We are now over a month into this NFL season! We must focus on the top takeaways now that we have film and statistics to study. No longer can we rest on our offseason takes of who will succeed and who will fail. We now have a reasonably large sample size of NFL football. The fantasy season will move quickly, and in a dynasty, it is essential to acquire players before they break out or unload players before they falter. We can lead our team to a fantasy football title by focusing on weekly top takeaways!
Javonte Williams Season-Ending Injury
In Sunday’s matchup against AFC West rival Las Vegas, Williams suffered a torn ACL, damaging his LCL and MCL. Terrible news for the second-year running back from the University of North Carolina. Many in the dynasty community were very high on Javonte and had him ranked as high as a top-three dynasty running back. The injury will come with a long road to recovery, and Javonte will miss the rest of the season at least. The goal is for Javonte to return fully recovered and strong in 2023.
Left behind in the Denver backfield will be Melvin Gordon assuming the lead back role with Mike Boone serving as the direct backup. The Broncos also signed Latavius Murray off the New Orleans Saints practice squad. Murray was active for Sunday’s loss to the Vikings, where he could handle 11 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown. This was Murray’s first action since last season. Dynasty managers looking to win now should be looking to make a deal for Gordon if possible, while Mike Boone and Latavius Murray should be priority waiver wire adds this week.
Josh Jacobs Bellcow Usage
In a key AFC West matchup, Jacobs saw elite usage this week for the Las Vegas Raiders. He was on the field for 67 of the team’s 75 offensive snaps. Additionally, he commanded 28 of the team’s 35 rush attempts. Throw in six targets, and these are elite RB1 type of usage numbers. Jacobs did finish as the overall RB1 on the week and is now RB7 through four weeks of the NFL season.
The offseason was not kind to Jacobs as he did not receive an extension from the new front office and had a brand new coaching staff. When new coaches come in, you can never assume that they will give deference to the veterans on the team. The preseason didn’t help to quell any of these worries as we saw Jacobs active during the Hall of Fame game. This game is usually used for the practice squad and roster-bubble type players active. It has been a long road for Jacobs this year, but he looks like a league winner this season. He is an excellent buy for a contending team!
Gerald Everett Is A Top Tight End
This past Sunday, Everett finished as the TE4 and is now TE6 overall on the season. Everett is currently top-twelve at the tight end position for the number of routes run, which you want to key in on when looking for fantasy-relevant tight ends. He also ranks eight among tight ends for red-zone targets. This trend of Everett finishing as a top-five weekly tight-end will continue in 2022. If any managers in your league doubt this, you must trade for Everett now.
Chiefs Receivers Are Useless
The Kansas City Chiefs scored 41 points Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Patrick Mahomes put up almost 250 passing yards as well as three touchdowns. Despite this, not a single Chiefs receiver broke ten fantasy points in half-PPR formats. JuJu Smith-Schuster is the highest ranked on the season, currently sitting at WR48. Far from functional for your fantasy football starting lineup. This offense is cooking, but none of the receivers are even in the kitchen. It is the Mahomes and Kelce show from here on out.
Information is the most powerful tool any dynasty fantasy football manager possesses. If you can stay on top of the correct information more than your league-mates, you will come out on top. The AFC West is home to many key fantasy players. Be sure to check back with us, as we will be breaking down takeaways from every division this week. And be sure to come back next week, as we will be doing the same for all 18 weeks of the 2022 NFL season!
The NFL season is here! Want exclusive access to my rankings and those of over twenty fellow analysts? Subscribe to the #NerdHerd, where you get exclusive content, dynasty/rookie rankings, and DynastyGM! If you want 15% off ANY SUBSCRIPTION, USE PROMO CODE “LUNA” or CLICK HERE.
I hope you enjoyed this piece in our Winning With Vegas series. For more content like this, follow me on Twitter @DanT_NFL. DMs are always open for any questions, comments, or craft beer recommendations!