So you went through your fantasy football draft. You made a trade or two, picked up a guy off the waiver wire. But then before everything went live ... something didn't feel right. Maybe you had a player who was a game-time decision. Or there was a matchup that wasn't in your favor. Whatever the reason, you decided it was time to make a bold choice. You know what they say ... No Guts, No Glory. So this column is for you. Every week here, we'll salute the outside-the-box thinking that was rewarded with big fantasy production. Fortune favors the bold, so here's to you. We sent out the call early Monday morning, and here's what you came back with. Congratulations to those of you who are looking at a Week 14 win!
If you had followed the news surrounding Green Bay last week, you might have been aware that the Packers coaching staff, more specifically head coach Mike McCarthy, fed the media the idea that he was serious about giving Eddie Lacy another chance at the starting role. Lacy was hungry for another shot after he was left to starve in the doghouse for missing team curfew the week prior. Still, if you had been rolling with Lacy all season, it makes sense that you might have been wary of starting him in a fantasy playoff matchup because of his gross inconsistency throughout the season. But if you had no other choice, and were forced to use the Packers running back against the Cowboys on Sunday, your fantasy appetite was satiated with a hefty 148 yards and a touchdown for 20.8 fantasy points. Green Bay stuffed Lacy with 24 rush attempts in the game -- his highest mark of the season, and he made the most of them. This column is called No Guts No Glory, but when we're talking about Eddie Lacy in Week 14, he definitely had all of the guts he needed to give fantasy owners a glorious outing. [Insert Lacy gut joke here.]
Ted Ginn has been on quite a roll recently, but like all good things his roll must eventually come to an end ... right? Wrong! Ginn posted 120 yards and two more touchdowns against the Falcons on Sunday for 24.5 fantasy points ... on TWO receptions. And while we know Julio Jones had one of his toughest matchups of the year against 2015's best shut down corner, Josh Norman, it still takes a certain amount of guts to bench Julio and slide Ginn into your starting roster. It just doesn't feel right and probably looked weird to both you and your opponent, but when things end up working out like they did on Sunday (Julio had 8.8 points), you look like a genius! That's some glorious stuff right there.
Seahawks rookie wide receiver and return specialist Tyler Lockett is only owned in 9.1 percent of NFL.com fantasy leagues and for most of the season has been more of a lotto ticket than a sure thing in terms of fantasy production. Coming into Week 14 he had scored just three touchdowns on offense all year. However, since Jimmy Graham was lost for the season with a knee injury, Lockett has become a bigger part of Seattle's passing attack (it also helps that Russell Wilson has been going berserk the last few weeks). But in Lockett's last two games, the rookie has hauled in 13 of the 14 balls thrown to him for 194 yards and two touchdowns (both scores were against Baltimore). There's no doubt that his 22.4 standard fantasy points on Sunday helped the fantasy managers bold enough to insert a Seattle wideout not named Doug Baldwin into their starting lineups in a crucial playoff matchup.
Matt Franciscovich is an associate fantasy editor at NFL.com. Hit him up on Twitter **@MattFranchise** for fantasy advice.
