Dotson seems to be on a hot streak, I would start him over Pittman.
London and Pickens are a bit up-and-down, but that’s still a slight upgrade over Pittman, who seems to be only down these days.
Speaking of hot streaks - Engram certainly has one, too. He seems to be a safer start than Akers, though Akers is trending up and may offer more upside, especially in a nice matchup against one of the worst run defenses in the league.
Foreman is too random to trust. I guess I’m not the only one who saw him scoring big time on the fantasy bench last weekend.
Dobbins neither has a lot of upside nor a good matchup.
TL;DR:
yes on Dotson over Pittman, London and Pickens
yes on Engram over Dobbins and Foreman, but not necessarily over Akers
Dotson worked great with Heinicke over the last 3 games:
5/9 for 54 yds, 1 TD (at NYG)
4/6 for 105 yds, 1 TD (vs NYG)
6/9 for 76 yds, 1 TD (at SF)
Cleveland isn’t a great matchup, but not a super terrible one, either. They are pretty stout and don’t allow a ton of yards, but they do allow passing TDs once you made it into the red zone.
London has done pretty well with the same Ridder in their first two weeks together. On would think that connection would be better with those two games and a third week of practice, unless there is some 3rd week wall or curse I am unaware of.
Risky, but not insane. Chark is on a roll, if you disregard week 15. The matchup is only average, though.
London still has a great matchup on paper, but the Cards are without D-Hop and start the freshly acquired David Blough on QB. I don’t see them scoring a lot of points, and if the Falcons come up with an early lead, they could take it to the ground before halftime already.
The key question to me is: would I recommend to start Chark over Dotson? And Chark may indeed offer a better floor here, as he’s usually racking up more yards than Dotson, while providing about the same upside.
Both defenses are sub par. Atlanta ranks #24 in terms of opponent points allowed, Arizona ranks #30.
On the offense, both teams are slightly above average. The Cards rank #12 in terms of points scored, the Falcons #16.
But again - the Cards lost both their starting and their backup QB and will now start a guy they found at the bus stop on the way to the stadium. And they are without their WR1. And their TE1. And without their starting EDGE, their starting CB and their starting S.
Plus, they have no motivation to win any more games, as they will make a clean start next year. 34 of their 53 roster will retire or become free agents. Kingsbury is gone, and all indicators point at Sean Payton taking over. So every L helps with improving their draft picks and thus, their rebuild potential.
It doesn’t require a lot of fiction to see the Cardinals getting mostly shut out on offense, while proving unable to stop the Falcons on defense. And as I said before, the Cards were bad against the run when they had all their D available.
Here’s my hot take on the score:
-
Final
(Halftime)
Cardinals
10
(3)
Falcons
34
(17)
Wouldn’t even be shocked if the Cards remain at under 10.
London may be in line for 1 of the Falcons’ TDs, so he’s not a terrible option. But not as safe as Allgeier looks to be.
I am somehow tempted to play Chark in a high over under game….as i am playing Allgier already and little nwevous starting London….but who knows they both might do well