The barrage of trade news on Tuesday made for a fun start to Week 7. The activity was especially surprising considering the NFL moved the trade deadline back a week this year to encourage more movement. Apparently, Las Vegas and Cleveland weren't interested in waiting around any longer.
New Orleans was the other potential landing spot for Davante Adams, and they could've used him. They're trending toward being without Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed for this Thursday night matchup against Denver. Derek Carr is also expected to miss another game, which means it'll be Spencer Rattler chucking it to Bub Means and Mason Tipton. Fun!
Denver's offense is also bereft of talent, so we'll be digging deep for this week's NFL PrizePicks plays for Thursday Night Football.
NFL PrizePicks: Broncos vs. Saints on Thursday Night Football
Courtland Sutton
More Than 45.5 Receiving Yards
Denver has had a limited passing attack, but Courtland Sutton has been the clear focal point. He leads the team with a 23.2% target share and has 21 more targets than the next-closest player (Javonte Williams). Sutton has run a route on 80.1% of Denver's dropbacks, and no teammate is above 60%.
New Orleans has been torched through the air, allowing the fifth-most passing yards per game. They rank top five in targets, receptions, and yardage allowed to wide receivers per game. Tampa Bay is the only team to allow more receptions to receivers lined up out wide. Sutton has run 85.1% of his routes from out wide.
The Broncos might not go to the air often, but when they do, it'll often be Sutton on the receiving end.
Spencer Rattler
Less Than 20.5 Rushing Yards
This number seems to be inflated by Rattler running for 27 yards in his debut. The matchup and the game script both contributed to that total. Tampa Bay has allowed the fifth-most rushing yards to quarterbacks, and they also hung 51 points on the Saints. Rattler dropped back 48 times, which is unlikely to happen against Denver. The Broncos have also held opposing quarterbacks to just 17.8 rushing yards per game.
Rattler wasn’t much of a runner in college, particularly at the end of his lengthy career. He totaled 150 rushing yards across two seasons at South Carolina (25 games). In three preseason appearances, Rattler ran for 26 yards on seven carries.
New Orleans and Denver are both bottom 12 in plays per game. This matchup has a total of just 37 points. It should be a slow, ugly affair. Rattler might see half as many dropbacks as he did last week, which should limit his rushing upside.
Javonte Williams
More Than 11 Fantasy Score
This backfield was a mess to start the season, but Javonte Williams has slowly taken over as the preferred option. From Weeks 1-3, Williams had a 55% snap share, a 33.3% rushing share, and a 9.7% target share. From Weeks 4-6, those marks have improved to 62.9%, 45.5%, and 16.5%, respectively.
Tyler Badie's absence has certainly been a boost for Williams. Badie seemed to be taking over the backfield after leading the team in rushing in Week 3, but he got hurt early in Week 4 and is on IR. Audric Estime returned in Week 6 after an IR stint of his own, but only played two snaps. Williams hit a season-high 67% snap share in Week 6.
New Orleans was torched by both Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker last week. They've allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per game to running backs. Williams' involvement as both a rusher and a receiver give him multiple outs, as he'll stay heavily involved regardless of game script.
