Fantasy Football Player Notes

Turns out, LT and JT aren't the same. After starting the season rivalling the great Ladanian Thomlinson, Jonathan Taylor and the Colts have slowed down. To make matters worse, Daniel Jones suffered a devastating Achilles injury in their Week 14 game. With Anthony Richardson still recovering from his fractured face, rookie Riley Leonard will get the start. This will likely mean that Taylor should see ridiculous volume against this week, but they are playing the Seahawks. Not only is Seattle allowing the fifth fewest fantasy points to opposing RBs over the last five weeks, but we all saw what they did to the last rookie QB they faced. Although Leonard was a better prospect than Max Brosmer, it's hard to look at Brosmer's 126 yards and four interceptions and not be a little worried. Taylor got you this far, so you have to keep riding him even in a terrible matchup.

The Colts have been highly coverage-specific with their wide receiver usage, but they have a new quarterback and face a pass defense that has flipped back and forth between single and two high this year. I'm just going to look at the Colts' receiving options with a top-down perspective this week. Alec Pierce is the WR34 in fantasy points per game with six weeks as a top-36 wide receiver in weekly scoring. Pierce has an 18.7% target share with 69.9 receiving yards per game, 2.32 yards per route run, and a 22.8% first-read share. He has only five red zone targets as his main job has been as the deep threat, with 30.3% of his target volume coming via downfield targets (18.8 aDOT). This matchup doesn't set up well for Pierce this week. Since Week 10, Seattle has allowed the fewest PPR points per target and the second-fewest receiving yards per game to perimeter wide receivers. Also, they have allowed the eighth-fewest deep passing yards per game and the fifth-lowest passer rating to downfield targets.

Who doesn't love taking a shot in the dark heading into the fantasy playoffs? We know Tyler Warren is having a great rookie season. What we don't know is how Philip Rivers' return to the NFL will be. With Daniel Jones out for the rest of the season and Riley Leonard injuring his knee, it's up to the 44-year-old to try and salvage this season. Before he retired, Rivers was very friendly to the TE position. Helping Eric Ebron reach 13 touchdowns in 2018 with the Colts. It's truly anyone's guess how Rivers will be in his return, but Warren has the talent to continue to be a good fantasy option. Unless you have the safety of a known player like Brenton Strange or Kyle Pitts, you are likely locked into Warren and hoping for the best.

The Colts have been highly coverage-specific with their wide receiver usage, but they have a new quarterback and face a pass defense that has flipped back and forth between single and two high this year. I'm just going to look at the Colts' receiving options with a top-down perspective this week. Pittman is the WR15 in fantasy points per game with a 21.8% target share, 53.8 receiving yards per game, 1.79 yards per route run, and a 25.4% first-read share. He ranks third on the team with ten red zone targets, and he has kicked in with seven deep targets. Pittman will struggle this week against a secondary that, since Week 10, has allowed the fewest PPR points per target and the second-fewest receiving yards per game to perimeter wide receivers.

The Colts have been highly coverage-specific with their wide receiver usage, but they have a new quarterback and face a pass defense that has flipped back and forth between single and two high this year. I'm just going to look at the Colts' receiving options with a top-down perspective this week. Downs is the WR53 in fantasy points per game with four top 36 weekly wide receiver finishes this season. Downs has a 16.1% target share with 32.8 receiving yards per game, 1.55 yards per route run, and an 18.5% first-read share. He leads the team with 12 red zone targets while also seeing five deep targets. Riley Leonard could lean on Tyler Warren and Josh Downs heavily this week, considering the defensive matchups. Since Week 10, Seattle has allowed the 13th-most receiving yards and the 15th-most fantasy points per game to slot receivers.