Thursday Night Football Broncos vs. Saints: Fantasy football breakdown

You can watch Thursday Night Football: Broncos vs. Saints at 8:20pm ET/5:20pm PT on Amazon Prime Video.

You knew it would happen eventually. Thursday Night Football finally returned to its roots, giving us a game as ugly as it was in Week 7. The 3-3 Denver Broncos will face the 2-4 New Orleans Saints. Let’s go to the story of the tape (I think).

Which rookie midfielder will shine brightest?

Well, that title is misleading; I think Bo Nix will have a much better game than Spencer Rattler.

Of course, it’s not fair to compare the two either. After all, the Knicks have started every game for his team this season, while Rattler was thrust into a starting role after Derek Carr went down. Not to mention, the Rattlers will be without both Chris Olave (concussion) and Rashid Shahid (out for the season after undergoing knee surgery) Thursday. As good as Alvin Kamara is, it’s hard to expect a good game from a rookie quarterback making just his second start against a solid defense and a rival coach who is no doubt chomping at the bit to take on his former team.

So let’s focus on the Knicks.

The 12th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft has shown that he is a very rare “better fantasy than reality” QB. He’s coming off his second straight 20-plus point fantasy outing, and he’s doing so thanks to his legs. Nix already has three rushing touchdowns this season, and he rushed for a season-high 61 yards in Week 6. Expect that aspect of his game to continue in Week 7 against the Saints’ pass rush.

Of course, this pass rush hasn’t helped in the face of opposing run games, exactly. Speaking of which…

Will Javonte Williams finally show up?

The Saints lead the league in rushing yards per carry allowed. Sure, that number was inflated after what Shawn Tucker and Bucky Irving did against them, but the Saints have now allowed a comeback to have solid-to-great outings in four straight weeks.

If there’s ever a game where Javonte Williams can deliver a fantasy performance, it’s this one.

Williams was a prime target for Zero-RB in 2024 with an ADP of 94.1. As the presumed initiator to break the offense into a rookie QB, it wasn’t hard to envision the upside for Williams RB2, especially since he’s healthy.

But things didn’t turn out that way. Whether it was giving up work to Jalil McLaughlin or the overall disappointing nature of the Broncos’ offense (they always seem to fall behind, even in games they win), Williams has been disappointing overall. But we just saw the unheralded Tucker destroy the entire Saints defense on the ground and in the air. It’s not hard to believe that Williams – who was an incredible asset in the air, tied for fifth among right-backs in catches this season – couldn’t produce an exact replica of that performance. This may be one of the few game scripts in which Williams could deliver a solid fantasy day, and if he does, he should provide his managers with a (relatively) high selling opportunity to opposing teams in need on the bye week. season.

Starter: Juwan Johnson, TE, Saints (4% rostered)

Let me preface this by saying that you participate in the Saints offense this week at your own risk. This game has screams of Alvin Kamara (and Taysom Hill’s shenanigans, if he’s healthy, but… questionable To play this game).

But we’re talking about a tight end position here – many of us will take what we can get.

Johnson has been very consistent, if not boring, for the Saints over the past two weeks. He has scored 11 goals over his last three games and has three assists in two straight games (five in Week 5). The Broncos have a strong defense led by their secondary, but they will be without All-World cornerback Patrick Surtain II (concussion) for this game. Since Week 2, the Broncos have surrendered more than four catches to the tight end position on four occasions, including a monster day from Brock Powers (8-97-1) in Week 5.

With Rattler still learning the ropes and the Saints starting two receivers, Johnson is a prime streaming option for fantasy football managers desperately looking for something from their TE position.