Fantasy Football Twitter Reactions – Week 6

Each week I will be walking through the Twitterverse extracting some of the best commentary from trusted fantasy football minds and delivering to the general public.  Twitter can be overwhelming with the amount of information that streams live, but it also proves to be one of the fastest and easiest ways to communicate.  In 140 characters or less you can learn something about a player you would have never thought to analyze.  Trends, stats, analysis and simple suggestions pour out weekly after the NFL action is completed and below are some of the highlights to consider when hitting the waiver wire or seeking trades to win your fantasy championships.

Trent Richardson, Colts – Richardson has averaged under 50 yards and scored 0.5 TDs per week since joining the Colts.  Most owners are likely pretty nervous and Rotoworld’s Evan Silva (@evansilva) is urging you to embrace the slow start stating, “Colts run game couldn’t get volume last night due to loss of TOP but looks on verge of breakthrough. TRich had some excellent 2nd-half runs.  If we re-draft today, Trent Richardson is inarguably 1st-round fantasy pick. Obvious guy to target in trades.”  Trent’s value is pretty low so feeling out his owners for a trade is advisable.

Antonio Brown, Steelers - Mike Braude (@BraudeM) offered the following on the receiver, “Antonio Brown is having an amazing year. Currently the top WR according to PFF, he's caught 41 of 50 targets with just 1 drop.”  Josh Moore’s (@4for4_Josh) also commented that “Antonio Brown Averaging 10 catches, 12 targets per game since going all squeaky wheel after W2. On pace for 131-1594-6.”  Brown is not always a TD machine, but showed even this year he can have the big games while remaining very consistent week to week. 

Aaron Rodgers, Packers – Averaging 275 and a single TD might be ok for some guys, but it is not expected from Rodgers.  Another player owners are likely concerned, but as Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom) tweeted, “Was worried about GB off becoming conservative, hurting ARodgers value until I saw MIN-CHI-PHI-NYG-MIN run coming up on schedule.”  The Packers QB should increase his fantasy stats in the coming weeks, but the loss of Cobb does dampen his outlook slightly as the Packers continue to run more.

Marques Colston, Saints – Jimmy Graham gets game-planned for and taken out of the game and Colston still can’t get anything going.  Outside of the top 30 WRs his value continues to sink.  As Chris Wesseling (@ChrisWesseling) tweeted, “WR Marques Colston has a 78/1,023/7 line over his last 16 games. His line from the 16 games prior: 98/1,469/10.”  5 straight games without a TD and Colston is proving to be a major disappointment for anyone relying on him for weekly production.

Dwayne Bowe, Chiefs – Another failing  fantasy WR, Bowe should only be considered a bye week, potentially desperate, fill-in at this point as Josh Moore’s (@4for4_Josh) discussed, “I don't think we can even consider Dwayne Bowe a low-end WR3 any more. Averaging 3-38-0.3 through 6 games. Tough matchups w/HOU & CLE next.”  Your best bet may be throwing him into a trade to relieve yourself of the thought of starting him.

Andre Ellington, Cardinals – Andre received more time on the field in Week 6 as Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) tweeted, “31:23 snap ratio in favor of Ellington over Mendenhall yesterday. Mendy in on only 12 pass plays.”  Ellington will likely not emerge as the lead back in the Cardinals backfield this season, but John Paulsen (@4for4_John) made this point in regards to the RB, “Pretty sure Andre Ellington (92 yards, TD) is a better start than Mendenhall (42 yards) going forward. Ellington is a poor man's Sproles.” 

Jared Cook, Rams – Averaging only 3 points a week in standard scoring since his week 1 breakout, Jared Cook is once again not living up to the fantasy hype.  As Frank Dupont (@FantasyDouche) tweeted, “The Rams are paying $19mm guaranteed to a TE that can't block and played about half the snaps yesterday.  Jared Cook blocking is like the "my bad" guy in pickup hoops.”  If you are starting Cook at TE each week then you have already lost. 

Chris Johnson, Titans – The fantasy value may all but be gone at this point for Johnson, but Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) still sees the silver lining in his schedule stating, “Chris Johnson owners can cling to his late-season sked. STL, JAX, IND, OAK in Weeks 9-12. ARZ, JAX in Weeks 15-16.”  Of course fellow Rotoworldian Evan Silva (@evansilva) tweeted, “With Shonn Greene on way back have to wonder if hes better fit for Titans O. At least generally gets blocked yds. CJ2ypcK hurting his team.”  A matchup with San Francisco and then the bye week might give way to more of a shift at RB for the Titans.  If you own Johnson you can’t drop or even likely trading him, but acquiring the services of Greene is well advised.

Zac Stacy, Rams – If you grabbed Stacy off of the waiver wire your investment appears to have been worthwhile as John Paulsen (@4for4_John) highlighted, “Zac Stacy is clearly the RB1 in STL --> 90 yards on 20 touches. Led D-Rich in snaps 34 to 5.”  The Rams RB might not have all the scoring opportunities in the world, but if he can deliver 80 – 100 yards per week you could be doing a lot worse with how the RB position has shaped up in fantasy this season.