Fantasy Football Player Notes

We talked about a year three explosion from Ridley, but to lead all wide receivers by 16.1 half PPR points after two weeks? Sheesh. He's playing the alpha in this offense while Julio Jones plays through a hamstring injury, racking up 22 targets, 16 receptions, 239 yards, and four touchdowns. This week will be the toughest test yet when he lines up across from Kyle Fuller, the Bears top cornerback who's allowed just 6-of-15 passing for 70 scoreless yards in his coverage this year, including an interception. This should be a good battle, and while Fuller is a good cornerback, Ridley's better. Look for them to try and stretch the field with Ridley, as the route Fuller struggled the most with in 2019 was the go route and post route, allowing over 20 yards per target on said routes. Fuller is better when he can be physical with wide receivers, only Ridley's a bit too shifty for that physical play. Continue plugging him in as a WR1 until he gives you a reason not to, especially while Jones is playing at less than 100 percent.

He's not going away anytime soon. Since taking over for Mohamed Sanu in that role, Gage has totaled 87 targets over a span of 11 games, which amounts to 7.9 per game. Over the course of a season, that would amount to 127 targets. Here's a list of big-name players who saw fewer targets than that in 2019: DeVante Parker, Davante Adams, Courtland Sutton, Chris Godwin, Amari Cooper... do you catch my drift? His targets aren't worth as much as those guys, but he's a reliable player in fantasy because of his target floor. The Bears have Buster Skrine covering the slot, and while he played well in 2019, slot receivers have fared well this year. First, it was Danny Amendola racking up 5/81/0 on seven targets, and then it was Golden Tate catching all five of his targets for 47 yards. Again, not sexy, but worth a spot-start in such an injury-plagued week. With the Bears defending the run so well, we saw Matthew Stafford rack up 42 pass attempts while Daniel Jones hit the 40 mark. If the Falcons go down a similar path, which seems likely, Gage should be able to fill a WR4-type role on your fantasy team. He's reminding me of 2018 Adam Humphries who finished as a top-30 wide receiver, but you always knew his ceiling was limited.