Fantasy Football Player Notes

If the Seahawks want to get the ball to Metcalf, they can. He continually made Patrick Peterson look slow (he's not) on Thursday night, and you're starting to see him become a much better route runner than he was in his rookie season. He's now averaging a massive 2.42 PPR points per target this season, which ranks second among 72 wide receivers who've seen 40-plus targets. The downside of this matchup is that there have been just seven wide receivers who've finished with 11.2 or more PPR points against the Eagles this year, which is the number it took to finish as a top-36 wide receiver last year. There's no other team in the league who's allowed fewer than nine of those performances. However, do you remember that big breakout performance that Chase Claypool had where he scored three touchdowns? Yeah, that was against the Eagles. He's big, strong, and fast, but he's behind Metcalf in all those categories. They're likely going to shadow Metcalf with Darius Slay, who's been one of the better cornerbacks in the league over the last few years, though he's not a complete shutdown cornerback. He does have 4.36-second speed, so it's unlikely that Metcalf will simply run right by him, but don't forget Patrick Peterson had 4.34-speed. Slay is likely to cap Metcalf's ceiling in this game, but let's not pretend you're even debating sitting him. He's one of the few players who can go from bust to stud in one play, and you'd bet on that happening because of who his quarterback is.

I was a little worried about Lockett last week, as he's not someone who plays well through injuries, but he managed to make it work against the Cardinals, leading the team with nine catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. Sadly, in his last five non-Cardinals matchups, Lockett has failed to top 66 yards or catch a touchdown. Will a matchup with the Eagles be better to him? That's tough to say because they've allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points through the air to wide receivers. Why do I specify through the air? Well, they've allowed a ridiculous 165 yards and three touchdowns on the ground to wide receivers, which props up the overall numbers they've allowed to receivers. Lockett is going to see a lot of Nickell Robey-Coleman in coverage, one of the free agents the Eagles brought over this offseason. He hasn't done a great job in coverage, though, allowing 18-of-21 passing for 213 yards and a touchdowns while in the slot. It's not like their backup Cre'Von LeBlanc has done better, allowing 18-of-23 passing for 206 yards and a touchdown in the slot. The only slot-heavy receivers who've seen more than five targets against them were Tyler Boyd (10/125/0) and Cooper Kupp (5/81/0), so it's not a matchup to avoid. Lockett should remain in lineups as a low-end WR1/high-end WR2 who does have some volatility, but you'll live with it.

I thought Hyde looked fantastic on Thursday night, rumbling through a somewhat depleted Cardinals defense for 95 total yards and a touchdown. Carson was close to playing last week, so he should be ready to rock after another 11 days. How does this timeshare look upon his return? In the three full games they both played, Carson totaled 12, 20, and 17 touches, while Hyde had 7, 7, and 5 touches. Do they even it out a bit more with Carson coming off the multi-week injury? It's possible. The Eagles have allowed just 3.43 yards per carry on the year, which ranks as the second-lowest number in the league. The Eagles are also one of four teams who've yet to allow a receiving touchdown to a running back. Despite running backs averaging 28.0 touches per game against the Eagles (12th-most), they've combined for 113.3 total yards per game (8th-fewest), so efficiency will be hard to come by. Nick Chubb was the first running back who topped 81 yards on the ground against them this season, and just the second running back to top 63 yards. Considering no Seahawks running back has totaled more than 18 carries in a game this year, you're looking for production to come through the air. Carson is the only running back on the team who's seen more than five targets in a game, so he's clearly the one we'd look to. There have been just seven running backs who've cracked double-digit PPR points against the Eagles and all of them touched the ball at least 14 times. Put Carson in RB2 range for his return, but let's hope they don't ease him back in. Hyde is nothing more than a handcuff to Carson right now. If Carson were to sit again, Hyde would step into that low-end RB2 conversation.

I thought Hyde looked fantastic on Thursday night, rumbling through a somewhat depleted Cardinals defense for 95 total yards and a touchdown. Carson was close to playing last week, so he should be ready to rock after another 11 days. How does this timeshare look upon his return? In the three full games they both played, Carson totaled 12, 20, and 17 touches, while Hyde had 7, 7, and 5 touches. Do they even it out a bit more with Carson coming off the multi-week injury? It's possible. The Eagles have allowed just 3.43 yards per carry on the year, which ranks as the second-lowest number in the league. The Eagles are also one of four teams who've yet to allow a receiving touchdown to a running back. Despite running backs averaging 28.0 touches per game against the Eagles (12th-most), they've combined for 113.3 total yards per game (8th-fewest), so efficiency will be hard to come by. Nick Chubb was the first running back who topped 81 yards on the ground against them this season, and just the second running back to top 63 yards. Considering no Seahawks running back has totaled more than 18 carries in a game this year, you're looking for production to come through the air. Carson is the only running back on the team who's seen more than five targets in a game, so he's clearly the one we'd look to. There have been just seven running backs who've cracked double-digit PPR points against the Eagles and all of them touched the ball at least 14 times. Put Carson in RB2 range for his return, but let's hope they don't ease him back in. Hyde is nothing more than a handcuff to Carson right now. If Carson were to sit again, Hyde would step into that low-end RB2 conversation.

After witnessing what may have been Greg Olsen's final snap as an NFL player, Dissly stepped in and played 43-of-66 snaps in Week 11 while Jacob Hollister played just 13 of them. Dissly is playing the three-down tight end while Hollister is on the field for clear passing situations. This should mean good things for Dissly, who has caught 14-of-17 targets for 163 yards and a touchdown while battling back from an Achilles injury this year. The Eagles have been the sixth-best matchup for tight ends this year, allowing 14.5 PPR points per game to them. They've allowed a 77.8 percent catch-rate (2nd-highest), 7.44 yards per target (13th-most), and a touchdown every 12.0 targets (10th-most often), so it's across the board. What about the competition they've played? It hasn't been that tough, as tight ends have averaged a massive 16.2 percent more fantasy points against the Eagles than they have on the season, making it the sixth-easiest schedule adjusted matchup for tight ends. There's certainly some risk that Hollister steals some appeal, so we want to be careful, but if you're playing the showdown slate, Dissly would be my pick among the Seahawks tight ends.