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ESPN Staff Writer- Fantasy football, basketball and sports betting writer for ESPN
- Former manager at a Fortune 100 financial services company
We are rapidly approaching the midpoint of the NFL season, and of course there is plenty to discuss in fantasy football.
Each Tuesday and Saturday during the season, ESPN fantasy analyst Eric Moody will ask our NFL Nation reporters the most pressing questions heading into the weekend and what to make of the fallout after games are played. Who is primed for a big performance, who is impacted by injuries, what roles might change? Here's what our crew had to say about some of the biggest storylines heading into the weekend of Week 7.
Should we be concerned about Davante Adams' dwindling role in the Las Vegas Raiders' offense (nine targets the past two weeks)?
Not if Adams' comments this week are taken to heart, and especially not if rookie Aidan O'Connell gets the call to start at quarterback in Chicago. Adams raised many eyebrows in declaring, "When you're a player like me, mentally, my benchmark is not wins and losses -- it's greatness." It was more 'Yeah, we're winning ugly, but it would be prettier if you got me more involved" than it was "Just give me the damn ball." Plus, the last time O'Connell started, in Week 4 at the Chargers, he targeted Adams 13 times. -- Paul Gutierrez
Should Drake London be viewed as a reliable fantasy option moving forward?
Sure. He's the clear No. 1 receiver in Atlanta -- beyond the statistical numbers, multiple players indicated that to ESPN this week -- and he has a clear comfort level with quarterback Desmond Ridder. He's getting opportunities, too, as he's had fewer than six targets in just one of the last 10 games (all Ridder starts). He's a red zone threat and has shown full-field capability as a receiver. -- Michael Rothstein
Is Aaron Jones expected to get his usual workload upon returning from his hamstring injury on Sunday?
"If I'm out there, I just want to go," Jones said this week, which would indicate that he thinks he should be off any kind of snap count or limitation. However, he did add that "sometimes you've got to protect the athlete from the athlete." Jones has had more bounce in his step this week during the limited time that practice is open to reporters, so it would seem like a good bet he'll get more work than he did in his first return -- and before the most recent setback -- from the hamstring injury, when he got just 20 plays (and five carries) against the Lions in Week 4. -- Rob Demovsky
Zack Moss has outscored Jonathan Taylor in both games Taylor has been active, but is it still a matter of time before Taylor takes over the Indianapolis Colts backfield?
There was definitely a progression toward more usage for Taylor in Week 6 against the Jaguars. Moss and Taylor had the exact same number of touches (13) in that game, a strong suggestion that the Colts are serious about ramping up Taylor's usage. Keep in mind, however, that Moss tends to get more opportunities in the 2-minute offense. We'll see whether that changes seeing how Taylor is a competent receiver, and his biggest plays to date have come in the passing game. Will the Colts lean further into that as the season continues? -- Stephen Holder
How will Zach Evans and Royce Freeman be utilized while Kyren Williams recovers from his ankle injury?
Sean McVay declined to give much away about what the running back group would look like Sunday against the Steelers, but he did say the Rams could have all four running backs --- Evans, Freeman, Darrell Henderson Jr. and Myles Gaskin -- active. "I liked what I saw from all four of those guys," McVay said. If only three are active, McVay said the coaching staff is still working through who those three would be, although he did say Henderson will be one of them. McVay said Henderson has "done a great job of being able to quickly reacclimate himself back to a lot of the things that we've done." McVay also said he's "pleased" with Freeman and said the veteran has been "ready for this opportunity." McVay said Evans is "a guy that's continuing to learn" and that Gaskin has a "skill set that's intriguing." "I liked what I've seen from him." McVay said. And even though the Rams will probably use a rotation of backs, it's also likely that the offense relies even more heavily on the passing game without Williams on the field. -- Sarah Barshop
When do you expect Kyler Murray will regain his starting position for the Arizona Cardinals?
This is the $100,000 question at the moment. There aren't any signs pointing to one week or another. Arizona has been quite tight-lipped about Murray's return, but coach Jonathan Gannon said they won't feel pressured to play Murray once his 21-day practice window expires. -- Josh Weinfuss
Is there any hope that the struggling Pittsburgh Steelers' running game and Najee Harris will improve after their bye week?
If last season is any indication, Najee Harris and the Steelers will come out of this year's bye with an improved approach to the run game and finally get things going on the ground. Harris said Wednesday that he stayed in Pittsburgh an extra day to meet with center Mason Cole and go over plays and tendencies that could benefit the run game and get the running backs and the line on the same page. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada also said his discussions with Harris during this year's bye were similar to last year's -- and the hope is the improvement will be similar, too. After the bye last year, Harris averaged 18.2 carries and 74.8 yards per game over the final nine games, an increase from 13.5 and 45 during the first eight weeks. -- Brooke Pryor
Jameson Williams has accumulated just six targets in his first two games played. Do the Detroit Lions have a plan to get him more involved in the weeks to come?
Certainly. However, with so many playmakers on this high-powered Lions offense, he isn't expected to be the focal point, just one of the many players on this team that if his number is called, they're expecting him to produce and be in the right spots. They're continuing to ease him into the mix slowly with minimal expectations. Williams' specialty is the deep-ball catches, and the Lions coaching staff continues to emphasize stacking good days after he was away from the team serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's gambling policy. "We just need another really good week of practice and maybe the results will be the same again this week, you never know," Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said during Thursday's practice. "But we've just got to keep stacking good days and good weeks on top of each other, and good things will end up resulting from it." -- Eric Woodyard
Has Curtis Samuel supplanted Jahan Dotson in the Washington Commanders' wide receiver room?
It's hard to not think that's the case, but while Samuel has 10 more catches than Dotson, he only has three more targets, so it's as much about the quality of opportunities. It was similar in 2022, as well. The difference last year was that Dotson scored more touchdowns than Samuel -- seven on 35 catches compared to four on 64. Dotson has one touchdown this year on 17 catches. It also helps that Samuel is best on underneath routes, which fits this offense well. He's also more versatile than Dotson -- from where he runs his routes -- which gives him another advantage. -- John Keim
Alexander Mattison's recent increase in snaps against the Bears was notable, but can fantasy managers rely on him as a consistent option in their lineups moving forward?
The Minnesota Vikings have been very loyal to Mattison, whose rebound from a slow start to the season coincided with the arrival of Cam Akers. In Weeks 3-4, Mattison had the NFL's fourth-most rushing yards (188). There's a reason for the Vikings' loyalty; they fully guaranteed him $6.35 million over the next two seasons to replace Dalvin Cook. Mattison has gained only 70 yards in the past two weeks, but the most fantasy managers should expect is Akers getting more than the two series per game he has received so far. That seems likely if the Vikings stay close enough in games to keep running the ball. The chances of him flipping spots with Mattison in the near term are almost zero. -- Kevin Seifert