Samulski's Arbitrary Fantasy Football Awards before Week 7

Welcome to another edition of the SAF (Samulski's Arbitrary Fantasy) Awards! I'm your host, Eric Samulski, and we've come to the second 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: Raheem Mostert, RB - Miami Dolphins

We featured Mostert in this column earlier in the season when he and DeVon Achane went off against the Broncos. Now, with Achane on the IR, it's Mostert alone emerging as a bona fide star. The 31-year-old rushed 17 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns against the Panthers while adding three catches for 17 yards and another touchdown through the air. His prorated stats over a 17 game season are stupid.

Now, he's unlikely to continue at this pace, and Mostert himself has always had an issue with staying healthy, so you can sell high if you're able to get a truly elite RB in return; however, this production is not a fluke in one of the best offenses in the league. Mostert is making all of the fantasy managers who drafted him super happy.

Friend Zone Award: Emari Demercado - RB, Arizona Cardinals

The Friend Zone Award is where we honor the player who leads us on the most heading into a matchup only to crush our dreams and give us nothing on Sunday.

In Week 6, that goes to Emari Demercado. Now, it's unfortunately to bestow this award onto the undrafted rookie since he wasn't really the one leading us on. It was more like the fantasy football analysts on Twitter were Demercado's friend, coming up to us and saying, "I think he's really into you. You should definitely ask him out." Well, we worked up the courage and got crushed when Demercado put up just 2.2 points in half-PPR formats.

At the end of the day, that's our fault if we put him into our lineups. Yes, he looked solid when filling in for James Conner in Week 5, but we knew Keaontay Ingram was coming back, and we knew the Cardinals signed veteran Damien Williams with all of these other running backs healthy and on the roster. The likelihood that the Cardinals were just going to hand over a full workload to an undrafted free agent was foolish in hindsight. Instead, what happened is that the Cardinals split snaps between all three players, with Demercado operating as the primary pass-catching back and playing the most snaps but seeing the fewest rushes.

It's just a situation to avoid going forward.

Undertaker Award: Drake London - WR, Atlanta Falcons

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.

After seeing just 5% of targets in Week 1, London has now seen 24% of the team's targets in each of the last two weeks and over 33% of the team's air yards. It's no coincidence that he was a top 20 PPR wide receiver in each of the last two weeks and ranked 27th three weeks ago on the back of a touchdown in the London game (you know, the game in London).

On the year, London averages 7.2 targets per game and while some of those aren't going to be catchable balls because Desmond Ridder is not a great quarterback, that kind of volume will keep London fantasy relevant. As Dwain McFarland pointed out in his Utilization Report, since 2011, receivers to average between six and eight targets have finished as the WR31 with 12.8 fantasy points per game, so London remains firmly on our radar as a WR3 with the upside to hit WR2 levels in certain matchups.

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.

Ryan Gosling Replacement Award: Gardner Minshew, QB - Indianapolis Colts

Did you know George Clooney was originally cast as the lead in "The Notebook"? Did you know he was going to play a younger version of Paul Newman? Eventually, George Clooney decided not to go through with it, and Ryan Gosling was cast in the role, and the rest is history.

In the spirit of that moment, we give this award to the player who is set to take over a role vacated by a notable player ahead of them. In Week 7, that award goes to Gardner Minshew, who looks set to be the starting quarterback for the Colts for the remainder of the season with Anthony Richardson undergoing season-ending surgery on his shoulder.

While that was an exciting prospect back in Week 3 when Minshew threw for 227 yards and guided the Colts to a win over the Ravens, that future looked a lot less rosy last week after Minshew threw three interceptions and fumbled once in a loss to Jacksonville.

The truth is, that enigmatic nature is who Minshew is. He'll make some great plays and some boneheaded ones. He's going to push the ball down the field more than Richardson, and potentially more accurately, so Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs should still see strong value, but the absence of Richardson as a rushing threat will hurt the Colts offense overall and also the rushing attack with Jonathan Taylor and Zack Moss since defenses can key on the running backs more in run-heavy situations.

Mr. Steal Your Job Award: Devin Singletary, RB - Houston Texans

While the famous reference is Mr. Steal-Your-Girl, we're going to modify that for this article to be more family friendly and also just accurate since what Devin Singletary stole was potentially the starting running back role in Houston.

Dameon Pierce had averaged just 2.9 yards per carry coming into Week 6 while the Texans offense was averaging just 83 yards rushing per game. It was clear that something had to give, and it appears that what gave way was Pierce's hold on the backfield.

Pierce may have kept a slight lead in rushing attempts last week, he also played his fewest snaps of the season at just 35%, with Singletary playing 52%. Singletary was also used far more in the passing game, running routes on 50% of dropbacks, compared to 23% for Pierce. What's more, when the Texans were trying to run out the clock and seal a win at the end of the game, Singletary was on the field for nine of a possible 13 snaps, with Pierce playing just two of those snaps and Mike Boone playing the other two.

It was only one week, and the Texans are now on a bye, so we won't know what the backfield truly looks like for another two weeks, but this could be a great week to make a sneaky waiver add for Singletary.

David Blaine Illusion Award: Jaylen Waddle - WR, Miami Dolphins

The David Blaine Award is a weekly award where we highlight stats that are really an illusion. Sometimes that will be when a player has an appealing role but the production isn't there and other times, it will be when stats can mislead us to a player's true role.

This week we're going to highlight a player who has played well this season but has usage that suggests he's on the verge of vaulting into an elite territory. That player is Jaylen Waddle.

Heading into Week 7, Waddle ranks 40th among wide receivers in half-PPR leagues. Now, some of that has to do with him missing one game with a concussion, but he also finished under 10.5 points in each of the first three games of the season while his teammates were crushing opposing defenses. While Waddle has ticked up his production in the last two weeks, the big week seems to be coming any Sunday now.

Over the last two weeks, Waddle has a 36% and 33% target share and also leads the team in end zone targets and play action-targets. He's scored a touchdown in each of the last two games, but hasn't topped 51 receiving yards in either game. He also hasn't topped 90 receiving yards in any game this season. We might not be saying the same thing come next week.

Pay no attention to the illusion.

Horizon Award: Michael Mayer, TE - Las Vegas Raiders

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. For me, that person is Michael Mayer.

Coming into the 2022 college football season, Mayer was universally regarded as the top tight end prospect in football. While the Notre Dame prospect had a solid year, he found himself drafted behind both Dalton Kincaid and Sam LaPorta. That is, in part, due to the fact that Mayer lacks their athleticism and is more of a traditional tight end, but make no mistake about it, the dude can play football.

In Week 5 Mayer started to get more involved in the offense, running routes on 44% of dropbacks, but that number jumped to 67% this past week. The rookie finished Week 6 as the second-most targeted player on the Raiders and produced 13 fantasy points, which led him to a top-five finish among tight ends. Yes, he does remain third in the team's receiver hierarchy behind Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers, but the Raiders figure to be trailing and throwing a lot and Mayer could be a good option for those struggling at the tight end spot.

That's it for this week; we'll see you next Wednesday for another edition of the SAF Awards!