As I enter my 10th year of writing this postseason column, I hope
I have helped some of you along the way supplement your regular-season
fantasy prize winnings.
The layout of this column will remain
unchanged from last season. While I will continue to play the
NFL.com
Playoff Challenge and in Fuzzy's
Fantasy Football's postseason money leagues, I recognize there
are plenty of other formats out there. The first part of this
week's column will be devoted to those owners who participate
in the Playoff Challenge or any other format in which it is best
or required to keep the players you draft for the duration of
the postseason. The second half of the column is for owners who
play in leagues in which you reset your lineup each week, such
as a pick-your-studs league like Fuzzy's or a salary cap setup
like DFS. Regardless of which format(s) you choose to play in,
my goal over the next four articles will be to help each of you
through your decision-making process as you attempt to boost your
bottom line.
NFL.com Playoff Challenge/Multi-Week
Leagues
For a complete rundown of how players will score fantasy points
for your team, click on the “Rules & Prizing”
link on the NFL.com
entry page. Some of the content immediately below is included
on the “How to Play” page, although the information
I provide below should be more than enough to follow along easily.
The requirements: one QB, two RBs, two WRs, one TE, one K
and one D/ST. You will earn fantasy points based on their on-field
performance during their game, and if your player's team wins,
you will have the option to carry that player over to the next
round, where he will earn a bonus point modifier to his score
(which will be referred to as 2x, 3x and 4x from here on out).
For example, if you pick Drew Brees in the Wild Card round
and the Saints win, you can carry him over to the Divisional Round,
and earn two times (2x) the points he earns in his divisional
round game. If New Orleans wins again, you can carry Brees into
the Conference Championship round for 3x the points and, if the
Saints make the Super Bowl, you can earn 4x the points. In addition,
a user can select a player/defense in the Wild Card round even
if their team has a bye into the Divisional Round. In this case,
the user would not earn any points for the Wild Card round, but
be eligible to earn 2x points in the Divisional round, since the
player was on the team’s roster for two weekly scoring periods.
Further bonus point modifiers would also apply as long as that
player’s team continues to advance in the NFL Playoffs.
Before we get into the picks, let’s briefly review the
rules and how we may use them to our advantage: 1) passing TDs
are worth four points, so passing yards are valued more highly
here than in the Fuzzy’s leagues I’ll discuss later
but the same as DraftKings; 2) all field goals under 50 yards
are worth three points, which means we are more concerned about
volume of field goals than distance – unless we can find
a kicker who regularly converts from 50-plus (DraftKings does
not use kickers); 3) this is a non-PPR format, which obviously
favors the big-play threats (both Fuzzy's and DraftKings are PPR);
and 4) team wins are worth five points, so picking a “winning”
defense is worth almost a touchdown prior to factoring in the
modifiers.
Let's get the No. 1 rule of this game out of the way right now:
if you have a good feeling about which two teams will
meet in the Super Bowl, build your lineup exclusively with players
from those two teams. Most previous playoff challenge
champions' lineups are made up entirely of 4x Super Bowl participants.
(In other words, it is important to project the Super Bowl entrants
first and figure out what players from those teams to use second.)
The multipliers are everything in this contest, so playing the
week-to-week matchups are nearly meaningless. Think about it this
way: if I told you that your regular-season fantasy team's scoring
would double in Week 2, triple in Week 3 and quadruple in Week
4 if you simply left it the same, would it affect your draft strategy?
Of course it would. The big week your team might post in the first
week of this challenge - in the somewhat unlikely event you played
the matchups perfectly - is going to seem rather insignificant
in early February when every passing touchdown is worth 16 points,
every other TD is worth 24 and the top teams in this competition
are scoring 200-300 (or perhaps more) points per week.
As noted earlier, the main challenges are (in order): 1) correctly
predicting the two conference winners and 2) forecasting the best
fantasy players in that hypothetical Super Bowl matchup. This
will be the only Playoff Challenge write-up I do this postseason,
as I have reached the conclusion that any alterations I make to
my lineup in the third and fourth weeks would be in response to
a wrong pick on my part, and my analysis of a 1x or 2x player
isn't going to matter very much. Much like in daily fantasy, the
chalk plays probably aren’t going to win. (Of the hundreds
of thousands of entries NFL.com receives, how many do you think
are going to line up their fantasy squads exclusively with Patrick
Mahomes or Drew Brees just because they are the "best"
fantasy quarterbacks?) In other words, be bold whenever
possible! It's a free contest after all, so crashing
and burning - even if it is in front of an audience like what
I'm doing - isn't such a bad thing when you consider the reward
is much greater than the risk involved.
