Cam Akers & The Week 14 Rookie Stock Update

Cam Akers Breakout? Week 13 Rookie Stock Update

It’s playoff time and if you started some of these rookies with the hopes they’d get you there then many of you ended up disappointed.

Week 13 saw duds, no-shows and injuries from Herbert, Edwards-Helaire, Gibson and Moss amongst others. If you were brave enough to start some of the more fringe rookie receivers then fluky touchdowns from Shenault and Ruggs might just have got you over the line.

All is not lost on these rookies and some of them can still help you to a championship.

As always, I’m going to look at how the opportunities are developing for the rookies and speculate on their outlook for the rest of the season.

For the rest of the season, I’m also going to note the remaining fixtures (up to week 16) as we sprint towards fantasy playoff time.

Here is the Week 13 rookie stock update.

Starters

Quarterback

Justin Herbert
Tua Tagovailoa

Justin Herbert

53 – last week he set a career high in pass attempts with 52, so this week he topped it by 1
49-percent – easily his lowest completion rate of the season, only the third time below 60-percent and the first time below 50.
Remaining Schedule – Atlanta, at Las Vegas, Denver

Outlook: The wheels have started to come off in the last couple of weeks but they have been difficult games for the rookie. I’d back him to bounce back next week in a smash spot and he’ll be a top 10 option again

Tua Tagovailoa

39 – a career high in pass attempts to go with a career high 296 passing yards that Fitzmagic himself would have been proud of
Touchdown – he’s also now thrown for at least one touchdown in every game he’s started so far for the Dolphins
Remaining Schedule – Kansas City, New England, at Las Vegas

Outlook: A slippery looking schedule ahead will really test him as Miami make a push for the playoffs. He’s not someone you can feel confident starting in all but two-QB or Superflex leagues

Running Back

Clyde Edwards-Helaire
Jonathan Taylor
Antonio Gibson
Joshua Kelley
D’Andre Swift (Injured)
JK Dobbins
James Robinson
Cam Akers
Zack Moss

*Clyde Edwards-Helaire*
Snaps	0	Last Week: 47 (59-percent)
Carries	0	Last Week: 11 (55-percent of team total)
Redzone carries	0	Last Week: 0 (team total = 0)
Opp 1-10 carries	0	Last Week: 0 (team total = 0)
Targets	0	Last Week: 1 (2-percent of team total)

Actively Inactive – whilst he was declared inactive for the game and was seen on the sidelines with his helmet on, he was clearly only there for emergencies. His illness during the week was enough to hold him out and he didn’t step foot on the field for a single snap
Remaining schedule – at Miami, at New Orleans, Atlanta

Outlook: No change to last week and Bell didn’t blow the doors off to put any doubt in Andy Reid’s mind. He’s an RB2 for the rest of the season and you’re hoping for touchdowns

Week 13 One-to-Watch: Jonathan Taylor

*Jonathan Taylor*
Snaps	33 (48-percent)	Last Week: Covid-IR
Carries	13 (45-percent)	Last Week: Covid-IR
Redzone carries	1 (25-percent)	Last Week: Covid-IR
Opp 1-10 carries	0	Last Week: Covid-IR
Targets	3 (9-percent)	Last Week: Covid-IR

135 – Taylor’s total yardage was a career high and that’s back to back games with over 100
Split – but don’t be fooled, this is still a split backfield even if Taylor did lead it this week. Hines and Wilkins still get an early opportunity every week and there’s no doubt if they establish themselves as a hot hand in those opportunities, they’ll dominate the game
Remaining schedule – at Las Vegas, Houston, at Pittsburgh

Outlook: His usage over his last two games gives cause for optimism and you can plug him in with an expectation that he’ll get you an RB2 return. Is he a league-winner though? Not right now he isn’t

