Seven catches this season, five touchdowns for Joseph Fauria.
We’ve seen Brandon Pettigrew make the least of his considerable size and athleticism, but if Fauria can continue to be a red zone threat opposite Calvin Johnson then we’ll be seeing plenty more big fantasy days from Matt Stafford and the rest of the Lions offense. From a fantasy perspective it’ll be tough to trust Fauria regularly unless he starts getting a few more looks per game, but he’s certainly going to be picked up in several leagues this week.
Steven Ridley and Maurice Jones-Drew owners have to be feeling good right now, though Ridley owners have the far better chance of extending this feeling long term. If Ridley’s going to get 21 touches, he’s almost assured to provide RB2 value at the very least each week. LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Bolden still combined for 14 touches in this game, but hopefully Ridley showed enough with his 4.8 yards per carry and no fumbles (!!!) that when there aren’t so many touches to go around, he’ll still get around the 20 per game.
Speaking of workhorse backs, Eddie Lacy was phenomenal on the road against the Ravens despite not getting in the end zone Sunday. The Packers will have to continue feeding their big back if Randall Cobb and James Jones miss time with their respective knee injuries.
Terrelle Pryor didn’t have a good fantasy day, but for a guy who was under siege in a tough environment I actually liked what I saw for the most part. I especially liked Denarius Moore remaining his top target, and Moore has now scored in four of five games started by Pryor. He’s becoming a must-start WR.
Same goes for Larry Fitzgerald—yes, I’ve said this before. But apparently I don’t like listening to myself. After some negative reports in regards to Fitzy’s hamstring I actually started Danny Amendola instead. At this point I can only hope Amendola can live a normal life outside of football with the hits he’s taken and injuries he’s sustained. Amendola should’ve had a long touchdown before leaving the game if Tom Brady could’ve hit him in stride, but I don’t know that Amendola and Brady will ever spend enough time on the field together for things to click.
I entered this weekend worried about Vernon Davis’ lack of receptions so far this season, wondering if he was even a sell high since he was saving his fantasy value with touchdowns. Eight receptions, 180 yards and two touchdowns later, I’m not worried.
I am worried about Michael Vick getting his job back. The Tampa Bay defense is no slouch against the run or pass, but Nick Foles went into the pirate ship and left with four touchdowns worth of booty—three through the air and another on the ground. The running game clicked with Foles under center, and DeSean Jackson was able to make Darrelle Revis look pedestrian. Vick owners, its time to pony up FAAB for Foles.
Sam Bradford also somehow ended up with three touchdown passes despite only throwing 16 passes all day. I’m chalking it up to Houston being inexplicably terrible. I’m not sure how the Texans have fallen apart like this, but there’s obviously something seriously wrong to get beaten this badly at home by St. Louis. Tough defenses were a reasonable excuse in previous weeks. Not this time.
Drew Brees failed to get the ball to Jimmy Graham for the first time this season, and Graham left with an injury before Brady’s late-game heroics. If defenses start copying New England’s defensive strategy against Graham, which they will, Brees will have to start getting the ball to Marques Colston, who has just three catches the last two weeks. I’ll stand by Colston as a buy low—he’s not just a buy REALLY low.
Finally, I thought Willis McGahee was a good play against the Lions this week based on his usage last week against Buffalo. Turns out, Rob Chudzinski still likes Chris Ogbonnaya plenty, as he wound up with one more touch than McGahee and the touchdown I figured would belong to Willis. McGahee owners, you’ll need to grab Ogbonnaya if you can, and then probably sit both on your bench until you see some consistency in how they’re used.
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