Seattle Seahawks
Zach Charbonnet 80%
The Seattle Seahawks are one of those rare teams that makes fantasy players’ lives easier. Whenever one of their top two backs misses a game, they lean hard on the remaining, healthy back. That’s exactly what they did in Week 14 by giving Zach Charbonnet 29 opportunities.
Charbs was electric in this game, racking up a total of 193 total yards and two touchdowns. He led the team in targets (seven) while rushing the ball 22 times. This was an elite performance.
While Charbonnet certainly deserves credit, he was boosted by improvement in the offensive line. Football expert and known Seahawks fan, Mina Kimes, pointed this out on BlueSky.
The Seahawks finally had a good day on the ground—thought Charbonnet ran well, but watching back, the entire OL had their best game of the season.
They spammed GT counter over and over and guys just kept winning up front.
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes.bsky.social) December 9, 2024 at 7:29 AM
Kenneth Walker will probably return next week, so this improvement in O-line play will help both running backs. Unfortunately, the return of Walker likely splits the backfield, so we may not be able to enjoy the full-ride experience again until another injury.
Conclusion: Both Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet are viable plays if the Seattle offensive line improvement continues.
Los Angeles Chargers
Joshua Palmer 87%
The Chargers were without Ladd McConkey in Week 14, so they boosted the snaps of Joshua Palmer. Quentin Johnston’s routes and snaps remained mostly the same, but the Chargers used more tight ends to fill in for the loss of their top target.
Palmer played okay, going six for 78 against a decent Chiefs defense while leading the team in targets. His season average snap count was 63%, and his boost in field presence correlated with a boost in target share.
Still, the Chargers’ offense is probably below average, even with a very good quarterback. The running game is non-existent, and the team is trying to skate by on the strength of their defense. Palmer is usable without Ladd, but don’t expect big outputs.
Conclusion: Joshua Palmer is playable in a pinch when Ladd McConkey misses time.
New Orleans Saints
Kendre Miller 26%
Normally, we don’t write about players who barely played, but Miller is an exception because he received an opportunity on 61% of his snaps. That’s notable.
Miller’s 2024 has been largely injury-plagued. He also had to fight through the strange, undeserved hatred of Dennis Allen, but thankfully, that guy is out of town. Miller has only played in three games this season and hasn’t played since October 27th, when he received minimal usage (only three carries).
Week 14 was a shift for Miller. He was involved during the second and third drives of the game, even scoring a touchdown from eight yards out on the second drive.
His day was up and down though. While he did get in the end zone and saw 11 total opportunities (10 carries, one target), it should be noted that four of his 11 opportunities ended in negative yardage or no gain. He ended the game with only 32 total yards.
It seems that the Saints used more Miller to replace do-it-all, gadget player Taysom Hill this week, but Miller lacks the versatility. He’s an okay back on a bad team who would be instantly phased out of the offense if Hill was healthy. Hill was placed on IR, so this is Miller’s gig for probably the rest of the season. His extended tryout could be worth a gamble if you are desperate, but this is not the type of guy you want to rely on in the fantasy playoffs.
Conclusion: Kendre Miller remains ignorable, even without Taysom Hill in the lineup.
Cleveland Browns
Jerome Ford 56%; Nick Chubb 36%
Over the past two weeks, Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford have split the Browns’ backfield. However, Ford offers the Browns some passing game presence that Nick Chubb largely lacks at this stage in his career, which means he is playing more.
Still, Jameis Winston is not known to be a checkdown type of quarterback, so Ford’s opportunities remain limited. He saw four targets, but these chances resulted in very little (three catches for 19 yards). Also, he only managed 28 yards rushing on 10 carries.
In general, Jerome Ford’s usage is just bad news for all running backs in Cleveland. Nick Chubb only saw 12 opportunities that resulted in only 48 yards. In fact, the two backs together combined for less than 100 total yards.
Conclusion: The Browns’ offense runs through the passing game, which means neither running back is usable.
San Francisco 49ers
Isaac Guerendo 56%
Guerendo was not on the field nearly as often as Christian McCaffrey’s season average or even Jordan Mason’s average without CMC on the field. However, these numbers are a bit of a mirage. The 49ers absolutely clobbered the lifeless Bears on Sunday, and Guerendo took most of the fourth quarter off because the 49ers were ahead 31-6 at the end of the third. Also, a leg injury may have prevented him from playing more later on. The severity of the injury is unknown, so perhaps they pulled him as a precaution. We will have to see later in the week.
Guerendo looked great when he was the main guy. He scored twice and racked up 128 total yards on 17 opportunities (15 carries, two targets).
Still, it should be noted just how bad the Bears looked. At the end of the first half, they had accumulated only four TOTAL YARDS. The Bears had one first down and went three and out four times.
This was surprising. Historically, NFL teams play above their talent level the week after firing a head coach, but here, the Bears looked ready to pack it in for the season. Perhaps Eberflus’s firing occurred too late in the season for any rah-rah energy to take hold. The 49ers looked lifeless just two weeks ago against the Packers, so for this team to destroy a team coming off a coach firing was very surprising to me.
All in all, Guerendo looks like a fantastic pickup, ready to basically give you what Jordan Mason gave you at the beginning of the season. I am not convinced he will be this good against teams that aren’t playing like the walking dead, but still, the usage looks incredible.
Conclusion: Isaac Guerendo is an autostart if he is healthy.
from Fantasy Footballers Podcast https://ift.tt/alt4hIY
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