Below you will find the 12 playoff teams ranked in order of the
(percentage) odds I believe they have of making the Super Bowl.
I'll spend a bit of time after that attempting to nail the bracket
before talking a little DFS.
1. Baltimore (40%)
2. New Orleans (30%)
3. San Francisco (30%)
4. Kansas City (25%)
5. Green Bay (20%)
6. New England (13%)
7. Buffalo (10%)
8. Houston (6%)
9. Tennessee (6%)
10. Minnesota (5%)
11. Seattle (4%)
12. Philadelphia (1%)
With that out of the way, let's next focus on my week-to-week
playoff projections and then the players I feel are realistic
alternatives for this four-week sprint to the finish:
AFC - Wildcard: Bills over Texans,
Titans over Patriots NFC - Wildcard: Saints over Vikings,
Seahawks over Eagles
AFC - Divisional: Chiefs over Bills,
Ravens over Titans NFC - Divisional: Saints over Packers,
49ers over Seahawks
AFC - Conference Championship:
Ravens over Chiefs NFC - Conference Championship: Saints
over 49ers
Super Bowl: Ravens vs. Saints
The rankings below are for those readers in similar leagues that
require you to draft players this week and keep them for the duration
of the postseason. The number inside the parentheses refers to how
many games I expect that player/unit to play.
Just as amazing as it was to see a quarterback throw for over
5,000 yards AND 50 touchdowns in his first full season as a starter
in 2018 (Mahomes), it has to be considered equally amazing owners
were witness to a player capable of passing for over 3,000 yards,
running for 1,200 more and accounting for 43 scores the following
season (Jackson). Other than to be contrarian, there's not a particularly
good reason to bet against Jackson being the best quarterback
play in this challenge. He has his hand in just about every part
of the Ravens' offense, plays for a team with very few weaknesses
and probably owns the best odds of reaching the Super Bowl in
his position group (and thus the 4x bonus).
Brees is not exactly the slam-dunk pick he has been in years
past, but it could be argued he plays on the best team in the
NFC and is the best candidate of the quarterbacks playing this
weekend to make the Super Bowl, which would make him the only
likely quarterback to provide owners four games of production.
Working against Brees are some statistics we'll touch on in the
DFS section, namely how much his production takes a hit away from
home. While his actual play didn't drop off much from home versus
road this year, his actual counting numbers did. If I felt more
obligated to go contrarian here, I would have no problem making
Mahomes the top pick. With that said, he doesn't quite possess
near the upside Jackson does with potential matchups against the
Bills and Ravens. Could he blow up in those games? Of course.
But Jackson comes with a safer floor and easier potential matchups.
The only reason Garoppolo gets the nod over the remaining options
is the likelihood his games will come attached with the 2x and
3x modifiers. Wilson would be a strong Tier 2 option (probably
No. 3 overall) if I felt better about the Seahawks beating the
49ers again in San Francisco. As it is, Seattle could struggle
to get past Philadelphia. There is rarely such a thing as an "easy"
matchup in the playoffs, so the notion Allen will have his way
with Houston just because the Texans have struggled against the
pass could be a foolish one. Buffalo could just as easily struggle
to stop Houston's running game. The good thing for Allen, however,
is that both potential outcomes bode well for him. If the Bills
control the game from the outset, it will likely be because the
Wyoming product got it going early and cashed in yet again as
the team's de facto goal-line back. If the Bills fall behind,
Allen will have plenty of opportunities to try to exploit the
Texans' below-average secondary. A potential matchup in the next
round against the Chiefs isn't a great one for him, but his rushing
contributions give him a safe floor. Then again, owners have to
weigh that against the risk he'll face the Ravens.
Tannehill has a decent shot at getting two games, but he'll get
the Ravens if Tennessee advances past this weekend. In a more
ideal situation, Watson probably belongs at the top of Tier 3.
As it is, he's got a poor matchup this week and runs the risk
of not having Will Fuller able to play an entire game (again).
Fuller's presence (or lack thereof) typically has a huge effect
on the Texans' offense. Looking at his year-end numbers, Rodgers
had another banner season. A closer look reveals that he failed
to account for two touchdowns in nine of 16 games. Even if the
Packers get by a likely matchup with the Saints, it's hard to
forget how thoroughly the 49ers dominated Green Bay in their first
matchup.
