Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. In this edition. Is it time to pull the plug on the likes of Donte Moncrief, Jeremy Langford and T.J. Yeldon? When will the Jets bench Ryan Fitzpatrick? The case for Jimmy Graham as a top-3 tight end. And much, much more.
Question 1
Is it worth it to drop struggling RB's such as Jeremy Langford and T.J. Yeldon for players like Dion Lewis and Kenneth Dixon? Langford is hurt and was looking like he was about to lose his grip on the starting role anyway. Yeldon couldn't do anything with his opportunity to start, and it looks like he will start giving away touches to Chris Ivory.
paul deutsch (Fargo, ND)
I like Yeldon and Langford more than both Lewis and Dixon. I saw Yeldon run effectively in the preseason. If and when they get their running game firing on all cylinders, I think he can be pretty good (even while sharing time with Chris Ivory). Langford, I think, could still return to being Chicago’s No. 1 back at some point later in the year. Neither of those guys are great, but there’s some value there. With Lewis, I have no confidence he’ll be anything more than a mediocre third-down type back in the second half of the season. I don’t think it’s likely they’ll use him too extensively. And with Dixon, I don’t expect the Ravens will go with a featured back anytime in the foreseeable future. It’s a bottom-10 running team, and I think they like using multiple backs. (So I believe we’ll see Dixon sharing time with Justin Forsett or Terrance West or both.)
Question 2
With Marshall, Decker and Enunwa the Jets arguably have the best trio of receivers in the NFL. However, Fitzpatrick is simply proving to be too inconsistent and turnover-prone. Do you hear any rumblings that the Jets may switch to Geno Smith (in a contract year), then switch to a more conservative offense which would obviously hurt the value of their receivers considerably?
Andrew Paterson (Ferndale, WA)
Fitzpatrick needs to win some games. (He also needs to stop throwing interceptions.) The schedule doesn’t help him. They’ve got Seattle this week, followed by trips to Pittsburgh and Arizona, and a return home for the Ravens. Those are all tougher games. But if the Jets want to be a playoff team, they’ll have to win some of those kind of games. They’re 1-2 right now. I think if they drop to 1-5, with Fitzpatrick not playing well, they’ll probably be thinking about sticking in Geno Smith or Bryce Petty. Christian Hackenberg is definitely a year away. Petty was better than Smith in the preseason.
Question 3
Why are you waiting so long to make Jimmy Graham a top 3 tight end? I assume because you feel that prior to the injury he was not a top-3 since being traded to Seattle. Let us examine this. Seattle was an offensive monster when they traded for Graham and he was not a good fit. They were a running team with Lynch and had a mobile and talented QB with a nice passing game. There was no need for a grade-A tight end; they were well balanced. They are different now, the running game is below average and I don't think they want Wilson running as much (injuries) and the secondary WRs are not special. This means defenses can focus more and gamble more. Defenses can challenge and take chances now. There is no Lynch to burn you or Wilson you have to watch. This is going to make the playbook lean heavily on Graham. He is a great fit now. They need to make defenses pay if they favor Baldwin or stack the line and Jimmy is talented and experienced. And he was not as bad as people think even when Seattle was Lynch's team.
Yaesha Newman ()
Maybe. We’ll see. He’ll definitely more up on my board if he plays well on Sunday against the Jets. Bu I don’t expect Seattle’s offense will play particularly well in that game.
Question 4
After reading your glowing comments about Stefon Diggs, I have made a trade offer for him in both my keeper leagues. Do you think his stats would be similar with Bradford and Bridgewater?
James Costello (Portland, ME)
He looks like an up-and-comer to me – a guy who’s going to be a top-10 type receiver for a bunch of years. And I think he can be productive with whoever they put at quarterback. With Bridgewater, I saw him catch 5 for 71 in the first half of the exhibition game against the Chargers. With Sam Bradford, he torched the Packers. And with Shaun Hill, he catch 7 for 103 at Tennessee.
Question 5
Hey Ian - first of all thanks for doing a great job. You are always consistent and offer your subscribers great information. Can you put together another dynasty ranking list based on the past 3 weeks of football? I have some decisions I am trying to make in a 12-team league (standard scoring). I'm looking into the next three years having one of these guys: Dak Prescott, and I have an opportunity to jump on Carson Wentz. Wentz has really been surprising. Who would you want the next three years?
phillip podret (Metairie, LA)
They both look good, but I think Wentz is a notch better. He’s really hit it out of the park in his first three starts. If you were walking into a dynasty draft today, I would expect he’d be one of the first 10 quarterbacks chosen. I posted a revised quarterback list on Wednesday, he was No. 5, just ahead of Jameis Winston. Prescott also looks strong, but it’s a little different. Is he even starting for Dallas two months from now? Maybe. I’m sure the Cowboys are thinking about it. But Dallas might decide it would be better for 2016 with Tony Romo starting and Prescott being their No. 2. And even when the Romo issue is resolved, I think Wentz is a little better.
