Don’t be surprised if … Brock Purdy, Chase Brown are league winners down the stretch

Every week in the NFL is a story full of surprises, both positive and negative, and fantasy football managers must decide what to believe and what not to believe moving forward. Perhaps we can help. If any of these thoughts come true… don't be surprised!

NOTE. All references to fantasy points are in PPR formats unless otherwise noted.

I wouldn't be surprised if… San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy Ranked among the top 10 fantasy QBs this month.

Matchups matter, and Purdy and his buddies are playing Tennessee Titans this week, and then everything went wrong Indianapolis Colts. That should be enough to convince fantasy managers to add Purdy to their rosters. The Titans are bad and they were recently exposed Sheader Sanders, Davis Mills and others. And that's not all. The 49ers did not play in Week 14. While we/many people made fun of the NFL for having teams have their bye weeks in December, during our fantasy playoffs! (how dare they!), the consequences of this are important. RB Christian McCaffrey and TE George Kittle rested. Of course, these are lone 49ers, usually in a fantasy lineup.

Purdy was also resting. He lacks impressive stats this season as he battled a sprained left shoulder and then a toe injury and missed more than half the games. Purdy threw three touchdowns in Week 11 against Arizona and then threw three interceptions the following Monday night against a team that was stronger than people realized. Carolina Panthers. In week 13, he scored 17.12 points against a strong Cleveland Browns protection. Purdy averaged 17.8 points last season. He was the No. 6 fantasy QB in 2023. We have seen and enjoyed his potential and I say with a schedule like this he is rewarding those who trust him. Outplay Purdy Patrick Mahomes (vs. Chargers) Lamar Jackson (no, I don't think he Great), Dak Prescott and many more this week.

Other QB Thoughts:

• Continuing with the topic of matchups, don't discourage yourself from relying on Philadelphia Eagles starter Jalen Hurts. Come on people. Las Vegas Raiders come to Philadelphia, and Hurts, fresh off a five-loss nightmare on Monday in Los Angeles, isn't going to score just 0.4 points more than you and me again. Raiders are terrible. Call for reinforcements Tanner McKee funny. The Eagles have lost three in a row, but they should score against the Raiders at will and they'll get cold feet. Washington commanders at the 16th and 18th weeks. Hurts scored a 30.86 fantasy point in Week 12. Nobody – the Eagles or you – is sitting on the bench.

• The Hurts situation highlights that there is a big difference between evaluating quarterbacks for real-life and fantasy purposes. ESPN Bill Barnwell discussed top league MVP candidates with QB Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford And Jordan Love paving the way. Fantasy managers need to look at Love completely differently. While he could still be a top 10 QB scorer this season, he hasn't finished there yet, and he finished 17th last season. Give Love credit for his success in the turnover department, but he's scored single-digit fantasy points in three of his last six games, and I like his chances for one more game. statistically a disappointing effort in Denver on Sunday. Maybe, Green Bay Packers keep winning, but you need to separate fantasy and reality.

• Indianapolis Coltslosing three games in a row and getting the starting QB Daniel Joneswe hit the road on sunday to meet Seattle Seahawks. No, I don't think they will win this fight either. Take your pick of the stats as you please, but the Seahawks and Broncos are right up there with the toughest defenses to do anything against. We wouldn't recommend a healthy Jones for this matchup, so don't even ask. Riley Leonard (knee), Philip Rivers (grandfather), Anthony Richardson Sr.. (knee), Peyton Manning (on my TV a lot more than other guys), Bert Jones (Google him), or whoever the Colts can find to do it.

I wouldn't be surprised if… Cincinnati Bengals veteran Chase Brown among the top ten scorers of the Republic of Belarus

Brown has been on fire in fantasy the last two months, scoring 18 points in five of six games. He may have been one of the biggest disappointments of the first six weeks, but he has since become a top five RB. Brown doesn't just do it with touchdowns, although he did score a pair in Week 14. Baltimore Ravensin Week 13 and ranks fifth in receptions. Yeah, Samaje Perine some touches were removed last week, but that may not be a big deal. Brown still enjoyed 15 touches. The Bengals are the easiest team for RBs to score fantasy points against, but the Ravens are fourth.

