🏈 The No Fun League

Good morning. We’ve got an epic newsletter today. But first, great news to start your day:

With trade deadlines approaching and playoff pushes heating up, let’s get into it!

Quarterbacks

Lamar Jackson was QB2 this week, out-passing Kirk Cousins and out-rushing Dalvin Cook. The QB1? We said to buy-low on Justin Herbert, who finished with 30+. In bad news, Patrick Mahomes posted his 3rd-straight game with under 15. That’s Cover 2 defense for ya. There’s a “small possibility” Aaron Rodgers sits Sunday.

• Russell Wilson put concern over his status to rest after posting a clip of his recovery process titled “It’s Time”. Seattle’s medical team also confirmed he is cleared to play.

• Justin Fields: Despite the loss, Bears fans are thrilled as Fields impressed against a tough Steelers defense. He was PFF’s highest-graded QB in Week 9 and is the QB3 over the past two weeks (leading all QBs in most rushing stats)

Peyton and Eli Manning are skipping this week after their Monday Night Manning Curse claimed another victim: Josh Allen’s Bills.

• Maybe this is more serious than we thought. Thus far, Travis Kelce, Russell Wilson, Rob Gronkowski, Matthew Stafford, Tom Brady, and Josh Allen have all appeared on the broadcast, and they all lost the following week.

Running Backs

Nick Chubb returned with a vengeance, but he (and almost every other RB in Cleveland) tested positive for Covid-19. Chubb needs two negative tests 24 hours apart to play Sunday. D’Ernest Johnson is the lone RB left on the roster.

• He had 168 yds/TD for 24+ in Week 7, the last time game Chubb & Hunt missed. Pat Mayo put Johnson 9th overall in his Week 10 RB rankings.

Najee Harris is on pace for 404 touches this season: The only rookie RBs with 400+ touches in a season are Eric Dickerson and Edgerrin James. With Chase Edmonds (high ankle sprain) out for several weeks, James Conner is a low-end RB1 and Eno Benjamin is a stash.

Patriots RB coach Ivan Fears on Damien Harris/Rhamondre Stevenson: "We're on the wait-and-see program." Indicated the two are in concussion protocol. Despite playing only 17 snaps, Rhamondre led the Patriots in rushing & receiving yards in Week 9.

The Saints tried out three RBs yesterday, signaling that Alvin Kamara may be hurting.

• Javonte Williams leads the NFL with a 37% forced missed tackle rate (nobody else is above 30%). With the most favorable schedule for RB’s, Williams is one injury/promotion away from being a league winner (same goes for Melvin Gordon). Watch this:

Wide Receivers

Rookie WRs led the way, with Elijah Moore WR1 and DeVonta Smith WR2. It’s probably time to buy low on Mike Williams and sell Courtland Sutton, who averages 17 fantasy points per game without Jeudy but only 5.5 when Jeudy plays.

• Marquise Brown is the most underrated WR in fantasy football (thread)

• Diontae Johnson isn’t far behind (thread)

• It’s ok to buy D.J. Moore - Panther’s QB situation can’t get worse. Right??

Tight Ends

George Kittle leads the position in targets per route run (24%), while Dan Arnold is at 21% and still available in most leagues.

• This graph by @StaggsNFL shows that the Patriots are the strongest defense against TEs, while the Eagles and Ravens give up the most points above average to the position.

• Tyler Higbee led all TEs in routes run (53) in Week 9, but Dalton Shultz (39) wasn’t far behind.

But what about these taunting rules?

With the Steelers clinging to a three-point lead late in the fourth quarter, the Bear’s Cassius Marsh recorded a crucial third-down sack. After the sack, Marsh turned to face the Steelers bench and was then flagged for taunting by referee Tony Corrente.

Marsh said he’s “been doing that celebration my whole career” and “it's pretty clear to everybody who saw it that I wasn't taunting.” We couldn’t agree more Cassius.

• Marsh didn't even realize he had been penalized until arriving on his team's sideline and receiving an earful from his coach.

You can watch the play and watch Marsh’s post-game interview here.

Unfortunately, the No Fun League’s implementation of this wishy-washy taunting rule puts even more subjectivity into the hands of the referees.

• The league’s definition of taunting is: “baiting or taunting acts or words that may engender ill will between teams.” This sucks, Roger.

• For a sport to thrive there must be obvious, clear-cut rules: taunting is too open to bias from the officials, who have become school hall monitors.

Also, Tony Corrente is an ass for this:

Quick Slants

• Frank Gore is a boxer now. His first fight against former NBA star Deron Williams was announced yesterday.

• Packers fined $300,000 for COVID violations of the NFL and NFL Players Association protocols, while Aaron Rodgers and Allen Lazard each fined $14,650, per @RobDemovsky.

• After he cleared waivers, the Browns will owe OBJ only $4.25 million over the remainder of the season. The Packers are current favorites to land the WR.

• Vikings’ RB Dalvin Cook is involved in an issue of domestic abuse and extortion, click here for a statement from his attorney.

Thanks for joining me this morning! If you need a summary of Week 9, Matthew Berry hits the nail on the head.

- Eddie

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