Fantasy News

Melvin Gordon scores twice in Chargers’ win over the Packers.

With all the clueless outside talk about how Gordon is somehow holding LA’s offense back with his play, the Wisconsin product had a performance reminiscent of his last few years in the league, carrying 20 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns along with three receptions for 29 yards. After the change in offensive coordinator leading up to Week 9, head coach Anthony Lynn clearly wanted to run the ball more effectively, with Gordon leading the way. The run blocking was not superb, but Gordon showed great vision and quickness while driving forward for positive yardage—and he had a major highlight play when he hurdled a defender in the open field. The former first-round pick was again also the hammer down by the goal line, including on a fourth-and-goal where the Chargers lined up and ran it in on an attitude-boosting play where they could have kicked a field goal to go up three scores. Green Bay was a good matchup, but don’t be surprised if Gordon gets back on track as an excellent RB1 over the second half of the season. He faces the Raiders on Thursday night.

11/4/19 - 08:03 AM ET

Tyler Lockett goes off in Seahawks’ Week 9 win.

Lockett caught 13 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns in Seattle’s overtime victory over Tampa Bay, as the Bucs secondary simply could not cover him. Emerging as Russell Wilson’s (378 yards, five touchdowns in the Week 9 win) clear top target this year, Lockett has already set a career-high in receptions, and he’s going to coast to his first 1,000-yard season if he remains healthy. The 27-year-old isn’t a prototypical size for a receiver, but he’s clearly become one of the league’s best at his position. Lockett should offer a great combination of floor and upside in Week 10 fantasy lineups, even in a tough matchup with the 49ers.

11/4/19 - 07:59 AM ET

Ronald Jones leads Tampa Bay backfield in Week 9.

Jones carried 18 times for 67 yards and a touchdown along with two receptions for 15 yards in the Buccaneers’ overtime loss to the Seahawks. Meanwhile, Peyton Barber carried four times for 15 yards with no receptions. Barber could get more work in future weeks, but it’s possible that Jones has taken control of the Tampa Bay backfield. Jones should be owned in all leagues, but he faces a tougher-than-expected Arizona run defense next week.

11/4/19 - 07:55 AM ET

Josh Jacobs racks up 28 touches in Week 9.

Jacobs carried 28 times for 120 yards and two touchdowns against the Lions, running hard and powering forward for positive yardage, as usual. Through eight games, the first-round rookie running back is one pace for 304 carries for 1,480 yards and 12 touchdowns along with 22 receptions for 204 yards. The involvement in the passing game has a chance to increase in the second half of the season, but fantasy owners must be thrilled with Jacobs’ performance in Jon Gruden’s offense—Jacobs is the first rookie running back since Ezekiel Elliott (2016) with at least three games of multiple rushing scores, and he broke Marcus Allens’ rookie franchise record for rushing (Allen did it in nine games). Jacobs obviously needs to stay in all fantasy lineups this Thursday night against the Chargers.

11/4/19 - 07:51 AM ET

Matthew Stafford stays hot in Week 9.

Stafford was 26/41 for 406 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in the Lions’ Week 9 loss to the Raiders. Stafford hit big plays throughout the game, including Kenny Golladay for a 4/132/1 line and Marvin Jones for a 8/126/1 line. While the Lions probably preferred to attack Oakland’s defense through the air rather than on the ground, this pass-happy approach has led to some huge performances by the Georgia product, who has fantasy point totals of 28.6, 23.4, and 24.8 over the past three games. Next week against the Bears will get tougher, but Stafford might have the volume to still put up QB1 numbers.

11/4/19 - 07:46 AM ET

Adrian Peterson goes over 100 yards in Week 9.

Peterson carried 18 times for 108 yards along with one reception for 22 yards in the Redskins’ loss to the Bills. AD ran for over 100 yards in the first half, again putting up a throwback type performance where he showed he’s just built different than most people (and works extremely hard to stay in shape), but Buffalo then shut down Washington’s rushing attack in the second half. Fantasy owners have to be thrilled with Peterson’s performance, and he’s received at least 16 touches in all four games since Bill Callahan took over as the team’s interim head coach, with two 100-yard rushing performances and a pace of 1,532 rushing yards. Peterson will rest up during the Week 10 bye.

11/4/19 - 07:41 AM ET

Sam Darnold struggles against the Dolphins in Week 9.

Darnold was 27/39 for 260 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the Jets’ loss at Miami, giving the Dolphins their first victory of the season. The Jets started the game well with a first-quarter touchdown, but things went south from there, and Darnold and the offense struggled throughout the rest of the contest. The worst play was down in the red zone, when Darnold was under pressure and tried to make a play by basically back-handing a pass to the goal line, which was intercepted. There was the thought that the promising stretch on paper for Darnold would make him a strong fantasy option over the next few weeks, but the Jets simply are not playing well; it’s difficult to trust the second-year quarterback in fantasy lineups.

11/4/19 - 07:35 AM ET