Fantasy Football Believe It or Not: Deshaun Watson is a top-10 quarterback, give up on the Dolphins?

Fantasy Football Believe It or Not: Deshaun Watson is a top-10 quarterback, give up on the Dolphins?
Video should i start cam newton or deshaun watson

I guess we should stop saying things were crazy after each week. Nothing is crazy if everything is. This is the new normal.

Deshaun Watson and Cam Newton were your top two quarterbacks in Week 4. Devin Funchess was the No. 1 wide receiver. Tyler Kroft paced all tight ends. Just as we planned it.

So the real question is no longer “was that weird?” Of course it was. The real question is whether it means anything. Let’s jump in with some instant reactions from Week 4, and once again your Twitter perception.

Deshaun Watson is a top-10 quarterback from this point forward

Last week I wrote about Deshaun Watson as my favorite streaming option for Week 4. I was hoping he would match his Week 3 performance against New England, or at least come close. He did so much more.

Watson threw four touchdown passes and ran for another. He had over 300 total yards for the second consecutive week. He’s now the No. 4 Fantasy quarterback for the season and he didn’t even start Week 1. He’s also still just 50 percent owned.

In a week in which we lost Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr, we gained a longterm No. 1 quarterback. Start Watson with confidence moving forward.

Verdict: Don’t believe it

This pains me, but I’m not quite there. Watson’s breakout has come against the Patriots and Titans. They rank 28th and 32nd in terms of yards per game allowed through the air. They’re the only two teams that have already allowed double-digit passing touchdowns.

Watson needs to pass one more test, and he’ll get in in Week 5 when the Chiefs come to town for prime-time Sunday Night Football.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally buy Watson as a future star. He’s definitely someone you should add off the waiver wire. He’s going to be streamable all year against the proper matchups. But I’m not crowing him a must-start option until we see him do this against a real NFL defense. He’ll get his chance this Sunday and can’t wait.

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Cam Newton is back!

Yes, in this very space we told you you could drop Cam Newton last week. Don’t give me too much grief because 69 percent of you agreed. Things change fast in today’s NFL, and Newton’s 316 yards and three touchdowns changed everything on Sunday.

The Panthers quarterback finally looked comfortable dumping the ball off and even ran for 44 yards. The fact that Kelvin Benjamin recovered so quickly and Devin Funchess seems to be taking a leap forward only helps. Newton is once again a top-12 quarterback.

Verdict: Don’t believe it

Again, it’s the Patriots. Every quarterback they’ve played this season has thrown for at least 300 yards. Newton is a borderline No. 1, and not all that different than Watson. The one major difference is that Watson has an elite wide receiver, and I still have questions about Newton’s No. 1 receiver. The other difference is volume. Newton has only topped 30 pass attempts once in four games this season, Watson has done it each of the past two weeks.

Newton is a fine streaming option in Week 5 against the Lions, but he’s still not someone I expect to be a reliable starter week in and week out.

You should give up on your Dolphins

Through three weeks, the Dolphins have played the Chargers, the Jets and Saints. They’ve scored 25 points. That is very, very bad.

Jay Cutler looks like a guy who retired once already because no one else wanted to pay him to play football. The offensive line looks below average at best. Jay Ajayi is unhappy with his touches and likely less happy with the number of huge hits he’s taking. Adam Gase is calling fades to Julius Thomas on first and goal from the 3. This is an absolute disaster.

I’m not saying you need to drop all of your Dolphins. That would be too rash. But it’s time to give up on any of them reaching their ceiling, and most of them won’t meet our expectations.

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Verdict: Believe it

Let’s start with Ajayi, since he’s the most high profile. He’s battling a knee injury that doesn’t sound like it’s going away, and the line is doing a sub-par job opening up holes. He’s still running hard, but that’s as much of a curse as it is a blessing because of the number of hits he takes per run. For all the fanfare coming into this season, Ajayi is still a back who has 61 yards or fewer in seven of his last nine games. You’re going to start him most weeks, but he’s more of a No. 2 running back than a top-10 back that we drafted him to be.

DeVante Parker and Jarvis Landry are both being hampered by Cutler’s inefficiency. Parker still has the highest ceiling, but nearly half of his catches and his only touchdown came on two garbage-time drives. Landry has seen his targets drop significantly the past two weeks and is averaging 6.6 yards per reception. He’s usable in PPR only.

As for Cutler, Kenny Stills, and Julius Thomas? I’m sure they’ll have a good game at some point this season but good luck predicting when.

Bilal Powell is a must-start running back

One of the bigger surprises of the weekend was how easily the Jets ran over and around the Jaguars. Bilal Powell and Elijah McGuire combined for 256 rushing yards on 31 carries in the Jet’s 23-20 overtime win over Jacksonville.

It’s easy to cite Powell’s flukish 75 yard run as the reason for his big day, but even subtracting that run he saw 24 touches and had 115 total yards. I had concerns about Elijah McGuire’s involvement, but if the Jets run the ball 30 times a game it won’t matter if McGuire takes a third of them.

Much like the end of 2016, we should view Powell as a solid No. 2 running back.

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Verdict: Believe it

For as long as Matt Forte is out.

The Jets aren’t going to run it 30 times a game, but Powell will still be a great option if he’s getting two-thirds of the work as he did in Week 4. His involvement in the passing game is a huge asset, that will become even more important when they’re inevitably playing from behind.

Amari Cooper is just taking up space on your bench

Is there a bigger bust in Fantasy Football than Amari Cooper? After a solid start in Week 1 against the Titans, Cooper has seven catches for 48 yards in his past three games. He leads the NFL in drops. His quarterback just got hurt. And Michael Crabtree is still the best receiver in Oakland.

I was one of Cooper’s biggest proponents coming into this season, but even I can’t defend him any longer. I understand if you can’t bring yourself to cut him because of how much you paid for him, but he’s just taking up space on your bench.

Verdict: Don’t believe it

Cooper has been awful. I’m not going to debate that. But we’re talking about a third-year receiver who has topped 1,000 yards each of his first two years in the league. I can’t explain why he’s been so awful (although Josh Norman and Aqib Talib have something to do with it) but I refuse to believe he’s just awful at football now.

I understand if you want to bench Cooper again in Week 5, but he has future matchups against the Chargers, Dolphins, Patriots and Cowboys this season. I anticipate starting him against all of them at the very least.

And yes, I’ll say it. If you don’t own Cooper, check in with the guy in your league who does. You may be surprised how little he’ll cost to obtain.