Here are hot topics and burning questions heading into NFL Week 6.
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How does work in the Eagles backfield shake out?
Jay Ajayi, we hardly knew ye. This guy had so much promise to be the guy in a high-potential backfield. Though his season started strong, it wavered and then crashed unceremoniously. It’s too bad. He’s a good running back, but one with a history of health problems now entering free agency coming off of a torn ACL. His dynasty stock is way down.
Fortunes change that quickly in this league, but when one door closes, another opens. Who will step through? Corey Clement was a preseason darling of fantasy analysts looking for breakout players, but he’s been banged up from the start. Darren Sproles isn’t healthy either, but even though he may be 80 in running back years, you can be sure he’ll have a role when he returns. Wendell Smallwood capitalized on his opportunity Week 5 against the Vikings, but there is the fact that he is Wendell Smallwood.
All of these players check the “versatile” box, and all will be used to some degree when they’re healthy. Yet one will emerge as a red zone favorite, and somebody has to score touchdowns. The Eagles have only averaged 20.6 points per game on offense this year, and haven’t once eclipsed 23. You have to assume that will improve moving forward, and you have to assume one running back will emerge as a leader of the committee in Philly.
Can James Conner keep rolling?
Conner has had two really good Sundays this year. Both followed weeks of practice where multiple Steelers (be it OL, or OC, or QB) have all been vocal about getting the running game going. It’s as if they only choose to feed him when the noise around Le’Veon Bell turns up. I’m looking to see if Conner can buck that trend this week, and stack one performance on top of the other. He’ll go up against a Bengals D that’s given up the 10th-most standard points to fantasy running backs so far this year, but one with a stout line, and the Steelers will be on the road.
As we all know, “home” Ben Roethlisberger has DirecTV, but “road” Ben Roethlisberger is still using an antenna (ask Antonio Brown about the connection). I worry the Bengals offense may put Pittsburgh into catchup mode early, and when that happens, I wonder if Conner can show out again.
Will the real Tennessee Titans please stand up?
Beat the Jaguars, Eagles, and Texans? No problem. Lose to the Dolphins and Bills? Why not? I’ve got no clue anymore who this team is or what they’re made of. Marcus Mariota shows flashes, then fades. The running game hasn’t done anything. The defense is strong enough to keep them in games, but struggled to stop the run up in Buffalo when they knew it was coming every play.
They get a home game this week against the Baltimore Ravens, one that should have substantial Wild Card ramifications, and these Ravens aren’t happy, fresh off a loss to the Browns. I look forward to seeing what this team is made of, and if Mariota can step up and take one down for his team. He’ll need to — the Ravens give up the third-least amount of points to fantasy running backs.
Mike McCarthy, what would you say “you do” here?
You certainly aren’t putting your team in the best position to win games, and that’s according to Aaron Rodgers. Nor are you putting your best players on the field, and that’s according to basic math. Aaron Jones is blowing Jamaal Williams out in so many statistical categories that it’s not even worth listing them out. There is one worth calling out explicitly, though: Jones is grading out at 100% in pass protection.
So why did he only see 22 snaps compared to Williams’ 33 in Detroit? Why didn’t he see a second-half touch until garbage time? Is Mike McCarthy dumb, or stubborn, or both? Why hasn’t he been fired when he is wasting the prime of arguably the best quarterback of all time with total and complete incompetence?
Nothing’s sadder than seeing high potential wasted, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing in Green Bay thanks to inadequate coaching. So here’s a burning question: Is there any hope McCarthy gets canned this year?
Will Jameis Winston sustain the Tampa Bay passing offense?
Anyone who drafted Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson, Chris Godwin…pretty much anyone on the Tampa Bay offense not named Peyton Barber…probably thought that they struck gold to some extent when Ryan Fitzpatrick lit the league on fire for the first month. Every pass catcher was on pace to exceed their ADP value, and every owner was probably pulling for Fitzpatrick to keep the job.
Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken has done God’s work, unleashing this offense and its playmakers with a play-action driven, downfield attack. We all need to know, can Jameis Winston come in, after a bye week, against a reeling Atlanta Falcons defense, and keep his foot on the gas? As a real-life NFL quarterback, Winston still has some issues (namely turnovers and frequent poor decision making). As a fantasy quarterback, though? All the pieces are in place for Winston to stuff the stat sheet and be a high-value asset for owners in the second half of this season. Because if Ryan “Fitzmagic” can throw up elite QB1 numbers in this offense, why can’t “Famous Jameis”?
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Nick Zychowicz is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Nick, follow him @NJZychowicz.
