Seattle Seahawks @ Tennessee Titans
Final Score: Seahawks 30, Titans 24
Writer: Geoff Ulrich (@thefantasygrind on X/Twitter)
This game started slow, with the Titans making a long, 7-minute drive that came up just short of a TD. Then Seattle sputtered to a FG of its own. After the ‘Hawks got the ball back quickly, that was pretty much it. Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba just went crazy for about two quarters and ran the score up. That Titans, to their credit, got some points late to cut this to under a TD, but it was just garbage-time action. Despite the 24 points, not much about this Titans offense looked any different to me, although I do have a note about Cam Ward underneath, which is positive.
I won’t be spending a huge amount of time on the Titans because who wants to read about them, but Ward, Gunnar Helm, and Chimere Dike did have positive games.
Three Up
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba — Out of this world.
- Kenneth Walker — Finally, some consistent receiving usage.
- Cam Ward — Some positives, including better use of his legs.
Three Down
- Rashid Shaheed — Just an absolute nothingburger. Disappointing they haven’t worked him in at all.
- Elijah Arroyo — Very limited role, even with Horton out.
- Tony Pollard — Tough matchup, but poor day regardless.
Seattle Seahawks
Quarterback
Sam Darnold: 16/26, 244 Yards, 2 TD | 1 Carry, -1 Yards
This was a great bounce-back game from Sam Darnold. The Titans did a good job of limiting him on the first series, and then he came out and dropped a missile to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in stride when he was actually covered quite well on the play. Darnold followed that up with another TD to JSN, threading the ball in between two defenders from about the 20-yard line. The Titans were getting pressure and, once again, Darnold showed good resolve to stand in and find his man downfield. He might be the best pure pocket passer in the league right now.
Honestly, there wasn’t much action other than just these pinpoint midfield and deep-field throws from Darnold most of the game. He did hit AJ Barner a couple of times early and worked in Cooper Kupp a bit, but if JSN was open, Darnold just fired away to his WR1. Maybe eventually we’ll see Rashid Shaheed on some more deep post routes, but for now, the Seahawks seem content to use him on punt returns and screens. Either way, Darnold’s upside for fantasy remains elite with JSN healthy.
Running Back
Kenneth Walker III: 11 Carries, 71 Yards | 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 30 Yards
Kenneth Walker III had another strong game, especially considering he only managed 11 carries. This was the second game in a row where he caught a pass that went for 20 or more yards, and you get the feeling Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak has finally had his eyes opened up a bit as to what he can do with Walker in the screen game when the entire defense is focusing on stopping these Darnold-JSN hookups 15-20 yards downfield.
There was no TD in this game for Walker, which was disappointing given how big a favorite the Seahawks were, but he did get a rush inside the red zone, and that follows up last week’s game, where the ‘Hawks gave him a carry inside the 5-yard line and he scored. Walker has looked really good to me over the last month, and he’s a player I think is in for a big rest of the season.
Zach Charbonnet: 6 Carries, 35 Yards, 1 TD
Zach Charbonnet is starting to take a bit of a backseat in terms of usage. He didn’t get a target in this game, and this was his lowest carry total in weeks. The good news? He’s still the backup and clear handcuff, and had a couple of nice inside runs down near the Titans’ goal line before half. He also rushed in a solid five-yard run for a TD, on a drive where Walker did most of the work.
Charbonnet isn’t viable as a fantasy play unless Walker goes down, but he’s got a role on this team as the relief back and red-zone specialist. Overall, a much better real-life player and an important piece for Seattle, but not a huge fantasy asset at the moment.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 10 Targets, 8 Receptions, 167 Yards, 2x | 1 carry, 4 yards
Just a ridiculous game from Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and it started a little slow as well, with him not getting much action on the first drive. He’s not the fastest player, and his deep 63-yard TD pass came on a play where he barely had a step on the defender but outmaneuvered him for a catch and then stayed on his feet while the defender fell for the score. JSN just has such good body control and is also paired with a QB in Darnold, who might be the best deep ball passer (when he has time). It’s a perfect combo.
The TD pass will get replayed a lot this week, but there were other great plays as well, including multiple catches in tight windows where he made great moves after the catch to pick up yards, and another deep reception where he worked free from his defender to make it an easy throw for his QB. Outside of Ja’Marr Chase (and maybe George Pickens of late), I don’t think there is another WR that comes close to what JSN is doing this year.
Cooper Kupp: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 24 Yards
I think we all know what Cooper Kupp is by now for Seattle. He’s the sort of security blanket throw Darnold can look to 8-12 yards downfield when JSN is being covered or just needs a breather, and he’ll do a decent enough job of getting open and converting (but won’t give you much after the catch anymore).
It was more of the same vs. the Titans. Kupp came down with a couple of decent catches to move the chains, but nothing else. If JSN went down, he might matter for fantasy from sheer volume, but with JSN around, he’s not startable.
