🏈 Dez Bryant quits the season

Good morning. You know what’s better than waking up to a fresh edition of the Morning Huddle? Waking up to a win that gets you into the playoffs. If that’s you - congrats.

If not

Carson Wentz & the Eagles - A Tragedy

In what might be the worst regression we’ve seen since Paul George’s playoff performance, Carson Wentz is playing awful. But fear not, Eagles fans, Jalen Hurts is here.

So far this year, Wentz has only 1 more TD than INT. His completion % is 57 (basically identical to Mark Sanchez’s career mark). But at least Wentz doesn’t have a massive guaranteed contract!

We should’ve seen this coming though; the second week of December is traditionally the worst week of Wentz’s year.

So - what do I do with Jalen Hurts?

Look - Hurts has the running ability to be a Konami-code (think Lamar Jackson/Taysom Hill) QB. He is also playing against one of the worst o-lines in the league with a terrible receiving core. And he goes up against the Saints D this week.

I’m letting someone else start him - but grabbing Hurts as a backup QB anywhere I need one.

After all, Hurts squatted 600 pounds in college. He also took a shot at Carson Wentz after their game.

Looking ahead: Finding Superstar WRs

This reddit article explains how you find superstar WRs based on rookie production. Too long to read?

Rookie WRs with 80+ targets and 8+ yards per target have a probability of multiple future WR1 seasons of 55% (73% for one WR1 season). Four rookie WRs currently meet this threshold:

• Justin Jefferson (7.0 tpg, 12.4 ypt)

• Tee Higgins (6.9, 8,8)

• CeeDee Lamb (6.6, 8.2)

• Chase Claypool (6.2, 8.3)

BUY BUY BUY

So you want to win your league?

The definitive rankings of the MVP for fantasy football show Dalvin Cook as the MVP so far this year. Davante Adams is a close second, followed by Travis Kelce. I respect this chart because it shows how irrelevant QBs really are.

A really interesting graph - this shows what WR/TE is more likely to catch a pass for a TD in the red zone (think Travis Kelce) and which RB is most likely to run it in (think Davlin Cook). Take a peek:

Start your Panthers pass-catchers (DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, Curtis Samuel) this week. The Broncos are absolutely depleted at the CB position:

Yikes.

RIP Dez’s 2020 season

After testing positive for Covid-19 20 minutes!! before kickoff - Dez was scratched from his revenge against the Cowboys. He promptly took to twitter, declaring that he quits the season and can’t deal with it.

But after further questioning, Dez tweeted “Yea I’m coming back… I’m being smart.”

So yea, DEZ 2020 is still a thing? And you can still name your team Dez Nuts. W’s all around.

Mike Tomlin a real one

BONUS

• Pro Football Focus graded the top 3 RBs this season: (1) Damien Harris!!? (2) Dalvin Cook (3) Derrick Henry

• Let’s take a minute and appreciate the amazing accomplishment of Alex Smith’s win over the Steelers.

• FREE CAM AKERS. His snap % is rising each week (17% in Week 11 with 63% in Week 13). Things are looking up

• Good news - AJ Green won’t be back in a Bengals uniform in 2021.

GET THIS REF INTO A MEMORY COMPETITION

Thank you all - good day.

Question of the day: Send your start/sit questions here.