STUDS

1.  Josh Allen (Written by Brandon Furtado)

The Buffalo Bills got the best version of Josh Allen despite their loss to the Rams this week. As far as personal accolades go, his performance may have put enough distance between him and Eagles star Saquon Barkley to win the MVP award. He was responsible for all 42 points the Bills scored with three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns on the night. It certainly was not his performance that led to the loss. Buffalo’s defense gave up 44 points and could not stop the talented Rams duo of Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp from torching their secondary. 

From a fantasy perspective, Allen may have won the week for everyone that started him. He tallied 51.8 points in the effort, so anyone that lost only has themselves to blame. With the regular season over and the fantasy playoffs set, he cannot be removed from any lineup moving forward. He has scored at least 20 fantasy points in 11 of his 13 games this season and is currently QB2 in every league. Allen is the MVP front runner, but will also have a good chance at being the MVP of any fantasy championship team going forward.

2. Puka Nacua

Speaking of the Bills bad defense it’s time to talk about Puka Nacua’s incredible performance on Sunday. The pairing of both Cupp and Nacua makes Matthew Stafford’s job easy because it seems like no secondary can deal with them, particularly ones that are often injured and filled with aging veterans like Buffalo, which is very similar to what we’ll see on Thursday night when the Rams go up against the 49ers. It’s pretty clear that Puka will have an opportunity at least to produce a 20-point fantasy game bare minimum on Thursday, but it’s more likely going to be more as we begin the fantasy playoffs. 

3. Ja’Marr Chase

Ja’Marr Chase has had an incredible fantasy season. Not only was his 45.10 PPR Fantasy game on Monday night impressive, but he is easily the number one wide receiver in fantasy points by a wide margin. Chase currently has 317.40 total fantasy points, while Justin Jefferson’s 235.18 Fantasy points are in second place. That’s a whopping 82.22-point difference. The sad part with the Bengals is that they seem very understanding that their season is over; just look at how the press conference with Joe Burrow went after the game on Monday night. It’s clear that this offense is constantly frustrated with how bad the defense has been playing, but irrespective of that, Ja’Marr Chase will continue to be a fun player in the fantasy playoffs. 

Inconsistent fantasy performers

Instead of Duds this week, it’s time to do a PSA about inconsistent fantasy performers. A few that come to mind are Jordan Addison, DK Metcalf, and Breece Hall (Who is currently injured).  There are players like this every year, and when it comes to fantasy playoffs, these players are harder to consider, even in flex spots.  The reality is trust in your players matters at this time of year. If you have a player who’s been inconsistent and you’re not fully confident that they perform at the highest level, then don’t start them.  You can feel better about yourself losing a fantasy matchup if you trust the consistency of a player’s performance. That’s why it’s easy to trust guys like Ja’Marr Chase, Lamar Jackson, or Saquon Barkley this season.  Jordan Addison is really the poster child of this. If you look at his last five weeks, the inconsistencies are on full display, with PPR fantasy points of  4.9, 15.1, 30.2, 9.4, and 39.3.  Simply put, if you can avoid these players in the fantasy playoffs, please do.