Titans@Broncos
Game Info
Kickoff: Sunday, October 12th at 4:25 PM EST
Location: Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, Denver, CO
Betting Odds: DEN -2, 39 Total via Oddsshark
Network: CBS
Sleeper Spotlight: A.J. Brown
Tennessee Titans
Quarterback:
- Marcus Mariota (Sit, low QB2)
Through five games, Mariota is the QB15 in fantasy football. Mariota has been sacked at least four times in four of his five starts this season. The Broncos lost promising pass-rusher Bradley Chubb to injured reserve after week four and have the 31st adjusted sack rate in the league so far. Mariota should have a reasonably clean pocket for this game. The Broncos defense has yet to allow a top-12 quarterback finish. Gardner Minshew with his QB14 performance in week four being the highest to date. On a team that wants to run the ball more than they throw (Tennessee is 30th in passing plays per game) and are going up against a strong passing defense, Mariota should be avoided in all standard leagues.
Running Backs:
- Derrick Henry (start, RB1/2)
- Dion Lewis (Sit, end of bench/wire)
Henry is the RB10 in PPR leagues this year and has 100 yards and/or a touchdown in 10 straight games. He has a good shot to continue that with his matchup this week. The Broncos have given up a healthy 4.7 yards per carrying and tie for the lead-league with seven rushing touchdowns allowed. Henry is seeing the field more and more as the season has progressed. Logging season-high in snap percentages the last two weeks with 75% and 61% of the snaps played. With bankable usage (21 touches per game) and a great matchup on hand Henry should be looked at as a low RB1 or high RB2 this week. Lewis has a high of eight touches this year and averages about four per game. He should be an end-of-bench stash or on your waiver wires.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
- Corey Davis (sit, WR5, wire)
- A.J. Brown (sit, WR4/5)
- Adam Humphries (sit, wire)
- Delanie Walker (sit, TE1/2)
- Jonnu Smith(sit, wire)
This Titans receiving corps has been very inconsistent so far this year. Brown is their top producer and is only the WR48 in fantasy and Davis is the WR61. Davis, Humphries, and Brown have 22,21, and 19 targets on the season respectively. That puts Davis at 90th in NFL in targets so far this season. Humphries has over 30 yards once this season and Davis has one game over 50 yards this season. Davis may also be shadowed by premier cornerback Chris Harris Jr. Brown played a season-high 65% of the snaps last week and is the guy to own out of this receiving corps. He is third in the NFL in yards per target and second in yards per reception. None of these receivers should be in your lineups this week. Walker has played less than 45% of the snaps the last two weeks while getting out-snapped by MyCole Pruitt and Smith. Garnering only four targets in these last two games, Walker still leads the Titans in targets with 25 on the season. He can’t be trusted in your lineups with his decrease in playing time and poor usage trends.
Denver Broncos
Quarterback:
- Joe Flacco (Sit, Low QB2)
Flacco is the QB20 through five games in fantasy this season. After a promising week four against the Jaguars (303 yards and three touchdowns) he went back to game-manager status and attempted 20 passes against the Chargers. Flacco has the fourth-lowest average intended air yards at 6.4, which is right above Teddy Bridgewater and right below Chase Daniel. Tennessee has a pretty good pass rush as they are fifth in adjusted sack rate and match up against the Broncos offensive line that is tied for 22nd in sacks allowed on the year. Like Mariota, Flacco can be avoided in standard fantasy leagues.
Running Backs:
- Royce Freeman (start, RB2/3)
- Phillip Lindsay (start, RB2/3)
The Broncos remain committed to this two-man running back by committee. Freeman and Lindsay have both been fantasy viable options so far. Lindsay is the RB12 and Freeman is the RB27 and that is largely due to Lindsay’s three touchdowns to Freeman’s zero. They split things pretty evenly across the board. Targets are 23>21 Lindsay, red-zone looks are 15 >12 Lindsay, and Freeman has logged more snaps the last two weeks 59>53. Lindsay has gotten 15+ touches in four of five games and Freeman has done the same in three of five games. The Titans have given up a decent 4.4 yards per carry on the year but their defensive line is fifth in running adjusted line yards. Not a great matchup but not imposing, both Freeman and Lindsay are in play as low RB2/ high RB3 types.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends:
- Courtland Sutton (start, strong WR2)
- Emmanuel Sanders (sit, flex)
- Noah Fant (sit, Mid-TE2)
- DaeSean Hamilton (sit, wire)
Sutton has taken over as the clear number one receiver in Denver. He has quietly been the WR10 in PPR leagues through five games. Sutton has had at least seven targets in every game and is seventh in the NFL with 38.9% of his team’s air yards. He also has the most red-zone receptions in the league with seven. Flacco is looking for him often (14th in the NFL in targets), in the red zone and downfield. Sutton is a strong WR2 for me this week. Sanders surprisingly only had one target last week even though stud corner Casey Hayward was shadowing Sutton. It is a concern that Sanders may be slowing down with only 14 targets the last three games and he played a season-low 64% of the snaps in week five. Hamilton played a season-low 52% of the snaps last week and can be ignored in redraft leagues right now. Fant only saw one target last week in a game where Flacco threw the ball only 20 times. He has played over 60% of the snaps every week but has only 16 targets on the season to show for it. He is nothing more than a mid-range TE2 right now.
–Kevin Taylor (@ktbeast918)