Hits and Misses Week 3
My week 3 recap of my Studs & Duds article is here. In this one, I will see what calls I got right and the ones I got wrong. Last week I hit on 5/12 picks and hoped for better calls for week 3. There were tons of break out stars this week including Calvin Ridley, Carlos Hyde, Chris Carson, Jared Goff, Tyler Boyd, and Robert Woods. I am going to start taking riskier picks as the season progresses. Two of my players that I picked as Duds this week ended up being inactive. There will be no analysis for them, I just hope you avoided them like I said too. Lets get this started.
HITS:
QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick (STUD)- At halftime I did not think this one was going to hit at all. He looked brutal. Fitzmagic seemed to lose all of that magic he had in past weeks and was Fitztragic. He threw 3 interceptions in the first half and just looked lost against this Steelers defense. It was shocking to say the least. He came out and lead the Buccaneers to an almost comeback during the second half. He erased a 20 point deficit to get within 3 points of the Steelers. He finished as the QB3 this week throwing for 411 yards and 3 TD's. His second half performance was insane. I thought they were going to win it, but the Steelers held on. He may have a tough game up against a great Bears defense in week 4.
RB: Jordan Howard (STUD)- I said he was going to score his first TD this week and he followed through. He finished his day with 16 PPR points which was good for RB15 this week. He wasn't used in the passing game like I was expecting, but he did turn out to be a solid play for you this week. He had 61 yards on the ground and 20 yards through the air. He had a massive touch count and should be used as a RB1 going forward.
WR: Adam Thielen (STUD)- Here was the only bright spot for the Vikings this Sunday. If you haven't seen the score, they got beat on by the Bills... Something everyone expected right? One of the biggest upsets in the last decade was puzzling to everyone. Even in a game where Kirk Cousins was terrible, Thielen still caught 14 passes for 105 yards. He finished as the WR6 this week. His teammate Stefan Diggs got bottled up all game so Kirk was constantly looking Thielen's way. He will continue to be a WR1 this year in one of the best offenses in the league.
QB: Russell Wilson (DUD)- Another week listing Wilson as a dud, another hit is in the books. He won't be posted on here again next week, as I think he may turn things around. He failed to throw for over 200 yards in this game. If you started him this week he saved you with 2 touchdowns. He finished as the QB18 this week, 4 spots lower than where I had projected him. He has continued his slow start of the season, but better days are ahead.
WR: Larry Fitzgerald (DUD)- The future Hall-of-Famer was the definition of a dud this week. He was held to 2 catches for 9 yards. He did absolutely nothing in this game. He was locked up all game, while his teammate Christian Kirk caught 6 passes. This offense looked awful once again with Bradford under center. They eventually benched him in favor of rookie Josh Rosen. FINALLY! It is a step in the right direction for this offense to get back in rhythm.
WR: Josh Gordon (DUD) & TE: Jack Doyle (DUD)- Both players were inactive and made no impact for teams this week. If you held out to start Gordon you were frantically looking for another option on the Sunday night game.
Misses:
RB: Sony Michel (STUD)- I was all in on Michel to have a monster game last Sunday. Game script just didn't allow it to happen. The Patriots were trailing all game long to the Lions. It was promising how much he was used in this game. He had 14 carries for 50 yards, adding one catch. He had a 48% snap count in this game and the Patriots tried to get him going. I think it was in their initial game plan to get Michel rolling Sunday night, but the Lions just took away all hope. Even after this disappointing game, I am still actively trying to acquire him.
WR: Amari Cooper (STUD)- I fell into the Cooper trap as I had done all last season. If you have looked at my 32 players I love this year, you will find how Cooper continually burned me last year. Here was another week. He had 2 catches for only 17 yards. He was completely fazed out, only getting 5 targets. This may be a common theme all season long. He is a boom or bust WR3 for me moving forward.
TE: Trey Burton (STUD)- He honestly had a solid week and most people could say he wasn't that bad of a miss. He finished his day with 4 catches for 55 yards. With how bad TE play has been this year, I would take that all day. The reason why I am putting him as a miss is because he finished as TE17. He is in for better days, maybe beginning this week where I have him ranked as the TE4.
RB: David Johnson (DUD)- A common theme of my misses is touchdowns. It is what saved DJ this past week. He only had 31 yards rushing but added 4 catches for 30 yards and a TD. He finished as the RB12 this week which is still RB1 territory. He was able to put together 16 points this week and should continue to have decent weeks going forward. As I said with Larry Fitzgerald, the QB change can benefit this offense.
RB: Alex Collins (DUD)- Yet another player who got saved by touchdowns. I was honestly surprised that he had a redzone carry with how they have been using Buck Allen. He did have a promising 21 touches, so he could be back to being used as a work horse back. He had 74 total yards while scoring a TD. He finished with 15 ppr points this week. If he is able to maintain this amount of touches, he will be back in the RB2 conversation.