*Antonio Gibson*
Snaps	4 (6-percent)	Last Week: 45 (65-percent of team total)
Carries	2 (10-percent)	Last Week: 20 (56-percent of team total)
Redzone carries	0	Last Week: 3 (75-percent of team total)
Opp 1-10 carries	0	Last Week: 3 (100-percent of team total)
Targets	0	Last Week: 7 (26-percent of team total)

Turf Toe – Gibson went down early in this one and never got an opportunity to build on his impressive performance from the week before
Remaining schedule – at San Francisco, Seattle, Carolina

Outlook: We’re waiting on tenterhooks to see what impact this injury is going to have but this doesn’t look great for the first couple of rounds of playoffs at least. Those matchups in weeks 14 and 15 might have been tough anyway so lets hold on hope for that juicy week 16 playoff-winning performance against Carolina

*Joshua Kelley*
Snaps	3 (4-percent)	Last Week: 19 (23-percent)
Carries	0	Last Week: 7 (29-percent of team total)
Redzone carries	0	Last Week: 3 (38-percent of team total)
Opp 1-10 carries	0	Last Week: 3 (43-percent of team total)
Targets	2 (4-percent)	Last Week: 0

Injury – he left this game with an ankle injury but don’t be fooled, that was in the 4th quarter and doesn’t account for his complete absence of touches through the first three quarters of the game
Gamescript – we know he’s not the dynamic pass-catching option for this Chargers team so with the Patriots blowing them out for the entire game we perhaps should not be surprised to see him not get much work
Remaining schedule – Atlanta, at Las Vegas, Denver

Outlook: Gamescript was against him but I doubt he would have received significant touches if it wasn’t. He’s behind Ekeler and Ballage in the pecking order and most likely Jackson when he returns. As I’ve been telling you for months, no need to have him on your roster in redraft

*JK Dobbins*
Snaps	21 (38-percent)	Last Week: Covid-IR
Carries	11 (30-percent)	Last Week: Covid-IR
Redzone carries	4 (50-percent)	Last Week: Covid-IR
Opp 1-10 carries	2 (67-percent)	Last Week: Covid-IR
Targets	0	Last Week: Covid-IR

38-percent – that’s his lowest snap share since week 5, a disappointment after seemingly seeing the breakout last time he played
Mixed results – despite a clear split in this backfield, Dobbins was still seemingly the dominant back although he unusually didn’t see any targets. The good news is that he was the clear redzone back in this one and rewarded that faith with a touchdown
Remaining schedule – at Cleveland, Jacksonville, New York Giants

Outlook: Not the breakout league-winning rise we were hoping for but he’s still in the RB2 conversation. If he can hold on to that redzone role in particular then look at that week 15 matchup against Jacksonville as a must-start

*James Robinson*
Snaps	60 (85-percent)	Last Week: 63 (97-percent)
Carries	18 (72-percent)	Last Week: 22 (88-percent of team total)
Redzone carries	2 (67-percent)	Last Week: 6 (100-percent of team total)
Opp 1-10 carries	2 (67-percent)	Last Week: 5 (100-percent of team total)
Targets	6 (14-percent)	Last Week: 6 (17-percent of team total)

Other backs – For the first time in weeks, a running back not named Robinson got some touches. Ogunbowale isn’t anything to worry about for Robinson as it’s likely just an opportunity to give him a breather from an otherwise heavy workload
Targets – Glennon continues to target Robinson out of the backfield. Not only does that help with his upside but it helps to make him gamescript proof. The last thing you need from a running back in Jacksonville is to only be useful in positive gamescripts
Remaining schedule – Tennessee, at Baltimore, Chicago

Outlook: Keep playing Robinson with confidence as an RB1. Expect another solid performance in week 14 and then hold your breath and pray through those tough week 15 & 16 matchups

*Cam Akers*
Snaps	52 (63-percent)	Last Week: 17 (27-percent)
Carries	21 (68-percent)	Last Week: 9 (32-percent of team total)
Redzone carries	9 (82-percent)	Last Week: 2 (100-percent of team total)
Opp 1-10 carries	7 (88-percent)	Last Week: 2 (100-percent of team total)
Targets	1 (2-percent)	Last Week: 0

