Atlanta Falcons fantasy stud and dud from Week 12

This is one rough three game stretch, isn’t it? As a result of it, the Falcons are effectively done when it comes to the playoff race. The team looked flat in New Orleans and they were punished for it.

We have a lot of great content analyzing the game here at The Falcoholic, but in this article, we’ll look at things strictly from a fantasy football perspective. Let’s look at Atlanta’s top fantasy performer and biggest fantasy disappointment from Week 12’s defeat against the New Orleans Saints.

Fantasy Stud/Dud 2018 History:

Past Studs: Matt Ryan (4), Julio Jones (2), Calvin Ridley (1), Mohamed Sanu (1), Giorgio Tavecchio (1)

Past Duds: Mohamed Sanu (3), Calvin Ridley (2), Atlanta D/ST (2), Devonta Freeman (1), Austin Hooper (1), Tevin Coleman (1)

Stud - Calvin Ridley

Stat Line: 8 catches, 93 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown, 1 lost fumble: 13.3 standard league points, 21.3 PPR points

Ridley bounced back from back-to-back dud appearances in this column to claim his second fantasy stud honor of the season — both of them coming against the Saints.

New Orleans’ defensive coordinator Dennis Allen rolled out a new strategy in this one after repeatedly getting gashed by the Alabama man in Week 3 — he put his best CB, Marshon Lattimore, on Ridley, but kept him in single coverage while double covering Julio Jones on the other side. Ridley made him pay for it.

Most of Ridley’s damage came on a third quarter drive where he caught a 50-yard pass to the New Orleans 2-yard-line, and then finished the drive with a touchdown four plays later.

This had the potential to be a really big day for Ridley’s fantasy prospects had he not made some crucial errors. He let a perfect third down deep pass slip through his arms on the team’s first drive of the second quarter, and then fumbled at the 1-yard-line right before he was about to score a touchdown, in the fourth quarter.

Dud

Austin Hooper: 5 catches, 31 receiving yards: 3.1 standard league points, 8.1 PPR points

Tevin Coleman seemed like a shoo-in for this (dis)honor until he scored a garbage time touchdown to give fantasy owners at least some semblance of positivity.

I warned against starting Austin Hooper in this week’s start/sit column, and he did not prove me wrong. The Saints, who defend tight ends really well, held Hooper to just 31 receiving yards despite the fact that Matt Ryan threw for 377 yards. Hooper had the fewest points among all of Atlanta’s fantasy relevant options.

You have to pick and choose your spots with when to start Austin Hooper, and starting him against the Saints wasn’t a good idea. Hopefully you kept him on your bench this week.