Minnesota Vikings Fantasy Football Analysis – Week 3

Week 3 – vs SD – W 31-14

QB: Teddy didn’t have to do much as ground game dominated.  Made a few bad decisions and throws and needs to clean that up.  Doesn’t look as good as last season just yet.  Still believe it will come.

RB: Peterson a monster game and just couldn’t be stopped.  Just can’t emphasize how much he stands out versus every other back in the league in terms of running skills.  Simply amazing.

WR: Wallace average while Johnson did nearly nothing.  Running game dominated but they called a lot of plays where throws went to back ups.  Hard to make sense of this passing attack right now.

TE:  Rudolph did little but not worried.  Game flow.

OL:  Strong game for the run as they were doing just enough to free RB.  Solid on limited pass protection.

Def: A little below average against the run.  Lead kept that from getting ugly.  Blitz was really good against the pass.  Still couldn’t stop it but a lot came against prevent.  Gave up monster to #1 WR.  Average games everywhere else.

Minnesota Vikings Fantasy Football Analysis – Week 2

Week 2 – vs Detroit – W 26-16

QB: Bridgewater didn’t have to do much as running game dominated.  Looked really good on limited attempts and made some incredible throws into good coverage.  Looks great but might end up with paltry numbers because of run game at season’s end.

RB: Peterson fumbled 3 times but still had huge game and is still the best pure runner in the league.  Makes guys look so silly in the open field.  Unstoppable if he gets even a small amount of blocking.

WR: Limited by game flow.  Wallace an average game while Johnson did little.  After this game, these guys are relegated to good plays ONLY when the match up looks like a shootout.  If they are able to dominate on the ground, the WRs will get nothing.

TE: Rudolph a nice TD grab and a good game.  Is definitely in the upper echelon of TEs as long as he stays on the field.

OL: Looked good and helped run game dominate.  Have to hope this is what they can do instead of the week 1 debacle.

Def: Bottled up the run game and contained the passing game to shorter stuff.  Pass rush looked very good.  Got in QB’s face all game.  Coverage was good but receivers made some plays.  Gave up good games to WRs and TE.

End of Season Review of My Last Minute Fantasy Football Pickups

Time to take a look back at how my first season went making last minute pickups.  As I stated on the page, these are players owned in less than 20% (and preferably less than 10%) of leagues that I excepted to have a good fantasy week.  In other words, last minute plug-and-play desperation picks.  I did better than I expected in my initial season doing this but certainly hoping for even better next year.  Here’s a quick review of things.

Overall Grades

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I made 5 picks every week for a total of 85 all season.  5 players got injured or, in 1 case, ended up not playing.  Here’s how the other 80 turned out on my grading.

Number of ‘A’ grades: 23

‘B’ grades: 8

‘C’ grades: 7

‘D’ grades: 9

‘F’ grades: 33

Calculated “GPA”: 1.74

Ugh.  Feels a little worse doing the GPA calculation but still not as bad as I expected considering what I’m picking from.  Prior to the season, I honestly thought I’d really hit on maybe 10-12 picks.  Came away with essentially double that.  I’m happy, mostly.

Best Pickups of the Year

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Was going to just pick one but there’s 5 that kind of stick out fairly equally.  That said, here they are.

Week 5 – Austin Davis – Projected 26th among QB – Finished 3rd

I expected the big week against the Eagles poor pass D and Davis came through.  Definitely one of the biggest highlights of his season before losing the job again.  I wouldn’t expect him to see the field too many more times in his career as he just didn’t show enough when given the opportunity.

Week 6 – Andre Holmes – Projected 108th among WR – Finished 2nd

A big play guy that made some big plays this week.  The Raiders have some nice pieces on offense like Holmes, Jones, and Rivera.  Now if they could just find someone to coach them appropriately…

Week 6 – Jace Amaro – Projected 37th among TE – Finished 4th

Finished this week #1 among TEs in PPR so kind of nailed this one.  Injury derailed his season a bit along with the erratic QB play.  I would expect him to be a huge sleeper depending on how the coaching and QB situation plays out in New York.  He has top 10 and possibly top 5 talent at the position, in my opinion.

