The following is an excerpt from the latest edition of Yahoo’s fantasy football newsletter, Get to the Points! If you like what you see, You can register for free here.
The start to the 2024 fantasy football season has been slow. Scoring has dropped. Passing has been stifled. Explosive plays have been hard to come by with two defensive lines smothering the world.
Therefore, the football double game on Monday was very welcome:
We needed this. Stars like Allen and Ja’Marr Chase delivered and we saw many other great performances as well. It feels like the season has finally started. Let’s dive into the fantasy up-and-comers that emerge from the fireworks:
Improvements 📉
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Jayden Daniels: That was his “Hello NFL” moment. The rookie quarterback played a nearly perfect game, completing 21 of 23 passes, or 254 yards, with two touchdowns. He also ran for 39 yards and a touchdown, finishing at QB3 this week. Maybe OC Kliff Kingsbury knows what he’s doing after all. The game doesn’t look too fast for Daniels, and run-pass talent is forever the cheat code of fantasy.
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Joe Burrow: Their offense is getting better and better, and there’s nothing wrong with 25.36 fantasy points. And maybe Cincinnati’s defense is bad enough to force shutouts.
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Terry McLaurin: His game-winning touchdown was a dream, the most improbable touchdown pass of the season. McLaurin is finally tied to a superstar QB after years with few teammates.
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Khalil Shakir: He led Buffalo in targets (caught all six) and receiving yards and was one of four Buffalo receivers to catch a score. Shakir isn’t a league winner, but he’ll beat his ADP.
Downgrades 📉
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Trevor Lawrence: He was considered a promising prospect three years ago. Is it too early to say Lawrence was a bust? He had four sacks, one pick and averaged a measly 4.7 yards per attempt.
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NFL tight ends: There’s no save for Dalton Kincaid’s 3-41-1 line, even though it made him TE5 for the week. But it was a slap in the face when Jacksonville’s backup TE Brenton Strange caught a touchdown, one of two receptions on the night, making him the TE7 of the week.
Always stable ⚖️
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Chase Brown, Zack Moss: They are still in a timeshare league. Stars, no. But they are capable of competing in many leagues.
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Brian Robinson Jr.: He had 12 more touches than Austin Ekeler, who left with a concussion, but Robinson managed only 2.1 yards per carry and a mobile quarterback hurts his equal opportunities at the goal line.
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Tea Higgins: It was a quiet start to the season for him (3-39-0), but at least he was off the pitch count and ran 39 routes on 41 dropbacks.
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James Cook: 3.5 YPC is common, but he collected 15 touches, totaling 87 yards and a score, which ranked him 11th.
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Keon Coleman: His only target was a 24-yard touchdown catch. He also missed the first two series due to a team suspension. You can’t use him right now, but you should probably put him on the roster.
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Jaguars receiver: Christian Kirk had a solid 8-79-0 line on 10 targets. Brian Thomas Jr. was targeted nine times, though most of his attempts were downfield. But does a struggling Lawrence limit the strengths of both?
