Monday Night Observations
I made the mistake of watching the Steelers game first, and it showed the score of the Panthers-Saints in the top left corner. That meant I had to watch the 48-minute (they’ve beefed it up from 40 with unnecessary replays) versions for two games while knowing the result of he really dull one.
(Admittedly I was checking the MLB scores while it was on, and also going down a Twitter Fourth Turning rabbit hole explaining why we’re all doomed and finding it uncomfortably plausible.)
In any event, I resolved the issue with the 48-minute version being unavailable by having a dentist appointment at 9 am and watching after I got back. Apparently when I was trying to watch at 7 am Western European Time (WET), it’s only 2 am ET, and they hadn’t finished the edits yet.
. . .
The big story is obviously Nick Chubb being out for the year with a knee injury. Remarkably Chubb has *never* averaged fewer than 5.0 YPC in his five-plus-year career and was at 6.1 YPC so far this season.
It’s always unfortunate when one of the greats in the league gets hurt, but less so when he’s not on any of your fantasy teams. That might sound cold, but don’t lie to yourself. The amount of teeth gnashing and emotional distress you experience due to Chubb going down varies directly with the number of shares in which you invested (assuming you’re not a die-hard Browns fan.) Had I taken him early second in the Primetime, something for which I studied and prepped and in which invested $1,750, it might ruin my entire day.
That said, I wouldn’t gloat about it even if it obviously helps you. It’s not that it affects him if you gloat, but that it’s a bad habit to get used to enjoying real-life harm solely for competitive edge, financial gain or (the most ignominious) spiteful virtue signaling:
Hopefully Chubb comes back as strong as ever in 2024, that is, assuming the posters in rabbit hole down which I went are off the mark.
. . .
Kenny Pickett looks like Bryce Young to me — a young QB that makes some throws, moves pretty well, but I can’t tell if he’s any good. No opinion on either player.
It seemed like Najee Harris (10-43-0, 3-1-0-0) was on the ropes for a minute, after he dropped a pass, and Jaylen Warren (6-20-0, 6-4-66-0) got in the game and immediately started making plays out of the backfield as a receiver. But Harris made a couple bruising runs later in the game to remind people of his skill set. Mike Tomlin doesn’t typically split backfields, but this looks like a real split.
George Pickens (10-4-127-1) mostly got his on the 71-yard TD catch over the middle where he broke one tackle and was gone. He’s obviously the guy now that Diontae Johnson is out. I picked up Allen Robinson (3-2-12-0) in a few places and was encouraged by Pickett targeting him a couple times on the first series, but then I never saw Robinson on the screen or heard him mentioned again.
I actually lost my Steak League matchup on the T.J. Watt TD return (we use IDPs in that league.)
Deshaun Watson didn’t have a great stat line, and the Browns lost, but he looked good to me. Smooth in the pocket, quick feet, knowing when to scramble. I’m bullish on him going forward as he looks like the guy in Houston.
Jerome Ford (16-106-0, 4-3-25-1) proved Chubb is just a system back. Seriously, Ford looked pretty good, and he’s going to fetch a pretty penny in FAAB as in 80-plus percent of budgets I’d imagine.
In my Dynasty League (the one I traded Travis Etienne for Taysom Hill and Amari Cooper), I had Donovan Peoples-Jones (4-1-7-0) in for Cooper (10-7-90-0) Monday night, thinking I’d switch it if Cooper were active, but I got so little sleep Sunday night (after the late games went into OT) I went to bed at 10 pm last night and forgot to swap Cooper back in. That team is bad anyway, so I’m not sweating it too much, and the deal isn’t looking so terrible given Hill’s role last night.
When Dustin Hopkins crushes a 55-yarder down the middle, you know we’re in the golden age of kicking.
Taysom Hill (9-75-0, 1-1—1-0) is still a beast, but he’s only the goal-line-running quarterback. With Jamaal Williams going down, Tony Jones (12-34-2) is the goal-line running back. I have no idea how long Williams will be out, and don’t forget Alvin Kamara is coming back soon.
Chris Olave (11-6-86-0), Michael Thomas (9-7-55-0) and Rashid Shaheed (4-4-63-0) all did their thing given the low-scoring slog of a game it was.
As I said, I don’t really have a read on Young. He doesn’t strike me as obviously terrible, but I’m not scrambling to trade for him for my likely-selling-soon dynasty league team, either.
Miles Sanders (14-43-0, 5-3-4-0) and Chuba Hubbard (2-16-0, 5-5-34-0) seem to be settling into a modest 65/35 timeshare that’s no one’s first choice.
Adam Thielen (9-7-54-1) looks like the NFC’s DeAndre Hopkins this year, the older veteran receiver getting targets you’re comfortable using. That’s meant to be modest praise for Thielen and maybe a little shade on the current incarnation of Hopkins.