Each week during the 2022 NFL season, Field Yates will help fantasy football managers by providing the precise intel needed on the most important, fantasy-relevant storylines. Field's Rolodex is vast; he'll dial up whomever he needs. This is the Field Pass.
Patience is a critically important virtue in so many ways in life.
In fantasy football, it can be hard to know exactly how much patience is the right amount, especially early in the season when it feels like your squad could be teetering with just one more loss.
Prior to this season, as drafts were underway, one of the most interesting players was Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
Hopkins finished as the fourth-highest-scoring wideout during his debut season in Arizona in 2020, a continuation of an exquisite run that placed him among the best players in all of fantasy going back to his days with the Texans. He averaged 10.0 targets per game, had 115 catches and 1,407 receiving yards.
In 2021, D-Hop was limited to just 10 games, saw his targets drop all the way down to 6.4 per game and he managed just 572 receiving yards, easily the lowest in his career. He then learned of a six-game suspension to open this regular season, meaning those who were drafting Hopkins incurred the risk of wasting a bench spot for six weeks and the possibility (and I should stress possibility) that Hopkins was a player on the decline. Arizona also added Marquise Brown via trade, giving them the best wideout to play alongside Hopkins in two seasons and a potential threat to take away some work.
The net result was that Hopkins' average draft position fell into the 40s among wide receivers as managers exuded some caution.
Just two weeks into Hopkins' return, it looks like those who were bold and patient enough to snag Hopkins in the draft are the smart ones, as he has been on an absolute tear and may look as good as ever.
In just two games, Hopkins has already amassed 22 catches for 262 yards and a touchdown. Over the past two weeks, he is tied with Tyreek Hill for the most targets in the NFL, has the most catches, most receiving yards and is tied for fifth with 75 routes run. The Cardinals have held a lead on just over 8% of their offensive plays this season, the second-lowest percentage in the entire NFL. Kyler Murray is second in the NFL in passing attempts this season, as the team is almost always playing from behind. Hopkins is going to stay busy because the Cardinals have no other choice.
Hopkins' pace is off the charts, as he's now on track for 121 catches, 1,441 yards and five touchdowns ... in 11 games.
Is he likely to do that? No, he is not. No player has ever averaged 11 catches per game or 131 receiving yards per game for a season, but that does not hurt the value of those who rolled the dice on Hopkins. If your season was seemingly on the brink prior to his return, your fortunes look much brighter. If you were already off to a strong start, you might be the league favorite now.
Hopkins looks as good as ever and immediately reintroduced himself to the elite tier of fantasy wideouts.
Let's dive into the rest of Week 9's Field Pass.
Trade deadline reactions
Let's take a look at each fantasy-relevant player traded or impacted at the deadline and share some quick thoughts:
T.J. Hockenson, TE, Minnesota Vikings: Hockenson didn't have to travel far to his new home, and I'm not sure his fantasy value went very far in one direction or another, either. Hockenson was in the tier behind the absolute elites of Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews, tight ends that you expect steady volume from, occasional boom weeks and a few duds over the course of the season. His outlook in Minnesota, to me, remains comparable.
Nyheim Hines, RB, Buffalo Bills: The Bills have not leaned on their backs much, as only the Rams running backs have fewer combined touches this season. But they have thrown the 12th-most passes to running backs this season, the area in which Hines shines the most. Forecasting weekly value is hard for Hines, because the Bills' pass-heavy offense is so good as currently constructed, but there's potential deeper-league flex here.
Chase Claypool, WR, Chicago Bears: Claypool has immense talent and now has a path to be the Bears' top receiving weapon after departing a crowded Steelers receiver room. The Bears have been an extremely run-heavy team and that is harder to change within the season than it will be this offseason, but Claypool has a chance to become a top-35(ish) WR in my estimation for the home stretch of 2022. I'm very enthused long term for a Claypool-Justin Fields pairing, and I think this is really good for his dynasty value.
George Pickens, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers: With Claypool gone, there is one fewer body to compete with in Pittsburgh for targets. Pickens is incredibly talented and should be added in all leagues as well. He should command around 6-8 targets per game as a useful upside stash on your roster, with top 30-35(ish) WR value.
Jeff Wilson Jr., RB, Miami Dolphins: While Wilson is still the backup to Raheem Mostert, I suspect he'll have more of a role than Chase Edmonds did as of late. I see Wilson as an important insurance policy and Mostert's value takes a tiny hit in value.
Chase Edmonds, RB, Denver Broncos: Edmonds had quickly lost most of his role in Miami, so a change of scenery should improve his value. That being said, I'm not sure he's due for a major role in Denver. I think he's an OK deeper-league add, but this move might be as much of a reminder that no Broncos running back has obvious weekly value as anything else.
The rise of Justin Fields
We've written extensively in this space about how unremarkable several quarterbacks have been this season when compared to our preseason hopes for them. It was about a month ago when I noted that Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson had combined for exactly one 20-point fantasy game this season.
That's still the case. Woof.
So, in the interest of balance, let's dive into a quarterback who is headed in the right direction and looks like a potential weekly starter for your lineup: Justin Fields of the Bears.
Fields had a slow start to this season, as he failed to reach 13.65 fantasy points in the first four weeks and had two single-digit outings during that time.
