Good News, Bad News: Ekeler, Valdes-Scantling, Campbell
It took a couple games to get going, but Austin Ekeler is red-hot. Will it last?
Another week of NFL action wraps up with Bears-Patriots on Monday Night Football, which means it's time once again to take stock of what happened around the fantasy football world.
Good News, Bad News is back to examine the positives and negatives of players' performances each week and get to the root of what it might mean for their future play. This week the spotlight is on a stud running back and two fringe receivers.
RB Austin Ekeler, Chargers
It was fair to wonder where the 2021 version of Ekeler had gone through three weeks. He didn't score a single touchdown, his rushing outputs were putrid, and a few OK receiving outings were propping up his fantasy value, but nothing special.
The fantasy football fanatic has made up for that start with a whopping eight touchdowns over the last four games, including two on Sunday for his third multi-score game of the season. Ekeler is being hyper-targeted by Justin Herbert, who's attempted the most passes in the NFL. Among running backs, Ekeler is far and away the top pass-catcher, and among all players, he ranks third in receptions and is now the RB1 in PPR. Elite.
So what could be the problem? Well, the touchdown regression that was warned—and happened—figures to pop back up again when L.A. returns from its Week 8 bye. And with Keenan Allen more fully integrated into the offense after his return from a hamstring injury, some of Herbert's short passes to Ekeler may be funneled to Allen instead. There's no reason to fade Ekeler going forward, but it's also important to have realistic expectations.
WR Parris Campbell, Colts
Very few managers stood to gain from Campbell's big outings the last two weeks as the Indianapolis receiver is lightly rostered and started even less. But back-to-back weeks with 10-plus targets and a touchdown should put him on people's radar. Heading into Monday night, Campbell is the WR6 in PPR scoring across Weeks 6 and 7, but a quarterback change might plummet his value after it peaked.
It was reported Monday that Matt Ryan is out with a shoulder sprain, but apparently, regardless of his status, second-year quarterback Sam Ehlinger is the new Colts starter, and Nick Foles is his backup. This follows another loss to the AFC South leading Titans that dropped Indianapolis's record to 3-3-1. Ryan has the second-most pass attempts in the NFL and aired the ball out more than 100 times in the last two games, a stark contrast to the run-first offense the team ran last season with Carson Wentz under center.
That volume level meant plenty of passes to go around Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, Jonathan Taylor and Campbell. Ehlinger did not attempt a pass as a rookie and has yet to appear in a game this season, but it's safe to say he'll be throwing less often than Ryan was. Ehlinger's best season at Texas was his junior year when he threw for over 3,600 yards, 32 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and he's also a threat as a rusher. This could be good news for Taylor if the team decides to recommit to the run, but Campbell's performance should be monitored through the quarterback change after two consecutive big games.
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Chiefs
The best game of the season for Valdes-Scantling was Sunday's blowout win against the 49ers. His 111 yards were the second-most on the team, though more than half of them came on a 57-yard reception. Patrick Mahomes also only threw his way four times, which is tied for his second-fewest looks this season. Therein lies the good and the bad—a respectable performance on limited volume.
You definitely want a piece of this Chiefs offense, and right now, MVS is one of the cheaper options available. He's now had a handful of good games, enough to make one consider starting him in a pinch, but then there's the matter of his goose egg against the Bills (zero catches on three targets) and overall inconsistent play.
The emergence of JuJu Smith-Schuster, who has back-to-back games with 100 yards and a touchdown, is another bad sign for the viability of MVS as far as fantasy football goes, and both will always be behind Travis Kelce. Valdes-Scantling has always been known as a deep threat, and when Kansas City brought him in this offseason, it was easy to picture him slotting into the Tyreek Hill role, though things haven't necessarily unfolded that way.
MVS has made a handful of big plays, and he has the longest play of the season for the Chiefs, but Mahomes has thrown an NFL-best 20 touchdowns, and none have gone to him. Even after a good outing, he remains little more than a flier.
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