Week 5 Fantasy Reaction

When do Cam Newton fantasy owners start to worry? His future stat outlook: Erratic.

Photo: PDA.PHOTO

Ryan Mathews looked really good against the Saints. Of course I'm taking his performance with a grain of salt since it was the Saints, but Mathews definitely had his burst back and ran with a purpose and deserves to get even more than the 18 touches we saw from him against the Saints.
Devery Henderson's 8 catches for 123 yards will excite most fantasy owners who are looking for waiver wire help, but keep in mind that Lance Moore was out with an injury and Jimmy Graham was nowhere near healthy against the Chargers.
Whether or not his foot injury is severe, owners should beware with Ced Benson moving forward. Benson says he can walk on his foot and that everything should be okay, but injuries to the foot, toe or ankle usually mean a longer than respected time for full recovery.
Jordy Nelson owners are absolutely hating life with him right now. It's almost impossible not to start Nelson since he plays in a pass-first offense and since Greg Jennings is hurt, but Nelson has just one TD and has yet to get hit 100 yards receiving this year. Nelson had just 2 catches for 29 yards and has been 6 or more catches in just two games so far.
Many owners shy away from WRs who have rookie QBs throwing to them, but when the rookie has some talent, the veteran WR can often become a fantasy hammer. Last year, Steve Smith saw a resurgence with Cam Newton looking his way the entire season and the same thing is happening for Reggie Wayne who is clearly Andrew Luck's safety blanket. As opposed to Jordy Nelson, Wayne has 6 or more catches in all four of his games this year.
Maybe Dennis Pitta's hot start was simply a mirage. Over his last two games, Pitta has 3 catches for 22 yards and owners should now consider dropping him.
Jamaal Charles is running like a madman this season despite coming off of the ACL injury and the Chiefs certainly aren't afraid to use him. Charles is averaging 5.7 ypc over his last three games and has had 33, 17 and 30 rushes over those contests. Despite his success, I can't see the Chiefs continuing to run him at this pace. Either Peyton Hillis or Shaun Draughn are going to start racking up more carries.
Welcome back, Ahmad Bradshaw! Sure, he could find himself on the sidelines with one of his patented "nagging injuries", but for now, let's celebrate Bradshaw's 30 carries for 200 yards and a score. It's amazing what a dose of Andre Brown can do for the health and productivity of Bradshaw.
With Ramses Barden missing Sunday's game against the Browns, rookie WR Rueben Randle found himself in the lineup and leading the team in targets (9) and receptions (8). Moving forward, it's obvious that Victor Cruz will be Victor Cruz, but we still have to see how Hakeem Nicks' injury progresses. Outside of that, it's anybody's guess as to who will get the WR3 reps.
I took a "wait and see" approach to Rashard Mendenhall this week while evaluating his stock during sit/start questions, but after going for 81 yards and a TD on just 14 carries this week, it is safe to say that he's a solid RB2 moving forward.
While he's not raking it in from a yards per catch standpoint, Tony Gonzalez is still a surprisingly effective TE. Gonzalez has a TD catch in 4 of his 5 games this year and has 5 catches or more in every game this year.
Despite all the talk amongst fantasy pundits about RBs sharing carries in Washington throughout the course of the season, it is turning into a full-blown Alfred Morris affair. Morris has 100 carries to just 10 carries for all other RBs this year.
Cam Newton single-handedly willed me a to a fantasy football title last year, but I avoided him this year only because I thought he would be over-drafted or too expensive in auctions. I'm glad I missed out on him. Newton's passing yardage has gone down for four consecutive weeks and his statistical output has been wildly inconsistent. I expect Newton to improve, but his numbers will remain erratic.
You can look all you want for a diamond in the rough off of the Seahawks roster, but you won't find it. Russell Wilson definitely looks the part of a rookie QB and unless you are riding with the Seahawks defense or Marshawn Lynch, you have no business relying on any Seahawks.
Steve Smith may have seen a resurgence with Cam Newton at QB, but he's still not finding the endzone as much as you would expect for being such a talented and productive WR. Over his last 33 games, Smith has just 7 TDs.
It has to be disheartening for owners of Maurice Jones-Drew that their guy is averaging a solid 4.9 ypc, but can't get enough carries to be a legitimate factor as a RB1 this year. The Jaguars seem to be much more willing to take their chances with Blaine Gabbert throwing the ball and all that is doing is getting the Jaguars in a hole and forcing them to come from behind which means fewer touches for MJD.
In 3 of his last 4 games, Vikings QB Christian Ponder has had 35 pass attempts and he has thrown for 2 TDs in each of those three games. The Vikings trust Ponder thanks to his willingness to take care of the ball (2 INTS) and we are likely to see him continue to grow as a passer which means good things for Percy Harvin and Kyle Rudolph.
Remember after week 2 when the Patriots were phasing Wes Welker out of their offense and handing over his receiving duties to Julian Edelman? It took one injury to Aaron Hernandez and.... viola! Welker is back to crushing foolz. Welker has 30 catches over his last 3 games with yardage of 104, 129 and 142 to go with 1 TD.
If you don't see any similarity to Andre Johnson when you are watching Demaryius Thomas, then you aren't watching very closely. Thomas is averaging 17.1 yards per catch and with 3 games over 100 yards, it is just a matter of time before Manning figures out how to get him the ball more regularly in the redzone.
Frank Gore may not be the factor that people expected him to be in the passing game like he once was, but he is looking outstanding in the running game thanks to fresh legs and a powerful offensive line. Gore is averaging 5.4 ypc this year and has scored in 4 of his 5 games. As the season wears on, it will be interesting to see if Harbaugh holds Gore back at all and allows Kendall Hunter to take on some of that workload in order to keep Gore fresh at the end of the year.

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