Week 14 Sunday Fantasy Football Takeaways: Surprise Performances from Evan Engram, David Njoku and Others, Plus More Injuries
Discussing the Sunday slate of week 14 NFL games and what it means from a fantasy football perspective.
Week 14 of the NFL season was a wild one, with some upsets, huge performances and more key injuries taking place.
Let’s take a look at everything that happened through a fantasy football perspective.
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Some Standout Players
National Tight End Day might have been in October, but a pair of TEs are currently in the top-five fantasy football performers in PPR formats for week 14.
Jacksonville Jaguars’ Evan Engram was an absolute monster during the team’s loss to the Cleveland Browns. Engram caught 11-of-12 targets for 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
It was the most yards Engram has posted for the season, and his 11 catches and 12 targets were also season highs. The Jaguars’ tight end had just one touchdown coming into the week.
While Engram’s season has been pretty underwhelming, he’s now gotten eight or more targets in the past three games, with at least five catches and 49 yards in those contests. All three of his scores are in the past two weeks. This type of production should be doable the rest of the season, as wide receiver teammate Christian Kirk is out for several weeks.
In the same contest, Browns’ David Njoku had a similar statline to Engram, just on a few less catches and targets. Njoku caught 6-of-8 targets for 91 yards and two scores.
It marked a new season high in yards for Njoku. It was the second-most catches he’s made and tied for the fifth-most targets. Njoku doubled his touchdown total for the season during the contest.
For Njoku, the strong showing was a nice bounce back from week 13, when he only had 17 yards on two catches. He’s topped 50 yards and six catches in four of the past five games.
The Atlanta Falcons’ offense racked up 434 total yards in week 14, but ended up losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Quarterback Desmond Ridder and receiver Drake London led the way for Atlanta.
Ridder threw for 347 yards and a touchdown while throwing a pick and completing 26-of-40 attempts overall. He added a rushing touchdown and 15 yards on four attempts.
Ridder hasn’t been that great of a fantasy asset this season, but is definitely an option to stash on your bench as the season winds down. If you are really desperate for a starter, he’s got a decent schedule ahead.
London went off for 172 yards on 10 catches and 11 targets. He didn’t score a touchdown, but did catch a two-point conversion pass.
It was easily London’s best showing of the season, but touchdowns continue to elude him, with just two for the season. He’s hard to trust every week in this Falcons’ offense, but his standout games are ones that lead fantasy teams to wins.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning might just lead someone to a fantasy football title if he keeps playing like he has the past couple weeks.
After throwing for 354 yards and scoring twice in week 13, Browning threw for 275 yards and accounted for three scores in week 14. His schedule ahead isn’t great, but he’s probably the best waiver wire QB available in your league, and he’ll likely be started by someone for week 15.
Speaking of the Bengals, how about the performance from Chase Brown?
Brown turned 11 touches into 105 total yards and a touchdown. His highlight play was a 54-yard receiving touchdown.
He’s going to continue playing second fiddle to Joe Mixon, but without Joe Burrow at quarterback, Brown has the chance to get plenty of touches a week now.
More Injuries
Houston Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud left the team’s loss to the New York Jets and is in the concussion protocol. Davis Mills would likely start for the team if Stroud needs to miss any additional time.
The Texans also saw wide receiver Nico Collins leave with a calf injury. Houston was playing in its first full game without Tank Dell, so if Collins is forced to miss time, the team’s wide receiver room is all of a sudden thin.
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert left the team’s loss to the Denver Broncos with a finger injury on his throwing hand. Easton Stick is the team’s backup if Herbert misses time.
Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs left the team’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, while Minnesota’s top back Alexander Mattison left with an ankle injury. Zamir White and Ameer Abdullah are Jacobs’ backups, while Ty Chandler would be the starter if Mattison missed time.
In his first game back from injury, Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson left with a chest injury. He was taken to a local hospital out of precaution. Jordan Addison, K.J. Osborn and Brandon Powell would fill the void if Jefferson misses any more time, but the biggest benefactor would probably be tight end T.J. Hockenson.
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