21 – 21 carries and a target on 63-percent of snaps is Akers’ highest by a long way and finally looks like the workload of a lead back
Henderson – what makes it hard to know for sure is that Henderson went out early in the game with an injury and didn’t come back in until later on (just in time to score a long touchdown). It certainly started out as a split and Henderson got the first touches. Malcolm Brown is also still taking some work but its very much a minor role now
Remaining schedule – New England, New York Jets, at Seattle

Outlook: Things are definitely on the up for Akers and that workload is what we’ve been looking for. He wasn’t all that efficient with it and I’m still concerned that a fully-fit Henderson eats in to that pie. He’ll go in to the RB2 range in the hope this continues but don’t be surprised if this workload dips in week 14

*Zack Moss*
Snaps	11 (15-percent)	Last Week: 37 (60-percent)
Carries	3 (11-percent)	Last Week: 9 (30-percent of team total)
Redzone carries	2 (29-percent)	Last Week: 1 (25-percent of team total)
Opp 1-10 carries	1 (25-percent)	Last Week: 1 (50-percent of team total)
Targets	1 (3-percent)	Last Week: 2 (8-percent of team total)

Fumble – those numbers are really not great for Moss. After an early fumble that gave San Francisco an immediate redzone opportunity, Moss was hardly seen for the rest of the game
Hurt? – he did get banged up before that so his lack of usage could have been as much about a knock as the fumble. That would seem like a convenient excuse at this stage though
Remaining schedule – Pittsburgh, at Denver, at New England

Outlook: It’s still an inefficient ground game, Moss isn’t getting enough of the work (injury / fumble aside), and that playoff schedule isn’t looking any easier. I hope you’re not stuck with having to play him

Wide Receiver

Jerry Jeudy
CeeDee Lamb
Brandon Aiyuk
Justin Jefferson
Tee Higgins
Henry Ruggs
Chase Claypool
Denzel Mims
KJ Hamler
Jalen Reagor
Michael Pittman Jr
Gabriel Davis
Laviska Shenault

Jerry Jeudy

74-percent of snaps – that’s better than it has been for a couple of weeks now and with a ‘real’ quarterback on the field in week 13
5 rec yards – outside of the Hinton game, that’s Jeudy’s lowest of the season. As is his 1 catch off his equal-low 4 targets. And so yes, he’s still below a 50-percent catch rate on the season and hasn’t topped that mark in a single game since week 3
Remaining Schedule – at Carolina, Buffalo, at Los Angeles Chargers

Outlook: As you were. No need to roster Jeudy in redraft, there hasn’t been for a while now. The talent is there and you’re holding in dynasty of course, but we need to get this guy a half-decent quarterback before we can play him with any confidence

CeeDee Lamb

9 targets – that’s a 19-percent target share behind only Gallup. He’s getting the target volume he needs at least
46 rec yards – unfortunately, he hasn’t got near to 100 yards receiving since Dak went down injured
Remaining Schedule – at Cincinnati, San Francisco, Philadelphia

Outlook: He’s a touchdown or bust flex play and not one you should be risking in your playoffs

Brandon Aiyuk

9 targets – that makes 7+ targets in his last four games, hitting 75 or more yards in each (95 in this one)
Touchdowns – and that’s three games in a row with a receiving touchdown, four out of the last five. He has a touchdown in all but three games and hasn’t gone two games in a row without one
Remaining Schedule – Washington, at Dallas, at Arizona

Outlook: Despite Deebo’s week 12 performance, Aiyuk came back in and got his fill. He’s a key part of this 49ers team and is a WR3 with WR2 upside for the rest of the season

