All hail Gore and the Bills
Thanks in no small part to the 49ers’ alltime leading rusher, the Buffalo Bills are relevant among fantasy owners. Now is the time to buy in on Buffalo’s offense, given its next four matchups — home against Miami and Philadelphia and on the road at Cleveland and Miami.
Let’s discuss:
Running backs:
Former 49er Frank Gore still has it, evidenced by his 4.4 yards per carry and his Week 4 performance against the New England Patriots. And the Patriots are allowing just 3.44 yards per carry to running backs this season. In that game, Gore ran for 109 yards. No other running back has run for more than 38 yards against the Patriots this season. It also helps when you have an improving offensive line. As of now, the Bills’ offensive line is second in runblocking, according to Football Outsiders.
In Week 7, Gore will face the Dolphins, a defense that is allowing 4.80 yards per carry to running backs and just allowed Adrian Peterson to run for 118 yards. Rookie Devin Singletary should be back, but I don’t think that will stop Gore from getting 12 to 16 touches in this matchup.
Another running back to consider is Alexander Mattison of the Minnesota Vikings. Mattison is coming off a Week 6 game with a seasonhigh 14 carries and 63 yards. He had 22 more rushing yards than teammate Dalvin Cook had on two fewer carries against a stout run defense in the Eagles. Mattison has 252 rushing yards on the season, the same amount as Joe Mixon and more than James Conner and Austin Ekeler. Mattison isn’t going to steal Cook’s job, but if something were to happen to Cook, Mattison becomes a highend RB2. That kind of upside needs to be owned.
Quarterbacks:
In Week 7 against the Dolphins, Josh Allen will come off the bye facing a defense that has allowed the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. In fact, they’ve allowed 14 passing touchdowns with just one interception. Allen has shown signs of improvement as well, increasing his completion rate from 52.8% in 2018 to 62.6% this season. He also can make plays with his legs, evidenced by his 41 rushing attempts. He’s second behind only Lamar Jackson in rushing attempts despite playing one fewer game.
Jacoby Brissett is not Andrew Luck but he’s also not the Brissett we saw back in 2017. He’s improved and Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich has put him in a great position to succeed. Brissett is top 12 in fantasy points per game, thanks to 10 passing touchdowns and just three interceptions. In Week 7, Brissett will face the Houston Texans, a defense that has allowed six passing touchdowns over the past two games.
Wide receivers:
Check to make sure if the Bills’ John Brown is owned in your league, but he likely is. That leaves us with Cole Beasley and Duke Williams. If you’ve played fantasy football the past few years, you know Beasley as the safe, reliable byeweek replacement. That holds true against the Dolphins, who are allowing the ninthmost fantasy points to wide receivers this season. Williams is an interesting story who came over from the Canadian Football League, but the Bills clearly liked him enough to trade away former secondround pick Zay Jones. Just before the bye, Williams played 78% of his team’s offensive snaps with four receptions and a touchdown against the Titans.
It’s hard to trust 49ers wide receivers because San Francisco runs the ball so effectively, and when it passes it’s usually to George Kittle. However, Dante Pettis played a seasonhigh 72% of the 49ers’ snaps in Week 6, catching three passes for 45 yards. In Week 7, he’s facing Washington, a secondary that is allowing the third most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. If there ever was a week for Pettis to get it done, it’s this one.
Tight ends:
Hunter Henry is more than likely owned in your league, but on the offchance somebody dropped him while he was hurt and forgot about him, make sure to jump on that. Henry just had one of the best games of his career in Week 6, leading the Chargers with eight receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
Fantasy owners everywhere were excited to get Chris Herndon back from suspension in Week 6 just to find out he has a hamstring injury. Well, many owners may have dropped him and you should take advantage of that. The Jets have had Ryan Griffin playing a lot and running a bunch of routes, a role that Herndon should step into.
Frank Stampfl writes for SportsGrid Inc.