You can watch Thursday Night Football: Falcons vs. Watch Buccaneers at 8:20 PM ET/5:20 PM PT on Amazon Prime Video.
The NFL has shown no mercy in putting Kirk Cousins ​​on primetime this season – he with the previously ugly primetime career record – as the Falcons will once again take center stage. This time, Atlanta is 2-2 against the 3-1 division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are fresh off a 33-16 thrashing of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Let’s take a look at the biggest fantasy football storylines for this TNF matchup.
How is Bijan Robinson doing?
That question now assumes that Bijan Robinson has been a total waste of fantasy as he has failed to even come close to his ADP in the preseason top six. That’s not right: Robinson did just fine, scoring double-digit fantasy points through the first three weeks of the season. But then again, he had one top six ADP. He hasn’t exceeded 15 fantasy points all season. What gives?
Sure, he’s had some tough games (vs. Steelers, @Philadelphia, vs. Kansas City, vs. New Orleans) against above-average teams. What’s scary is that Robinson handed off a ton of work to backup Tyler Allgeier last week, which is the last thing fantasy football managers want to see.
Robinson was also dealing with a hamstring injury, so that may have held him back. Of course, the Falcons could continue to split the workload between him and Allgeier in this game to provide some protection for Robinson. That said, it would behoove the Falcons to lean on the run against a Buccaneers run-funnel defense, which would open up the play-action play. Speaking of which…
Is this the Drake London blow-up game we’ve been waiting for?
Drake London was everyone’s favorite breakout candidate this season. All the boxes were checked: 1) he got a new, better quarterback 2) he got a new, innovative, exciting offense and 3) to quote Matt Harmon, he is “demonstrably good at the game.” It all seemed too good, too good not to happen.
So naturally, for four weeks we wonder if we had it all wrong.
London was a virtual no-show in Week 1 (to be fair, the Falcons’ entire offense was a no-show) before returning in Week 2 with a 6-54-1 line. The good times continued to roll in Week 3, as London scored another touchdown. And while he didn’t score again in Week 4, he secured six more catches for the third week in a row. Perhaps more importantly, London drew twelve targets in the passing game; he now has 31 goals in four games, good for 7.75 per game. He’s moving in the right direction.
As mentioned, the Falcons will have to lean on the run to set up the play-action passing game. This will help them target London off the play action in the middle of the field – he has run 124 routes in the middle of the field, according to TruMedia. Fantasy and Rams fans alike will remember how deadly this system used Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua in action scenes in the middle of the field. And with the Bucs expected to score their fair share of points, London will be relied on to move the chains and create some explosive plays through the air.
With London making positive gains every week this season, whether it be receptions, touchdowns and/or goals, expect him to see big plays in this matchup.
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Bucky Irving > Rachaad White?
By now everyone knows about the Rachaad White problem. He was a great receiving weapon for the Buccaneers, but he was far from efficient on the ground. Meanwhile, rookie Bucky Irving has seen his usage increase each game this season. That came to a head in Week 4, when the two backs split up the middle and Irving scored his first touchdown.
The window to get a solid return in a trade for Rachaad White has likely closed, but keep an eye on his received work in this game. If he’s able to act as a weapon in the passing game — especially with Trey Palmer and Jalen McMillan already ruled out — perhaps that window will open again and fantasy managers can cut the bait while getting something in return.
Of course, if Irving’s workload increases to the point where it invades White’s passing game, well… that window can be welded shut.
Pick up and play: Cade Oton, TE, Buccaneers
Drop: Kyle Pitts, TE, Falcons
What we have here is a story about two tight ends moving in completely opposite directions.
On one hand, we have an unheralded tight end who has collected 17 goals and 13 catches in the last two games. On the other hand, we have a big-name TE who was supposed to breakout this season but hit rock bottom in Week 4: three goals, zero catches – and zero fantasy points.
I don’t think the entire football community was wrong about Kyle Pitts as a potential candidate. He is a physical freak who is coming off an excellent rookie season. But I suspect he has lost his way with some of the more technical aspects of football; even Kirk Cousins ​​himself reportedly helped Pitts with his catching point during the preseason. The entire Falcons offense has shown some signs of improvement each week, balancing moments of brilliance with other moments that clearly show a lack of practice reps between the team’s new quarterback, the receiving weapons and the offensive system as a whole. So maybe there is hope for Pitts (although his coach doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to this).
Obviously, fantasy managers who try to win every week can’t afford to hope, especially at an already bad TE position. Dropping Pitts may sting, but there are better options on the waiver wire this week – like Oton (28% on the roster).
Otton has flashed in the past, but a lack of consistency has held him back throughout his young career. But the 6-foot-1, 25-year-old TE has gotten consistent looks from Baker Mayfield and the Bucs power forward in recent weeks. As mentioned, the team is also dealing with injuries at receiver, so while the Falcons’ strong secondary will have their hands full trying to stop Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, Otton may get some easy looks as a security blanket and big target . Not to mention, Otton is also third on the team in red zone (3) this season behind Godwin and Evans.
If you’re done with Pitts and missed players like Tucker Kraft, Cole Kmet, and Zach Ertz from the waiver wire, consider Oton on TNF.
