Top 10 Midseason Fantasy Takeaways
Travis Etienne is starting to emerge as a fantasy superstar.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
It took us eight weeks, but we finally had a fantasy football weekend that was actually fun to watch! Points were as plentiful as candy corn (which is gross) on Halloween, as a number of quarterbacks went over 17 fantasy points – including eight with more than 20. We also had a number of huge performances among the running backs, including two who went over 40 points, another three with more than 30 and a combined 10 backs with more than 20. Jonathan Taylor, the consensus No. 1 overall pick, wasn’t one of them.
In fact, he failed to score double digits for the third time in six games. You couldn’t have had a worst start to the first half of the season, especially from a player who had such a massively successful 2021.
Fantasy fans also saw four wide receivers go over 30 fantasy points, including two (Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle) who went off for the same team with 62.1 combined points. Those are among what I believe are the top fantasy football story lines not only from the first half of the NFL season but also from Week 8.
First, let’s start things off with a massive performance in the bayou…
Alvin Kamara puts up a 40-burger vs. the Raiders. Kamara was a treat for fantasy fans this week, as he totaled nine catches, 158 scrimmage yards, three touchdowns and 42.8 fantasy points in a win over Las Vegas. His scores came on a 3-yard run and catches of 16 and 36 yards. It was his best game of the season, nearly doubling up the 23.4 points he scored in Week 5. It was also his best fantasy game since he posted six touchdowns and 56.2 fantasy points on Christmas 2020. Kamara had gotten off to a slow start this year, but he’s been far better since the Saints benched Jameis Winston for Andy Dalton.
Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports
Christian McCaffrey looks like a star in Hollywood. McCaffrey went bananas against the Rams, as he scored three touchdowns and 40.3 fantasy points in a win over the Rams. His scores came on a pass, a rush and a catch, making him the first player since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005 to throw, run and catch a touchdown in the same game. He had 26 touches in the contest overall, while no other 49ers running back had more than six (Jeff Wilson Jr.). I was excited about McCaffrey’s move to the Niners and coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense, and for good reason. This is the CMC we drafted at the top of the first round.
A.J. Brown scores three touchdowns vs. Pittsburgh. Brown made his presence known in the battle of Pennsylvania, catching six passes for 156 yards with three touchdowns in a win over Pittsburgh. His 39.6 fantasy points is a career best, and it was third among all players today behind only Kamara and McCaffrey. Brown is now averaging 19.3 fantasy points per game, which is music to the ears of fantasy managers. His quarterback, Jalen Hurts, finished with 28.4 fantasy points in the game.
Derrick Henry owns the Houston Texans … again. Henry came into this week’s game against the Texans with three straight 200-plus yard games against the AFC South foe. Well, let’s make it four! His dominance of Houston continued, as he smoked them for 219 yards, two touchdowns and 35.8 points. He now joins Adrian Peterson as the lone backs with six different 200-yard rushing games since 2002, and four of those have come against the Texans (the other two were against the Jaguars). After scoring just 16.7 fantasy points in his first two games of the season, Henry has now scored 23-plus points in each of his last five contests. He’s also on pace to rush for over 1,600 yards and 17 touchdowns on the season.
Travis Etienne is emerging into a fantasy superstar. Etienne has been dynamic as the Jaguars’ lead back, as he showed it once again in a loss to the Broncos. He rushed for 156 yards, averaged 6.5 yards per rush and scored a touchdown in the contest, finishing with a career-best 25.2 fantasy points. His touch share has increased in three straight games, and that high level of involvement will continue after the team traded James Robinson to the Jets. Don’t be surprised if he’s a top-10 back in the second half.
Tony Pollard scores three touchdowns vs. Chicago. Pollard was a popular starter in fantasy leagues this week, as the Cowboys were without Ezekiel Elliott (knee). He thrived as the starter, posting 131 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in a big win. His 33.7 fantasy points were a career best, just slightly more than the 31.2 points he had against San Francisco in Week 15 of last season. Elliott will be back at some point after the bye, but Pollard will be a virtual must start until Elliott’s able to return at 100%.
