-It is just not Todd Gurley's year. Once again the top three pick in most 2016 fantasy football drafts went bust Sunday as he rushed for just 64 yards on 21 carries and no scores. Gurley also caught just one pass for 8 yards as the Jets predictably loaded up the box to stop him. Nothing has gone right for Gurley this season for a number of reasons. The most obvious is the downright pathetic Rams passing offense to help take off the heat along the D-line and Gurley himself lost 15 pounds coming into the season which might have made him too prone to going down upon first hit. Either way, Gurley is as big a bust as you can get this season.
-With Jeremy Maclin out with a sore groin, Tyreek Hill stepped up in his place Sunday as he caught 10 balls for 89 yards in the Kansas City Chiefs' win over the Carolina Panthers. Hill is tailor-made for QB Alex Smith as he likes to operate in the short-to-intermediate range and overall it was a nice PPR game for the pretty much unknown Hill. With Maclin expected back next week however, this is not something that has much legs right now.
-Don't throw dirt yet on Ryan Mathews as the Philadelphia Eagles saved his fantasy football self Sunday by picking up 108 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries in the team's win over the Atlanta Falcons, while also adding 2 catches for another 30 yards. This is typical Mathews who does the opposite almost every week of what we expected and he royally screwed those who own stock in Darren Sproles. It looks like Mathews will be back in the good graces of Doug Pederson and so he should be slotted as a RB 2 next week. Meanwhile Sproles is back to being bench fodder.
-Kenny Britt was the latest wideout to go wild against former All-Pro DB Darrell Revis Sunday as the Los Angeles Rams veteran caught 7 passes for 109 yards. Britt has made a career out of being inconsistent and tough to rely on but he is putting up low-end WR 3 numbers this season despite the horrific QB play by the Rams.
-While he got his fantasy football numbers, a terrible late pick-six by Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton doomed the team to a gut-wrenching late loss to the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday. Overall Newton completed 23-of-38 passes for 261 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT, while also picking up a rushing score on the ground. As long as Newton gets his numbers like he did in this one, his fantasy football owners will be happy.
-It is getting to the ridiculous stage now with Tennessee Titans QB Marcus Mariota who threw for 4!!!!! more TD's on Sunday as he completed 19-of-26 throws for 295 yards. Despite the lack of a good receiving supporting cast, Mariota has gone bonkers the last six weeks in fantasy football and is actually putting up top five numbers among QB's. Mariota is also starting to put himself into fantasy football MVP consideration this season as well with teammate DeMarco Murray and Falcons QB Matt Ryan. Incredible stuff now for Mariota who is clearly now an every week guy in single-QB formats.
-Minnesota Vikings wideout Stefon Diggs is back on the fast track to stardom as he was a monster for the second week in a row in catching 13 balls for 164 yards in the team's game against the Washington Redskins. Sam Bradford is looking at Diggs at a very high rate lately and his standing in PPR is growing more prominent by the week.
-Speaking of DeMarco Murray, he has to be considered the favorite for 2016 fantasy football MVP as he was insane Sunday in rushing for 123 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries, while also throwing a TD pass to tight end Delanie Walker. Yes a TD pass. Murray also caught two passes for another 33 yards. We are well past the point of rushing over Murray who is making Chip Kelly look dumber by the day for the way he misused him last season. What a tremendous season.
-All Jacksonville Jaguars wideout Allen Robinson does is catch touchdowns. He added another one on Sunday as he caught 9 passes overall for 107 yards. While Blake Bortles continues to drive everyone crazy, he does find his ace wideout at a very high rate which is all you can ask for as an owner.
-Jay Cutler is garbage and everyone knows it. The Chicago Bears veteran showed this again on Sunday as he completed 16-of-30 throws for 182 yards with 1 TD , 2 INT, and a lost fumble. Typical Cutler with the turnovers as he cements his reputation as the modern day version of Jeff George.
-After sitting out the last 7 weeks, Tampa Bay Buc's running back Doug Martin made his return Sunday as he picked up 33 yards and a score on 16 carries, while also catching one pass for 13 more yards. It was an overall ugly outing for Martin who would have been a complete zero if not for the TD. Still Martin should have his legs more under him next week and he should return to your every week lineup.
-Overall Michael Thomas has been terrific as a rookie for the New Orleans Saints and his fantasy football owners this season but Sunday was a down day as he lost two fumbles among his 4 catches for 40 yards. Just a bad day at the office but still start Thomas every week.
-With Mike Evans having a rare off day, Tampa Bay Buc's tight end Cameron Brate continued to build on his solid breakout campaign in 2016 by catching 7 balls for 84 yards and a touchdown. Brate is tied for the league lead in touchdowns among tight ends and so far is showing himself to be a much-needed infusion of young blood at the stale tight end spot.
-It was another annoying day of split work among New Orleans Saints running backs as Mark Ingram picked up 50 yards on 11 carries, while Tim Hightower went for 55 yards on 10 carries. In other words, good luck trying to figure this situation out and getting useful fantasy football production.
-The Ty Montgomery show looks like it already has been canceled as the Green Bay wideout/running back was a complete non-story for the second week in a row. This is beyond infuriating for all Montgomery owners as it looked like they had an overnight star after he put up back-to-back weeks of double-digit catches. Sunday he rushed for just 9 yards on 3 carries, while adding only 2 catches for another 11 yards. With James Starks back behind QB Aaron Rodgers, Montgomery now looks like nothing more than a backup player.
-It was the tale of two games for San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers who completed 23-of-44 throws for 326 yards and 3 excellent touchdowns. However Rivers also threw FOUR second-half interceptions as he was completely off target when the game was being decided. While we always have been big Rivers boosters on this page, the four picks put a damper on what at first seemed like would be a monster game.
-Ageless Arizona Cardinals wideout Larry Fitzgerald was at it again Sunday as he caught 12 passes for 133 yards in the team's win over the San Francisco 49ers. Fitzgerald has really become a dominant slot man the last few years after being an outside guy during the first portion of his career. His PPR value is immense despite being in his 30's.
-Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Tanehill is on a pretty decent run of late as the veteran completed 17-of-24 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns in the team's win over the San Diego Chargers. Tannehill has seen the pendulum swing wildly back-and-forth in his still young career but for now he is on the upswing.
-Another week and another MVP-garnering performance from Dallas Cowboys rookie back Ezekiel Elliott who rushed for 114 yards and two scores on 21 carries, while also adding another score on 2 catches for 95 more yards. By now we are running out of glowing things to say about Elliott who has been the very rare much-hyped rookie to deliver and even exceed his numbers. Needless to say those who ignored some early red flags have been rewarded with the most awesome rookie back since Adrian Peterson.
-Ezekiel Elliott is not the only rookie lighting things up in Dallas as QB Dak Prescott continued to show Tony Romo needs to be firmly stuck on the bench as he completed 22-of-32 passes for 319 yards and 2 more scores. Right now Prescott is not only the clear starter for Dallas but he is also a slam dunk top ten fantasy football passer which is crazy to say for a fourth-round rookie.