Much like Drew Brees, Kamara is an attractive fantasy playoff
option if you believe the Saints can become the latest wild-card
team to make the Super Bowl. The last two weeks of the regular
season suggest he is over his ankle injury, and the last two postseasons
- particularly last year - suggest that he may be used more in
a featured role. The Ravens broke the league's team rushing record
this season and are widely considered the favorite to win the
Super Bowl, so Ingram is a somewhat obvious choice so long as
his calf is good to go. In this challenge, I'll run that risk.
(If his condition somehow deteriorates between now and Saturday,
I'll either pivot to Mostert or Edwards.) Mostert is a much more
dicey Tier 1 selection. However, the 49ers are the most likely
team to make the Super Bowl of the 10 that I don't have making
it, and Mostert has given no indication he is going to give up
the lead-back role in this offense. As long he maintains that
title for another month and San Francisco at least makes it to
the NFC Championship, Mostert should prove worthy of his ranking.
Henry won't get the benefit of good matchups, but no other back
can approach his potential volume. The Patriots and Ravens have
each shown vulnerability against the run at times, so while Henry
probably won't light it up, he should have no problem holding
up his end of the bargain. Jones is easily the highest-ranked
one-game back I have listed, if only because I acknowledge the
Packers have a good shot at beating the Saints at Lambeau Field.
If you feel Green Bay is the better team, I have no issue with
Jones being moved ahead of Henry and into Tier 1. Murray is ranked
extraordinarily high for obvious reasons; his workload could rival
Ingram's in Baltimore and he could give his owners four games
of production. I hate how high I have Damien Williams, but his
recent efforts have probably given HC Andy Reid all the ammunition
he needs to keep Williams in his current role for the rest of
the season. Kansas City also has a legit shot at knocking off
the Ravens should the two teams meet in the AFC Championship,
which would give Williams three games.
Singletary and Edwards top Tier 3 because they possess the best
combination of all the remaining backs of decent volume and multiple
games. If we could trust Cook's shoulder to make it through a
game, he might at the bottom of Tier 2 even though he is likely
to only play one game. White, Sanders (assuming his ankle checks
out), Jamaal Williams, Michel and Hyde are all reasonable bets
to play two games that I have going out after one. Unfortunately,
all but Sanders are stuck in somewhat limited roles. The only
reason Sanders isn't listed higher is that we have no idea at
this point if he will be limited in any way with his ankle injury.
If he is ruled out, Scott would ascend into his spot on my list.
I get the sense we haven't seen the last meaningful contribution
from Coleman with the 49ers. Considering the Niners have a pretty
good shot at playing three games, he needs to be included in Tier
2 even if he does nothing more than run for 30 yards and score
a touchdown in the Super Bowl (which would be a 36-point effort
after accounting for the 4x modifier).
It could be argued Thomas belongs atop the receiver board even
if the Saints fail to make it out of the divisional round. Would
anyone be surprised if he averages 10 catches and 100-plus yards
in his first two games? I obviously believe it's quite conceivable
the Chiefs make the Super Bowl, so betting on two games for Hill
on the low end seems like a smart gamble.
Tier 2 provides owners a plethora of likely two-game options,
including a pair of 49ers. Samuel and Sanders aren't what anyone
would consider WR1-caliber options, but we have to acknowledge
both have a realistic shot at playing three games. Both are also
quite capable of a 100-yard game at some point during the postseason.
I would have preferred not to place the trio of Metcalf, John
Brown and Lockett as high as I did due to the reasonable probability
the Seahawks and Bills could make a quick exit, but a two-game
stay should be enough to make their owners feel good about their
return on investment. Adams would be at the top of Tier 2 if I
believed the Packers were going to make the NFC Championship,
but there is going to come a time during the playoffs where Green
Bay's defense isn't going to be able to cover for the sputtering
offense anymore. Beasley is far from a glamorous option to round
out Tier 2, but his probable matchups (Texans and Chiefs) are
not scary. A pair of six-catch games with about 70 yards and a
touchdown in one of the two contests is well within the range
of outcomes.