Question 6
Now that guys like Charles and Bell are coming back, I've been offered Ware (value going down with Charles' return looming) for D.Williams. Williams has proven he's a top-5 RB if Bell were to get hurt, so huge value to a Bell owner. If you were to give up D.Williams to the Bell owner, would you rather get Ware or Howard in return? Or would you hang onto Williams? My other RBs are David Johnson, Blount, and Crowell (I also have McKinnon).
Rich Wiegard (Frisco, TX)
I’m not a big Howard fan. At Dallas, a blitzing linebacker got stuck in traffic on his first play, allowing him to run for 36 yards. Every running back in the league would have run for 30-plus yards on that play. I saw a nice, tackle-busting 14-yarder. His other 7 attempts resulted in minus-5 yards. He’s a big guy, I guess, with some downhill-runner traits, but I think the Bears are one of the worst handful of teams in the league, and that they’ll also use other backs in most of their games. Jeremy Langford, when healthy, is probably better than Howard. KaDeem Carey is similar to those guys. To me, Howard is more of a warm-body type running back, fitting better with a fantasy team that’s desperate right now for a running back who can be plugged into a lineup in Weeks 4-6. You have other running backs, so I would think you’d be more interested in a back who can be really good with an injury to another player. DeAngelo Williams is of course great. Spencer Ware is also very good, and there’s probably a better chance of Jamaal Charles missing some games. Ware also should have some week-to-week value; I think he’ll be their goal-line back even when Charles is healthy.
Question 7
I was wondering what I should do with Donte Moncrief, I have Hopkins, Allen Robinson, DeSean Jackson, Josh Gordon and Cole Beasley. We are a 10-team PPR league. I could use another RB, having only McCoy, Crowell, Melvin Gordon, and Ryan Mathews. I am kind of wanting to stash Mathews for a couple more weeks, to see how many carries he gets, but I think I need to bring in more RB talent.
John Williams ()
With Josh Gordon entering rehab, I think he can go at this point. I would also think about parting ways with Ryan Mathews. They’re using four different tailbacks in that offense, and I have essentially no confidence they’ll use Mathews in any measurable way in the passing game. That’s huge in a PPR format. Moncrief will miss another few weeks, but you have some confidence that when he comes back he’ll be a viable player.
Question 8
I can start three wide receivers in my ESPN standard scoring league. I can choose from among A.Robinson, L.Fitzgerald, T.Benjamin, E.Decker, DeSean Jackson and D.Moncrief. In which weeks, if any, should I expect to start A.Hurns? I'm aware that TD regression was expected, but at this point his seems like a wasted roster spot.
Dan Shipley (Black Diamond, WA)
As of today, Hurns isn’t necessarily starting games. But it’s a fluid situation. No doubt there will be injuries along the way. Moncrief is already down, Decker has a shoulder problem, and Jackson has been a little dinged in two of his three games. Hurns might score in two or three straight games at some point, changing the way you view him.
Question 9
I have to make this decision by Friday. Standard league, 10 teams, they want Crowell and they are offering Brandon Marshall.
MICHAEL BAKER (Jamestown, OH)
According to my projections, Crowell is worth about 1 point per week more than Marshall. But the way the positions shake out, Marshall comes in as a top-10 wide receivers, while Crowell grades out at about 15th among running backs.
Question 10
Off to a decent start. While Brees has been doing fantastic is there a concern that their season is almost already down the crapper? Wondering if I should look to off him and someone like Crowell for Manning/Gurley. Also, I'm getting several offers for J.Hill. Is he worth Gronk and living with Crowell/Yeldon as alternate rb2's? Already have Rudolph/Witten.
Bill Petilli (Harrison, NY)
With Sam Bradford at quarterback, Kyle Rudolph is catching a lot of balls, and he’s also very good in the red zone. I don’t think I would want to mess with that. You’d be taking on the Gronkowski injury baggage to probably get better at tight end, but you’d be sacrificing your all-valuable depth at running back.
Question 11
Witten or Doyle? I am also carrying V. Green and hopefully he will be in the mix soon but not this week, right?
David Hogshire (Plymouth, MN)
I’m going with Witten over Doyle, especially with Dez Bryant being banged up. The Dez injury might help Witten see a few more targets in the red zone. But I would still take Virgil Green over both of them.