It was the battle of the tight ends last night as fantasy football Week 11 kicked off with a game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans. Let's take a look at the newsworthy items coming out of the game.
-Boy was it ever the battle of the tight ends last night and one that centered on two guys who are not universally owned or respected in fantasy football terms. Thursday night's game might be changing some of those negative opinions however based on the numbers put up both by Coby Fleener and Delanie Walker. Both guys saw ownership rates that were mediocre at best but both have hinted on more than a few occasions of big time potential if they could ever find some consistency with their quarterbacks. It all came together last night however as Fleener grabbed 8 passes for 107 yards while Walker checked in with 10 grabs for 91 yards and a score. Fleener of course is the former second round pick and fellow Stanford alum like his QB Andrew Luck whose rookie season and early 2013 numbers left a lot to be desired. However the injury to fellow tight end Dwayne Allen opened the door for Fleener to make the starting job his own which he has more than done the last few weeks. Fleener can now be fully trusted as an every week fantasy football tight end, specially since Luck has to continually look his way due to the horrid Colts offensive line not giving him chances or the time to throw downfield.
As far as Walker is concerned, the guy has always had skills. Unfortunately he was overshadowed playing behind Pro Bowler Vernon Davis in San Francisco but got a fresh chance to shine with the Titans. What is interesting here is the fact that when Jake Locker was under center, Walker was not as effective. Locker liked to throw downfield as opposed to Ryan Fitzpatrick who has a long history of checking to safer throws like to his tight end. The result is what you saw last night as Fitzpatrick had Walker zeroed in from the start. Walker too can now be trusted as an every week fantasy football tight end with Fitzpatrick now the starter the rest of the season.
-As far as both QB's are concerned, Luck failed to hit the board in the touchdown department which continues a season-long pattern of fluctuating numbers. Luck is just too talented to not be on a 25-30 TD pace but the ongoing issues with the line and some head-scratching play calling are combining to stunt his growth. Needless to say all Luck fantasy football owners can agree that they haven't gotten nearly what they expected out of him this season.
Fitzpatrick meanwhile threw a late TD to Walker and passed for 222 yards total. There is also some sneaky speed here as well in an Aaron Rodgers sense. He won't rack up the rushing yards but Fitzpatrick will be a help there. Those in two-QB formats should absolutely give the veteran a long look as Fitzpatrick has had some nice moments in his career.
-The elevator pointed up this week for Chris Johnson who was a beast early in scoring two first half touchdowns. Overall Johnson rushed for 86 yards on 17 carries while also catching one pass. Not the best line we have ever seen but the two touchdowns more than made his day profitable.
Meanwhile it is looking more and more like old veteran Donald Brown has supplanted the awful Trent Richardson as the Colts' starting running back. Brown rushed for 80 yards on only 14 carries while scoring TWO touchdowns. This as opposed to Richardson who rushed for only 22 yards on 8 carries. I suggested to Richardson owners to cut the guy last week. Last night's game should have reinforced that notion even more. Brown on the other hand should be picked up as he is playing better than he ever has and scoring touchdowns.
-Kendall Wright has quietly been a very productive fantasy football receiver since coming into the NFL out of Baylor last season. He caught 9 balls for 80 yards last night and now has a total of 59 receptions. Solid WR 3. On the other side all we got out of the wide receiving corps was T.Y. Hilton grabbing 5 passes for 44 yards.
There you have it. As always let us hear your thoughts.
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