Fantasy Football Player Notes

Thank goodness the Luke Falk experiment is over, as Anderson has found himself on plenty of waiver wires. His stock improves dramatically with Darnold back under center, though the matchup against the Cowboys isn't a good one. They've allowed just 10 wide receivers to finish as top-20 options against them since the start of the 2018 season. They keep the ball in front of them with their zone coverage which is a problem with a receiver like Anderson who doesn't rack up the receptions, but rather leans on some bigger plays to vault up the fantasy leaderboard. Did you know he has just two games with more than four receptions since the start of last season? He has a great schedule from Week 9 through Week 15, but he's not someone who's a recommended start in Week 6. He's in the WR4/5 conversation as a big-play hopeful against a Cowboys team that's allowed just nine pass plays of 40-plus yards over their last 21 games.

If there's one player we know is excited to have Darnold back, it's Crowder who saw a career-high 17 targets from him in their first game together. Knowing the Cowboys play a zone-heavy scheme, we should see Crowder utilized over the middle of the field. There were three slot-heavy receivers who finished as top-36 options against the Cowboys last year (Golden Tate, Adam Humphries, Keke Coutee), though they haven't fared well through five weeks in 2019. Sterling Shepard was held to 6/42/0 on seven targets, Trey Quinn totaled 4/36/0 on seven targets, Jakeem Grant totaled 4/27/0 on seven targets, and Geronimo Allison tallied just 2/28/0 on six targets. It's tough to see Crowder make a big splash this week, especially not knowing if Darnold will be a bit rusty. He's still in the middling WR4 conversation in PPR formats, but I'd probably prefer a receiver with more upside.

It was pretty crazy to see Thomas walk into the lineup and see nine targets when Robby Anderson hadn't seen more than seven in any game this year, but these are the Jets we're talking about. Thomas was signed after Darnold was diagnosed with mono, so it's very unlikely they have any sort of connection, especially in a tough matchup against the Cowboys who have allowed the fewest fantasy points to wide receivers through five weeks. He's someone to keep an eye on, but as a 32-year-old coming off an Achilles injury with a new quarterback in a new offense, it's not likely to amount to much.