The quarterback position proved a Halloween treat. Most quarterbacks in the league have not lived up to expectations, as the likes of Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson (among others) have been mediocre or worse in the first half of the season. That script was flipped a bit (not in the case of Wilson, though), as 10 quarterbacks scored 19-plus fantasy points heading into Sunday night. That list includes Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, Kyler Murray, Kirk Cousins and Lamar Jackson. We also saw Justin Fields and Marcus Mariota surprisingly hit the 20-point mark. Let’s hope this is a sign of things to come at the position in the second half, because it’s been a brutal eight weeks.
It’s time to believe in Justin Fields as a fantasy starter. Fields had a tough start to this season, as he put up fewer than 14 fantasy points in each of his first four games. Since then, however, the Ohio State product has caught fire. He’s seen his fantasy points increase in each of those games, culminating in a 26-point performance in a loss to the Cowboys. Fields has averaged better than 21 fantasy points in the last month, and he’s on pace to rush for over 900 yards on the season. He’s a free agent in more than 50% of leagues on Yahoo, so Fields should obviously be added in leagues where he’s available.
D.J. Moore is now back in the good fantasy graces. Moore had a tough start to the season, averaging a mere 8.4 fantasy points in his first six games. He’s been on fire since the Panthers traded McCaffrey, however, scoring a combined 47.1 points including 27.5 in a loss to the Falcons. That stat line included a huge 62-yard touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter that should have won the game for the Panthers. Foolishly, Moore removed his helmet celebrating the touchdown catch and he was called for a 15-yard penalty that resulted in Eddy Pineiro missing the extra point. Regardless, it’s good to see Moore getting more involved in the offense. He’s back in the WR2 conversation in most leagues.
The Raiders are a fantasy nightmare in New Orleans. Want to talk about a Halloween trick? Look at the numbers of the Raiders’ prominent fantasy players. Derek Carr threw for 101 yards and no scores, Josh Jacobs posted 54 total yards and no touchdowns and Davante Adams had one catch for minus-1 yard. The team’s best fantasy performance came from Mack Hollins (13.4 points), and he’s not much of a fantasy option in most leagues. Let’s hope this is just a blip on the radar, but the Raiders looked awful in this contest. At this point, most fantasy managers probably wish Adams were back in Green Bay.
Notes
- Najee Harris put up yet another stinker, posting just 58 total yards in a loss to the Eagles. Even with his six catches, he won’t be a top-15 running back even in PPR formats. Harris has failed to post more than 12.9 fantasy points in his last five games, and he hasn’t scored more than 13.9 points in a contest this season. In 2021, Harris scored 16-plus points seven times in his first eight games, including six games with 19-plus. He’s gone from a must start to a middling flex option.
- D’Onta Foreman went off against the Falcons, rushing for 118 yards with three touchdowns while scoring 31.8 points. In two games since the Panthers traded McCaffrey, Foreman has rushed for 236 yards (5.8 YPC) with three scores and has a combined 48.3 points. Hopefully this performance is enough to keep Foreman ahead of Chuba Hubbard (ankle) on the depth chart.
- DeAndre Hopkins sure doesn’t have any rust, as he posted his second straight 100-plus yard game since his return from suspension. He went off against the Vikings, recording 12 catches for 159 yards and one touchdown in a 34-26 loss. His 13 targets led the team (both teams, in fact) and he’s now seen 27 targets in two games in 2022. He’s been well worth the wait for fantasy managers who waited six weeks for his return. Hopkins will be a top-10 wideout in most leagues.
- Just when many fantasy managers gave up on Kyle Pitts, he totally redeemed himself with five catches for 80 yards and one touchdown against the Panthers. The 19 fantasy points were a season high and the third-most points he’s scored in the NFL. The Falcons don’t throw the ball enough for this to be the norm, however, so I’d be looking to sell high on Pitts now before his next stinker.
- Fantasy managers looking for tight end help should add Greg Dulcich. The rookie led the Broncos with 87 yards in a win over the Jaguars, and he’s now scored double digit points in PPR leagues in each of his first three games. He’s still a free agent in more than 50% of Yahoo! leagues.
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Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on Sports Illustrated and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. Click here to read all his articles here on SI Fantasy. You can follow Michael on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram for your late-breaking fantasy news and the best analysis in the business!