So this is it, right? We don’t have to see Rashard Mendenhall getting carries for the Arizona Cardinals, anymore. Andre Ellington showed he is more than capable of handling the load, gashing the Falcons for 154 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. Hopefully you’ve been sitting on Ellington for the last handful of weeks and had him in your lineup today. But if not, you’re looking at a RB2 pretty much weekly going forward. Imagine what he could do behind a good offensive line…

 

…which is what I was thinking when watching Steven Jackson on the other side of the ball. To be fair, Atlanta’s backs have been doing their damage through the air pretty much all season, so it’s not like Jackson was expected to do a lot on the road against a tough Cardinals defense. But if S-Jax doesn’t get 5-6 receptions a week, he’s going to have a tough time provide much in the way of fantasy value. Same goes for Tony Gonzalez, at least until Roddy White returns to garner a bit of defensive attention. He’s getting double covered virtually every passing down.

 

Meanwhile, Darren McFadden continues to provide more than anyone expected. Yes, he was at home against a terrible Steelers run defense, but he still had to get the job done. He did that and then some, scoring twice and running for 73 yards on 24 carries and another 5 yards on 2 receptions. So long as he’s healthy and getting 15 or more touches, McFadden will be helpful more often than not.

 

Speaking of helpful, Andy Dalton spent the first month of the season proving he wouldn’t be of any use to fantasy owners, only to spend the last three weeks putting up impressive numbers. The Jets aren’t the greatest pass defense ever, but they aren’t bad, either. But Dalton and Marvin Jones made them look silly. If Dalton stays consistent there’s plenty of room for a second receiver outside of AJ Green to have fantasy value. Entering the season I’d have guessed it would be Mohamed Sanu, but I think Jones has done more than enough to warrant at least a spot on a fantasy bench, if not a starting lineup or two when staring down good matchups.

 

If you like video game numbers, Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson probably put a smile on your face today. Unless, of course, you were facing Johnson in particular in your fantasy league. Johnson could’ve had an even bigger day if not stopped inside the five a handful of times. Stafford is making a bid to be considered on the same tier as Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, though he’ll need a few more touchdowns to go with those huge yardage totals before he can stake a legit claim there.

 

If you haven’t dropped Eli Manning yet, please do so at this time. Go ahead and pick up Nick Foles, who was probably dropped after last week but will probably be starting again for Philadelphia after Sunday’s debacle.

 

Colin Kaepernick is back to his old tricks running the football—giving him a huge fantasy day despite throwing the ball just 16 times. I don’t think you’ll see another huge passing day from Kaepernick like he had in Week 1 against the Packers, but 2-3 combo scores a week are pretty much a given at this point, and maybe more when Michael Crabtree returns.

 

Oh hey, now Lamar Miller’s getting more of the touches, but Daniel Thomas is catching touchdown passes. Makes sense. Or not. Thomas probably needs to be owned in deeper leagues at this point because he’s still getting used and the waiver wire is pretty much barren. But without a touchdown, he’s likely to be a fantasy disappointment. Kind of like Miller has been—though his 112 combo yards today was exactly the type of game I thought he’d have regularly this season.

 

Finally, I guess Jimmy Graham’s foot is OK.