A few days after Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry breezed through the Jacksonville Jaguars defense for a season-high 47.8 PPR points on Thursday night, there is a new record-holder for one-game scoring this season. Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper caught 10 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns Sunday, including a fluky, tipped reception for an overtime score to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, and eclipsed Henry's mark. Cooper scored 49.7 PPR points, and now it seems like merely a memory how fantasy managers were so frustrated with his play not only a season ago, but also just a few months ago.
The midseason trade from the Oakland Raiders to Dallas for a first-round draft pick might have seemed like an overpay at the time, but Cooper has performed well, and the Cowboys are on the way to winning the NFC East title, as they have won five consecutive games. Cooper has played a major role and returned to the good graces for fantasy managers, and he certainly played a more consistent game. Consider that in the first weeks with Oakland, Cooper eclipsed 100 receiving yards and 20 PPR points in Weeks 2 and 4. However, in Weeks 1, 3 and 5, he totaled four receptions and failed to reach the low mark of 4 PPR points in each game.
As a Cowboy, Cooper has looked more like the potential WR1 from his first two NFL seasons, notably in yards after the catch, as he leads the NFL in the category since the trade. Cooper has scored fewer than 13 PPR points in only one of six contests and has found the end zone six times. He is averaging 23 PPR points per game as a Cowboy, which is certainly WR1 material. Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen entered Week 14 leading all wide receivers with 270.6 PPR points, or an average of 22.5 per game. With his signature performance in Dallas on Sunday, Cooper has topped that over a six-week period, returned to WR1 status and, with enticing games left against the Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and division-rival New York Giants, should keep thriving.
Before Cooper became a Cowboy, fantasy managers relied on running back Ezekiel Elliott for statistical and nobody else. Well, things have changed. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw for 455 yards and the three Cooper touchdowns, giving him more than 20 PPR points in three of five weeks. It does not make Prescott a consistent fantasy starter in 10- or 12-team leagues, but for that Buccaneers contest in Week 16, he might be a starter. In this case, one midseason addition has turned a season and a division around, and fantasy managers cannot complain.
Second down: Cooper and his new pals travel to the capital of Indiana in Week 15 and will face a rejuvenated offense there. Andrew Luck and the Colts scored nary a point against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 13 and faced a daunting task on Sunday with a road tilt against the division-rival Houston Texans, a team that had won nine consecutive games and whose defense ranked among the top 10 in preventing fantasy points to quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. No matter. Fantasy managers left Luck and wide receiver T.Y. Hilton active and were rewarded with big performances. Luck threw for 399 passing yards, and Hilton caught nine passes for 199 of those yards in an impressive 24-21 victory.
Luck had proven matchup-proof when he threw three or more touchdown passes in eight consecutive games, an awesome streak that ended at Jacksonville; we can view that outing as aberrant. Hilton missed several practices leading up to the Texans game, but when fantasy managers got official word Sunday morning that he was active, they stuck by him. While neither Luck nor Hilton entered this season as a guaranteed fantasy producer -- the former because he missed the entire 2017 season with a shoulder injury, and the latter because he needs the team's starting quarterback to play -- all is well now. Hilton's 28.9 PPR points were among the best at the position and gave him an average of 25 PPR points over the past four games. Hilton is again performing at a WR1 level.
Third down: An actual NFL record was nearly broken in the first half on Sunday, as San Francisco 49ers star George Kittle embarrassed the Denver Broncos for 52- and 85-yard plays in the first half alone and ended up with 210 receiving yards in the half, a mere four away from Shannon Sharpe's NFL record. Kittle did not catch a pass in the second half, so he did not break the mark, but we can all appreciate a cool 34 PPR points, as Kittle caught seven passes and one went for a touchdown. It is the seventh consecutive game Kittle, the heaviest player in NFL history to eclipse 200 receiving yards in a game, has reached double digits in PPR scoring, and he will enter Week 15 as the No. 3 tight end in fantasy for the season. This is all legit, regardless of the team's quarterback. Look for Kittle in the first five rounds of 2019 fantasy drafts, as well, though likely behind Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz at the position.
As for other tight end news, New England Patriots star and occasional defensive option Rob Gronkowski reached 100 receiving yards for the first time since Week 1, and hauled in his third touchdown of the season. He still does not look entirely healthy, and we certainly might be observing the end of a legendary career, but it is clear he can still make a statistical difference this month. Buccaneers touchdown-maker Cameron Brate scored twice more; while he still has yet to reach 40 receiving yards in a game, he seems like a reasonable fantasy starter, as we simply lack better choices. Ian Thomas might be one of them, for volume purposes. The Carolina Panthers' fill-in for injured Greg Olsen has 26.3 PPR points the past two games.
Fourth down: The top quarterback performance from Week 14, entering the Sunday night Bears-Rams tilt, came from Patriots veteran Tom Brady, as he reached a season-best 358 passing yards and threw three touchdowns in a stunning, last-second loss to the Miami Dolphins. Brady ended a string of five consecutive games in which he failed to reach 20 fantasy points, a number he used to topple regularly, including last season. Brady has certainly not played like a top-10 fantasy quarterback this season, and fantasy managers should not presume a team that was run-centric over the past month has altered the game plan. Brady should remain outside the top-10 fantasy quarterbacks for a key Week 15 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As for other top performers at quarterback, do not invest in Washington Redskins backup Josh Johnson, who relieved an awful Mark Sanchez and scored 24.3 PPR points thanks to a pair of late touchdowns. Johnson had not thrown a pass in an NFL game since 2011 and was signed by the franchise days ago instead of others who have, well, played more recently. Johnson will naturally start Week 15 at Jacksonville, and nobody in fantasy should be the least bit interested in him or anyone else on the Washington franchise after the home embarrassment against the Giants on Sunday.