Buy Into The Courtland Sutton Hype

Week 6 of the NFL season gave us many exciting moments including Jacksonville’s first win in over a year, three games that were decided in OT, and a 3 touchdown performance from Derrick Henry. Unfortunately, these moments are overshadowed by the enormous amount of injuries that have occurred in recent weeks. Nearly every top fantasy running back has been injured at some point this year. As fantasy owners lose the production they were getting from their 1st round pick, they must look for players who are going to put up consistent points while their star player is out.

Last Week Recap

Last week I had strong opinions on the RB’s playing in the London game on Sunday morning. I advised people to buy into the James Robinson hype, but not the Myles Gaskin hype. I was 100% correct. Robinson continued his RB1 campaign, notching over 100 scrimmage yards and a touchdown. On the other hand, Gaskin proved that he was just a one week wonder, only rushing for 9 yards on 5 attempts. I maintain my opinion on both of these players and I strongly believe Robinson will finish as a top 5 RB if he can stay healthy

The other player I was very high on was Michael Pittman Jr. He had a very disappointing game on Sunday, finishing with only 2 receptions for 35 yards. The Colts did have a healthy lead for the majority of the game so it makes sense that Pittman did not get a ton of opportunities to make big plays. However, I would’ve hoped to see him contribute to building the lead in the first half. The focal point of the Colts offense seemed to be Jonathan Taylor who had 145 yards and 2 touchdowns. Despite a subpar performance, I still have high expectations for Pittman Jr. and I would still advise fantasy owners to consider acquiring him.

Buy Into The Hype: Courtland Sutton

The fantasy football community has been waiting for Courtland Sutton to become a star for years now. He has struggled with injuries and bad QB situations for his entire career. However, he has finally started to show just how good he can really be. Sutton has 11+ targets and over 90 receiving yards in half of the games he has played this season. He has also scored a touchdown in each of his last two games. He is emerging as the clear WR1 in Denver, especially with Jerry Jeudy still recovering from his ankle injury. Teddy Bridgewater has opened up the Broncos passing game and they are starting to figure out an offensive scheme that really works for them. Sutton is beginning to look like one of the best young receivers in the NFL and deserves all the hype that he is getting.

Don’t Buy Into The Hype: James Conner

On paper, James Conner looks like he should be a decent option for a RB2. He already has five touchdowns on the year and he is currently a Top 25 fantasy running back. However, if you take a closer look at his stats you will see that nearly all of his fantasy points come from touchdowns. He doesn’t get receptions, doesn’t get a lot of volume, and doesn’t get many yards. Chase Edmonds has gotten the bulk of the workload in Arizona, and Kyler Murray runs the ball quite a bit as well. Conner’s two good fantasy performances this year have come from games where he scored 2 touchdowns. Every other performance has been underwhelming. Going forward, Conner will not even come close to maintaining the touchdown pace that he is on and his numbers will suffer from it. He is definitely someone all fantasy owners should look into trading before his true value is exposed.

Buy Into The Hype: Kadarius Toney

Kadarius Toney may be the most interesting player in the NFL. He was a highly-touted rookie receiver who saw almost no action in his first few games despite the Giants being depleted at the receiver position. When he finally got the chance to play, he immediately broke the rookie receiving record before punching someone and getting ejected. He went into the next week with a lot of hype around his name. At the beginning of the game he continued to play excellently, getting 3 early receptions for 36 yards. He then got injured and was ruled out for the rest of the game. If you think you know what Toney is going to do next, think again. He is truly an enigma. In all seriousness, Toney is one of the most talented receivers in his draft class and if he can stay healthy (and not get ejected), he should see plenty of volume in the coming weeks. Every fantasy owner should look into acquiring Toney. He is one of the most exciting and entertaining players in the league.

After six full weeks of football, every fantasy owner just wants their team to stay healthy. The sad reality is that the injury numbers are significantly worse than they have been in a while and show no sign of leveling off. No one will be able to keep a consistently healthy fantasy team at this rate. When you’re replacing a starter, it is essential to be able to recognize which players deserve the hype they are getting, and which players do not.