Misconceptions Week 5: What is Allen Hurns?

I apologize to my legions of loyal fans for the lateness of this article. Building renovations and internet accessibility don't go well together. So we'll just get right into it for this week.

Theory 1: Allen Hurns is due to fall back to Earth

Hurns is one of the more confusing wideouts honestly. He's played four games this year. In those four performances he was: outstanding (week 1), irrelevant (week 2), bailed out by a TD (week 3), and consistent (week 4). I've heard everything about him from fluke to fantasy stud and I have to say I swing more closely to the latter personally...for right now. He's the best option on a Jacksonville team currently being ravaged by injuries in their receiving core, and is aided by the fact that Jacksonville often times finds itself chugging the ball downfield as they're losing big basically the second they take the field.

The question than really becomes is Hurns still going to figure in as a top target when Cecil Shorts, Marqise Lee, and Mercedes Lewis. I have to say probably not. The Jags aren't much of a team but they do have skill and talent on the outside, and I think the coaching staff will opt to call short passing plays and spread the ball around to hide their rookie quarterback a bit.

Conclusion: Hurns will end up moving down from a WR 1/2 guy to a flex guy. He's proven that he can play and that in itself will give him value especially if Bortles becomes comfortable with him. For this week he's a clear play and look for a big performance for him against a bleeding Steelers secondary, but don't necessarily assume that'll be the norm.

Theory 2: Tom Brady is fantasy unplayable

A few weeks ago I played a hunch and told you that a struggling Eli Manning was going to bounce back. The crux of my argument was really a gut feel that Manning was too much of a pro to continue stinking up the field, and he responded by throwing up 45+ points depending on league scoring in two weeks, and is re-establishing himself as a solid spot starter option.

Now we have the old pro Tom Brady. Are the two situations the same?

If I took out Brady and Manning and put in generic league average quarterback which one of those surrounding casts would make their guy look better.

The group with Victor Cruz, Larry Donnell, and the semblance of a running game? Or an entourage highlighted by a few receivers that we keep getting tricked into thinking are good and a completely makeshift offensive line.

The Giants obviously.

So do I think Tom Brady is going to have the same bounce back like Eli and regain a bit of fantasy value?

Conclusion: Nope. He'll have a few big games here and there just because he's Tom Brady but there's just not enough around him. It's a shame how undermanned that Pats offense is really. Can't trust Wonderboy on a week to week basis. There are better spot starter guys out there.

And there it is. Look for a more extensive article next week.

Happy tinkering!