Saints @ Broncos
In a game that arguably should not have been played, the big story coming in was the Broncos’ quarterback situation. With every QB on the roster ineligible due to COVID and protocols, they had to turn to Kendall Hinton, a practice squad receiver who last played quarterback early in college. Predictably, facing an above-average defense, Hinton and the Broncos’ offense struggled mightily. The Broncos averaged a paltry 2.6 yards per play, had six first downs on offense, and committed three turnovers. The Saints didn’t do much of anything through the air themselves, but they ran the ball effectively throughout the game and cruised to an easy 31-3 victory. The Broncos will travel to Kansas City next week and, hopefully, their quarterback situation will be fixed by that point. The Saints will travel to Atlanta in a rematch of the game that was played a week ago.
New Orleans Saints
Quarterback
Taysom Hill: 9/16, 78 yards, 1 int, 3 sacks | 10 carries, 44 yards, 2 TDs
Taysom Hill faced a tougher defense this week than the Falcons a week ago. He really struggled to move the ball through the air. His timing was off most of the day with his receivers. Luckily, for the Saints, he was not needed to throw the ball as the Broncos could not muster any offense on the other side of the ball. His interception was a forced throw to a covered Michael Thomas that the defender easily tipped into the air that another defender picked off. He scored on two designed, short rushing touchdowns from within the five-yard line. His first touchdown can be seen below. The Saints could not have drawn up better situations for Hill’s first three starts. A poor Falcons defense twice and a Broncos team that cannot move the ball on offense. He will be in the low-end QB1 range next week thanks to his rushing upside.
Who else but Taysom Hill.#FantasyFootball | #Saints pic.twitter.com/LfiOb8Xj0D
— QB List (@TheQBlist) November 29, 2020
Running Backs
Alvin Kamara: 11 carries, 54 yards | 2 targets, 1 reception, -2 yards
Latavius Murray: 19 carries, 124 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 2 yards
As I pointed out a week ago, Taysom Hill is not good news for Alvin Kamara in fantasy. Mobile quarterbacks traditionally do not target running backs very much. Kamara has three targets in the last two games after putting up 80 in the team’s first nine games. Hill is also sniping goalline opportunities from the running backs. He has scored four red zone rushing touchdowns in the last two games. If you have Kamara you likely need to play him but he can’t be trusted to be more than an RB2 at the moment. The running back split looks more lopsided than it was. The split between Kamara and Latavius Murray was normal for the most part and then Murray got some of the garbage time work and Kamara did not. Murray did put the game away with his two touchdowns in the second half. His first one included a spicy cut back move as seen below that opened a huge hole to rumble through. Murray is an RB3/Flex option right now.
Latavius is off to the races. #FantasyFootball | #Saints pic.twitter.com/80r1LTFZTA
— QB List (@TheQBlist) November 29, 2020
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Michael Thomas: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 50 yards | 1 carry, 1 yard
Emmanuel Sanders: 1 target, 1 reception, 4 yards
Jared Cook: 2 targets, 0 receptions
Taysom Hill really struggled to move the ball through the air and wasn’t asked to do much in the second half. Once again, Michael Thomas was his favorite target by far and he wound up producing an okay floor game. Thomas is a solid WR2 with Hill under center. He has 18 targets in the last two games on 39 Taysom Hill passing attempts. The other receivers were afterthoughts on Sunday and should be avoided until Brees is back.
Denver Broncos
Quarterback
Kendall Hinton: 1/9, 13 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, 1 sack | 2 carries, 7 yards
Unsurprisingly, Kendall Hinton struggled against a tough Saints defense on Sunday. His only completion was on a screen pass to Noah Fant early in the second half. The Broncos also ran a good amount of wildcat offense. His two interceptions were poorly thrown and timed balls to his receivers down the sideline that were easily picked off. He can safely be avoided going forward if he is playing.
Running Backs
Melvin Gordon: 12 carries, 31 yards
Phillip Lindsay: 9 carries, 20 yards
Royce Freeman: 8 carries, 50 yards
There isn’t a lot to take from this game. The defense knew exactly what the Broncos were going to do and that was run the ball early and often. All three running backs got some work. Royce Freeman played more when Phillip Lindsay left with a knee injury in the second half. Keep an eye on that situation and the quarterback situation. Melvin Gordon is just a low-end RB2 or flex play at the moment. He had a nice game last week but has largely been bottled up in the last month.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Noah Fant: 2 targets, 1 reception, 13 yards
Jerry Jeudy: 1 target, 0 receptions
Tim Patrick: 2 targets, 0 receptions
The quarterback situation left the Broncos’ receivers with an impossible task today. None of them produced and they really should have been left out of your fantasy lineups. The matchup next week is promising against the Chiefs in what should be catch up mode for the Broncos passing offense most of the game. Keep an eye on the quarterback situation during the week. Fant would be a decent TE1 and Jerry Jeudy, or Tim Patrick would be solid WR3/WR4 flyers in the matchup.
— Kevin Taylor (@ktbeast918 on Twitter)