Fantasy Football Player Notes

Playing 37% of snaps and having 11 carries for a crisp 100 rushing yards might be the most Derrick Henry performance of all time. Unfortunately, he did not explode against a brutal Bengals defense, but he still managed to rack up enough yards to help your fantasy week. What is most concerning is that despite a positive game script, he only saw 37% of snaps. In past December games with this script, Henry would be almost guaranteed 30 touches. Instead, we saw Keaton Mitchell involved, carrying the ball eight times for 66 yards. December Derrick may not be what he has been in the past, and now he faces a tough Patriots defense. Even though James Cook exploded for three touchdowns against them last week, they are allowing only 70 rushing yards and 0.4 RB touchdowns per game since Week 10.

Zay Flowers had to deal with DJ Turner's shadow coverage in his two recent meetings with the Bengals, and he'll likely have to deal with shadow coverage again this week. Except in Week 16, Christian Gonzalez will follow him. Gonzalez has shadowed four times this season, following Emeka Egbuka, Darius Slayton, Tee Higgins, and Jerry Jeudy on 61.3-78% of their routes. None of those wide receivers scored a touchdown or surpassed 60 receiving yards, with Gonzalez following them. Temper your expectations for Flowers this week, as Gonzalez could easily be in his back pocket for 60-70% of his routes. Overall, Flowers is the WR23 in fantasy points per game with a 27.2% target share with 68.5 receiving yards per game, 2.40 yards per route run, and a 33.2% first-read share. Flowers has only eight red zone targets this season, but he has amassed 17 deep targets. Flowers will still be started in most leagues and for most fantasy teams, but I'm not expecting a boom week.

Mark Andrews has been maddening this season. Last week, he had another dud game in a great spot. Andrews has only four TE1 weekly finishes this season and has surpassed 50 receiving yards in a game only once this season. Andrews has a 15.9% target share with 25.6 receiving yards per game, 1.28 yards per route run, and a 20.8% first-read share. He has 13 red zone targets and only two deep targets. Andrews looks like he's headed for another down game this week. Since Week 9, New England has allowed the 11th-fewest receiving yards and the seventh-fewest yards per target to tight ends.