The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Cincinnati Bengals players heading into their matchup with the Baltimore Ravens to help you craft a winning lineup.
Joe Burrow, QB
We’ve got the Joe Burrow that we drafted back in August alive and well for the fantasy playoffs.
It’s glorious.
He had no issues with the elements last week in Upstate New York: six of seven on the first drive and four touchdowns for the day.
He had the bad Pick-6 that flipped the game in the fourth quarter, but for fantasy purposes, a turnover that ramps up the aggression the rest of the game isn’t the end of the world.
Burrow has cleared 260 yards through the air in both of his starts back and seems to be moving within the pocket without limitations. Most importantly, he’s not taking hits (two sacks on 82 dropbacks).
He could be without Tee Higgins this week, and that hurts after the big Week 14 performance, but as long as he’s playing in support of this porous defense, fantasy greatness is going to be demanded of him to keep Cincy competitive.
Lock him in.
Chase Brown, RB
It took a minute, but this is the Chase Brown you signed up for back in August, and he should be considered a reliable asset for the remainder of this season.
The Bengals executed a masterpiece of a first drive in Buffalo last week, and it was capped with a Brown touchdown. Later, he showcased the elite versatility that we fell in love with last season, snaring a comeback pass and just barely crossing the goal line for his second score of the afternoon.
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He averaged 5.2 yards per carry two weeks ago in this matchup and added seven receptions for good measure. I’m not sure you can count on both repeating, but either would be enough. Brown is the clear RB1 in this offense, and with 8.5+ PPR points as a pass catcher in five of his past six, there’s a chance he’s the second most dangerous Cincinnati receiving option in what could be a fantasy bonanza on Sunday.
Ja’Marr Chase, WR
There aren’t many things that can slow Ja’Marr Chase
Jake Browning is one of them, and, at least last week, Mother Nature is another. The elements in Buffalo last week didn’t stop points from being put on the board, but Chase’s aDOT was just 3.8 yards, and that’s going to make it tough for him to live up to expectations.
You’ll be fine.
There’s another potentially high-scoring spot here and a seemingly weatherproof game the following weekend against the Dolphins. Chase deserves to be regarded as a top-5 option at the position, especially against a Ravens defense that just saw DK Metcalf gash them for 148 yards on a 36.4% target share.
Tee Higgins, WR
The conditions in Buffalo. The secondary. Gravity.
None of those things was going to stop Tee Higgins from doing what he wanted to do on Sunday. He finished the game with a 6-92-2 line against the Bills, highlighted by a grown man, one-handed grab where he reminded anyone watching of just how tough of a matchup he can be.
His big game came during a down Ja’Marr Chase effort (44 yards on eight targets), and that’s not always going to happen, but it was good to see Joe Burrow call his WR2’s number in a major way (four catches on his first 10 pass attempts against the Bills).
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He’s back in concussion protocol again this week, and that puts him at serious risk of a Week 15 DNP. You’ll have to monitor this situation, but it’s pretty straightforward: Higgins is a solid WR2 if he’s cleared, and if not, Andrei Iosivas enters the top 40 discussion and shouldn’t be left on waiver wires.
Mike Gesicki, TE
Mike Gesicki made a sneaky great catch against the Bills in the snow last week, where he had a hand between him and the ball, yet controlled it all the way to the ground for his first score of the season.
The idea of Gesicki is sound for fantasy purposes: he plays for a pass-happy offense that almost never asks him to block. It’s a good set-up, but with him accounting for just 16 of 41 TE routes last week, it’s hard to get too excited.
If you want to stream him in and are using this offense as the excuse, I’m not going to fight you on it. The position is largely a wasteland once you get past the first few tiers, and we have plenty of data points when it comes to the league labeling Gesicki was a receiver trapped in a tight end’s body.
That said, his mean production isn’t going to be much better than the names on your wire. Gesicki turned 10 targets into 54 yards in his first two weeks back after missing more than a month, production that included a week against these Ravens.
If you’re stuck, this is a bailout option, not a cheat code that you can count on to repeat his success.
