Thoughts on Fantasy Football: Embrace the Role Players and Know the Systems

Stop whining and blaming coaches for Kyle Pitts, Cam Akers, and other terrible draft picks you made.

During PFF’s Monday Night Football wrap up, Sam Monson said something interesting about Saints TE/”QB”/RB Taysom Hill. He said fantasy people hate Taysom Hill. I was like, Which fantasy people?

Guy who started Jamaal Williams when he reads the box score and sees how many yards Hill gained and how many TDs Tony Jones scored.

I love Hill because I started him as tight end and scored ~14 points for me when he ran for 75 yards last week. Who hates him? I suspect it’s the same kind of people who draft Kyle Pitts and Drake London then broadcast their hate for Falcons coach Arthur Smith for not calling 40 passing plays a game.

There’s a deranged narrative online that Arthur Smith “continued his war on fantasy football players” (see the spam website ClutchPoints; I ain’t linking to it). Are you kidding? Arthur Smith is great for fantasy managers!

Falcons RB Bijan Robinson, a rookie, is the RB5 just two games into his fantasy career. Seeing how rookies develop, he will probably only get better as the year goes on. Fellow Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier is the RB11, although he might decline if Robinson takes over most of the touches, as he did in Week 2. Allgeier finished as the RB29 last season, despite being a fifth-round pick.

Smith has been great for fantasy managers looking for running backs! If you paid attention to the waiver wire last season and added Allgeier, you would love Arthur Smith!

You might hate him if you targeted Cordarelle Patterson and ignored Allgeier even as the 2022 season went on. You might hate him if you spent early draft capital on Pitts and London even though the Falcons were a run-heavy team last season, have a terrible and inexperienced quarterback at the helm, and drafted a running back No. 8 in the 2023 Draft. But whose fault would that be?

Would it be Smith’s fault for devising an offensive system that gives his 2-0 team the best chance at winning? Or would it be your fault for not doing a good job analyzing the offensive circumstances surrounding the Falcons?

Taysom Hill is currently the Saints’ leading rusher, and some fantasy guy who drafting Jamaal Williams because of his high TD number last season on a completely different team is probably whining and asking why Dennis Allen didn’t call more rushing plays for the 2.7-yards-a-carry Williams.

Christian Kirk vs. Zay Jones: Kirk is Stepping Up

Look at the usage for Kirk and Jones. Kirk is resuming his place ahead of Jones on the Jaguars’ WR hierarchy.