🏈 Dez Bryant quits the season

Where's Carson? He Wentz to the bench - Dec 9

Good morning. You know what’s better than waking up to a fresh edition of the Morning Huddle? Waking up to a win that gets you into the playoffs. If that’s you - congrats.

If not

Carson Wentz & the Eagles - A Tragedy

In what might be the worst regression we’ve seen since Paul George’s playoff performance, Carson Wentz is playing awful. But fear not, Eagles fans, Jalen Hurts is here.

Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter

The Eagles’ new starting QB:

So far this year, Wentz has only 1 more TD than INT. His completion % is 57 (basically identical to Mark Sanchez’s career mark). But at least Wentz doesn’t have a massive guaranteed contract!

NFL Update @MySportsUpdate

Carson Wentz has a $34.6M cap hit in 2021, the 5th largest in the NFL. He has $25.4M fully guaranteed to him.

We should’ve seen this coming though; the second week of December is traditionally the worst week of Wentz’s year.

Evan Kaplan @EpKap

The 2nd week of December hasn't been kind to Carson Wentz. Dec. 10, 2017 Torn ACL ends 2017 season Dec. 9, 2018 Back injury ends 2018 season Dec. 8, 2020 Benched for Jalen Hurts

So - what do I do with Jalen Hurts?

Look - Hurts has the running ability to be a Konami-code (think Lamar Jackson/Taysom Hill) QB. He is also playing against one of the worst o-lines in the league with a terrible receiving core. And he goes up against the Saints D this week.

I’m letting someone else start him - but grabbing Hurts as a backup QB anywhere I need one.

After all, Hurts squatted 600 pounds in college. He also took a shot at Carson Wentz after their game.

Looking ahead: Finding Superstar WRs

This reddit article explains how you find superstar WRs based on rookie production. Too long to read?

Rookie WRs with 80+ targets and 8+ yards per target have a probability of multiple future WR1 seasons of 55% (73% for one WR1 season). Four rookie WRs currently meet this threshold:

• Justin Jefferson (7.0 tpg, 12.4 ypt)

• Tee Higgins (6.9, 8,8)

• CeeDee Lamb (6.6, 8.2)

• Chase Claypool (6.2, 8.3)

BUY BUY BUY

So you want to win your league?

The definitive rankings of the MVP for fantasy football show Dalvin Cook as the MVP so far this year. Davante Adams is a close second, followed by Travis Kelce. I respect this chart because it shows how irrelevant QBs really are.

Stathole Sports @Statholesports

Week 13 Fantasy Football WAR Update (I know, there's a game tonight, whatever) - 5 Top-ten RBs. Only 1 pre-season surprise (Robinson) - 2 Top-ten WRs After a (basically) finished fantasy regular season, #BellCowOrBust wins again. @ScottBarrettDFB

A really interesting graph - this shows what WR/TE is more likely to catch a pass for a TD in the red zone (think Travis Kelce) and which RB is most likely to run it in (think Davlin Cook). Take a peek:

Michael Leone @2Hats1Mike

This was requested and a good idea: Pass Rate Over Expectation in the red zone. A lot of the teams on the left are similar to overall, add in the Rodgers MVP stat chasing. You see the massive Cam effect on the right. Rams a big discrepancy relative to overall.

Start your Panthers pass-catchers (DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, Curtis Samuel) this week. The Broncos are absolutely depleted at the CB position:

Mike Clay @MikeClayNFL

Broncos CB situation with AJ Bouye suspended, Bryce Callahan on IR and Essang Bassey headed to IR: Michael Ojemudia - Rd 3 rookie Duke Dawson - 59 snaps in '20 De'Vante Bausby - 93 snaps in '20 Kevin Toliver - 17 snaps in '20 Will Parks? - waived by PHI recently

Yikes.

RIP Dez’s 2020 season

After testing positive for Covid-19 20 minutes!! before kickoff - Dez was scratched from his revenge against the Cowboys. He promptly took to twitter, declaring that he quits the season and can’t deal with it.

But after further questioning, Dez tweeted “Yea I’m coming back… I’m being smart.”

So yea, DEZ 2020 is still a thing? And you can still name your team Dez Nuts. W’s all around.

Mike Tomlin a real one

NFL Update @MySportsUpdate

#Steelers HC Mike Tomlin to Chase Young: "I don't ever want to lose enough games to get a guy like you. You know what I mean? 'Cause you gotta lose 14, 15 games to get a guy look like you." Real recognize real. (via @NFLFilms)

BONUS

• Pro Football Focus graded the top 3 RBs this season: (1) Damien Harris!!? (2) Dalvin Cook (3) Derrick Henry

• Let’s take a minute and appreciate the amazing accomplishment of Alex Smith’s win over the Steelers.

• FREE CAM AKERS. His snap % is rising each week (17% in Week 11 with 63% in Week 13). Things are looking up

• Good news - AJ Green won’t be back in a Bengals uniform in 2021.

GET THIS REF INTO A MEMORY COMPETITION

Dan Hanzus @DanHanzus

This is the most impressive feat I’ve seen on a football field this season.

Thank you all - good day.

Question of the day: Send your start/sit questions here.