Falcons fantasy stud and dud from Week 4 vs. Jaguars

Atlanta’s offense looks stuck in neutral at the moment. In what they hoped would be a bounce back game in London against a Jacksonville Jaguars team that got off to their own slow start to the season, the Falcons took embarrassing football onto an international stage.

For the second straight week, the Birds were unable to crack double digits on the scoreboard, and have now scored 13 points combined in the last two weeks. It’s a big issue that needs to get figured out if the team hopes to kickstart some momentum. It’s also a big problem if you start Falcons fantasy players, most of whom are looking handicapped by how bad the passing game has looked.

If there’s at least one silver lining, it’s that the offense at least found the end zone, which is not something we have been able to say since Week 2.

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 pure statistics). Here is Atlanta’s fantasy stud and fantasy dud from Week 4’s defeat against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Fantasy Stud/Dud 2023 History:

Past Studs: Tyler Allgeier (1), Bijan Robinson (1), Kyle Pitts (1)

Past Duds: Drake London (2), Kyle Pitts (1)

Fantasy Stud - Bijan Robinson

Stat Line: 14 carries, 105 rushing yards, 5 carries, 32 receiving yards: 13.70 standard league points; 18.70 PPR points

Robinson has been every bit the worthy top 10 overall draft pick this season, and is generally exempt from any real criticism thrown against the offense. Today’s offensive performance sort of reminded me of the Game of Thrones scene where Jon Snow prepares his sword against an entire army during the Battle of the Bastards, with Robinson playing the part of Snow.

Bijan tallied 7.5 yards per carry and was the team’s second leading receiver. Anything the Falcons generated with any seriousness always started with Robinson. Even their lone touchdown of the game came after a 38-yard run from the former Texas Longhorn.

Continue considering Robinson a legit RB1 moving forward, especially in PPR leagues. Even though Tyler Allgeier remains involved, it’s clear that the team will continue to lean on their rookie in all scenarios and especially when playing from behind. Hopefully the touchdowns will get more and more prevalent as well, as he still only has one on the season.

Dud

Kyle Pitts: 3 catches, 21 receiving yards: 2.1 standard league points; 4.1 PPR points

Kyle Pitts drafters are in panic mode. Dynasty owners have far surpassed that mode long ago, and I can’t really blame them. Pitts has failed to attain even 50 receiving yards in a single game this season, and it’s clear that his talent is completely going to waste in Atlanta’s incredibly limited passing offense, which for the second consecutive season is operated by one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL.

What’s even more discouraging for Pitts fantasy managers is that Desmond Ridder did use his tight end in this game; it just wasn’t him. Jonnu Smith led both teams with 95 receiving yards, catching all six of passes and even rumbling for a 33-yard catch and run at one point.

It’s on the quarterback to get him the ball accurately, it’s on the coaching staff to scheme him open, and that this point none of that is happening for Pitts. He’s in the tight end dead zone, and unless Atlanta makes a real change with something he will not give you a good return on investment in your draft selection. The only issue is that the tight end position is such a wasteland that you sort of have to start Pitts by default.