The Atlanta Falcons‘ fantasy football outlook digs into their ability to take advantage of this advantageous matchup, while the Tennessee Titans‘ fantasy preview takes a look at how their offense will be different this week.
Atlanta Falcons at Tennessee Titans
- Spread: Falcons -2.5
- Total: 36.5
- Falcons implied points: 19.5
- Titans implied points: 17
Quarterbacks
Desmond Ridder: Is he playing better than he did in September? Without a doubt. Does it matter for us? Nope.
Ridder has more games with zero touchdown passes (two) than he does multi-TD efforts (one). He also has more multi-INT games than multi-TD games.
The profile isn’t that of someone who matters for standard leagues, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a time and place to roll him out there. With the Falcons scheming up some valuable rushing attempts and his aDOT up 17.5% over the past three weeks, Ridder is a viable QB2 in this friendly matchup.
Will Levis: Will I be watching the second-round pick to see how comfortable he is in his first NFL action for my dynasty leagues? You bet. But the excitement ends there.
MORE: Is Will Levis Worth a Pick Up Off the Waiver Wire in Week 8?
We’re looking at a QB with a sub-2.0 touchdown-to-interception ratio in college who is starting for an offense that ranks 27th in the percentage of yards gained through the air. Fantasy managers and Levis will be treating this week — and this season, for that matter — in the same fashion as a learning experience.
Running Backs
Bijan Robinson: I understand that you were burned by Robinson last week, and I feel for you – I really do. But there was nothing you could do about that last week, and there’s no need to compound an unfortunate situation by benching this star a week later.
Robinson is an RB1 for me this week and, without a doubt, the remainder of the season. He caught at least four passes in five of six games prior to the Week 7 mess, averaging over five yards per carry in the process. Don’t get cute.
Tyler Allgeier: The second-year back racked up 75 yards on 15 carries in the season opener, but since then, he’s only recorded 226 yards on 81 carries (2.8 yards per carry with no rush gaining more than 12 yards).
Allgeier deserves to be rostered for his consistent work and potential of Robinson’s illness lingering, but the per-touch upside keeps him outside of my top 35 this week and for the rest of the season.
Derrick Henry: The final stat line in Week 6 against the tough Ravens defense looks fine (113 yards and a touchdown on 14 touches), but 63 of those yards came on a wildcat fake pitch play. Was it a thing of beauty? It was. Is it the type of play that is repeatable? Not a chance.
It’s been a struggle to find running room for Henry this season, and Tyjae Spears is clearly not going away (handled the first carry of the second half and produced a 48-yard catch late in the Week 6 loss). Per the Week 8 Cheat Sheet, Henry doesn’t have a game with 20 receiving yards since Week 1, and while you’re still starting him, he’s no longer the top-10 lock he was in August.
Tyjae Spears: While the snaps share is there, and we’ve seen proof of ability (19+ yard touch in three straight games), he’s simply not involved enough to elevate to the Flex radar. You could do worse in a pinch — he’s been a top-35 RB in four of his past five — but the floor is greater than the ceiling. In fact, he finished better than RB28 in only one of those four games mentioned.
I don’t build dynasty rosters around running backs, but Spears is a nice piece for teams with an eye on the future with Henry’s contract up after this season.
Wide Receivers
Drake London: Don’t look now, but London is starting to check some boxes, despite playing for an offense that isn’t built in a way for him to thrive. In the win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, he saw an end zone target, was tackled on the 1-yard line later, and caught 6+ passes for a third consecutive week (first four weeks: 2.8 catches per game).
In this game against a pass-funnel defense, London reappears in my top 30 at the position, owning favorable usage trends to bigger names like Jacksonville Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley and Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins.
No pass catcher in Arthur Smith’s world is going to ever see the word “safe” in his profile, but London is a worthwhile Flex option this week. That should be the case until we hit Thanksgiving, at the very least. He’ll have matchups against the Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals.
DeAndre Hopkins: How much interest would you have in starting a receiver pacing for 802 yards and 65 catches who plays for a bottom-10 offense? Basically, none, right? You can find those four catches for 50 yards on the wire with relative ease and probably with more scoring equity in most cases.
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That’s Hopkins if you remove the outlier Week 5 game against the Colts (his only finish better than WR40 since the first week of the season). He could be in a shadow situation (A.J. Terrell) this weekend with no signs of this offense putting him in position to succeed. With no teams on a bye, I have a hard time thinking you can’t do better than Nuk.
Treylon Burks: The 23-year-old has yet to play in October due to a nagging hamstring injury, but he is at least said to be trending in the right direction. Could you justify stashing him in a deeper league? Sure, but he’s not a must-roster at this point, and I’d be very surprised if he approaches my top 40 at any point in 2023.
Tight Ends
Kyle Pitts: It tells you all you need to know about the TE position when I can say something like “has cleared 40 yards in five of seven games” as a positive. He got there almost solely because of a single catch (39 yards – his longest since January of 2021) and that is the sort of upside we are targeting at a position that features a low floor for just about everyone.
When it comes to usage, Pitts ran a route on 61.8% of his Week 7 routes, while fellow TE Jonnu Smith ran a route 50% of the time. In a favorable matchup, he’s back inside of my top 10 at the position. What could possibly go wrong?
Jonnu Smith: The veteran TE saw a season-low three targets last week, despite holding a two-snap edge on Pitts, and that’s concerning. While I don’t doubt that he remains on the field with consistency, I’m worried about the downward-trending yardage totals (95-67-36-27 over his past four games) in an offense that doesn’t offer much scoring equity.
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Smith isn’t a top-15 option for me this week. I’d rather roll the dice on youth (Jake Ferguson or Michael Mayer) or raw upside (Taysom Hill).
Should You Start Drake London or Joshua Palmer?
I think both are viable options this week, but I do prefer the target consistency that comes in the form of London in a matchup against the fifth-worst defense on a per-pass basis. Both of these receivers are trending in the right direction, and in an even matchup, I go Palmer — that’s just not the case this week.
Should You Start Bijan Robinson or Joe Mixon?
Assuming we get clean health reports out of Atlanta, I’m comfortable giving Robinson another chance in my lineup. The talent jumps off the screen at you, and while this is a tough matchup on the ground, the rookie is plenty versatile to be used in space. Mixon is reliable, but he has yet to finish a week better than RB15 this season and has just one touchdown on his 2023 résumé.
Both are live DFS options given the lack of excitement around them right now.