Justin Jefferson

12 targets – well Thielen was back in the side and that still didn’t stop Jefferson from getting 12 targets, catching 9 of them and putting up his fifth 100+ yard receiving game of the season
112 targets, 81 receptions, 1385 yards, 9 Touchdowns – that’s Jefferson’s 16 game pace. That’s a phenomenal effort and he’s breaking rookie records all over the place at the minute
Remaining schedule – at Tampa Bay, Chicago, at New Orleans

Outlook: Last week I said to temper expectations with the other pass-catchers returning and potential gamescript issues. Forget that, start him. Don’t waste energy trying to decide, just put him in your team and be happy you have him

Tee Higgins

7 targets – for a 26-percent target share. That’s much better than the previous week but could well be a result of Tyler Boyd’s ejection rather than him being Brandon Allen’s favourite target
56 yards – with the lack of yards, he needs a touchdown to give a return on investment and this week he wasn’t so lucky
Remaining schedule – Dallas, Pittsburgh, at Houston

Outlook: I noted last week that he might struggle in a difficult matchup with Miami. The Dallas defense is just what he needs so he’s still a WR3 play in some good upcoming matchups

Henry Ruggs

4 targets – you can pretty much lock him in for 3 to 5 targets a week but that’s just about all you can expect
Cover 0 – his final yardage line was 84 yards but only thanks to the most ridiculous defensive play call in history handing him a 46 yard touchdown
Remaining schedule – Indianapolis, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami

Outlook: Yes I know he scored a touchdown but he shouldn’t have. He still doesn’t belong on a redraft roster and hasn’t for some time

Chase Claypool

4 targets – his lowest since week 7 was a measly 8-percent target share and only led to 38 receiving yards
44-percent of snaps – that’s his lowest since week 2 and he dropped behind James Washington in the pecking order in week 13. He already needed touchdowns to return value and this hit to his playing time is concerning
Remaining schedule – at Buffalo, at Cincinnati, Indianapolis

Outlook: You’re still looking for touchdowns for him to pay off on your team. His low yardage and reduced usage makes him a WR3 that you’re not confident in starting

Denzel Mims

3 targets – after three games in a row of 7 or 8 targets, his 13-percent target share was a big disappointment and led to his career low of 40 yards
Darnold – last week looked like Darnold was carrying on where Flacco left off, but this week saw Darnold reverting back to Crowder as his main man
Remaining schedule – at Seattle, at Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland

Outlook: Still only an upside play in deeper leagues although a matchup against Seattle in Week 14 could prove fruitful if you’re game enough

KJ Hamler

5 targets – that was second on the team behind Fant, an 18-percent target share. Didn’t lead to much though, with only 2 receptions for 16 yards
Redzone – when it comes to the crunch, its Patrick and Fant who get the targets in the redzone, that seriously hurts his upside
Remaining Schedule – at Carolina, Buffalo, at Los Angeles Chargers

Outlook: Even with Drew Lock under centre, this team does not function well enough to produce fantasy performers in the receiving game, especially ones that don’t get redzone looks

Jalen Reagor

71-percent of snaps – he took a hit last week on his snaps but was back up in week 13 and that was the leading receiver on his team
34 yards – better than his 11 yards from the previous week but it was off 1 target. He did get to flash his potential with a specials team touchdown return though – that was nice
Remaining schedule – New Orleans, at Arizona, at Dallas

Outlook: New Quarterback under centre in week 14 might lead to a change in fortunes but I still don’t want any part of this receiving corps

Week 13 One-to-Watch: Michael Pittman Jr

Michael Pittman Jr

5 targets – I was interested to see where he was going to slot in after a couple of differing weeks, and it was 5 targets with 5 receptions
46 yards – that’s not going to win you a fantasy league and I suspect this is the kind of game you can expect from him if he doesn’t break a long play
Remaining schedule – at Las Vegas, Houston, at Pittsburgh

Outlook: Still nothing more than a low-end WR3 that you really need to break off a big play to return value

