Adam Trautman, Calvin Austin III, Elijah Moore, and Jalen Coker were all hot in Week 8. Will they stay that way?
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? (see below)
- 5 Players Being Written Off Too Soon
- Considering Nix, McConkey, and Bigsby
Let's roll.
Good Things Ahead or Just One Good Week?
Matt Waldman: These four players were hot last week.
Was last week a sign of good things to come or just a good one-week thing?
Jeff Haseley: Give me Calvin Austin III and Jalen Coker as two players who I believe have turned the corner into a respectable fantasy option moving forward. Austin has shown that speed and elusiveness are areas Pittsburgh wants to exploit. I expect Austin to continue to get opportunities to make plays moving forward.
Jalen Coker has replaced Jonathan Mingo in the Panthers' receiving corps, and with Diontae Johnson now shipped to Baltimore, he'll have an even bigger role. Yes, Adam Thielen will return soon enough, but Coker has adequate size and hands to be a mainstay for the Panthers, who are looking for emerging talent.
Corey Spala: Jalen Coker has good things to come, while the other three listed had a good week. Coker is the only rookie listed; in other words, we have multiple years to evaluate and understand a player.
Adam Trautman, Calvin Austin III, and Elijah Moore are veterans who matter more to their NFL team than our fantasy teams. This is not to diminish their production from Week 8; rather, it serves as a reminder not to chase points. These players may not provide the desired weekly consistency but rather have the spike weeks for consideration.
Coker would have had good things to come, even if Diontae Johnson was still in Carolina. Coker has been outperforming fellow rookie Xavier Legette in terms of yards per route run and receiving grade. The box score stats may soon reflect, too. Coker has the opportunity to claim the number one target in Carolina and has the efficiency desired to accomplish this task.
Joseph Haggan: Elijah Moore has always had the talent. The Browns traded for Jerry Jeudy and Amari Cooper in consecutive seasons, forcing Moore into a limited role. He has benefitted from the Cooper trade and Jameis Winston's promotion, earning 19 targets, 14 receptions, and 126 receiving yards. With Winston slinging the ball, he's delivering competent quarterback play to Cleveland for the first time all season. Moore could be huge for the remainder of the season.
Adam Trautman may have also earned himself more snaps moving forward. His receiving ability was never in doubt; he was not drafted to be a blocking tight end. The start of his career did not pan out.
Greg Dulcich is once again in coach Sean Payton's dog house and emerging rookie Lucas Krull missed time last week with an injury. Trautman had a big game with 4 receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown. Krull came back into the game and made two receptions, but Trautman made the more significant impact with a highlight-reel one-handed catch and chunk gains up the seam.
Jalen Coker appears to be the beneficiary of Diontae Johnson's departure from Carolina. He was heavily involved with the offense, receiving six targets, which he turned into 4 receptions, 78 yards, and a touchdown. The Panthers are in full rebuild mode, which should be great for Coker and fellow Rookie Xavier Legette's development. Bryce Young was back under center, and the rookies were the starting wideouts. It is going to be wild in Carolina to end the season.
Calvin Austin III has quietly had a productive season. He has been excellent in the return game and has provided brief sparks as a receiver. He also seems to be one of Russell Wilson's more desirable targets, maybe reminding him of a light version of Tyler Lockett. In the two games in which Wilson has taken the reigns, Austin has 8 targets, 4 receptions, 90 receiving yards, and a touchdown. Austin looks to be building chemistry with Wilson and could be a decent WR4 or bye-week filler in the right matchup.
Sean Settle: The tight end position is very thin with consistent scorers, but the recent play of Adam Trautman should be more indicative of things to come. Bo Nix continues to develop as a rookie passer, and this offense is rounding into form. They have some tough games coming up, but the Broncos have moved to a balanced attack. Plus, Trautman should benefit from no big-time receivers outside of Courtland Sutton.
Calvin Austin III is coming off a 2-touchdown performance against The Giants on Monday Night, but that is not the level of production we should expect going forward. This offense has looked good since Russell Wilson took over, but NFL defenses are quick to catch up after enough tape has been shown of any player. George Pickens is the main beneficiary and was a step from taking one of Austin’s touchdowns away. Expect this offense to go through Pickens and not Austin moving forward.
Waldman: I will note Austin was also wide open and begging three times for the ball in the end zone on a red-zone pass that Wilson uncharacteristically didn't see.
Russell Wilson will look at the tape and wonder WTF was in his eyes that he didn't see Calvin Austin III here. #SteelersNation pic.twitter.com/qvHicV80EP
— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 29, 2024
Settle: True, but that happens with every player on occasion. I don't believe Wilson will spread the ball around enough for Austin to stay hot.
Now, Elijah Moore has a good chance to keep his production going forward with Jameis Winston under center. The Browns will be a different team, and the ball will be flying. We should see a similar bump in production for pass catchers as to when Joe Flacco took over last season. Deshaun Watson truly looked like he was the problem, and we should be able to trust Cleveland pass catchers going forward.
Jalen Coker has good things to come as he is a rookie and had the biggest pass-catching competition ahead of him traded away. Diontae Johnson worked himself into a weekly starter, even in this bad offense, and Coker has the route-running ability to do the same. We may not see the results immediately, but he has a longer career window to prove it than the others.
Ryan Weisse: Adam Trautman and Calvin Austin III were one-week plays. Trautman benefitted from no receiver being able to get open behind Courtland Sutton, and he was still only targeted four times.
Big yardage and touchdown will always make for a great fantasy day, but I don't think Trautman can count on those results with this small volume every week.
Austin also finished with just four targets, which is his typical volume in this offense. This is only the second time he's hit double-digit fantasy points this season, and a punt return touchdown helped that along. You can't bet on that every week.
For Elijah Moore and Jalen Coker, it should be a sign of good things to come. The Browns are running a completely different offense with Jameis Winston.
Before Week 8, they hadn't hit 200 passing yards in a game. Winston earned over 300. With more volume and no Amari Cooper, receivers we'd written off will have to step up.
Moore and Cedric Tillman are great intermediate route targets for Winston, while Jerry Jeudy tries to take the top off the defense. There is plenty of work to go around when throwing this much, and eight or more targets for Moore should be the new norm.
If I had answered this question yesterday, I would have called Coker a one-week wonder, but the Diontae Johnson trade opens things up for him. The Panthers need to see what they have in their younger players, and Coker should be the team's number-two receiver for the rest of 2024.
Matt Montgomery: We have never seen Trautman string weeks like this along for long periods, and I don’t expect this week to be any different. He is a player we should celebrate having a good week but not concern ourselves with in fantasy.
Russell Wilson has added some juice to this offense, which should add value to all receivers. Eventually, we will see him build rapport with multiple weapons, and until we understand who the favorites are, we should be aggressive in adding players who show us good production early in his Steeler tenure.
I very badly want Elijah Moore to work. This situation reeks of short-term value increase, and while I believe this is a good thing, I am unsure how long this will last. He is worth a stash, but I have low long-term expectations of this offense.
Coker is getting great opportunities, and now that the team has moved off Diontae Johnson, he becomes even more valuable alongside Xavier Legette. The exciting part of this was he played the most snaps at the position, and we saw him produce in this spot. I believe he is more than a one-week wonder.
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!