Thursday Night Thought Bubble

The full thought bubble will be released either tomorrow or Saturday morning but ahead of tonight's game, I thought I'd give a quick overview in a similar way to Monday Maybes. This week the Thursday night game pits two teams I would class as “bottom-dwellers” but who are trending the right direction. 

Jets @ Browns
The Jets have surprised a few people (me included) with how the defence seems to have formed itself into a decent unit. During the off-season they seemed to miss all their main targets so used their cap space to bolster the defence and it's showing signs of being a reasonable investment. Couple that with rookies and young guys like Jamal Adams and Darron Lee and there's some promise there. Their DST isn't the "instant discard" I expected it to be and this week against the Browns they may be a decent choice. With the Browns low on fit wide receivers and the fact this is a Thursday night game, there are plenty of things to suggest taking a flier on them if you're in need of a streamer defence.

On offence, the team has looked shaky but still able to get work done. Quincey Enunwa has taken the bulk of the receiving load (which has certainly helped the leagues where I picked him up as a last bench spot option). He's had 13 receptions for 155 yds and a TD to lead the team in fantasy points (remember, I deal in PPR). He's relegated Robby Anderson down the pecking order after he had a fantastic 2017. Anderson seemed to click well with McCown, now though it's Darnold and Enunwa. Anderson is even being outscored by Terrelle Pryor right now and this is even without a reasonable Tight End option. Sam Darnold has done a reasonable job so far of keeping things going but a 3/3 TD/INT ratio opposition defences always seem to have something to feed on.

At Running Back Crowell and Powell have very similar stat lines. Crowell has been getting all the ground yards while Powell has taken a lot of the pass catching. They've been a promising tandem compared to the pre-season expectations and against the Browns, they should have value again. 

Jets Predictions:
Sam Darnold - 13pts
Isaiah Crowell - 8pts
Bilal Powell - 11pts
Quincey Enunwa - 15pts
Robby Anderson - 8pts
Terrelle Pryor - 6pts
Chris Herndon - 3pts
Jets DST - 10pts
   

The Browns meanwhile are off to their best start in years after a tie and a loss. It says all you need to know really. Their defence does look like it has improved drastically, but that is from rock bottom to at least something. Myles Garrett is a beast and they have finally added some extra pieces like Denzel Ward to make their secondary look mean, the defensive line leaves a lot to be desired though. Against the Jets, they have a chance to put up some points, especially on a Monday night and against Sam Darnold. 

Tyrod Taylor will always put up fantasy points as a rushing QB even if he's not exactly a fantastic QB. He has 12 rushes for 103 yards and one TD compared to throwing 70 passes of which only 37 so far have been completed for 443 yards and 2 TDS. But 2 interceptions put him in the same 0.500 ratio of TD/INT so the Jets secondary will also have a chance to feed.

The main beneficiary of those 70 targets has been Jarvis Landry with 22, catching 12 for 175 yards. He's missed most of practice this week with a knee injury but should play. He should be fine and with Josh Gordon now in New England, the targets should increase further. His injury may hold him back a bit but it's so hard to not play him. The fact it's a Thursday night game always makes me apprehensive and with Tyrod at QB, it's difficult to see a "big" night. You have to exercise caution with the other receivers in Higgins, Njoku and Callaway likewise but if you're in deep leagues, they may be what you have.

The running back situation remains cloudy. Carlos Hyde has been the guy to own, Duke Johnson has done nothing due to game scripts and Nick Chubb is still bedding in. If Duke gets more pass-catching work then he should come good again but right now they aren't in games where it's a logical option. As a result, if you have Hyde he's probably the way to go, but if you have alternatives, it may be better to fade.

Browns Predictions:
Tyrod Taylor - 16pts
Carlos Hyde - 12pts
Duke Johnson - 6pts
Jarvis Landry - 9pts
Antonio Callaway - 7pts
Rashad Higgins - 6pts
David Njoku - 6pts
Browns DST - 9pts