The bulk of Tier 3 are situational players that catch a break
because they are projected to stick around in the postseason for
a little while. Hopkins and Edelman are the two exceptions; the
former is in this tier only because he's going to have his hands
full in the first and possibly only game he plays, while the latter
is a highly volatile option due to his health. A.J. Brown's potential
matchups - he faces the Patriots this week and will get the Ravens
if the Titans win in Foxboro - are horrible. Meanwhile, Marquise
Brown or Tre'Quan Smith could really pay off big if either or
both hits a big scoring play in the Super Bowl. As most owners
already will know, both players could go without a catch in one
or two games too. Snead is not a great option. With that said,
he could easily become a high-volume target if the Ravens fall
behind in any game. He is also the one regular player on Baltimore's
offense that defenses don't spend much time game-planning for,
making him a bit of a contrarian player in both fantasy and reality.
The case can be made for Kittle over Kelce, but I'd rather roll
with Patrick Mahomes' top target than Jimmy Garoppolo's. For what
it's worth, I've already strongly considered the likelihood of
making Kittle my No. 1 tight end heading into the offseason.
Andrews gets the nod over Cook in the showdown between the two
tight ends in my projected Super Bowl matchup. Once again, the
decision comes down to the likelihood of the Ravens making it
all the way versus the upside of Cook getting the opportunity
to play more games than anyone else at his position.
Much as the case was with A.J. Brown, I'm not loving the idea
of Smith going off against the Patriots and/or Ravens. Nevertheless,
I'll take that "upside" over the remaining one- and
two-game options. Hollister is no sure thing to play more than
one game himself, Goedert may lose some work to Ertz (something
we may not know more about until the weekend) and the Eagles are
likely one-and-done. Boyle and Hurst are "volume plays"
(in terms of the potential number of games), while Ertz is the
only other option that comes close to moving the needle for me.
Given his injuries (cracked rib, lacerated kidney), I'll pass.
NFL.com Playoff Challenge Roster
QB: Lamar Jackson
RB: Alvin Kamara
RB: Mark Ingram
WR: Michael Thomas
WR: Tyreek Hill
TE: Jared Cook
K: Justin Tucker
D/ST: Ravens
DraftKings/Fuzzy’s
Since the pick-your-studs competition with Fuzzy's and the salary
cap game of DraftKings essentially use the same PPR scoring (six
points for passing touchdowns with Fuzzy's versus four fantasy
points with DraftKings; three bonus points for 300 yards passing
or 100 yards rushing/receiving versus no such bonus with Fuzzy's
being the biggest differences), I'm going to essentially combine
the two again this postseason.
Below you will find my position-by-position projections. Please
note I have included DraftKings' dollar value for each player,
followed by their projected point total in that format (DraftKings
and then Fuzzy's). Because I went into some detail above, I won't
spend a great deal of time explaining each projection here - only
some of the more notable ones. Each position is sorted by my DraftKings'
projected point total.
Key for quarterbacks, running backs, receivers
and tight ends: P Yds - Passing Yards P TD - Passing Touchdowns INT - Interceptions Ru Yds - Rushing Yards Ru TD - Rushing Touchdowns Rec Yds - Receiving Yards Rec TD - Receiving Touchdowns Rec - Receptions
Brees technically played one more game at home this season than
he did on the road, but his home/road splits suggest HC Sean Payton
acknowledges what most fantasy owners already know: his quarterback's
game is much more suited to playing indoors. In six home outings,
Brees averaged 40 pass attempts, 333 passing yards and 2.7 touchdowns.
In four full road games, he averaged 33 pass attempts, 236 passing
yards and 2.5 TDs. To put it in the simplest terms for fantasy owners,
Brees averaged 27.7 fantasy points (using DraftKings' scoring) at
home and 15.6 on the road. Minnesota held up well against opposing
passing attacks after its Week 12 bye, although it's hard to give
the Vikings much credit for showing improvement when three of the
quarterbacks they faced over that time were David Blough, Philip
Rivers and Mitchell Trubisky.
My most likely pivot from Brees this week will be Allen if only
because the other options I want to consider have difficult matchups
(Watson and Tannehill). Houston allowed 11 quarterbacks to throw
for at least two touchdowns and seven to throw for three or more
TDs this season. Add in Tannehill's rushing score versus the Texans
in Week 15 and Houston surrendered at least three TDs to quarterbacks
in half of their games. Allen still has much work to do in order
to become a complete NFL signal-caller, but it would be a pretty
big upset if he can't produce at least 220 yards passing and two
scores against a defense that allowed an average of 281 yards
passing and 2.25 TDs to quarterbacks this season.
