We’re in the final stretch of the season which means the fantastic tradition of Saturday football. I wish they would make it a three game slate with 1PM, 4PM and 8PM games but we do have some awesome College Football games going on today as well so from a sit on the couch and do nothing stand point what more can we ask for?
Key player injury notes
Bills vs Broncos
Broncos RB Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay are both questionable but I expect them both to play. Obviously is one is out and the other is in you would have to strongly consider the one who is healthy.
Panthers vs Packers
Christian McCaffery is doubtful and Curtis Samuel is questionable.
AMBUSH CORE PLAYS
Aaron Jones – Packers
The Panthers rushing defense has been a target for multiple years now, but has showed some signs of improvement in the back half of 2020 with now three straight games holding opponents under 100 yards rushing. But this is still the spot we want to pick on first because it’s a relatively thin slate at RB and taking the highest owned RB who is also going to finish with the most RB points feels like the smart thing to do. Jones was able to find the end zone three times at home vs Carolina last year and once again might be in a snow-fest game if the afternoon snowy weather lingers around Saturday evening. A lot of lineups will rightfully smash in Devante Adams who should catch 9-11 passes without even breaking a sweat against the Packers, but if you see this game being high scoring like I do then you gotta trust more than just Rodgers-Adams to get it done and taking Jones is the first step this two game Saturday slate.
Mike Davis – Panthers
How does one beat the Packers defense? You certainly don’t drop back and throw it 40 times and there’s no reason to think Carolina will do that either. Pounding the ball up the middle with Mike Davis should prove to be a good recipe for Carolina on Saturday and to keep the theme of this being a high scoring game, Carolina will need to punch it in close with Davis. With CMC likely out again, Davis should see 15+ carries and gets a huge red zone boost if Curtis Samuel is ruled out.
Noah Fant – Broncos
The rules state that we must roster a Tight End on the two game slate. Sorry, but those are the rules. So nailing the proper 1 TE on a crummy TE slate is a big challenge and Fant should be way lower owned than Robert Tonyan of the Packers. Fant was forced to miss their game last week against Carolina but is a full go for Saturday after a “mystery illness”. The volume with Drew Lock under center has been good for Fant too as he has had target games of 7, 5, 7, 3 and 9 in their last five starts. A good trend of having Fant see 7 targets in a game where the WR should be locked down by the Bills CB makes him a CORE play for me.
SLEEPER PLAYER
Robby Anderson – Panthers
The Packers star WR Jaire Alexander normally does not shadow other teams #1 WR. Anderson with no CMC and no Curtis Samuel is another player who will get a target boost and should be able to avoid Jaire enough to prove valuable. On short two game slates I often look for what is the least likely owned stack and ask if it’s players who we would consider on a full slate if they were facing a weaker team and in the case of the Panthers the answer is a clear yes. Bridgewater-Davis-Anderson can be stacked up with Jone sand Adams and still build a lineup that works on all sites and Anderson is a big projected sleeper on this slate who will see a target boost due to injuries.
OVERALL PLAYER RANKINGS
Quarterback
- Teddy Bridgewater – His salary savings is huge and worth the gamble to lock in Adams and Jones from the other side in a full gamestack.
- Josh Allen
Running Back
- Aaron Jones
- Mike Davis
- Zack Moss
- Phillip Lindsay
Wide Receiver
- Davante Adams
- Robby Anderson
- Stefon Diggs
- Allen Lazard
- Jerry Jeudy
Tight End
- Noah Fant
- Robert Tonyan
Defenses
- Buffalo
- Denver
FAVORITE SHOWDOWN VALUES
Bills vs Broncos
Zack Moss – $6,800: In a game where Buffalo is likely looking to just get in and get out, leaning on the ground game should be a strong factor for Buffalo. Zack Moss is coming off his second highest rushing attempt game of the season on Sunday night which hopefully means the Bills are gradually trusting him more and more as their #1 RB going forward. This is a better ground match-up for Buffalo and his price makes for a nice value on the Showdown slate.
Panthers vs Packers
Robert Tonyan – $6,400: While I am open to fading Tonyan on the full two game slate (or using him in FLEX), I am having a hard time ignoring him on the Showdown at only $6,400. Carolina’s zone defense has allowed TE’s to do well this season and Tonyan’s steady 5 targets and 1 TD every game seems like too good of a value to ignore for only $6400 on the showdown slate. Tonyan has scored four straight weeks and is in line to make it five in a row.