Fantasy Football Player Notes

Well, we didn't exactly see that coming last week, did we? After finishing as the RB18 and RB17 the two weeks prior, Fournette exploded in Week 12 against the Indianapolis Colts for 41 Half PPR fantasy points. The Colts had been one of the toughest matchups for opposing RBs and Fournette was expected to see plenty of work that would return mid-range RB2 value, but he defied all odds and rumbled for four total touchdowns. While the four touchdowns and 100 rushing yards last week are certainly impressive, there's another aspect to Fournette's production that is particularly encouraging. Since coming out of their bye week in Week 9, Fournette has seen a total of 23 targets. This leads the entire league at the RB position over that time frame and it's providing fantasy managers with an extremely high floor. Even if Fournette isn't able to get the job done on the ground in any matchup for whatever reason, there's going to be the receiving workload to fall back on. Against the Falcons defense that's allowing the 8th-most fantasy points to opposing RBs this year, Fournette can be viewed as a mid-range/low-end RB1.

Godwin's drop in production was certainly peculiar last week, but it doesn't seem like it was correlated to his early fumble. Godwin still played 97% of the snaps against the Colts, but he simply took a backseat to Rob Gronkowski. Both Godwin and Evans did very little this past week, but we shouldn't expect that to continue this week against the Falcons. Atlanta is currently allowing 21.8 fantasy points per game to opposing WRs and Godwin went for 4-62-1 the last time these two teams played earlier this season. We should be starting Godwin as a low-end WR1 yet again in Week 13.

The WRs certainly disappointed for Tampa Bay last week. Both Evans and Godwin combined for just 40 yards receiving and they took a clear backseat to Gronkowski in this offense. Evans obviously comes with week-winning upside most weeks though due to his ability to score touchdowns. Through 12 weeks, Evans is tied with Cooper Kupp and Adam Thielen for the league lead in receiving touchdowns with 10, but he is slowly moving towards touchdown-or-bust territory. Evans has seen more than 5 targets in just one of his previous four games. This is also without Antonio Brown active and in the lineup, which could change very soon. He's saved his fantasy performances by finding the end zone in three of those four games, but we need to recognize that the stability might not be there as much as we would hope. With that being said, he's a rock-solid play this week against the Falcons defense that he torched for two touchdowns earlier this season. He can be played as a high-end WR2.

Gronk has now played two games since returning to action and he has certainly made his presence known. He has seen 18 targets over the past two weeks and he's reeled in 13 of those for 194 yards. At this point, as long as Gronk is healthy and playing, he belongs in starting lineups as a top-5 option. The chemistry with Brady is still there and the target share in this offense is simply too much to play many other options over him in our lineups. Against the Falcons defense this week, Gronk can be played with complete confidence.

Jones was able to find the end zone in Week 12, but he's still not seeing enough work to provide standalone value. However, he's worth talking about as one of the most valuable insurance RBs in fantasy right now. As fantasy rosters begin gearing up for a deep playoff run, Jones needs to be added to benches everywhere due to his upside if something were to happen to Fournette. We don't wish that to happen obviously, but we need to be ready in case it does. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Add Jones to your bench if you've locked up your playoff spot in your league and you have the space.