Last week Jay Cutler went down with a concussion after serving up three absolutely brutal interceptions against the Buccaneers. Once he went down, the Matt Moore-Kenny Stills love connection started anew, as Stills finished the game with seven catches for 180 yards and a score on eight targets. With Jay Cutler still not cleared of the concussion protocol, it’s likely Matt Moore under center again this week for the Fish against the Patriots. I told you to stream Kenny Stills last week. Waleed told you to pick Kenny Stills up off the waiver wire this week (well… kinda). But should you roll him out there against the Patriots or look elsewhere?
Stills hasn’t had the most inspiring season so far. Sure, he has more touchdowns than Amari Cooper, Dez Bryant and Doug Baldwin, but his boom-or-bust nature means that he has almost as many complete dud games (three) as touchdown games (four). Even with that overall profile, there are a couple kernels of positivity to be had. First, he has at least eight targets in four of the last five games. In these games, he has 85. 65, 67 and 180 yards, and has three of his five touchdowns. That inclusion in the offense with Smokin’ Jay Cutler could only be amplified with Matt Moore under center. Because when Matt Moore is the QB, Kenny Stills feasts (get it, like Thanksgiving is this week? Huh? Eh, there’s no pleasing you people).
The second encouraging item for Stills on Sunday is his bromance with Matt Moore. In his three seasons with Miami, Stills has six games with Moore, and in those contests, he’s a completely different fantasy football commodity than with any other quarterback. Moore absolutely loves the guy, giving him about 7.5 targets a game (4.5 with all other QBs), and in turn, Stills turns his receiving yards per game from 35 to 79. He also has seven touchdowns in his seven games with Matt Moore, and ten in his 34 games without him. Matt Moore loves to throw it up to Kenny Stills.
This week Stills and Moore get the New England Patriots, who started the season with their defense in complete junk bond status, giving up yards and touchdowns left, right, center, up, down, on the bench, to the grandma in the stands, everywhere. They’ve tidied that up lately, allowing just 12.5 points per game over their last six games after allowing thirty-two dad gum points per game in the first four weeks, so this is a marked improvement. While they’ve cleaned up their defense, most of that has to do with cleaning up their production allowed to running backs. They still allow the ninth-most fantasy points to wide receivers in the last five weeks, so they are still a positive matchup for Stills. Speedy guys have done the damage against them recently, as well, with Emmanuel Sanders and Travis Benjamin both scoring against them in the last three weeks.
Kenny Stills gets a fantasy football reprieve this week from Jay Cutler-induced purgatory. His usage is completely different with Matt Moore, meaning much more opportunity. He’s produced with that opportunity in the past and is set to do that this week. Get him into your flex or WR3 slot. If this was a Bye week, he’d be a #2 wide receiver, but the Byes are over, so WR3 or flex it is. Do not fear the cleaned-up Patriots defense, they still allow enough fantasy points per game to wide receivers that Kenny Stills should still eat. Again, like Thanksgiving, am I right?
