Welcome and Happy Thanksgiving, fantasy footballers. I’d like to start a very special holiday edition of The Sack with a nice Thanksgiving question from a colleague of mine:
The Sack: SB Nation’s fantasy football mailbag answers your Thanksgiving questions
Got fantasy football questions? Come to SB Nation’s Fantasy War Room or tweet @TheSackSBN for answers. Every Thursday, a few will be pulled and answered here. Today, we talk start/sits and the dumpster fire that is the tight end position.
@TheSackSBN Who the fantasy equivalent of each Thanksgiving side? I think Justin Hunter is succotash.
— Daniel Kelley (@danieltkelley) November 26, 2014 I’m not really sure whose idea it was to combine corn and lima beans, but that person’s only half as evil as the one who decided it should be an acceptable food at the dinner table. It’s also the perfect analogy for Justin Hunter, because his fantasy output is just as confusing to me as succotash’s existence. This brings me to several other fantasy football equivalents of Thanksgiving sides:
Sweet Potatoes: Andy Dalton. Just lumpy and orange.
Jell-O Casserole: Cordarrelle Patterson. Who put freaking fruit in this crap casserole? You just want the Jell-O, man. I don't want the dumb crap that I have to meticulously slice around with my fork to avoid, and then when I finally get some of the good stuff, it wasn't worth the effort. Patterson is a damn Jell-O casserole. He's one good fantasy showing surrounded by 15 awful ones, but it just looked so intriguing that you want it on your plate. What a colossal mistake.
Dinner Roll: Oh, this has to be Joe Flacco, who would absolutely be the most unassuming Thanksgiving side*. This is the Thanksgiving side dish equivalent of a seat-filler. No one would miss a dinner roll. A Joe Flacco dinner roll wouldn't have butter on it.
*This reminds me of when I went to a potluck in either 2008 or 2009 that was hosted by Ravens fans who wanted people to bring Ravens-themed dishes, because people in my hometown of Baltimore are beyond strange. They had crap like Ray Rice-and-Beans or something, and The Ngata Frittata. I harbor every regret for, one: going to that party; and two: not contributing a sack of potatoes and calling it "Todd's Heap."
Pot Roast: Terrance Knighton. Not really a Thanksgiving food, but I bet Terrance Knighton eats pot roasts on Thanksgiving. Plural.
A single, uncooked potato, served atop a bed of broken glass shards: Toby Gerhart
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich with crusts cut off, served with a juice box: Eli Manning
Turkey: Robert Griffin III. This turkey is beautiful, golden and brined with strychnine and paint thinner. It's poison. Get it away.
And finally:
@TheSackSBN Kyle Orton is jellied cranberry sauce in a can, the single best side in existence, but readily available and often undesired.
— Daniel Kelley (@danieltkelley) November 26, 2014 We are all Kyle Orton. Next question.
@TheSackSBN Golden Tate or Tre Mason at flex?
— Matt Kearns (@mkearns7) November 27, 2014 I answered this on Twitter, just in case I didn't give enough time between my deadline and the Lions/Bears game for people to read this, but I'm going with Tate. The Bears defense is putrid versus the pass, and Tate has been a revelation this season. I've wanted to be cautious when playing him, but he's passed every test and continues to thrive even with Calvin Johnson in the lineup and versus elite coverage units.
As for Mason, he's still getting enough touches to keep your fantasy team in contention, but make no mistake, he's in a timeshare with Benny Cunningham in terms of snap count. Mason had 32 snaps to Cunningham's 30 in Week 12, and Cunningham is getting those ever valuable red-zone touches. As long as that continues, Mason will have a capped upside. I would much rather take a flier on a guy like Tate who could go off than a middling RB2 at my flex position.
@TheSackSBN Who do you like from here on out, Charles Clay or Delanie Walker? I have Clay, thinking about switching to Walker
— Bonesaw (@BoomMcSplode) November 26, 2014 I've noticed a lot of people dropping Delanie Walker in recent weeks, and I don't get it. Yeah, he was injured, and if you're desperate to fill a roster spot I could see it. But tight end has once again been the worst position in fantasy football, and Walker's been a fine option for those not lucky enough to have Rob Gronkowski, Julius Thomas or Jimmy Graham. Walker is putting up just as many points on average as Antonio Gates and Greg Olsen, who have been maddening in their own right, but have been the best options outside of the aforementioned big three.
Walker also had the benefit of facing the Jets and Giants down the stretch, who have allowed the second- and fifth-most points to opposing tight ends, respectively. It's a big reason why the SB Nation fantasy staff has him as the consensus No. 6 tight end for the rest of the year. I don't think you'll regret starting Walker over Clay going forward.
@TheSackSBN My playoff life could hang on DeAndre Hopkins or Steve Smith Sr. -Who am I playing? Is it six of one, half-dozen of the other?
— MTL (@MatthewTLego) November 25, 2014 Half-a-dozen Steve Smiths? Holy crap, an offense with six Steve Smiths would be awesome. Three would always be open and two would begin wrestling their closest defenders. The other one would pull an opponent aside and just calmly talk to him, finding ways to exploit his deepest, darkest pain, Hannibal Lecter-style.
Steve Smith is probably very, very good at making people cry, and a times, that means his fantasy owners. As a whole, he hasn't shown his age this season, but he definitely seemed to need that bye week to rejuvenate him. The volume of targets he's been seeing are steadily declining in recent weeks as Torrey Smith has been getting more involved. Over the past four games, Steve Smith has gotten nine, eight, seven and six targets while Torrey Smith has been right there with him with two, seven, eight and six of his own. The elder Smith has gone from a No. 1 to more of a complement.
DeAndre Hopkins was in a similar situation in terms of sharing the bulk of the targets with another receiver, Andre Johnson. And making matters murkier, they now get to play musical chairs at quarterback with Ryan Fitzpatrick back in the fold. Fitzpatrick showed a slight preference toward Johnson in terms of targets, though Hopkins has been the more efficient one all season.
This doesn't leave Smith/Hopkins owners with a clear-cut decision for the season's stretch, and deciding who to start will have to be a weekly assessment. This week, I'd pen Hopkins in my lineup versus a very burnable Titans secondary while Smith draws the Chargers, a team that has been unforgiving to opposing receivers for most of the season.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Enjoy the games.
Hey guys, thank you for reading this week’s edition of The Sack. If you would like to be in next week’s The Sack, please post your fantasy questions in the comments or tweet me at @TheSackSBN. Be sure to also visit SB Nation’s Fantasy War Room so I can pull questions from there as well.
