Fantasy football managers think about just about everything. They often need a calm, measured voice of reason to remind them what makes sense. Take a deep breath. It’s fantasy football. Make practical decisions about lineups, transactions, and food for the tailgating party, and all will be well. Try to enjoy the ride. You wouldn’t believe what fantasy managers overthink. Well, you’re (presumably) a fantasy manager. Okay, maybe.

Fantasy managers tend to overreact when their first draft pick – or their very first – underperforms, especially when the future looks statistically bleak. Then those fantasy managers say things like, “I have to bench this guy for the rest of the season.” Nothing good can come from that. See, the design was a long time ago. You have Lamb or Hill. You can’t trade a WR1 for it. They’re probably not top-10 WRs as of now, but that doesn’t mean you decide in mid-November that you’re going to sit them indefinitely. They have value. It’s always, alwaysdepends on all your options for that particular week. A lot will change in week 15.

With Lamb, there is no more Dak Prescott, and backup QB Cooper Rush isn’t even remotely the same caliber. A young, strong Eagles secondary held Lamb to 21 receiving yards on his 10 targets. The objectives are key. Lam must continue to get enough of it. That’s the positive. And when Rush quarterbacked the Cowboys in his five starts in 2022 – Weeks 2 through 6 – Lamb had a small to modest dip in production. He caught 31 of 49 targets in that stretch, with 76 receiving yards per game, with two touchdowns. Rush doesn’t have to be good to keep Lamb a relevant WR2 pick, and there’s nothing wrong with a relevant WR2 option.

Hill, finally reunited with his starting quarterback, is dealing with a torn ligament in his left wrist that will naturally impact production. The Dolphins have adjusted their offensive approach so that QB Tua Tagovailoa releases the football more quickly to avoid the pass rush, and he is completing 77% of his passes. This is good, but not so compatible with Hill’s ability to open the field. Hill has 18 targets in the three games with Tagovailoa back, three of his 13 receptions going for more than 20 yards, along with a short 1-yard TD, but this isn’t the same Hill who surpassed 1,700 receiving yards the past two seasons. This is now a relevant WR2 option again. Hey, it could be worse.

My advice to fantasy managers is to avoid exaggerated thoughts/statements about three, four and five weeks, etc. Only treat this week. Think of the December playoffs, of course, but lineups are all about this week. Lamb faces a Texans defense that has allowed 21 TD passes, one off the league lead. Hill faces the Raiders, and they certainly aren’t good. If you want to play Lamb or Hill this week for players like the Browns’ Cedric Tillman, the Broncos’ Courtland Sutton, or the Falcons’ Darnell Mooney, that’s sensible and understandable, as those players have been productive and can continue to be so. I may not do it, but these are your teams. Don’t read too deeply into Lamb, Hill and others who aren’t as valuable as they once were, and don’t draft too far in advance.

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What does QB change mean for CeeDee Lamb’s fantasy value?

Field Yates lowers CeeDee Lamb’s fantasy rankings due to Dallas’ quarterback change.

Expect Calvin Ridley’s resurgence to continue

Ridley has finished among the top 25 fantasy scorers at his position in each of his four full NFL seasons (excluding 2021 and 2022, when he played a total of five games). Even today, with double-digit PPR points in just four of his nine games, he’s on pace to do so again. Incredibly, Ridley entered Week 8 with just 45.2 fantasy points, an average of 7.5 per game, and he made sure to let people know he wasn’t satisfied with a profanity-laced tirade to reporters. The low point came in Week 6, right after the bye week, when his eight targets led to no receptions. That’s hard to do.

Ridley enters this week’s matchup against the Vikings having scored a whopping 60.3 points over the past three games, converting on 20 of 32 targets (still not ideal) and scoring two touchdowns in that span. The number of catches per target isn’t that high, but it’s plenty of targets, and the Titans have clearly adjusted their offense to showcase the most dangerous performer. Ridley ranks a disappointing 36th this season — tied with the Giants’ Darius Slayton — in catchable passes, but when a Titans QB throws, it usually goes to Ridley. He ranks eighth in team goal percentage. He just needed more purpose.

Young QB Will Levis returned from his three-game absence due to a shoulder problem in Week 10 and found Ridley for a 41-yard touchdown on the first series. The second TD came in the final seconds, pure nonsense, but it all counts. Levis was accurate against the Chargers, hitting 78% of his throws (although he only threw 23 times), but at least the Titans have shown a decent passing attack in recent weeks, and a commitment to their best player. The Vikings are allowing the third-most PPR points to wide receivers this season. Levis doesn’t have to be Joe Montana to give Ridley another 20-point fantasy outing.

QB Lamar Jackson leads a dominant Ravens offense averaging 440.2 yards and 31.8 points, but a potential key piece could provide even more production. Mitchell averaged 8.4 yards per rush as a rookie last season. He’s certainly not big (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) and he wasn’t drafted out of East Carolina, but Mitchell is certainly fast and elusive, and now that he’s recovered from the ACL injury he suffered last December, fantasy managers say they should pay attention. Mitchell made his season debut against the Bengals in Week 10. He should play a more special, expanded role this week against the Steelers.

Mitchell averaged 7.2 yards per rush and scored 15 total touchdowns in his sophomore season (2022) in college, and fantasy managers first noticed him as a pro in Week 9, when the speedy rookie converted nine rushing attempts in 138 yards in a 37-3 loss. of the Seahawks, including a 60-yard jaunt and a 40-yard touchdown scamper. Gus Edwards (now a Charger) and Justice Hill combined for 18 touches in that game, and Mitchell still mattered. He earned about 10 touches per game in his last four games, with almost 10 PPR points per game, before injuring his knee.

Derrick Henry leads the league in rushing attempts, and you would think the Ravens would be well aware of this and want to keep the 30-year-old healthy for January. No, don’t expect Henry’s volume to suddenly drop, but do expect Mitchell to get involved. Hill, with 24 rushing yards in the past five games, isn’t doing much. Maybe you shouldn’t consider Mitchell in a standard league, but in a deeper league you have to consider that four teams have byes this week and six teams are off in Week 12. Mitchell could matter then.