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- 🗞️ Monday Morning NFL Recap
The Deep Dive Fantasy Newsletter comes to your inbox seven days a week throughout the NFL season, and I bring you the Monday recap each and every week. For those of you who don’t know me, I helped create DynastyLeagueFootball back in 2006 and have been writing about fantasy football for nearly 20 years.
I truly love this time of year, so let’s get to it!
As always, there were some serious storylines that developed in Week 12. Let’s take a look at some of the headlines you could easily see today as the fantasy world reacts.
LA Unconfidential
It’s no secret fantasy managers were waiting patiently for Kyren Williams to return to the lineup for the Rams with the hopes he could build upon his solid start to the year. He delivered in a big way with 143 rushing yards, six catches, 61 receiving yards, and two touchdowns, likely earning overall RB1 status for the week. It’s yet another reminder Sean McVay’s offense is one of the best for fantasy running backs and Williams is going to have a say in an awful lot of fantasy championships down the stretch.
Straight from the Evans
There will be a time when we marvel at the consistency of Mike Evans, who is well on his way to his 10th straight 1,000-yard season. He was at it against the Colts this week as he posted six catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns, scoring in his third straight game and fifth out of six. Evans is rarely mentioned with the elite at the position but he just goes about his business and rewards fantasy managers each and every week.
Bijan Mustard
It only took until Thanksgiving but we finally got the “high class” version of Bijan Robinson, who had 91 rushing yards, three catches, 32 receiving yards, and two touchdowns for the Falcons. This performance was the best of his career and the first time he had surpassed 20 fantasy points since Week 2. This “champagne and caviar” version of Bijan is a lot better than the “hot dog and chips” version we had seen for the better part of the past two months.
Welcome, Mr. Smith
DeVonta Smith is rarely talked about since most of the attention on the Eagles front goes to Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown and rightfully so. Still, Smith had seven catches for 106 yards and a touchdown Sunday, marking the fourth straight game where he’s posted at least 14 fantasy points. He’s quietly re-established himself as a top-end WR2 or even a low-end WR1 the rest of the way.
Slim Pickens
We were hoping the change in offensive coordinator would be positive for the likes of George Pickens and Jaylen Warren. While the Steelers put up a lot of yards, the distribution of touches was pretty even, outside of Pat Freiermuth, who had a whopping 11 targets. Pickens had just three catches for 58 yards and Warren only out-touched Najee Harris by one. This has the looks of a very volatile fantasy situation at the moment as the Steelers really aren’t counting on any one player to help them win - great in real life and tough to deal with in fantasy leagues.
As always, there were injuries destined to affect fantasy leagues. However, this week was a relatively quiet one as the most significant one looks to be the concussion suffered by Saints wide receiver Chris Olave. He had to leave the game after a hard hit and didn’t return. The Saints really need Olave back next week but it looks like he’ll need to pass concussion protocol for that to happen.
The five-day Thanksgiving extravaganza of football concludes tonight with the Bears and Vikings. We have two big questions!
1.) Can Justin Fields do enough to save his job?
There are few players under more of a microscope than Fields, who is likely playing for his job. With the Panthers continuing to lose, it’s getting more and more possible the Bears are going to end up with the top pick in the draft for the second year in a row. They traded it last year but can Fields put enough on tape for them to do it again?
2.) How high can TJ Hockenson go?
Hockenson has been crazy good all season with only two games under 10 fantasy points. There are few players who can single-handedly win fantasy matchups but Hockenson can provide a significant enough advantage at the position to do just that. Can Joshua Dobbs keep this train rolling?
Here are some of the latest articles to post on 4for4.com. There’s always something new so be sure to keep dropping by.