Stefon Diggs : He went off Sunday putting up pinball machine-like numbers: seven catches, 167 yards receiving, three touchdowns and 18 rushing yards to boot. Watching Diggs torch the Eagles defense was a thing of beauty to watch (and no, not because I am a Cowboy fan). Things are simply looking up for the Vikings passing attack. One week it is the sure-handed, great route-running Thielen dominating and the next week, it is the electric Diggs. Oh, and Kurt Cousins looks so much better with some of the pressure on the reins off. With Washington and a shootout with KC coming up in the next three weeks, I say Diggs and Thielen and back to being, well, Diggs and Thielen. If someone is still buying into the run, run, run narrative for the Vikings, you may be able to score yourself some real value.
Jared Goff : I had to look twice to believe these numbers: 13-24 for only 78 yards and no touchdowns. Yuck! Even Ryan Tannehill playing only part of a game with his team getting shut out was better than that. That said, Goff is about to get the perfect cure for this dud, and a season where he has yet to throw more than one touchdown in a game, and that is dates with the Bengals and Falcons in the next two weeks. Yum. Eat up those stats the next two weeks, and then try and cut bait and sell high before the Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore run of tough games get played. Bottom line here – the Rams are simply not the offensive (or even defensive) team of a year ago. Just not.
Auden Tate : The Bengals are a bad team with injuries galore. While it is painful for the Cincy faithful, this is exactly the type of fertilizer that helps fantasy stars grow. Auden Tate may be that type of guy. Despite his team losing again, Tate was targeted 12 times, reeling in five catches for 91 yards. 14 PPR fantasy points is not special but 12 targets is pretty darn good. Is there anyone out there that doesn’t think game scripts for the Bengals will have a lot of throwing in second half? Anyone? At 6’5” and 228 pounds, Auden is a big boy who can go get the ball. With John Ross and A.J. Green still out for a while, Tate makes a solid buy-law candidate.
Hunter Henry : In what has to be the feel good story of the day, Hunter Henry recovered from his latest injury and lit up the fantasy scoreboards. The Chargers’ TE reeled in eight catches for an even 100 yards and two touchdowns. Not too shabby! Remember, this is a guy who scored 12 touchdowns in his first two years despite having to compete with Antonio Gates . The next two weeks are against what look like good defenses in the Titans and the Bears. However good they may be, they are both bottom 11 in the league against fantasy tight ends. Hunter Henry is a plug and play.
Golden Tate : Golden Tate had a big game in the blowout loss to New England catching six balls for 102 yards and a touchdown on nine targets. Of course, his value is mostly in PPR as he put up four straight 90+ catch seasons before last year being traded mid-year and having his season upended. With Saquon Barkley likely to return for the Giants, teams will have to respect the run and that should open some play action shots over the middle to Tate. Fantasy superstar? No. Undervalued PPR asset? Yes.
Final Note: Last week I wrote: “I have to call out Jason Garrett for the boneheaded move of drawing a 15-yard penalty. Yes, maybe the ref had a trigger temper. Yes, maybe it was unwarranted. However, you are the HEAD COACH. You cannot put your team in a hole. Ok, rant over.” This week I have to rant about an absurd timeout call. With the Cowboys achieving first and goal, at the eight yard line with 47 seconds left, Jason Garrett called timeout. Why? I have no idea. I was yelling at the TV saying “don’t call timeout, don’t call timeout” to no avail. By doing so, Garrett forfeited any realistic chance of winning the game if the Boys scored a touchdown but failed to convert the two-point conversion – which is EXACTLY what happened. Head coaches in the NFL just have to know better. Have to.