FANTASY FOOTBALL: Broncos, Colts come up lame without top RBs

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It turns out that when two already-struggling offences lose their best players and have a short week to prepare for their absences, nothing good happens.

Thursday night’s Colts-Broncos matchup will undoubtedly go down as one of the worst of the season, with both sides failing to move the ball effectively and turning it over in key spots.

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While we won’t fully blame the absences of Jonathan Taylor for the Colts and Javonte Williams for the Broncos, it was probably at least part of the issue.

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Taylor injured his ankle on Sunday, but it reportedly isn’t as serious as initially feared and could even return next week. Although last year’s top RB has struggled this season, he remains a must-start when he’s healthy.

But without Taylor and with Nyheim Hines getting concussed just a few snaps, the Colts turned to rookie Deon Jackson and Philip Lindsay, who joined the team earlier this week. Jackson led Lindsay in touches 17-14, but it’s tough to tell what either’s role will be next week if Taylor and/or Hines is able to suit up.

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On the Broncos side of the ball, our first glimpse of their backfield without Williams – who is out for the season with a torn ACL and LCL – the split in snaps slightly favoured Melvin Gordon over Mike Boone (52%-46%), but it was Gordon who had the big advantage in touches at 18-10.

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Gordon should continue to lead the way in terms of workload – as long as he keeps the fumbles under control – but it should also be noted Denver signed Latavius Murray off the Saints practice squad. Murray wasn’t active for Thursday night, but should figure into the backfield mix as early as next week.

TAKE YOUR PICKETT

It didn’t take long for the Steelers to realize exactly what they had in ex-Bears bust Mitchell Trubisky, so they have turned the keys of the offence over to first-round pick Kenny Pickett.

Pickett played well in relief of Trubisky against the Jets last week – including running for two TDs – but did throw three INTs. It’s not going to get any easier for him either, with the Bills, Bucs, Dolphins and Eagles on Pittsburgh’s schedule before their bye week.

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While Diontae Johnson remains a good WR2 option with Pickett at the helm, it’s Pickett’s fellow rookie George Pickens that’s is the player to watch. Pickens has seen his target share grow by the week from 8.1% to 9.1% to 21.9% to a whopping 32% against the Jets. With Pickens and Johnson leading the way, former rookie standout Chase Claypool doesn’t seem salvageable at this point.

FAST STATS

If it feels like the top RBs are disappointing, it’s because they are. Saquon Barkley, the top RB in full PPR, has the lowest total score of the overall RB1 through four games in the past 25 years … While Taylor is currently on the shelf, the other guy who was touted as a potential first-overall pick in fantasy drafts was Christian McCaffrey. All the Panthers star has done, despite his team’s poor offensive showings, is put up his own numbers. Run CMC hasn’t finished worse than RB18 in a week this season, is sixth in fantasy points and, oh, he has now gone 26 straight games with either 100+ total yards or a TD … Against the Bucs, Clyde Edwards-Helaire hit season-highs with 20 touches and a 56% snap share among Chiefs RBs. Considering he is RB4 overall, that’s a shockingly efficient  return on his limited play time … Dameon Pierce had 100% of the Texans’ running back rushes against the Chargers, becoming the first player to do that twice so far this season. He also ran four more routes than Rex Burkhead, which is the first time he has led the duo in that category this season … Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill is the first player with multiple 10-catch, 150-yard games in the first four games of the season since last year, when he did it with the Chiefs..He’s the only player to do it in multiple seasons – let alone consecutive seasons. He’s also the first player in Dolphins history with multiple such games and he has only played four games for Miami.

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SIT/START

Start Joe Burrow, QB, CIN at BAL

Burrow has averaged a whopping 374.7 passing yards in three career games against the Ravens.

Sit Matthew Stafford, QB, LAR vs. DAL

Has just one game with more than 11 points and faces a strong Cowboys defence with a good pass rush.

Start Damien Harris, RB, NE vs. DET

He has scored a TD in 17 of his past 20 games and faces the league’s worst defence.

Sit Antonio Gibson, RB, WAS vs. TEN

Has seen his snap share decrease every week and hasn’t topped 50 rushing yards since Week 1.

Sit Chase Edmonds, RB, MIA at NYJ

Raheem Mostert has been getting the lion’s share of snaps recently, with 72% to Edmonds’ 28% in Week 4.

Start Chris Olave, WR, NO vs. SEA

He has emerged as the Saints top WR, leading the team in targets, receptions and yardage.

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Sit Gabriel Davis, WR, BUF vs. PIT

Over the past two weeks, he has played 97% of snaps, but his 8.8% target share ranks 118^th in the league.

STAT CORNER

The Lions and their opponents have combined for 281 points through the first four games of the season, which is the most in NFL history.

ADD OF THE WEEK

Corey Davis, WR, NYJ

He’s quietly having a solid season, with 74+ yards and top-digit points in three of his four games and showed good chemistry with Zach Wilson.

DROP OF THE WEEK

Greg Dortch, WR, ARI

With Rondale Moore back, Dortch saw his snaps drop to 27 with 16 routes run compared to the sophomore’s 65 snaps and 33 routes.

WAIVER WIRE DEFENCE

Jacksonville Jaguars DEF

With nine sacks and seven INTs already this season, the Jags are a good fantasy unit in their own right. They face the winless Texans this week and are still available in almost half of Yahoo leagues.

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