For those fantasy football managers looking for a tool to concentrate various web opinions into one location to help them make roster moves, IBM offers Watson's Insights as an unsupervised, quantitative supplement to the more in-depth, personalized analysis that they would normally expect from an ESPN analyst.
IBM Insights uses Watson artificial intelligence to analyze thousands of fantasy articles, blogs, websites and podcasts and provide support data to assist with fantasy football decisions. Watson outputs an estimated scoring range for each player, as well as projecting the chances that a player will exceed the upside estimate (e.g., "boom") or fall short of the low-end estimate (e.g., "bust") on any given week.
The following points out a few notable insights from Watson for Week 7 of the 2019 NFL season as of early Friday afternoon.
Quarterback decisions
Projections higher than rank
While quarterbacks can provide some of the best fantasy value in a given week, it can be difficult to decide beforehand which one to start. This is especially true this season, when the injury and performance turnover at the position has been higher than I can ever remember. IBM Insights provides information that can help make these decisions easier.
The following analysis was performed on all quarterbacks who are expected to play (and who did not already play on Thursday).
Projections higher than rank
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins
Weekly rank: 122, 14th among QBs
High projection: 27.8 fantasy points
Low projection: 12.3 fantasy points
Boom chance: 0.17
Bust chance: 0.18
Allen is the weekly winner of the Dolphins sweepstakes, getting to take his chance against the team voted "most likely to finish the season winless." The Dolphins have allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, making Allen a QB1 at home on Sunday.
Watson's insight: Insights captures the notion that Allen against a horrible defense, at home, likely yields very startable results.
Jacoby Brissett, Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans
Weekly rank: 160, 20th among QBs
High projection: 23.6 fantasy points
Low projection: 10.0 fantasy points
Boom chance: 0.23
Bust chance: 0.12
Brissett is coming off a bye and faces a Texans team that has been surprisingly light defensively, allowing the eighth-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. Brissett also gets his favorite target back up to speed this week, with T.Y. Hilton reported as fully healthy after limping a bit into the bye.
Watson's insight: Brissett has played solid football all season, and Insights identifies him as a possible QB1 this week with his best receiver fully healthy against a weaker-than-expected defense.
Most likely to go boom/least likely to bust
Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Weekly rank: 227, 28th among QBs
High projection: 22.0 fantasy points
Low projection: 9.3 fantasy points
Boom chance: 0.25
Bust chance: 0.09
The winless Bengals have been disappointing this season, but their passing game has been better than their anemic running game. Dalton won't get A.J. Green back this week, but he's facing a middle-of-the-pack Jaguars defense that has now officially moved on from arguably the best cornerback in the NFL in Jalen Ramsey. On a Bengals team that is almost always behind, Dalton is always a good bet to air it out with the chance to produce.
Watson's insight: Insights identifies Dalton as a lottery ticket with a better chance to hit with startable quarterback production than to bust against a mediocre defense.
Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers at Tennessee Titans
Weekly rank: 119, 13th among QBs
High projection: 23.0 fantasy points
Low projection: 9.3 fantasy points
Boom chance: 0.26
Bust chance: 0.12
The Chargers are getting healthy, with Mike Williams and Hunter Henry rejoining the squad last week and Melvin Gordon starting to play himself into shape. The Chargers were expected to have one of the better offenses in the NFL this season, and as their skill guys get up to speed, Rivers has the chance to break out of his slump in what shapes up as a must-win game.
Watson's insight: The Chargers have underachieved, but Insights pegs Rivers as a high-upside, low-risk prospect this weekend now that his skill players are ramping up to their expected level.