McCaffrey should be the top scorer in fantasy running backs this season. Jamir Gibbs finishing second. Gibbs must pass Jonathan Taylorwho I wouldn't play in a fantasy playoff game, but hey, the QB situation may make him look more challenging than usual this and every Sunday. Due to a poor start to the season, Brown may not have scored 255 fantasy points (15.9 per game) last season, but he's been above that range the last six weeks and should be in every lineup.

Other thoughts from RB:

• I think Miami Dolphins star De'Von Achane (ribs) plays in Pittsburgh on Monday night, but alas, we may not have a definitive answer by Sunday morning. So I'm a little surprised Jaylen Wright was not added to more leagues, especially by Achane's investors. As of Thursday afternoon, Wright's tally on the list was up just 3.7% from last week to 14.6% before surpassing an admittedly embarrassing total. New York Jets for 107 yards and a score as a reserve. This is our playoffs. Have a plan. Really, the Dolphins should go all over the place. Pittsburgh Steelersas they produce the most fantasy points to WRs and the third most to TEs. Make sure Jaylen Waddle in lineups, and if you don't have one of the top tier tight ends, we do our best to Darren Wallertoo much.

• Next year will be the first big one for New England Patriots rookie TreVeyon Henderson. I might even put him in the top 10 running backs depending on what happens with the veteran. Rhamondre Stevenson. However, we need to be wary of both this season because they cancel each other out when each is active. Stevenson, who averages 3.2 yards per carry, isn't having his best season, but he still puts up relatively equal volume to Henderson, who averages 4.8 yards per tote. Fantasy managers may not like it, but Henderson is hardly guaranteed to shine this month, even against a Bills defense that struggles against the run. Henderson ran for 24 yards in the Week 6 game in Buffalo. While Henderson has made strides as a pass blocker, Stevenson is a proven veteran and the Patriots appear to continue to trust him more in that capacity.

I wouldn't be surprised if… Arizona Cardinals WR Michael Wilson remains in the top five options until the end of the season

Cardinals face the mighty Houston Texans defense this week, so this prediction may seem odd, but give any receiver a million targets and good things will usually happen. First of all, I don't think Marvin Harrison Jr.. (Heal) is playing again this season. The 3-10 Cardinals are in last place in the NFC West, and Harrison's play can't change that. They find it difficult to run the football effectively, so the journeyman QB Jacoby Brissett throws it about 40 times per game. No, seriously, he's averaging over 300 passing yards per game this season. No one else.

Wilson has been the top fantasy player over the last four weeks, averaging 24.7 fantasy points on 14 targets per game, and there's little reason to expect that to change (assuming Harrison sits) even against the best defense. This should be similar to last week's Rams game, where the Cardinals lost and the winning team couldn't care less about Wilson putting up numbers. Old-timers may remember Billy Volek and Drew Bennett going gangbusters for the Tennessee Titans about a month later in the 2004 season. This deal with the Cardinals looks similar.

Other WR thoughts:

• I discuss this every week, but I watch Jacksonville Jaguars WR Meyers like a WR2 these days. Do you really want to judge him by his numbers with the Raiders? Meyers thrives with Trevor Lawrenceand the Jaguars get to feast on the lowly Jets this week. Predicting touchdowns for wide receivers is dangerous, but Meyers certainly has a good chance of making it four straight games on Sunday.

• Ravens WR Zai Flowers looked better against a poor Steelers passing defense in Week 14, catching eight of 11 targets for 124 yards, but he still hasn't scored a touchdown since Week 1. I don't have much confidence in him against the Bengals and probably a shadow DJ Turner IIsince these guys met two weeks ago and Flowers caught two passes for six yards. Besides, Lamar Jackson is still wrong. I like those Mark Andrews And Isaiah Probably make big plays against the Bengals, but not against the Baltimore WR.