Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. Where does the man-crush on Virgil Green come from? Is it time to pull the plug on Sammy Watkins? And will Amari Cooper ever catch a touchdown pass?
Question 1
Virgil Green. You folks seem to be very high on an unproven talent. Where is the faith stemming from?
Robert Kelley (Scottsdale, AZ)
Including the preseason, so far they’ve thrown 18 passes his way. He’s caught 17 of them, with the only incompletion an underthrown ball that was knocked away before it got to him. How much more do you have to see? I believe he’ll continue to catch 4 passes per game, and that he’ll be regularly used on play-action around the goal line.
Question 2
What do you recommend for owners who are sitting on Sammy Watkins? Should we just drop him and pick up the best WR we can, such as Quincy Enunwa or Robert Woods?
Andrew Napoli (Springfield, VA)
I don’t mind holding an injured player if you know he’s coming back. Donte Moncrief, for example, will be a solid producer in the second half of the season – maybe a top-15 receiver. But with Watkins, I have little confidence he’ll get on the field at all. Can he get healthy? And if the Bills are kind of out it (a possibility), I would think they’d be very cautious about risking him having a further setback with his foot. Best-scenario is that he comes off injured reserve in Week 12, his foot feels great, and he’s a top-10 receiver for the remainder of the season. Very unlikely that happens in my opinion. I would rather have Enunwa or Woods.
Question 3
Long-time subscriber. I expected to see something, ANYTHING, in your re-drafter regarding Amari Cooper, who has been a disappointment this year so far. You STILL have him ranked as a top 10 WR. Can you expound on your reasoning? What is going on with him?
David Krug (Overland Park, KS)
When a player is failed to put up big numbers, go back to talent. Is he any good? Odell Beckham Jr. has been statistically disappointing this year. DeSean Jackson and Brandin Cooks have been off more often than on. Randall Cobb. Julio Jones was surprisingly lackluster in some of Atlanta’s early games. But these are all talented guys who have proven they can do it – they’ve done it in the past, and they’re not old guys who simply can’t play anymore. I see Cooper as one of those guys. He’ll get it going in a big way one of these weeks, and that could happen on Sunday against a Chargers defense that just lost its elite cornerback, Jason Verrett, for the season. The one annoying trait of Oakland’s offense is that they do seem to like utilize their No. 3 receiver, Seth Roberts, in the red zone. But Cooper I think is a Hans Gruber guy. You stick to the plan.
Question 4
I see a couple of guys that were ranked fairly high at preseason time and who haven't quite lived up to the rankings. Please address each; Jared Cook and Derrick Henry. In the case of the latter, I get that Murray is the primary but based on preseason and the beginning of the year, Henry was getting carries. He only had 3 last week and zero targets in the pass game the last two weeks. Is he another of the famous Alabama RB's that don't translate to the league? In the case of Cook, he had some prime matchups in the first three weeks and I know he got hurt but it doesn't seem to get the targets. Is this a function of Rodgers looking at Nelson first and Cobb second?
Phil Eichorn (Rocky River, OH)
I think Henry will be a good back. Just a matter of him having to wait his turn. DeMarco Murray is playing well right now, and he’s a more knowledgeable, experienced player. At some point Murray might get hurt, and then we’ll see Henry having the same kind of success. Murray hasn’t been particularly durable, so I see Henry as a very good handcuff back. With Cook, he’s down for about a month with a high ankle sprain, so I think you can cut him loose at this point. If you want him back, he’ll be there for you in a few weeks. There are lots of promising tight ends available. With the Packers, I think Richard Rodgers could be headed for a nice uptick. Their next three are all at home, and he’s really their only tight end right now. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if he scored in two of those three games. When both Rodgers and Cook are healthy and dialed in, I expect Cook to be the better of those two tight ends. He looked a lot better in the preseason. He put up a pretty ugly quarter against Detroit before getting hurt. They were trying to get him the ball. On one red-zone route, he and Aaron Rodgers didn’t seem to be on the same page. On the play in which he was injured, he let a ball bounce off his chest near Detroit’s goal line.
Question 5
Will you be updating the dynasty rankings soon? For example, Doctson just got dropped in one of my dynasty leagues and I need to know if he's still a promising fantasy starter for years to come or if he's already considered a bust.
