Arizona Cardinals
Isaiah Simmons finished the game against Los Angeles with seven solo stops and a pass breakup. We have grown accustomed to seeing solid numbers from him over the last few weeks. What we are not used to seeing is a 100% play share for Simmons, which happened for the first time in Week 10.
Budda Baker played despite a bum ankle and was 3-1 with a pick. Meanwhile, Jalen Thompson managed a season-low of 1-2. As far as I can tell, there is nothing to see here. It was simply a case of an opponent's anemic offense not getting into the secondary very often. That should not be an issue this week when the 49ers are in town.
One Arizona defender that excelled was corner Antonio Hamilton who went 10-1 with a pair of pass breakups. A lot of his production came from covering Tyler Higbee, who had eight catches. In other words, it is not something we are likely to see again anytime soon.
Buffalo Bills
A.J. Epenesa got the start for Gregory Rousseau and made the most of it, going 3-0-1 with a forced fumble and two batted passes. Carlos Basham did his part as well, going 2-0-1. Everyone in the rotation saw a bump in playing time as they shared the extra snaps.
Tremaine Edmunds lasted 36 plays before aggravating the groin injury that had him questionable last week. So far, the only update we have seen from the team is that he will be evaluated at practice this week. If Edmunds sits, Tyrel Dodson would get the start.
The Bills were looking to get TreDavious White back in Week 11, but that might not happen. He is participating in practice on a limited basis, but coach McDermott said on Monday that White is not quite ready yet. That could change between now and Sunday.
Jaquan Johnson graded poorly as the Week 9 replacement for Jordan Poyer. In Week 10, the Bills took a look at Cam Lewis in the position. I have not yet seen how the grade went, but Lewis had a productive day at 7-2 and appears in line for another start if Poyer is not ready.
Carolina Panthers
In last week’s Guru and the Godfather article, I talked about that thin grey line between patience and stupidity when it comes to holding onto underperforming players. The part I left out is that when you finally decide to move on, that player has about a 90% chance of going off the following week. For example, I give you Frankie Luvu. In the first three games after the coaching change, Luvu played less than 75% of the snaps and put relatively little on the stat sheet. After pointing that out and cutting him in a couple of leagues, he played every snap in Week 10 with his second-highest point total of the year. For anyone that started him last week, you are most welcome! It will take another full participation game to restore my confidence in Luvu, but he has a great matchup to work with this week in the Ravens.
Donte Jackson is done for the season with a torn Achilles. C.J. Henderson should start the rest of the way. Jeremy Chinn is practicing and could return to the field in week 11
Chicago Bears
Roquan who? When the team traded Smith, the fan base was less than enthusiastic. The emergence of Jack Sanborn has helped them forget and move on quickly. He had a solid outing in his first NFL start with seven solo stops against Miami. For an encore, Sanborn lit up the Lions for 9-3-2. The eyeball test says this guy can play.
Cleveland Browns
Twice is a trend, and that is what we have with Sione Takitaki. In Week 8, he logged an 85% play share and posted career-best fantasy points by going 6-7-1 with a forced fumble. At that point, we were wondering if he or Deion Jones would have the lead role coming out of the bye. In Week 10, Takitaki played even more, seeing 96% of the action and posting a strong 8-2. This is a bit surprising, considering Jones is a proven three-down starter with strong cover skills, but then, it’s the Browns. Nothing should shock us.
The second part of this situation is that Jones once again saw about 75% of the playing time and posted decent numbers with nine combined stops and half a sack.
Myles Garrett rarely has a bad game, so his 1-1 against the Dolphins is out of character. The minimal tackle numbers were matched by his lowest snap share of the season. The latter is likely due to the lopsided loss, so ultimately, there is nothing to see here. That said, Cleveland faces the Bills this week, and Buffalo is a poor matchup for edge defenders.
A lot of managers picked up rookie Martin Emerson over the last couple of weeks. He put up solid numbers as a full-time starter, but the return of Denzel Ward pushes Emerson back to the nickel role and limited him to 55% of the snaps in Week 10. Time to move on.
Dallas Cowboys
Where is Dorance Armstrong? He came out of the gate on fire but has done a fine imitation of Waldo over the last three games, totaling 0-4-0 combined, despite aaa couple of strong matchups. With Donte Fowler looking pretty good and rookie Sam Williams starting to make plays, Armstrong is a serious drop candidate.
Leighton Vander Esch was tended to by the training staff early in Sunday’s game. He missed a few plays but returned on the next series.
Anthony Brown is in concussion protocol. If he is not cleared, look for DaRon Bland to get the start with Kelvin Joseph likely working the slot.
Denver Broncos
It matters not who is the official starter. What matters is that Alex Singleton played 53% of the snaps next to Josey Jewell, and Jonas Griffith played 21%. All that ultimately means is that neither Singleton nor Griffith is going to have any value unless something changes.
P.J. Locke started at SS for Justin Simmons.
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