Rashid Shaheed: 1 Carry, 5 Yards | 2 Targets
Just a complete lack of anything from Rashid Shaheed. I would have figured that the Seahawks would have expanded his routes and maybe worked him in on some deep throws by now to counteract teams’ shadowing JSN too hard, but there was none of that here. If anything, this game was a step back for him.
It’s hard to change schemes midseason, and right now, Seattle seems content working him in slowly. Until that changes, he’s pretty much just a punt returner/screen-scheme player.
AJ Barner: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 18 yards
Had a couple of targets early on as Seattle took advantage of lax coverage, and then it was pretty nothing the rest of the game. He’s had his moments, but it usually comes when teams can slow JSN a bit and Darnold is forced to look elsewhere. There was no slowing of JSN this week, so Barner et al. suffered.
Elijah Arroyo: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 5 Yards
Tennessee Titans
Quarterback
Cam Ward: 28/42, 256 Yards, 1 TD | 6 carries, 37 yards, 1 TD
I thought this game represented a step up in play by Cam Ward. When pressure hit, instead of just taking a sack blindly or turning the ball over, he chose to move the ball more with his legs and which allowed the Titans to keep drives alive for longer. His rushing TD was a designed rush from the 5-yard line, where he juked and pushed his way into the end zone on an inside run, and it is possible there could be an attempt to work in more of these down the road. Ward is a big QB with decent mobility for his size, so it makes sense. I’m not sure why it took Ward so long to start running like this because the Titans’ O-line is terrible, but you could see the difference this week in his decision-making, and it also showed up on the stat sheet as he rushed for a TD and 37 yards. When you add in the zero turnovers and a passing TD, that made it a very solid fantasy day.
Ward still suffers from a lack of receiving talent, but he handled the pressure from one of the best D-lines in football very well this week. I expect we might see him break out a little over the last third of the season.
Running Back
Tony Pollard: 11 Carries, 20 Yards | 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 21 Yards
Tony Pollard ran into the brick wall that is the Seattle defense. You can pretty much pencil in any lead RB for a bad day vs. Seattle, but Pollard did still play quite a bit and matched Spears with four catches. There is zero rush by Tennessee to make a move to Tyjae Spears leading this backfield, so expect Pollard to be in his lead role again next week, despite the poor game.
Tyjae Spears: 3 Carries, 4 Yards | 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 21 Yards
Really didn’t do much of anything in this game. Had a longer catch early on, and then another catch that went for a 5-yard loss. He then added on two short catches during the Titans’ hurry-up, garbage-time effort late. Just a role player at this point unless Pollard gets hurt, but he does have good receiving skills and consistently gets 3-5 targets a game.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Chimere Dike: 7 Targets, 5 Receptions, 44 Yards, 1 TD | 1 Punt Return TD
Chimere Dike is really the only Titans WR worth talking about, unless Calvin Ridley makes a comeback at some point. The rookie slot receiver had another solid game, which included a 90-yard punt return TD that he took from his own 10-yard line, reversed course to the other side of the field, and then beat everyone down the sideline … a true thing of beauty. He also had another TD from short yardage as a receiver. Other than that, he was who Ward looked to the most with seven targets, most of which came as shorter routes from the slot with the odd deep target mixed in, including a nice 25-yard catch and run.
It goes without saying that Dike would likely work better (more efficiently) if the Titans had a true No. 1 receiver to play beside him, but until he does, you can count on him for 5-8 targets most weeks, especially as the Titans are always trailing.
Gunnar Helm: 7 Targets, 6 Receptions, 51 Yards
There was a pretty clear move this week to get Gunnar Helm more involved. He didn’t do a whole lot after the catch (his longest was 15 yards), but he secured almost all of his targets. The matchup was good for TEs, and both TEs went over 40 yards, but Helm saw more targets and was an effective security outlet for most of the games. The Titans have to go with two-TE sets a lot because of how thin their WR crew is, but if Helm ever got the job as TE1 to himself, he could pop for a big day.
Chig Okonkwo: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 40 Yards
Chig Okonkwo is still part of the story for the Titans, and a decent pass-catching TE, although we can see that Ward is starting to trust Helm more and more, given the target disparity in this game vs. a tough pass rush where Ward had to get the ball out quickly. Okonkwo does have good after-the-catch ability and brings a little more upside, as was evidenced on his 22-yard catch-and-run early in this game.
With Helm on the rise, his fantasy value is diminishing, but given all the injuries, he’ll likely still be a part of this receiving core by year’s end. It’s a bit of a no-man’s land for fantasy.
James Proche II: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 42 Yards
Van Jefferson: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 11 Yards
Xavier Restrepo: 6 Targets, 2 Receptions, 26 Yards