Week 9 – Chase Ford – Projected 88th among TE – Finished 6th

Really think he kind of went under the radar a bit in terms of how good he could be.  Liked what I saw and think he could be an impact player down the road assuming he gets the chance to develop a bit.  Will be tough behing Rudolph but maybe a trade or cut happens in the off-season that opens a door for him.

Week 12 – Charles Johnson – Projected 223rd among WR (technically true!) – Finished 12th

I was initially really excited about Johnson but that excitement dwindled as the season finished out.  I think he might end up a bit overrated next season and I might be pretty leery about him come draft day.  Just don’t think he can consistently produce as a #1 WR, assuming that is where he begins the season next year.

Worst Pickup of the Year

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Plenty to chose from in terms of the F grades but this one really stuck out in my mind.

Week 7 – Dexter McCluster – Projected 70th among RB – Finished 90th

Finished the week with a negative score and was dead last among all RBs that logged time that week.  I assumed the Titans were, at some point, going to start giving him 10-15 touches simply out of desperation at the position but this week convinced me that was never going to happen.  By this week, I was honestly not sure why the Titans bothered to sign him.  They clearly didn’t know how to use his ability.

 

Minnesota Vikings Week 17 Fantasy Analysis

Week 17 – vs Chicago – W 13-9

QB: Teddy a solid game but team relied on run game a lot.  Decisions and accuracy continue to get better.  Won’t be a stud next season but should be a great #2.

RB: Asiata another good game and ran hard.  Did have a bad drop and definitely lacks elite ability.  Solid player but probably won’t be a starter next season unless injury occurs.

WR: Thielen a good game on basically one play.  Nothing to pay much attention to yet.  Johnson covered well and did little.  Jennings okay but will probably be more phased out next season.

TE: Rudolph DNP.  Ellison a few catches and looked pretty good.  Can’t be trusted for obvious reasons.

OL: Still not great.  Pass protection was shaky.  Run blocking wasn’t too bad against weak D.  Definitely needs upgrades in off-season.

Def: Run D was strong against elite RB.  Pass rush was okay.  Contained pass O to short plays.  Gave up decent games to RB and TE.  Held rest to little.

Minnesota Vikings Week 16 Fantasy Analysis

Week 16 – @ Miami – L 35-37

QB: Bridgewater another nice game despite a tipped INT.  Should have had a 3rd TD.  Moved well against good pass rush but still took some sacks because of blocking problems.

RB: Asiata a big game with 2 short TDs and a 2-pt convert.  Still just a power runner with not a ton of ability.  This team definitely should go after an upgrade.

WR: Jennings a good game with a nice TD grab.  Wright also got a TD and looked okay.  Johnson still looks like the best option on team right now despite low output in this one.

TE: Rudolph DNP.  Ford should have had TD on his only catch.  Think he is still a pretty good player with some upside.

OL: Not great, especially in pass protection.  Better as run blockers again but not dominating.

Def: Couldn’t stop O, especially later in the game.  Mostly avoided big plays but couldn’t stop 3rd downs.  Gave up huge games to QB, RB, and #1 WR.  Also big games to TEs.

Minnesota Vikings Week 15 Fantasy Analysis

Week 15 – @ Detroit – L 14-16

QB: Bridgewater looked very good except for one awful throw for a pick.  Getting time from his line and is starting to really get comfortable.  Could be a surprise next season.

RB: Asiata a good game doing a lot of damage receiving.  Runs powerfully but not a star player.  Does a lot with the ability he has.

WR: Johnson and Jennings good games again.  Johnson is really starting to look like a very good player and it looks like he’s in the starting lineup to stay for next season.

TE: Rudolph a solid game and made some good plays.  Will be good again if he gets healthy and stays that way.

OL: Continues getting better, especially in pass protection.  Had some trouble with elite D-line but played really well considering.

Def: Another strong game.  Contained really well and held O to few yards.  Pass rush was solid.  Gave up good game to RB and #2 WR.  Held rest in check.

