The fantasy playoffs are here! And if you are reading this, I imagine you are in. Congratulations! But now is not the time to let off the pedal. Each win is critical down the stretch, and your opponents from here on out are only more imposing.
Alfredo Brown and I dove deep into some of these players (Sincere McCormick and Kendre Miller, specifically) on yesterday's episode of The Footballguys Fantasy Football Show. Check it out here, and please subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes!
Three Up
QB Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
The race for MVP likely comes down to Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Saquon Barkley. But Sam Darnold’s Week 14 performance, coupled with an 11-2 record, has thrust him up to sixth in MVP odds. Darnold’s expectations coming into the year was that he’d be a league-average bridge as they got rookie J.J. McCarthy up to speed. But a preseason injury opened the door for Darnold, and he isn’t leaving the room. You don’t have to look beyond the box score to see how well he played last week. He completed 22-of-28 pass attempts for 347 yards, five touchdowns, and no turnovers. Beyond the gaudy numbers, though, he looked poised and confident. He was layering throws through every level of the defense. When the deep ball was open, he fired without hesitation. When it wasn’t, he checked it down with precision. The targets were hyper-funneled to his best playmakers. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and Aaron Jones combined for a whopping 93 percent target share. With a very soft remaining schedule against Chicago, Seattle, and Green Bay, confidently plug Darnold in as your weekly QB1.
RB Kendre Miller, New Orleans Saints
It’s been an arduous start to Kendre Miller’s career. Injuries wrecked his rookie season, only allowing him to amass 273 yards over 51 touches in eight games. His sophomore campaign wasn’t off to much of a better start, as he struggled for meaningful play time in between two IR stints. The second placement on IR was a head-scratcher, as there wasn’t an apparent injury. After head coach Dennis Allen was fired, Kendre Miller was reported to be healthy. His 21-day practice window was opened, and he immediately began logging full practices. And his first game back came in the wake of a season-ending injury to Taysom Hill, meaning the opportunity would be there. The 11 touches he garnered were the third-most of his career. Kamara saw 22 touches, which is in line with his season average. However, Kendre Miller looked NFL-ready for the first time in his career, like the player we had watched at TCU. He didn’t have many explosive plays, but he displayed good hands in the receiving game (technically a backward lateral, but you get the idea). His contact balance was regularly on display and he almost never went down on first contact. The power was evident when he pushed a pile into the end zone. The speed showed up in a busted wide-zone run, and he was able to turn upfield for a seven-yard gain. And the one time he did get into the open field, his wiggle caused a defender to grasp at the air as Kendre Miller darted upfield. Kamara is second in the league in touches. He’s 29. The Saints season is essentially over. Don’t be shocked to see the Year 2 back get a bit more run in these final weeks. The Saints have a cakewalk schedule for running backs over the next few weeks. If Kamara has to miss time for whatever reason, Kendre Miller could be a top-15 weekly option.
RB Sincere McCormick, Las Vegas Raiders
After writing this column for the last few seasons, I don’t think anyone has ever graced the “Three Up” section in back-to-back weeks. And I certainly didn’t expect Sincere McCormick to be the first. Last week, I noted McCormick’s big-play upside, which no other running backs in Las Vegas have displayed this season. It’s not that McCormick is the biggest or strongest guy on the field, but he’s a natural runner. He knows how to press leverage at the line and get skinny through creases. Zamir White is on IR. Alexander Mattison is dealing with his own injuries. Ameer Abdullah is a ten-year vet with little left in the tank. McCormick has seen his workload increase in each of the last three games. Don’t be surprised to see head coach Antonio Pierce lean on the third-year running back through the remainder of this season.
Three Down
WR Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
You’re still starting Cooper Kupp. The weekly upside is impossible to ignore. But he is very clearly the WR2 behind Puka Nacua. Nacua is not only garnering more usage, but he’s much more efficient with his touches. Kupp is 31 and coming off a litany of injuries. While Nacua isn’t a beacon of health himself, he’s still just 23. After a ramp-up game in Week 8 and an ejection in Week 9, Nacua has been a full-time player. He’s the WR2 in fantasy. Kupp is the WR7 over that stretch. But Kupp’s production feels a bit fraudulent. He had a vintage blow-up game against the Patriots. But he was bailed out by fourth-quarter touchdowns in two other games against the Eagles and Bills. In the one game since Week 11 that he’s failed to catch a touchdown, he had just three catches for 17 yards. Nacua averages 12.8 opportunities per game (targets and carries) to Kupp’s 8.4. He has clearly taken over as the team's primary receiver, and the offense runs through Nacua. When on the field, the Matthew Stafford-Kupp connection can still be lethal. And while the production is still there (thanks to touchdowns), the usage is slipping. Going forward, you probably don’t have a better option to start than Kupp, but he has fallen into the boom/bust WR2 tier.
RB Travis Etienne Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars
He was the RB3 in PPR scoring last year. He was drafted highly going into this season. But you can’t even think about putting Travis Etienne Jr. in your lineup right now. The lead back in Jacksonville is Tank Bigsby. I could bore you with all the numbers. But I won’t. Just know that Bigsby is besting Etienne in almost every metric that matters. And in Week 14, we saw the changing of the guard. Bigsby had 20 opportunities. Etienne had eight. Etienne was a first-round pick during the Urban Meyer era, and that high draft capital insulated his workload for quite some time. But as the heat of Doug Pederson’s seat cranks up, he’s going to lean on the back that can help him retain a job. And right now, the better back in Jacksonville is Bigsby.
RB Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs
He looked like a waiver-wire savior briefly, but Kareem Hunt is droppable now. Fresh legs in the middle of the season duped us into believing he had rewound the clock. But his efficiency quickly started to wane. The five touchdowns in his first five games kept us plugging him back into our lineup. We knew it would be a short-lived fling, and the time has unfortunately ended. Isaiah Pacheco returned from IR two weeks ago and was eased into his role. But he was back to his usual workhorse self in Week 14. Hunt was relegated to being a cog of the RB2-by-committee machine with Samaje Perine and Carson Steele. Hunt can safely be released to waivers for a player with more immediate value.
Follow me on Twitter/X @DaveKluge to see my recent film breakdown on Kendre Miller!
