Samulski's Arbitrary Fantasy Awards Heading into Week 11
Welcome to another edition of the SAF (Samulski's Arbitrary Fantasy) Awards! I'm your host, Eric Samulski, and we've come to the tenth week of this weekly awards segment where we shine a light on the best performances, the disappointing performances, and the most misleading performances in the week of NFL action.
As the name states, the SAF Awards are totally arbitrary but no less valid and desirable awards given out by me based on the committee of voices in my head. Some awards will carry over every week while others will emerge from the ether based on my mood or the mercurial winds of pop culture trends.
While you will find plenty of actionable fantasy football information here, you're not likely to get many of the fantasy football acronyms that make me feel like a real estate agent: EPA, aDOT, YACON, etc. Those are all valuable and have their place, but that place is not here. This is the place where we give out awards, talk some trash, and have some fun.
If you have players you believe are deserving of awards or want to suggest awards for the next week, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter (@SamskiNYC). But without further ado, let's hand out some hardware that doesn't exist and people wouldn't really want if it did!
Star of the Week: Keenan Allen - WR, Los Angeles Chargers
Despite playing through an injury and leaving the game with an injury, Keenan Allen absolutely went off against the Lions, hauling in 11-of-14 targets for 175 yards and two touchdowns. That was good for 35 points in half-PPR formats.
You don't really need me to tell you that Keenan Allen is good or that he'll dominate targets without Mike Williams and Josh Palmer around, but it's true. The Chargers were also only able to run for 98 yards on 28 carries, so they'll likely keep taking to the air. On the season, Allen has 73 catches on 97 targets for 895 yards and six touchdowns and is the WR3 in half-PPR formats.
He's a certified stud.
Hello, Boys; I'm Back Award: Jalen Guyton - WR, Los Angeles Chargers
Just like with Randy Quaid in "Independence Day," with this award, we shout out a player's return in a moment of pure glory.
Guyton was a deep threat breakout star heading into the 2022 season, but he tore his ACL in Week 3 and didn't make his return until two weeks ago, when he played limited snaps against the Jets. However, with both Josh Palmer and Mike Williams on the IR, Guyton was thrust into a bigger role this past week against the Lions, and he looked pretty good, catching 4-of-6 targets for 41 yards and a touchdown, which was good for 12.1 points in half-PPR formats
The speedster was up to an 85% route participation mark and had a 15% target share. And that's after just two games of football in over a year. You have to figure he will continue to shake the rust and gain back Justin Herbert's trust. With rookie Quentin Johnston continuing to struggle, running the wrong routes and dropping passes, it's not crazy to think that Guyton could emerge as the second receiver in a pass-heavy Chargers offense. While he won't be a consistent fantasy option, that could mean some big games down the stretch.
Breakout Player Award: Devin Singletary - RB, Houston Texans
Usually we reserve the Breakout Player Award for a young player who emerges, but Singletary has seemingly taken over the Texans backfield with Dameon Pierce sidelined, and I don't think he's giving it back. He dominated the Texans backfield against the Bengals, carrying the ball 30 times for 150 yards and one TD while adding one catch for 11 yards. All of that was good for 22.6 points in half-PPR formats.
Singletary’s utilization started trending up in Week 6 when he forced a split with Pierce, and with Pierce out the last two weeks, Singletary has played on 75% and 81% of the snaps and taken 72% and 91% of the carries. He's also taken all of the work within the five yard line and done well with it, while Pierce has struggled in that role this year. It's not unthinkable that Singletary keeps 65-70% of this workload even with Pierce back.
If that's the case, he's a good RB3/FLEX option in a Texans offense that ranks 6th in the NFL with a 43% scoring rate.
Looking for more fantasy football content? Rotoworld has you covered. Watch Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry weekdays at noon ET LIVE on Peacock and the Rotoworld Football Show on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays wherever you get your podcasts.
Undertaker Award: Brandin Cooks - WR, Dallas Cowboys
Everybody knows the GIF. Some of us were alive to see it live. But this award is given to a player who we left for dead who simply came roaring back.
This week, that award goes to Brandin Cooks, who exploded with nine receptions for 173 yards and a TD on 10 targets against the Giants, good for 27.8 points in half-PPR formats.
However, Cooks has kind of been stirring to life before this with three receiving TDs in the last four games. He only ran 52% of the routes on Sunday, but the Cowboys were up big against the Giants and sat their starters. In the four weeks prior, Cooks has gone over 80% of the routes three times; although, he rarely goes over 15% target share.
This Cowboys offense is passing more of late with Tony Pollard continuing to struggle, and we know Cooks can hit on big plays, so even with the low target rate, he makes for a solid WR3 given his route participation on a high-powered offense that is becoming pass-first.
The Office Space Award: Roschon Johnson - RB, Chicago Bears
This award highlights a player who we're all looking at on our rosters and thinking:
This week, that award goes to rookie Roschon Johnson. When Khalil Herbert went on the IR, many people thought Johnson would emerge as the leader in the Bears' backfield, but he's been surpassed by D'Onta Foreman and was able to muster just 18 yards on five carries against a poor Panthers defense on Thursday night, good for 5.2 points in half-PPR format.
On the season, Johnson has 167 yards on 38 carries and he hasn't played over 40% of the snaps in the last three weeks. With Khalil Herbert set to return soon, it's time to put Johnson back on waiver wires.
Horizon Award: Michael Wilson - WR, Arizona Cardinals
The Horizon Award is where we look out into the distance and see if we can spot something magical, like a beautiful sunset or a potential fantasy asset. This week, that person is Michael Wilson for many of the same reasons we had his teammate, Marquise Brown, as the winner last week.
In Week 10, Wilson had three catches on six targets for 34 yards; however, one of those catches was a beautiful reception on the sideline where he made two defenders miss and dove into the end zone for a touchdown that was later reviewed and ruled to be down on the half inch line. In that game, Wilson played on 92% of the routes and had 27% of the team's air yards. He only had a 14% target share, and that will happen with Marquise Brown and Trey McBride emerging, but Wilson is a talented player who is going to be on the field a lot. I think that will lead to big fantasy days with Kyler Murray back under center when the Cardinals need to air it out.
Mean Girls Award: Tony Pollard - RB, Dallas Cowboys
Just like when Gretchen in "Mean Girls" kept trying to make "Fetch" happen, the fantasy community has been trying to make Tony Pollard happen all season long.
Despite a tremendous matchup and a big lead, Pollard struggled against the Giants with 15 carries for 55 yards and was held out of the end zone again, finishing with just 5.5 points in half-PPR formats. Over the last three games, he has finished as RB41, RB25 and RB36 as the Cowboys have become far more pass heavy.
Pollard had 16 touches in a Week 1 blow out of the Giants and then had 32 touches in Week 2 and 26 touches in Week 3. Since then, he's had only one week with over 15 touches. He's still averaging 69% of the snaps and 53% of the rush attempts over that span, but it's not the workhorse role we expected and rightfully so, as Pollard simply doesn't look as explosive as he did before. Maybe he's not over the fractured leg or maybe he's best suited as a timeshare back, but he's clearly not a fantasy RB1.
That's it for this week; we'll see you next Wednesday for another edition of the SAF Awards!