It's really anyone's guess whether or not Kamara benefited more
from his high-ankle sprain becoming less of an issue late in the
season, positive touchdown regression or both, but he seems to be
in good shape now. For whatever reason, Minnesota got exposed a
bit more often against the run this season than it usually does,
making Kamara a safe stud pick with his usual insane upside. A potential
lack of volume is usually the only question when it comes to him,
as Murray looms as a threat to steal 10 touches and the occasional
goal-line score. However, the Saints appeared to set a bit of a
precedent in last year's playoffs when Kamara saw a total of 39
touches (on 41 opportunities) during their two-game run. If HC Sean
Payton sticks to a similar plan - and it makes sense because he
keeps such a close eye on his back's regular-season workload - than
Kamara seems like a relatively obvious play in DFS this week.
There's a group of three backs I believe could match or exceed
Kamara's fantasy production this week, although each will need
plenty of help and luck to do it. With Julian Edelman ailing and
not much else working offensively for New England, White has become
the Patriots' most effective means to move the chains. The biggest
problem for him is his job description doesn't include a ton of
goal-line work. As any veteran DFS player knows, it's hard for
a non-receiver to be pay off big as a DFS option if he doesn't
find the end zone - especially when he doesn't get a ton of work
as a runner.
The volume play - and perhaps the smart play - is Henry. Although
Ryan Tannehill deserves plenty of credit for the impact he made
on this Titans' offense, the offense has run through Henry and
A.J. Brown since his promotion. With Brown likely to draw shadow
coverage from Stephon Gilmore this weekend, it's entirely possible
the former Heisman Trophy winner will be asked to carry the offense.
However, there are two major issues with him: 1) the Patriots'
defense is still a very formidable unit despite falling off considerably
during the second half of the season and 2) the Titans' desire
to get Henry a league rushing title last week meant he handled
32 carries in a game he could have been rested after 22. New England
has shown some vulnerability to running backs lately (Nick Chubb,
Mark Ingram and Joe Mixon, most recently), so as long as last
week's overuse doesn't come back to bite him this week, Henry
should be a fine start.
The high upside play is Cook. Of every running back available
to fantasy owners this weekend, Cook might possess the best combination
of potential volume and a favorable matchup. That's not to say
the Saints are a pushover versus running backs, but all Minnesota
has to do is turn on the tape from New Orleans' games against
Carolina and San Francisco - all in the last six weeks - to see
what Christian McCaffrey and Raheem Mostert did against the Saints.
Cook is quite comparable to McCaffrey and is arguably surrounded
by a better supporting cast. His downside, as most owners already
know, is his durability. Even though he's had two weeks off, there's
no guarantee his shoulder is going to allow him to play a full
complement of snaps.
There are certain to be some contrarian plays, but the odds are
overwhelmingly strong that Thomas will be a top-three receiver play
this weekend. Minnesota hasn't been particularly good against receivers
for the bulk of the season, and there may not be a tougher receiver
to defend in the short and intermediate passing game than Thomas.
Given their recent play, it would be difficult to set either
Hopkins or A.J. Brown. With that said, I'm not sure either player
is anything close to a DFS/start-your-studs lock. There may not
be two more difficult cornerbacks for a receiver to face in the
game today than Stephon Gilmore and Tre'Davious White, and the
aforementioned two receivers will be the ones getting shadowed
by those corners for the better part of Saturday's games. That's
not to say Hopkins or Brown will bust, however. Hopkins has caught
at least five passes in 20 straight games, while DeVante Parker
proved last week that Gilmore can get beat. Perhaps this is a
game and situation in which the Patriots revert back to their
recent past and put their No. 2 cornerback on Brown (with safety
help over the top) while Gilmore shadows Davis.
Edelman would typically be a very solid DFS/start-your-studs
choice, but it is becoming increasingly clear he's not healthy.
He has three or fewer catches and 26 or fewer yards in two of
his last three outings. He also hasn't been targeted more than
seven times in those three contests after seeing at least eight
targets in 11 of his first 13 games. With the Titans struggling
to defend slot receivers, it's possible Edelman gets force-fed
the ball in this game. However, recent evidence suggests it is
also entirely possible he finishes with 5-7 PPR fantasy points.
