Thursday Night Football Falcons vs. Buccaneers: Fantasy Football Breakdown

You can watch “Thursday Night Football: Falcons vs. Buccaneers” at 8:20 p.m. ET/5:20 p.m. PT on Amazon Prime Video.

The NFL showed no mercy in sending Kirk Cousins ​​into prime time this season – he with the previously ugly career record in prime time – as the Falcons will once again take center stage. This time Atlanta is 2-2 against the 3-1 division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are fresh off a 33-16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Let's get into the biggest fantasy football storylines from this TNF match.

What's wrong with Bijan Robinson?

Now, this question assumes that Bijan Robinson was a complete waste of fantasy and didn't even come close to his preseason top-6 ADP. That's not true – Robinson was fine, scoring double-digit fantasy points in the first three weeks of the season. But here too he had one Top six ADP. He hasn't exceeded 15 fantasy points all season. What is there?

Sure, he's had some tough matchups (vs. Steelers, @Philadelphia, v. Kansas City, v. New Orleans) against teams that overperform on the run. What's scary is that Robinson ceded a lot of work last week to back up Tyler Allgeier, which is the last thing fantasy football managers want to see.

Robinson is also dealing with a hamstring injury, so perhaps that's what's been holding him back. Of course, the Falcons could continue to split the work between him and Allgeier in this game to provide some protection for Robinson. However, it would be up to the Falcons to shore up on the run against a Buccaneers run-funnel defense, which would open up the play-action game. Speaking of which…

Is this the Drake London explosion game we've been waiting for?

Drake London was everyone's favorite breakout candidate this season. All the boxes were checked: 1) he got a new, better quarterback, 2) he got a new, innovative, exciting offense and 3) to quote Matt Harmon, he's “provably good at the game.” It all seemed to be happening right, too good not to happen.

Of course, for four weeks we wonder if we were all wrong.

London was virtually nowhere to be seen in Week 1 (to be fair, the Falcons' entire offense was nowhere to be seen) before bouncing back in Week 2 with a record of 6-54-1. The good times continued in Week 3 as London scored another touchdown. And although he didn't score again in Week 4, he did secure another six catches for the third straight game. Perhaps more importantly, London scored twelve goals in the passing game; He now has 31 goals in four games, which works out to a score of 7.75 per game. His trend is in the right direction.

As mentioned, the Falcons need to rely on the run to set up the play-action-pass game. This will help them target London outside of midfield play – he has completed 124 routes in midfield, according to TruMedia. Fantasy and Rams fans alike will remember how deadly this system was, using Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua on midfield plays. And with the Bucs expected to score their fair share of points, London will be counted on to move the chains and make some explosive plays through the air.

With London seeing positive gains every week this season, be it in receptions, touchdowns and/or targets, it's safe to assume he'll see an increase in big plays in this game.

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Bucky Irving > Rachaad White?

By now everyone knows the Rachaad White problem. He was a great receiving weapon for the Buccaneers, but he was less than efficient on the ground. Meanwhile, rookie Bucky Irving's usage has increased with each game this season. This came to a head in Week 4 when the two backs split carries right down the middle and Irving scored his first touchdown.

The window for a solid return in a trade for Rachaad White has likely closed, but keep an eye on his receiving work in this game. If he's able to step up as a weapon in the passing game – especially with Trey Palmer and Jalen McMillan already ruled out – perhaps that window will open again and fantasy managers can cut the bait and get something in return.

Of course, if Irving's workload increases to the point where it interferes with White's work in the passing game, then that window could be welded shut.

Pick-up and play: Cade Otton, TE, Buccaneers

Drop: Kyle Pitts, TE, Falcons

This is a story of two tight ends going in completely opposite directions.

On the one hand, we have an undisputed tight end who has 17 goals and 13 catches in the last two games. On the other hand, we have a big-name TE who was supposed to break out this season, but instead hit rock bottom in Week 4: three targets, zero catches – and zero fantasy points.

I don't think the entire football community was wrong about Kyle Pitts as a prospect. He's a physical freak who had an outstanding rookie season. But I suspect he has lost track of some of the more technical aspects of football; Even Kirk Cousins ​​himself reportedly helped Pitts at his catch point during the preseason. The Falcons' entire offense has shown some signs of improvement each week, balancing moments of brilliance with others that clearly show a lack of practice reps between the team's new quarterback, receiving weapons and the offensive system as a whole. So maybe there's hope for Pitts (although his coach doesn't seem to pay much attention to any of this).

Of course, fantasy managers trying to win every week can't hope for that, especially with an already poor TE position. Dropping Pitts may be painful, but there are better options on the waiver list this week – like Otton (28% on the roster).

Otton has excelled in the past, but a lack of consistency has held him back throughout his young career. But the 6-foot-2, 25-year-old TE has received regular attention from Baker Mayfield and the Bucs' strong passing game in recent weeks. As mentioned, the team is also dealing with injuries at receiver. So while the Falcons' strong secondary will have its hands full stopping Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, Otton could get a few easy gigs as a security blanket and big target. Not to mention, Otton is also third on the team in red zone targets (3) this season behind Godwin and Evans.

If you're done with Pitts and missed players like Tucker Kraft, Cole Kmet and Zach Ertz off the waiver wire, consider Otton on TNF.