(Photo by Kevin French/Icon Sportswire)
Is It Legit? Week 8
Unfortunately the conclusion of tonight’s game will mark the official halfway point in the 2018 NFL Season. It was a very sad realization after a very sad night for me as the Dodgers season came to an end in disappointing fashion. Nonetheless, here I sit with the 8th installment of the “Is It Legit?” list and I am elated at some of the names that finally earned their place here. A few of these players had been absent from the list because of inexcusable coaching decisions. Although many of yesterday’s games were underwhelming, we were gifted with the return of “Fitzmagic”, a thrilling comeback in…Arizona? and Blake Bortles in London! Unfortunately, we also had another potential game-winning drive from Aaron Rodgers ripped away from us. Here are the players that stood out in yesterday’s slate:
Larry Fitzgerald
(Wide Receiver, Arizona Cardinals)
Under former offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, Rookie quarterback Josh Rosen, was the 4th fastest quarterback in all of football to get rid of the ball. Somehow, he was also the 2nd most pressured quarterback in the NFL. These two things typically don’t go hand in hand with one another, but under McCoy, the atrocious Arizona offense was something special. This week, under new OC Byron Leftwich, the Cardinals looked like they had a semi-competent offense. Rosen loves attacking the middle of the field, so Leftwich, very smartly, actually put his best wide receiver, Larry Fitzgerald, in the middle of the field consistently. Fitz finished the day with 8 receptions for 102 yards, a touchdown, and a 2 point coversion; his best day of the year by a mile. His 12 targets are his most since Week 1 and equal his targets in Weeks 3, 4, and 5 combined. Look for Fitz to keep this pace up.
DeVante Parker
(Wide Receiver, Miami Dolphins)
Welcome to 2018 DeVante Parker! In just his 3rd, basically his 2nd, game this year, Parker looks ready to go. Just five days after his agent called his head coach, Adam Gase, “incompetent” for choosing to make Parker inactive last week, Parker led his team in targets, receptions, and yards; doing his best to prove his head coach might actually be incompetent. Parker is owned in just over 20% of ESPN fantasy leagues and should be a must add this week. He is the most talented in this group of Dolphins’ receivers, and a potential trade target for other contenders moving forward.
David Moore
(Wide Receiver, Seattle Seahawks)
I think the Seahawks turned their season around with their loss against the Rams. They lost to the best team in football by just 2 points, and the smartest head coach did not want to give the ball back to the Seahawks’ offense at the end of the game. Since that game, which was the return of Chris Carson, the offense has been great. They are averaging over 28 ppg since then, and David Moore, has been a large part of that. With another respectable game, and 4 touchdowns in their last 3 games, the second year receiver has been a large part in Russell Wilson’s potentially historic season. He is currently throwing touchdowns on 8.8% of his passes; that number would be 2nd all time over a season, by just 0.2%. David Moore should be owned in deep leagues and until he stops catching touchdowns, playable as a WR 3.
Marvin Jones Jr.
(Wide Receiver, Detroit Lions)
Across the field from David Moore, Marvin Jones Jr. had his biggest game of the year. He set a season high in every receiving category with 7 receptions for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns. Those 7 receptions are 27% of his receptions this year. This being said, it is tough to see him keeping this pace, but there are teams who are not able to cover both outside receivers. The Seahawks may have been the first team to gameplan for Kenny Golladay rather than Jones. I would not play Jones until he can prove this week was not a fluke.
Aaron Jones
(Running Back, Green Bay Packers)
Week 8’s entrant in the “My Coach Finally Played Me and Not That Other Guy” Group! Coming off the bye week, it appears it was a focus of the Packers to get Aaron Jones the ball, and boy are they late. Jones had 12 rushing attempts for 86 yards and a touchdown. Prior to yesterday, Jones never had more than two more carries than Jamaal Williams; yesterday he had three times as many. This is absolutely absurd considering Jones’ 6.2 ypc to Williams’ 3.7. If you have Aaron Jones, congratulations. If you don’t, go get him before it’s too late.