Titans @ Lions
Kickoff: Sunday, October 27th, 2024, 1:00 ET
Location: Ford Field, Detroit, MI
Network: FOX
Writer: Matthew Bevins
Tennessee Titans
Quarterback
Mason Rudolph: Sit, QbNone
Shiver. This is where we’re at in the year already, eh? Mason Rudolph is most notably still known as the Pittsburgh Steelers backup to most of us. Will Levis has tested the patience of both Titans fans and coaches alike, and now we’re watching a starting backup for most likely the rest of the season. Rudolph offers little upside unless you’re looking at him as a vessel steering his running back and receiver stats. Rudolph started in week 4, then gave way to Levis, only to be reinstalled for week 7. While he was facing the lock-and-hunt defense of the Buffalo Bills, we still need to look at his stats and metrics, and he was a “poor” option per PFF, finishing in their bottom rankings at 26.3. Rudolph will likely get around 200 yards, but will likely throw at least one interception. He also will not have nomadic senior receiver DeAndre Hopkins to receive his passes, which also lowers his outcome. Rudolph completed over 20 passes, barely covered 200 yards, and looked below average in the pocket.
Running Back
Tony Pollard: Start, high-end RB2
There’s really only one chicken in the coop in Tennessee’s backfield, with Tyjae Spears currently dealing with a lingering hamstring injury. He may potentially play, but he’ll likely be not much of a value here when he’s in his first game after recovery. Tony Pollard almost became an afterthought before leaving Dallas, but he may have found a perfect situation in Tennessee. He’s able to get the ball early and often, and that leads to one of the few backfields in the NFL that has a true bellcow. So far this season he’s seeing 70 percent of the snaps, and making a solid return from it. A touchdown in every other game so far per average, and someone who is starting to reach 4 yards per carry and was also above it the week prior to the Bills matchup. The Bills started to put it on heavy against the Titans last week, and with a below-average quarterback behind center, Pollard was attacked quickly out of the backfield. The Lions’ defense is absolutely no joke, showing the #1 rating thus far this year, per PFF. Pollard is still worth the risk, however, as he’s still going to get well over 10 carries, and could just break one.
Wide Receiver
Calvin Ridley: Sit, potential WR3 but very risky
Tyler Boyd: Sit
There’s not much juice on the tree when it comes to the Titans, as they’re currently in the midst of moving Hopkins to the Kansas City Chiefs, as the team starts to scroll through the Rolodex of what first-round talents are available next draft.
Calvin Ridley was a solid option when he moved on to Tennessee. Finally out of the poor quarterbacking of old, and…yeah. Here we are hoping Ridley returns to his former form, with a quarterback who wouldn’t be starting for over two-thirds of NFL teams. Ridley is ultimately the second-best weapon for Rudolph, but it’s such a low bar. While he came away with one-third of his targets last week for 42 yards, it’s hardly a line we expect from a top 30-drafted wideout. The week prior against a defense not lauded in Indy, he couldn’t even catch a ball. The possibility Ridley is good again is indeed possible, but let him prove it first.
As for Tyler Boyd, there was also hope that he may be able to move from a high-powered offense in Cincinnati and move along to Tennessee, where he may still be a #3 wide receiver, but that an offense more even across the board that he could now seek more targets with. Boyd has been an afterthought all season. I listen to a lot of fantasy sports podcasts. Boyd is basically a face on a milk carton right now. He had a better line last week (5/5/43). That’s not even a great fantasy football line. That’s also his best line of stats this year. Next.
Tight End
Chigoziem Charlton Okonkwo: Sit
Chigoziem Charlton “Chig” Okonkwo as he’s so cutely nicknamed, was one of the darlings of tight end sleepers for most people over the last offseason. He didn’t do much with it last year. We’re not able to see him break out this year either, as he’s hampered by a sapped offense that has very few elite talents. Okonkwo had four catches for fifty yards last week, but that was his best line this year too. Yeah, it’s been a tough year for the Titans. I should admit that I do think players like Ridley, Boyd, or Okonkwo have some level of sleeper potential if Mason Rudolph somehow has a career renaissance — it’s all possible. It just doesn’t seem likely against arguably (and statistically) the best defense in the league.
