With week #8 of the NFL season out of the way, it’s time to get ready for Week #9 and start thinking about who the best and worst daily fantasy football picks are. With our busts and diamonds analysis of the previous weekend, we will get things started and let you know who surprised us, and who’s likely to keep doing so. That goes for both the good and the bad. The goal is to help everyone make smarter decisions as they draft their next fantasy team.
Busts do Happen
Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks
Wilson typically starts out seasons a bit slow, but his performance this game cannot possible fall under that category as it’s Week #8 of the season. He threw for just 253 yards and had no touchdowns. He was able to pick up a few yards (11) in rushing, but this wasn’t enough to give him powerful numbers. Wilson is much better than this most of the time, but unfortunately not this time. We should expect a better performance from him in the future. The good news here is that he is likely to drop in price for the next game.
Mark Ingram, RB, New Orleans Saints
We haven’t had big expectations from Ingram this year, and this particular game is a big reason why. Ingram ran the ball only 3 times, for a total of 5 yards. There were no touchdowns, either rushing or passing. He wasn’t even targeted on the passing side of things. QB Drew Brees didn’t have the greatest game this week, and Ingram’s play was even more disappointing than normal because of this.
Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons had a whirlwind of a game on Sunday. The Falcons were able to beat the Green Bay Packers by one point, mostly thanks to QB Matt Ryan being able to move the ball quicker than the weak Atlanta defense was giving up yards. Jones had just 29 yards in the game with 3 receptions and 5 targets, with no touchdowns to help pad his numbers. Jones is leading the Falcons with receiving yards this season and has 4 touchdowns so far, despite his poor showing this game. For the record, Jones was shut down for the last half of this game by management, so this is not something that we should expect to see often. Still, from a fantasy point of view, this was disappointing.
Diamonds are out there
Derek Carr, QB, Oakland Raiders
This was one of the biggest games of Carr’s life. He threw for 513 yards, putting up 4 touchdowns in the process. He was also able to contribute 13 rushing yards, adding a tiny boost to his stats for the day. Carr was able to throw 59 passes, 40 of which were completions. This was a huge day for Carr, but it was largely due to the fact that they played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the game went into overtime. The Bucs have a pretty weak defense, and the Raiders were able to take advantage of that. There’s also the added bonus that the Raiders set a record for penalties in a game, giving Carr added incentive to throw over use the rush. While this was an impressive game, conditions like this are very unlikely to come up again in the near future.
Allen Hurns, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Hurns had a surprisingly strong game on Thursday, putting up 98 yards and a touchdown. He caught 7 passes on 11 targets. The Jaguars are not a renowned passing team, but they are stronger here than on their rush. They went up against a team that was much stronger than them in the Tennessee Titans, which limited Hurns’ performance even more. Seeing what he’s capable of was pretty nice in this game, and because he is going to be very cheap most of the time, this gives some great hope for Hurns when he is up against weak defenses. Keep an eye on him.