While I'm sure I will work Hopkins and Edelman into some of my
lineups this week, I'll be much more inclined to roll with a cheaper
option like Metcalf in my DFS lineups with similar upside. Although
Lockett remains Russell Wilson's go-to guy, I'm still not sure
we've seen enough to believe Lockett is operating at 100 percent
yet. Meanwhile, Metcalf should have a better matchup this week
(he should draw Rasul Douglas most of the time while Lockett faces
Avonte Maddox) and it seemed as though the rookie became more
of a priority near the goal line as the regular season came to
an end.
Given the matchup, Buffalo can't exactly be considered an under-the-radar
source of fantasy production in the passing game this weekend.
The problem for owners is deciding whether or not the Bills will
try to exploit the Texans against slot receivers or follow in
the footsteps of Houston's most recent opponents (Tennessee and
Tampa Bay) and give their top perimeter threat all the opportunities
he can handle. The likelihood is that both John Brown and Beasley
will get their share, but I'll probably lean more toward Brown
and his potential upside (even though he showed a pretty safe
floor in 2019) over Beasley, who will almost certainly need to
score a touchdown in order to pay off in a big way.
As is typically the case during playoff fantasy football, there
are only about two realistic options at tight end. After being unable
to do much of anything in his first month with the Saints, Cook
became a red zone fiend over the last three months of the season.
However, if there has been one part of the Vikings' defense that
has remained the same as previous years, it is the ability to keep
tight ends in check. Considering the quality of players Minnesota
has defending the position more often than not (Anthony Barr and
Harrison Smith), that news shouldn't come as a surprise.
The
other strong option for fantasy owners is Goedert. Of course,
this assumes Ertz (ribs, kidney) doesn't make a miraculous recovery
over the next few days and plays a significant role. Assuming
Ertz is ruled out, Goedert will once again be the most attractive
non-running back option for Carson Wentz in the passing game.
Ertz's injury has freed up Goedert for 22 targets over the last
two weeks, and it certainly bears mentioning Seattle trailed only
Arizona in terms of allowing fantasy points to the tight end position
during the regular season. While I would expect the majority of
fantasy owners to go with a name in Cook this week and a few others
to go contrarian and hope for a small miracle from Ertz, Goedert
represents the smartest play of the bunch.
Key for kickers and defense/special teams
units: XP - Extra point FG - Field goal PA - Points allowed TD - Defensive/return touchdowns TO - Total turnovers F Bonus - Points allowed bonus for Fuzzy's DK Bonus - Points allowed bonus for DraftKings
Despite the Patriots' early defensive dominance, it's hard to get
overly excited about them recapturing the magic against a Tennessee
team that committed 17 turnovers in 16 games and threw only two
interceptions over the last seven contests. Similarly, the Titans
don't seem like a particularly good option even with all the Patriots'
issues on offense as few take care of the ball better than Tom Brady.
Buffalo is a sound defense but not one that has shown much ability
to be a great fantasy option (only one return TD in 2019). Even
with the return of J.J. Watt, it's hard to feel great about the
Texans' ability to force the Bills into multiple turnovers.
On the NFC side, the Seahawks would appear to have the easiest
matchup given how ridiculously thin the Eagles are on offense.
The problem is Seattle has allowed at least 24 points in five
straight games (and seven of eight) and may not have the personnel
to take advantage of Philadelphia's injury woes in the same way
a team like the Patriots could. As for the Eagles D/ST, not many
fantasy owners get rich by hoping Russell Wilson has an off-day.
Given the state of Seattle's depth chart running back, it's fair
to assume the Seahawks will be asking Wilson to do more this week
than they usually do. While I still like the Vikings' defensive
personnel, there's no way I'm betting on a good fantasy result
for Minnesota in the Superdome - end of story. All of this leads
us to their opponent this week - the Saints. Minnesota has been
a favorable matchup for opposing defenses for five straight weeks.
While I'm not a big fan of narratives - and don't believe in such
a thing as Kirk Cousins is a "bad important game quarterback"
- the fact of the matter is he has mostly underwhelmed since Vikings
returned from their Week 12 bye. Combine that with the likelihood
Dalvin Cook is unable to play a full game and there is a possibility
New Orleans could go on a feeding frenzy if it gets off to a fast
start.
Doug Orth has written for FF
Today since 2006 and been featured in USA Today’s Fantasy
Football Preview magazine since 2010. He hosted USA Today’s
hour-long, pre-kickoff fantasy football internet chat every Sunday
in 2012-13 and appears as a guest analyst on a number of national
sports radio shows, including Sirius XM’s “Fantasy Drive”.
Doug is also a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.