Detroit Lions
Quarterback
Jared Goff: Start, low-end QB1
However, Jared Goff is someone that you could talk about in the phrase “career renaissance.” Goff has returned his career from the depths of the Rams. Three years ago, we saw Matthew Stafford traded for Goff, and everyone kind of thought of it as an interesting trade which, more likely than not, the Rams won. Goff has been an incredibly reliable signal caller for Detroit. If you didn’t focus on box scores, you wouldn’t likely realize that Goff had the second most passing yards of all quarterbacks last season. He also finished fourth in quarterback touchdowns. While he’s having a solid resurgence, he can thank Amon-Ra St. Brown for a lot of it. They’ve built a partnership that has helped both of their careers. Goff will likely look to pick on the defense of a Titans team that has been sitting in the dumpster of rankings for the season. 26th ranked per PFF, there isn’t much worrisome about the Titans’ defense. So, it’s highly likely that Goff goes to the air a lot on Sunday, hoping to pass his second-highest completion total of last week (22) and trying to start the motor of the offense as they race to the playoffs.
Running Back
Jahmyr Gibbs: Start, RB1
David Montgomery: Start, RB1
The Lions running game is absolutely barbaric. Between Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, this team can beat defenses into submission in the fact that they can use either at any given time and not see any difference in production. So far into this season, Gibbs has rushed for 464 yards, Montgomery for 382. The fact that both are able to catch a pass, or break a big rush is a luxury most NFL teams don’t currently have. Gibbs finished the game last week with 116 yards on the ground, and 2 touchdowns, while also catching all four of his targets. Montgomery, the touchdown magnet, only didn’t have one last week because he spent half the game out for injury, and in the end fumbled to lose some steam. That said, Montgomery has done everything this team has asked for and is not a handcuff, but a 1b to Gibb’s 1a.
Wide Receiver
Amon-Ra St. Brown: Start, WR1
Jameson Williams: IF he plays, FLEX Option, WR3
Kalif Raymond: Sit
The wide receiving core of the Lions showcased Jameson Williams in week one but has once again returned Amon-Ra St. Brown to his rightful place at the top of the wide receiver depth chart. After an opening week where he only came up with 13 yards receiving, he’s now surpassed 100 yards twice and has also caught a touchdown reception in four straight games. St. Brown was an end-of-round 1 pick or early round 2 pick this season, and it looks like he’ll likely continue on that trajectory if he and Goff can stay healthy.
Jameson Williams has not done much aside from a big week one, and while he has absolute star power rushing speed, he’s not yet consistent enough. What was potentially a top-30 wide receiver is now looking like he’ll only be that in half his games at best. He has surpassed 75 yards in 3 of his games but has also gone under 45 yards in 3 of his games. Williams will be an afterburner option down the sidelines, but he may not currently hold much more value than that. The tough part is that he also could take down 2 touchdown passes with 130 yards (and have that happen on just two passes). He also just as likely could disappear and show out for 1 reception on 18 yards. There’s seemingly no middle ground.
Tight End
Sam LaPorta: Start, TE1
Sam LaPorta was the #1 tight end for many people last year. He’s now just somebody that we used to know. The man who had over 5 targets in all but one game last season has only hit 5 targets once this season. That game with 5 targets he also ended at 5. It’s really hard to even tell what happened with LaPorta, as he catches almost every target that is sent his way. On the season, he has only dropped/missed 3 targets that have gone his way through week 7. So what do we do? Even with the influx of new tight-end talents like Tucker Kraft, Cade Otton, etc, there’s really no way you can’t start LaPorta when his ceiling is so incredibly high. There may also even be a sneaky sign that his stats are about to come, as he’s offered over 12 yards per target in each of his last 4 games. LaPorta just needs to see more targets. After players like Kalif Raymond and Tim Patrick have taken some shine away from Sam early in the year, it’s entirely possible that something with Goff starts to click, and LaPorta could basically double his targets. After writing all this out, I’m going to go try and buy low on LaPorta.