Gabriel Davis

97-percent of snaps – with John Brown still on IR, that’s two weeks in a row of Davis being on the field for nearly all of the offensive snaps
68 yards – just like last week it was from 4 targets and 3 receptions. And just like last week, it was another touchdown bringing his total to 5 for the season
Remaining schedule – Pittsburgh, at Denver, at New England

Outlook: He’s a good DFS play if his price stays low enough but he’s only a desperation play in redraft leagues

Laviska Shenault

35-percent of snaps – injury cut his day short and he wasn’t able to capitalise on his promising start to the game
Touchdown – yes he needed to hold on to it but I don’t care what you say, that touchdown was nothing to do with him or his abilities
Remaining schedule – Tennessee, at Baltimore, Chicago

Outlook: Still no need to roster him in redraft this season

Injury Issues

Joe Burrow (QB)
Darrynton Evans (RB)
D’Andre Swift (RB)
La’Mical Perine (RB)

Backup – not this year without an injury

Jordan Love (QB) – inactive
Jalen Hurts (QB) – 26 snaps, 12 pass attempts for 5 completions (42-percent), 109 yards and a touchdown; plus 29 rushing yards off 5 carries. If he gets the nod ahead of Wentz next week I’ll elevate him to the starters list
Jacob Eason (QB) – inactive
James Morgan (QB) – inactive
Ke’Shawn Vaughn (RB) – bye
Anthony McFarland Jr (RB) – 11 snaps, 4 carries for 15 yards, 1 target for 0 catches
DeeJay Dallas (RB) – 12 snaps, 0 carries, 3 targets for 2 catches and 11 yards
AJ Dillon (RB) – COVID-IR still
Lynn Bowden (RB) – 31 snaps (career high and going up), 4 targets for 4 catches and 41 yards, 1 carry for 11 yards
Devin Duvernay (WR) – 44 snaps, 1 target for 1 catch and 2 yards
Antonio Gandy-Golden (WR) – Injured Reserve
Quintez Cephus (WR) – 31 snaps, 4 targets (highest since week 2) for 2 catches, 63 yards and a touchdown
Van Jefferson (WR) – 40 snaps (career high out of nowhere), 5 targets for 4 catches and 27 yards (out-snapped and out-targeted Josh Reynolds)
Bryan Edwards (WR) – 15 snaps, 1 target for 0 catches

Special Tight End Category

Devin Asiasi – Injured Reserve but window for activation is now open. Not fantasy relevant
Cole Kmet – 54 snaps (has been 70-percent or more for three weeks now), 7 targets for 5 catches (both career highs), 37 yards and a touchdown. The snap rates and targets are great to see, and he appears to be taking over from Graham now. He’s still not fantasy relevant just yet unless you have a deeper league
Josiah Deguara – Injured Reserve. Not fantasy relevant
Dalton Keene – 23 snaps, 0 targets. Not fantasy relevant
Adam Trautman – 27 snaps, 3 targets for 3 catches and 9 yards. Not fantasy relevant
Harrison Bryant – 39 snaps, 0 targets. Not fantasy relevant
Albert Okwuegbunam – Injured Reserve. Not fantasy relevant
Colby Parkinson – 2 snaps and 12 special teams snaps. Not fantasy relevant
Brycen Hopkins – inactive. Not fantasy relevant

Start, Stash or Stink

Not including the injured and obvious backup guys, here’s who you can Start, who you should Stash on your bench and who should be Stinking up the waiver wire.

Start

Quarterback – Justin Herbert

Running Back – Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Jonathan Taylor, Antonio Gibson, D’Andre Swift, James Robinson, JK Dobbins

Wide Receiver – Justin Jefferson, Brandon Aiyuk

Tight End – N/A

Stash (can play if you HAVE to)

Quarterback – Tua Tagovailoa

Running Back – Zack Moss, Cam Akers

Wide Receiver – Tee Higgins, Laviska Shenault, Denzel Mims, Jalen Reagor, Michael Pittman Jr, Chase Claypool, Gabriel Davis