Thursday Night Football Fantasy Versus: Can Robert Griffin III Get it Done?
Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins have had a pretty rough go of it so far in 2013, but there’s still plenty of time left for them to make a move and win the NFC East, much like they did last season.
Standing in their way this week will be the Minnesota Vikings, who dropped to 1-7 on the season with a loss in Dallas last week.
Can Christian Ponder lead the Vikes to win No. 2? What about your fantasy team?
Quarterbacks
Robert Griffin III (Redskins) vs. Christian Ponder (Vikings)
This matchup may seem one-sided upon first glance, but it’s honestly more of a toss-up right now. Griffin hasn’t been himself all year long, and he’s struggled to a pair of subpar fantasy outings in a row.
Ponder, on the other hand, has actually been a solid fantasy play since being re-inserted as the Vikings’ starting QB two weeks ago. The passing numbers are pretty “meh”, but he’s rushed for three touchdowns in that span, as well. He’s got the benefit of facing a Washington defense that has been porous all season long.
However, I’m going to hold my breath and trot Griffin out there for yet another week. If he can’t do anything against an awful Vikings’ secondary, then I’d consider punting on him for the rest of the year, but that along with the fact that he’ll be playing on turf makes me optimistic that he could be in for a big night.
Running Backs
Alfred Morris (Redskins) vs. Adrian Peterson (Vikings)
If you’re lucky enough to own both of these guys, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be starting them both. Peterson was in full-on beast mode against the Cowboys a week ago, while Morris has scored a rushing touchdown in three of the last four games.
Roy Helu owners may want to stick him back onto the bench, as his involvement in the ‘Skins’ offense is pretty inconsistent at this point.
Wide Receivers
Pierre Garcon (Redskins) vs. Greg Jennings (Vikings)
Despite the shaky week-to-week play of Griffin, Pierre Garcon is actually enjoying a fantastic individual season. He’s caught no fewer than five passes in any game, and appears destined to set new career-highs in receptions and yardage. Not a huge TD threat, though.
Jennings has sorely missed playing with Aaron Rodgers, of course, as he’s had to fight through the inconsistent Vikings’ QB carousel. He can still be a solid play certain weeks, though, and this matchup against the crap-tastic Redskins secondary is a pretty tasty one.
Garcon is obviously the choice if you’re choosing between the two of them, but it wouldn’t be too surprising to see Jennings find some room to run, either.
As far as the rest of the pass-catchers in this game go, I’d rank them Leonard Hankerson, Cordarrelle Patterson, Jerome Simpson, Santana Moss, Jarius Wright.
Tight Ends
Jordan Reed (Redskins) vs. John Carlson (Vikings)
Reed has emerged as a productive player since supplanting Fred Davis as the Washington starting tight end, as he has 25 catches in the last four games, with a TD. The Vikings were dominated by the Cowboys’ Jason Witten last week, so that’s something to look for, too.
Carlson is filling in for the injured Kyle Rudolph, who was actually starting to come around following a slow start. While you may remember hi as a decent bye week fill-in type from his days with the Seahawks, there’s no real reason to expect him to suddenly become the red zone target that Rudolph is.
Reed is the easy call.