The past four weeks -- and specifically the past three weeks -- have been much, much better, as Fields continues to show how valuable a running quarterback can be in fantasy football. A look at his week-by-week output:
Week 5: 208 pass yards, 1 TD, 8 rushes for 47 yards (17.02 points, QB11)
Week 6: 190 pass yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 12 rushes for 88 yards (18.4 points, QB7)
Week 7: 179 pass yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 14 rushes, 82 yards, 1 TD (23.26 points, QB5)
Week 8: 151 pass yards, 2 TD, 8 rushes, 60 yards, 1 TD (26.04 points, QB3)
The rushing is the part that is so exciting, and over the past three weeks Fields has 34 rushing attempts for 230 yards, both the most among all quarterbacks. When watching the Bears, it's clear that coordinator Luke Getsy is getting into a more comfortable rhythm with Fields and becoming more reliant on his legs as a staple of their offense.
While it's hard to compare any quarterback athletically to Lamar Jackson, Fields is in the same neighborhood as Jalen Hurts -- and his recent production has shades of Hurts' 2021 season.
In 2021, Hurts averaged 209.6 passing yards per game, 52.3 rushing yards per game and totaled 16 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns. He averaged 21.4 fantasy points per game.
Fields' past four games are on the following pace: 182.0 passing yards per game, 69.3 rushing yards, 21.3 passing touchdowns and 8.5 rushing touchdowns for a full season. He's averaged 21.2 fantasy points per game.
The challenge for Fields is sustaining this production for a full season like Hurts did, of course, but with the way the last month has gone and when factoring in the addition of Claypool, I'm optimistic he can enter the conversation as a weekly top 10-12 quarterback consideration.
The Kamara comeback
There are three running backs that have stood above the rest as receivers since the start of the 2017 NFL season: Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffrey and Austin Ekeler. Kamara has 386 receptions in that time, McCaffrey 373 and Ekeler 327. The next-closest back is Leonard Fournette at 263.
Kamara began his career with four straight seasons of more than 80 catches before a Year 5 dip all the way to 47 catches in 2021. Life in the post-Drew Brees era was different for Kamara, who was called upon to be the clear lead runner and not nearly the same factor in the passing game. Two games into this season, it looked like such could be the case again, as Kamara totaled five catches for 19 yards in those outings.
Those days feel like a distant memory, as Kamara is on a tear over the past four games -- which happens to have coincided with the switch to Andy Dalton as the starter -- posting six, six, seven and nine catches for a total of 268 yards and two touchdowns.
Whether the spike in passing-game production can be attributed solely to Dalton's spot in the lineup is uncertain, but the results are what matters: Kamara is now on pace for another season over 80 receptions. During a time when the Saints remain without Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry and now Mark Ingram II, it feels like they may not have any choice but to continue to rely extremely heavily on Kamara, most importantly as a pass-catcher. Few players are better with the ball in open space.
While not all the elite running backs during the preseason have lived up to the hype thus far, what was once a dreary outlook for the position has changed course dramatically of late. Kamara, Ekeler, McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Dalvin Cook, Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry are among the elite backs that were drafted as such.
Second-year star backs
Travis Etienne Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars: We wrote last week about the opportunity Etienne had in Jacksonville after James Robinson was traded, and Week 8 was confirmation of what we were hopeful for: Etienne's stock was ready to soar. Etienne set a career high for rushing yards in Week 7 with 114, a total that lasted a whole seven days. That's because in Week 8, Etienne rushed 24 times (third most among all backs) for 156 yards and a score while chipping in three receptions for good measure. Etienne had yet another 30-yard run and is tied with Tony Pollard for the most yards per carry this season among backs at an absurd 6.2. He played 75% of the snaps and continues to look the part of a star back. If chunk plays arrive in the passing game, watch out.
Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots: The Patriots have often relied upon a committee approach at running back, which was the case to begin this season as well when Damien Harris and Stevenson were both a substantial part of their offense. When Harris went down in Week 5 with a hamstring injury, we figured Stevenson would take on a more prominent role until Harris returned. That was the case, but it's remained, even since Harris returned. A look at the two backs over the past two weeks:
Stevenson: 27 carries, 110 yards, 1 TD, 15 catches on 16 targets, 131 yards
Harris: 14 carries, 45 yards; 3 catches on 4 targets, 17 yards
Not only has Stevenson taken over as the clear-cut RB1 in this offense, he's emerged as a true factor in the passing game. He's a top-12 play at the position, even with Harris back in the mix.
When a QB change helps ...
If I had told you before the season that both DJ Moore and Terry McLaurin would have slow starts out of the gates in fantasy, you might well have scoffed at such a notion. After all, each is a star wideout -- both were richly rewarded this offseason via contract extensions -- and has found a way to succeed despite substandard quarterback play previously.
Through six weeks of this season, however, the quarterback play in both Carolina and Washington looked bad enough that it was dragging down the two star wideouts.
If I had told you before the season that P.J. Walker and Taylor Heinicke might wind up being the players that unlocked these two stars, you may have balked at that notion, too. There may be a bit more to it, but these two quarterbacks have certainly helped.
Over the past two weeks, Moore has 10 and 11 targets, respectively, while setting a season high in receiving yards with 69 and then 152. He scored in both games, the first two since Christian McCaffrey was traded to San Francisco, and the second and third starts of the season for Walker. Walker's play has drastically improved over the past two weeks. Carolina has had to fill the CMC void, and Moore has stepped up and looks like his old self.
Meanwhile, McLaurin has exactly eight targets in each of the two games started by Heinicke, a total he had reached only twice in Carson Wentz's six starts. He's hauled in 11 of those 16 targets for 186 yards, and a touchdown while showing some of the chemistry he and Heinicke had last season. While Carson Wentz had some stellar fantasy outings earlier this season, Heinicke has a bit more improvisation to his game that has seemed to bode well for McLaurin. Rookie Jahan Dotson has also been out multiple games due to a hamstring injury, which has left more targets for the taking.