Minnesota Vikings Week 14 Fantasy Analysis

Week 14 – vs NYJ – W 30-24

QB: Teddy looked great as protection was there.  Showed good poise and accuracy in this one.

RB: Asiata okay against elite run D.  Just no big play ability for him.  Speed isn’t there and he can’t seem to run over too many.

WR: Johnson and Wright both big games.  Johnson really looks great and will be hard to ignore on draft day.  Jennings a decent game but no big plays like the other WRs.

TE: Rudolph did little.  Probably needs some more time to build rapport with QB.

OL: Decent all-around game against elite D-line.  Wasn’t spectacular but wasn’t hurting too badly.

Def: Helped by bad QB.  Got run on for plenty and wasn’t stopping the run enough.  Wasn’t covering well either.  Gave up big game to #2 WR.  Decent games to #1 WR and RBs.  Held TEs to zero.

Minnesota Vikings Week 13 Fantasy Analysis

Week 13 – vs Carolina – W 31-13

QB: Bridgewater didn’t have to do much because of early lead.  Was a good game manager in this one.  Looks good when he is protected.

RB: Asiata an okay game but not a ton of touches.  Been same story all season with him.

WR: Jennings a good game getting a TD.  Patterson is completely irrelevant now.  Johnson average but not enough throws since they had a lead.

TE: Rudolph got a TD but little else.  Lead hurt him as well.

OL: Solid game.  Pass protection could have been better but not terrible.

Def: Couldn’t stop the run and was getting beat by bad O-line.  Pass coverage was good but inaccurate QB helped a ton.  Gave up decent games to RB, TE, and WRs.  No big games.

Grading My Last Minute Pickups of Week 12

Time to grade my week 12 pickups.  A very boom and bust week for these picks.  I said they had high ceilings and low floors and that came to fruition.  As always, I’ll be using the NFL.com projections and scoring for the grades.

Pickup of the Week – QB Zach Mettenberger – Projected 22nd among QB – Finished 10th – Grade: A+

TD to Hunter was a little fluky but it was still headed to him and, if it were a couple more inches higher, no one would call it a fluke.  He’s playing better every week and is worth consideration when the match up is good.  The Titans certainly don’t seem too interested in running the ball…

RB Dan Herron – Projected 73rd among RB – Finished 26th – Grade: A

Would have finished a little higher if not for the fumble.  Should have finished lower but his other fumble got credited to Luck.  Looked very good and should see plenty of touches for the rest of season.

WR Jermaine Kearse – Projected 80th among WR – Finished 76th – Grade: F

Disappointed yet again.  Still believe if he was on a passing team he would be a good fantasy option.  Seattle is just too erratic to ever confidently trust their WRs.

WR Charles Johnson – Projected 223rd among WR (not kidding, look it up) – Finished 12th – Grade: A++++++++times infinity

Really like what this guy is doing right now and looks like he has played his way past almost every other receiving option on his team.  Not a bad option, especially in PPR.  Might be a sneaky good play the next 2 weeks as well.

TE Eric Ebron – Projected 24th among TE – Finished 30th – Grade: F-

Played terrible and just doesn’t look like a very good receiver right now.  Maybe he’ll break out at some point, but it’s too costly to trust him for now.

Minnesota Vikings Week 12 Fantasy Analysis

Week 12 – vs GB – L 21-24

QB: Bridgewater looked pretty bad in this one.  Made some atrocious throws and accuracy was really bad early.  Blocking was not the problem here.

RB: McKinnon average and didn’t do enough in passing game.  Not sure the team trusts him to handle full load at this point.

WR: Jennings and Johnson big games.  Johnson looked particularly good and might be a decent play with the right match up rest of season.  Patterson still doing nothing.  No reason to own and might not even be draft-able next season at this point.

TE: Rudolph a decent game but no TD.  Getting back to normal and might have a big game coming as he gets used to QB.

OL: Pretty strong game both run and pass blocking.  Looked much better than usual.

Def: Contained elite O pretty well.  Mostly stayed away from big plays but couldn’t stop them often enough.  Got trampled by running game.  Gave up monster to RB and decent games to WRs and TE.