and relay that information to you. Let’s take a look!
Oh, feel free to tell me how wrong I am by getting at me on Twitter @SBuchanan24.
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D’Andre Swift, Detroit Lions
Week 6 Fantasy Total: 30.3 DKFP
It was finally “Swift Week” after five straight of mediocre performances. He nearly tripled his previous season-high of five rushing attempts, which he had against Packers, by taking 14 in Week 6. Those carries went for 116 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Swift, who is also a very capable receiver, caught three of his four targets but only went for seven yards. In all, his 30.3 DKFP landed him as the RB2 on Sunday.
What we should be most excited about is not only the fact that he was having success on all three downs but that the Lions were willing to use him in the red zone. Coming into this game, Adrian Peterson handled 54.4% of the red zone rushes while Swift was at just 11.3. Both of Swift’s scores came inside the 10 at the six and the one. Peterson is still very much involved in this offense, logging 14 of the 33 carries the Lions distributed, but we very well could be seeing a new change in Swift’s role and trending in the right direction.
Week 7 will see a matchup against the Falcons, who are a team you mainly target against through air against their putrid secondary. The Vikings never really had an opportunity to get their run game going after the Falcons got out to an early lead, which amounted to the typical run-heavy Vikings only do so 13 times total. Where you can beat the Falcons is through the air, as opposing backs are averaging 54.6 receiving yards per game. Either way, things are looking up for the rookie back,
Anthony Firkser, Tennessee Titans
Week 6 Fantasy Total: 28.3 DKFP
If you were playing a tight end from the Titans on Sunday, it’s likely you didn’t play the right one. In the DraftKings Millionaire Maker contest, Jonnu Smith ($5,200; 2.3 DKFP) drew a big 14.8% ownership and averaged 12.7% overall. Unfortunately, Smith was forced out of this game with an ankle sprain. This opened up the opportunity for Firkser, who became one of Ryan Tannehill’s favorite targets in this game. Firsker draw a team-leading nine targets in which he made eight catches for 113 yards and a touchdown, combining for 28.3 DKFP. Amongst tight ends, that was the best on Sunday, even with four players reaching the 20 DKFP threshold.
The ankle injury to Smith is said to be minor and not a big concern. We’ll have to watch his practice status during the week to find out if Firkser will be relevant or not in Week 7, when the Titans host the Steelers. Coming into Week 6, Firsker only had a 10% target share overall while Smith was second on the team at 22%. As the Titans continue to gain more players back, Firkser’s role will diminish. The Titans don’t usually use him in the red zone either, as his 5% red zone target share heading into Week 6 doesn’t even make him a touchdown or bust consideration. Keep an eye on Smith’s status as the week moves on. If he’s back in the lineup, Firkser can be easily ignored.
Kareem Hunt, Cleveland Browns
Week 6 Fantasy Total: 7.7 DKFP
Despite the tough matchup against the Steelers, Hunt still drew some decent ownership, with 6.1% of the lineups in the Millionaire Maker and 5.8% overall. With most of the chalk running back plays in the in $7K range, Hunt at $6,900 got enough attention. The Steelers got out to an early lead, which on a normal basis would be a better scenario for Hunt, who is usually very active catching out of the backfield. Despite the positive game script for him, Hunt only had three targets in which he made two catches for 17 yards. On the ground, where the Steelers are excellent, they held Hunt to only 40 yards on 13 carries. For Hunt being thrusted into the RB1 role, this wasn’t a great way to start, although most of this was no fault of his own.
The Browns have a great matchup for Hunt to bounce-back in against the Bengals in Week 7. Jonathan Taylor went for 60 yards on 12 carries and caught all four of his targets for 55 yards. Ideally, that’s the type of role we would expect from Hunt in this game. Hunt only saw a slight drop in his salary to $6,800 this week but if we’re going off recency bias, the love is not going to be following him. Let’s not forget, prior to this bust of a week, Hunt was averaging 17.6 DKFP as the RB2 in this offense. I would expect to see more of that in Week 7 against a very beatable Bengals run defense.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is steveazors) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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