Another week, another blown lead for the Falcons. It’s become like clockwork, as they’ve now blown 15-point 4th quarter leads in back to back weeks. There really is nothing surprising with this squad anymore.

The offense played really well in the first half and then they ground to a screeching halt while the defense let Nick Foles have his way with them.

There is a lot of great content available here at the Falcoholic, and I encourage you to check it out if you want some in-depth analysis. This article will look at things strictly from a fantasy football perspective (that means looking at nothing other than purely statistics). Here is Atlanta’s fantasy stud and fantasy dud from Week 2’s defeat against the Chicago Bears.

Fantasy Stud/Dud 2020 History:

Past Studs: Calvin Ridley (2)

Past Duds: Hayden Hurst, Julio Jones

Fantasy Stud - Todd Gurley

Stat Line - 14 carries, 80 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown, 1 catch, 2 receiving yards: 14.0 standard league points; 15.2 PPR points

We’ve been waiting for an efficient game from Todd Gurley and we ironically got it against the best front seven the Falcons have faced thus far. He had a great 5.7 yards per carry and the 80 rushing yards he tallied were a season high.

Most importantly, Gurley found the end zone for the second time in three games and shook off a pedestrian 6.1 standard league Week 2 performance. Gurley broke off chunk gains multiple times but fantasy owners will be left wondering what could’ve been as Brian Hill also took nine carries, which he turned into 58 yards and a touchdown of his own.

This timeshare with Hill and Ito Smith is what fantasy players should expect moving forward. Gurley has had at least 15 touches in each game and looks steady as a RB2 for a high scoring offense, though Atlanta’s use of their other RBs in an attempt to keep the Georgia alum fresh certainly caps his ceiling.

Dud

Russell Gage - 2 catches, 26 receiving yards: 2.6 standard league points; 4.6 PPR points

With Julio Jones ultimately unable to suit up for this one after testing his hamstring pregame, Russell Gage was thought of as a fine option for fantasy managers to slot into their starting lineups. After all, Gage has been peppered with 21 targets which he converted into 160 receiving yards and a touchdown over the course of the first two games.

Gage came into the game poised to be the second option in the passing game behind Calvin Ridley but he instead finished fourth on the team in targets with just three. Olamide Zaccheaus and Brandon Powell each saw more targets, though it should be noted that Gage left the game early due to injury.

It was Ridley being a target hog with 13 looks from Ryan which killed the value of every other receiving option other than maybe Hayden Hurst who scored on his only target.

Gage should firmly remain on your roster if you have him. He’s a fine bye week fill in as Ryan’s go-to target over the middle of the field when everyone is healthy. Though he may miss next week’s game if he doesn’t clear concussion protocol in time.