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Is It Legit? Week 11: The Playoffs are Near
The Fantasy Football Playoffs are creeping up and I hope you have already safely secured your spot in the running. Once you hit the playoffs, a general rule of thumb is to avoid gambles, and if you have been following this list throughout the year, I have been telling you which players are shaping to have steady production for the remainder of the season. Lucky for you, if you haven’t been following my articles, there are still players to be talked about for a few more weeks. Who knows, some of these guys may win you a title.
Gus Edwards
(Running Back, Baltimore Ravens)
It’s Week 11 and the Ravens managed to find a new running back. Yesterday, they dressed four running backs but only one hit double digit carries; it wasn’t Alex Collins, it wasn’t Buck Allen, and it wasn’t Ty Montgomery. Welcome to the show Gus Edwards. The Lamar Jackson Era has begun in Baltimore and apparently Edwards fits in the system really well; he had 17 rushes (2 more than what he had totaled all year) for 117 yards and a touchdown. It will be interesting to see how Jackson evolves as a quarterback, but what we saw yesterday was not a sustainable offense; Jackson is too exposed. Edwards is worth a pick up to see how they use him, but there are at least two other decent running backs he is competing with.
Antonio Gates
(Tight End, Los Angeles Chargers)
The man that will not disappear had his first fantasy relevant game this season! Antonio Gates caught 5 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. Yesterday was another brutal day for the tight end position, and Gates was arguably the top performer. Moving forward, I would still be hesitant to play him. He has not had consistent production throughout the year and Philip Rivers doesn’t really look to him in the Red Zone.
Tre’Quan Smith
(Wide Receiver, New Orleans Saints)
Tre’Quan Smith absolutely TORCHED the defending champions yesterday for 157 yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions (Drew Brees only completed 22 passes). Prior to the game he only had 12 receptions and no more than 3 in a game so this performance was shocking. He got obliterated in the end zone but managed to hold on to the ball; after a performance like this, Brees might want to throw to him more often. Obviously, Smith will always come 2nd to Michael Thomas, however he still will be allowed to shine in certain games. Having a piece of the best offense in football is never a bad option.
Jordan Reed
(Tight End, Washington Redskins)
Another tight end?! Crazy, right? It has become difficult to not have repeats on this list so two tight ends made the list…However, Jordan Reed was certainly impressive yesterday (7 rec, 71 yds, 1 TD). After the injury to starting QB, Alex Smith, Colt McCoy looked shockingly serviceable. He connected with Reed three separate times, one was for his touchdown. Unless you have an extremely good tight end to play over Reed, you might as well keep playing him.
Carolina Panthers’ Receivers
In a game where the Panthers looked pretty woeful, DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel showed up. Moore caught 7 balls for 157 yards and a touchdown while Samuel caught 5 balls for 55 yards and a touchdown. Even though they had great days yesterday, Funchess and McCaffrey will still remain Cam’s favorite targets. They both have around 30 more targets than any other player. I think Moore is safe to pick up and play as a potential Flex, while Samuel does not get involved consistently enough to warrant a roster spot.