Game Info
Kickoff: Sunday, November 28 at 1:00 PM ET
Location: TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, Florida
Betting Odds: JAX +1, 46.5 Total on Oddshark
Network: FOX
Writer: Drew DeLuca (@DrewDeLaware on Twitter)
Atlanta Falcons
QUARTERBACK
Matt Ryan (Sit)
With no Julio Jones (Titans, IR) or Calvin Ridley (Falcons, IR) to bail him out, Matt Ryan has been embarrassingly bad this season behind one of the worst offensive lines in football. We see no relief in sight this weekend, as the Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the five stingiest teams in the league to opposing quarterbacks over the past three weeks.
Since their Week 7 bye, only Josh Allen has thrown for more than 200 yards against the Jaguars. It was Allen’s worst game of the season, a 9-6 loss in which he turned the ball over three times. During this same timespan, Matt Ryan has been the fantasy QB30 among signal-callers with 2 or more games played. Suffice it to say, Matt Ryan should not be benched this week: he should be cut in every fantasy football league that starts only one quarterback.
RUNNING BACKS
Cordarelle Patterson (Start, RB2), Mike Davis (Sit), Wayne Gallman (Sit)
We finally found something more disappointing than Mike Davis this November: sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner and watching your family bring this to the table:
Screw the turducken … This year it's all about the Cthulhu Turkey: It’s a turkey stuffed with octopus.
Blame @StanFinger for making me remember I saw this yesterday.
Anyone game? #ZeesAdventurous pic.twitter.com/Yu020Bn2oH
— Dzintra – Author (@DzintraSullivan) November 21, 2021
We’re sitting Davis and backfield mate Wayne Gallman due to lack of effectiveness and volume, respectively. However, we’re excited to welcome Cordarrelle Patterson back to fantasy lineups. According to The Sporting News, Patterson was nearly cleared to play against New England this past Thursday, so we anticipate he’ll be a full go this weekend.
Before going down with an injury, Patterson averaged over 15 touches per game from Weeks 5 through 9 and was a viable weekly starting running back during that span (RB20 among all running backs with 2 or more games played). Roll out Patterson in fantasy lineups without hesitation this weekend and expect solid RB2 production, thanks to his pass-catching proficiency.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
Russell Gage (Sit), Olamide Zacchaeus (Sit), Tajae Sharpe (Sit), Kyle Pitts (Start)
Russell Gage took the field for 74 percent of the Falcons’ offensive plays from scrimmage, his second-highest total of the season. Unfortunately, he was only able to parlay that into a 5-49-0 line. Gage is a deep, emergency, desperation flex play at best who offers little-to-no-upside, and as such, he’s the best that the Falcons wide receiving corps has to offer until Calvin Ridley returns from mental health leave. We simply can’t recommend starting Olamide Zacchaeus or Tajae Sharpe under any circumstances.
Kyle Pitts, on the other hand, should be started in all formats. The words “generational talent” were thrown around before the start of the season by many scouts, draft experts, and fantasy football analysts. Rookie wide receivers rarely produce, but despite landing in a terrible offensive situation made worse by Ridley’s departure, Pitts currently weighs in as the TE8 so far this season, with his best game of the season still presumably to come. Start him in all formats.
Jacksonville Jaguars
QUARTERBACK
Trevor Lawrence (Sit)
The Jacksonville Jaguars offense has been slightly more enjoyable than sandpaper underwear so far this season. Among all quarterbacks who played in two or more games over the past three weeks, Trevor Lawrence ranks as the QB32. Putting him in your lineup and expecting Top 12 numbers is like trying to light a fire by throwing a match at your fireplace.
From your kitchen.
Only bad things can happen.
Enter the Atlanta Falcons defense to the rescue: only the Washington Football Team has allowed more fantasy points per game to opposing fantasy quarterbacks so far this season. Do we think that translates to a great fantasy day for Lawrence in traditional 12 team leagues that start only one quarterback? No, but we do think he’s worth a look in Superflex or 2QB leagues.
RUNNING BACKS
James Robinson (Start, RB2), Carlos Hyde (Sit), Tavon Austin (Sit)
Snap share
touches
targets
efficiency
At some point, Urban Meyer and his coaching staff will figure out that Robinson’s involvement in the passing game will benefit the entire offense. Until then, we can’t expect Robinson to put up the RB1 numbers that so many fantasy managers had in mind on the heels of Travis Etienne‘s unfortunate preseason injury.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
Marvin Jones, Jr. (Start, WR3), Laviska Shenault (Sit), Laquon Treadwell (Sit), Dan Arnold (Sit)
We probably shouldn’t ignore the fact that Laquon Treadwell earned a 72 percent snap share last week, but we’re going to. We’ve seen this movie before, and we know how it ends: in fantasy disappointment. He’ll presumably try to pick up the pieces from Jamal Agnew‘s season-ending hip injury, but we’re looking elsewhere for fantasy production.
Marvin Jones, Jr. is the Jaguars’ WR1, and this is evident through his deployment: he has outpaced his fellow wide receivers in snap share each week this season. He’s the only Jaguars wide receiver we can consider starting with any degree of confidence at the moment. We see Jones as a low-end WR3 this week who should offer a stable, though unspectacular floor.
Seemingly lost in the “Fire Matt Nagy” and “Jason Garrett is Awful” noise has been Urban Meyer’s criminally incompetent deployment of Laviska Shenault. The former Colorado Buffalo has seen more than five targets in a game only once since Week 6, and this frustrates Jaguars fans and fantasy managers alike, about as much as “child-proof” packaging that requires the average adult to fetch a pair of scissors or a meat cleaver. Shenault’s game-breaking talent is rendered useless by Meyer’s heartbreaking game planning and play-calling.
For the sixth straight week, Dan Arnold was the clubhouse leader in terms of snap share among tight ends. However, he didn’t receive a single target last week against the San Francisco 49ers. Since earning the lion’s share of the Jaguars’ tight ends, Arnold has finished as the TE17 in PPR leagues. He’s had a couple of ups, but his downs have been ground floor level. Even though he’s sucked up over 76 percent of all tight end targets since arriving in Jacksonville, we can’t trust Arnold to produce Top 12 tight end numbers in this one.