JOHN BENNETT (Chino, CA)
I think Doctson is still pretty much the same guy Washington drafted. I saw him catch a long ball against the Cowboys, and they were targeting him in the red zone in that game. At the start of next year, Pierre Garcon will be gone, and maybe DeSean Jackson too (both are free agents at the end of the year). Doctson won’t help you this season, but that was expected. He almost certainly will be in the starting lineup for the opener next year. Periodically I revise that list. I will try to toss up wide receivers within the week.
Question 6
Four weeks in, is it time to panic? I thought my team was great. PPR League. Elliott, Miller, (Hyde, Crowell, Ware backups), Beckham, Cooks, Fitzgerald (Fuller, Hurns, Moncrief backups) and Reed (Rudolph backup). I have to start the studs every week right? Matching up Eli and Philip. Why am I 2-2? Just be patient, right? Please tell me everything's going to be alright!
Renee Harrison (Plantation, FL)
I think you’re going to be just fine. Beckham and Cooks have underperformed in most games so far. They will get things turned around. You’ve been fortunate with injuries. You’ve got Moncrief down for a little bit, but he’ll be back. Stay the course.
Question 7
I just dropped Watkins. How would you rate the following receivers? Inman, Sharpe, Woods, Crowder, Royal, Jaron Brown.
Kevin Toland (South Boston, MA)
I’d go with Royal. With Kevin White down, there are really just three main pass catchers in Chicago’s offense now: Alshon Jeffery, Zach Miller and Royal. Royal has been pretty reliable so far, and Brian Hoyer has been doing a solid job at quarterback.
Question 8
I have Brandon Marshall and Quincy Enunwa. Would you start both this week? My other option is Phillip Dorsett.
PAUL CHAWLA (Richfield, WI)
Maybe Dorsett hits for a touchdown. That would be your hope. He’s at home with a better matchup. But Marshall and Enunwa definitely should catch more passes. Eric Decker isn’t playing, so those guys might both see double-digit targets. So even with a more difficult matchup, they grade out higher than Dorsett. Easy call for catches and yards. In a TD-only league, they start getting more similar.
Question 9
So, a touchback comes out to the 25 now. Should be the 10, but the Goodellian NFL seems to want to take the "foot" out of football. OK, so question is, isn't a kickoff a "free kick?" That means, like after a safety, you can free-kick which includes punt, on-side, kick from a tee, whatever. Is that correct? If so, why not use a free-kick from the punter on kickoffs after a score or to begin a half, rather than give the other team the ball at the 25? Get more hang time, and pin them better than the 25 more often. Am I crazy?? Wait, yes, but please explain what I'm missing.
JOHN MACHO (Elko New Mrkt, MN)
Nice idea, but I checked the rulebook. Teams not allowed to utilize punt-style kicks for kicks. I see “A punt may not be used on a kickoff.” Ball may be placed on a tee, but it can not exceed 1-inch in height.
Question 10
Thank you for doing what you do. I have been using Fantasy Index for over a decade now. I have a QB question if you had to pick two of the three for starter and backup for the rest of the season which two would you pick from Cousins, Wentz, Prescott?
Jonathan Benintendo (Bethpage, NY)
Cousins would be my starter. Not a huge difference between the other two. Wentz is the safer choice, since the Cowboys in theory could put Romo back in the lineup. But I think Prescott is their guy, and I would go with him. When Washington is on a bye in Week 9, I would rather have Prescott (at Cleveland) than Wentz (at Giants).
Question 11
I have Jordy Nelson and a guy wants to trade Sanders and Crabtree for him, should I pull the trigger? I have Hopkins, Fuller, Shepard, Pryor.
Dan Shackleton ()
Sounds good to me. I consider both Sanders and Crabtree to be almost as good as Nelson. The only worry is that if you bring on another body, you’ll need to move one of those other receivers (and Shepard and Pryor are also viable pass catcher – not the kind of guys you would want to simply release). Green Bay is also playing its next three at home, where they tend to put up much better offensive numbers. You would have to work out an additional deal with another franchise to facilitate the trade.
Question 12
When you list “Possible Waiver Wire Targets” on your redrafter, it sure would be helpful if you at least listed their position. Really love this short list when I am short on time prior to waivers.
MARK BLANCK (Kansas City, MO)
Most of the guys you already know. Going forward, if there’s a more obscure name, I’ll toss the position and team on there.