Every year, we see players struggle who we expected to thrive. Every year, we see some of those players turn it around in spectacular fashion.
Welcome to Week 9 of the 2024 Footballguys Roundtable. Our intrepid panel of fantasy pundits discusses and debates four topics every week. We split the conversation into separate features.
This week's roundtable features these four topics:
- Week 9 Desperation Plays
- Good Things Ahead or Just One Good Week?
- 5 Players Being Written Off Too Soon (see below)
- Considering Nix, McConkey, and Bigsby
Let's roll.
Who Are We Writing Off Too Soon?
Matt Waldman: Consider these players who have struggled this year relative to expectations.
Pick two players who are being written off too soon for this year's fantasy season.
Matt Montgomery: The Dolphins' offense was abysmal in the weeks following Tua Tagovailoa’s injury. Now that he is back, we should expect the adage “rising tides raise all ships."
It may take a few weeks to get back to the normalcy we’ve seen from this offense, but fantasy football is a marathon, not a sprint. There needs to be patience here, but once it turns, it will be great for those with diamond hands who didn't sell their Dolphins offensive players, Waddle included.
Maybe this is low-hanging fruit considering the injury news to Stefon Diggs, but Tank Dell is immediately in a larger role on an offense that features an explosive number-one receiver in Nico Collins as well as an elite quarterback in C.J. Stroud. He will get a serious opportunity to showcase his abilities in multiple aspects of this offense and the opportunity increase alone is valuable enough to invest in him for the rest of the season.
Ryan Weisse: Calvin Ridley answered this question this week. We know he's talented, but this Tennessee offense is a mess. However, with DeAndre Hopkins gone, Ridley could rebound in fantasy if they force-feed him the ball like we saw in Week 8. They targeted him 15 times, and he finished with ten catches and 143 yards. That was good for a top-5 finish and certainly brings hope that he'll improve from his current 52 ranking.
Travis Etienne Jr. is another player I wouldn't give up on just yet. Yes, Tank Bigsby has played well in his stead, but it's not like we haven't seen good football from Etienne. Also, with the Jaguars' current woes at wide receiver, Etienne could come back and play a far more valuable pass-catching role to end the season. Even missing two games, Etienne has 18 more targets than Bigsby. Once he returns, that role will easily be his again, and it could be even more productive now.
Sean Settle: Sam LaPorta is in too good of an offense to be written off. We have watched the absolute turnaround of Mark Andrews in recent weeks and Trey McBride working back from a slow start. The Lions have simply not needed LaPorta to be the same player from last season yet, but his biggest games are ahead of him and not behind. There are a lot of mouths to feed in this offense, but we should expect more from LaPorta heading into the second half of the season.
Calvin Ridley just saw a huge boost in production with the trade of DeAndre Hopkins. Even with struggling quarterback play overall, Ridley commanded a 39% target share last week and had 13 targets. There is not much else to contend with for targets, and Ridley should be a volume-based play for the rest of the season. As the quarterback situation starts to resolve itself, Ridley should only see his production increase.
Joseph Haggan: I agree with Sean on both players. People are writing off Sam LaPorta far too early. He has not lit the world on fire with 20 receptions for 272 yards and two touchdowns.
Let's not forget the player he was last season. LaPorta was a top-three tight end as a rookie, which is unheard of. He finished his rookie year with 86 receptions,120 targets, and 10 touchdowns.
Jameson Williams' emergence has eaten into LaPorta's production, but he is out for another game. In the first game Williams missed, LaPorta had his best game of the season with 6 targets, 6 receptions, 48 yards, and a touchdown. Williams missing time could be the perfect thing to get LaPorta back on track and more involved in the offense.
Calvin Ridley should remain relevant because Tennessee has nowhere else to throw. They traded away Deandre Hopkins to the Chiefs and are left starting Ridley, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and Tyler Boyd in the slot.
The Titans look dedicated to force-feeding Ridley. He accumulated 32 targets over the past 3 weeks, resulting in 13 receptions. Mason Rudolph finally seems to have somewhat of a rhythm and rapport with Ridley. In Week 8, Ridley blew up. Ridley will have the volume for the remainder of the season; it depends on how Rudolph or Will Levis play.
Corey Spala: Calvin Ridley's target share and utilization in different alignments is telling. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has emerged over the last three weeks, yet I see no reason why Tennessee should not make Ridley their focal point of the offense.
Jaylen Waddle and Miami’s offense are benefitting from Tua Tagovailoa’s return. Notably, Waddle has struggled with drops, but my concentration is on the connection with his quarterback.
De'Von Achane has been utilized more as a receiver, and he has a higher target percentage than Waddle with Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa and Waddle have connected for 119 targets and 85 receptions over the last 17 games. I am optimistic Miami will make offensive changes and look to course correct on their 2-5 season.
Jeff Haseley: Sam LaPorter will rebound and be a key offensive piece to the Lions' game plan. The offensive output is also too good for him not to have decent games by default. Considering what he was able to do last season, one has to believe a strong offense and his skill set will eventually pan out.
Calvin Ridley is starting to click. He leads the team in targets by a wide margin (51 to 30) over Tyler Boyd. The NFC North has good matchups for wide receivers, and Ridley still has one to go against Minnesota in Week 11, plus two games on the docket against Jacksonville.
Waldman: Thanks for reading. Check out the links below for all of this week's roundtable topics:
- Week 9 Desperation Plays
- Good Things Ahead or Just One Good Week?
- 5 Players Being Written Off Too Soon
- Considering Nix, McConkey, and Bigsby
Good luck!