Fantasy Football 2014: Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin lead the way; Seahawks' defense bounces back

This game was far too close, for far too long. On the road in Carolina the Seahawks managed to squeak out a tight win vs Cam & company. This wasn't a real money maker of a game for anybody in fantasy leagues, and, it was even less desirable for those of us playing in standard formats.

Let's crunch some tiny stats...

[QB]

Russell Wilson - Russell had a serious lack of rhythm in the first half, and the numbers reflected it. The lowlight came when he tossed his third pick of the year, with the ball bouncing off the hands of Marshawn Lynch at the 2-yard line, careening into the hands of the Carolina Panthers. After a slew of miss-snaps, muffed read options, and the usual offensive line penalties, though, Wilson took the Seahawks down the field one last time late in the game.

In a 9-6 game with the Seahawks down by 3, Russell Wilson found Luke Willson on a 23 yard touchdown pass, leaving just 47 seconds on the clock late in the 4th quarter for the Panthers to try and match. That said, a pretty miserable day all around for Russell, outside of his last minute "save-the-owners" touchdown pass, as he ended up going 20/32 for 199 yards passing with 1 touchdown and a interception on the day. Russell did his best to make use of his legs as well, as he rushed for 35 yards on 6 attempts (5.8 YPC). A tough matchup for most, but the Seahawks and Wilson appeared to not be firing on all cylinders for a majority of this game. Nonetheless, Russell Wilson will be a definite QB1 rolling into next weeks head-to-head with the Oakland Raiders.

(35 Rush Yards, 199 Pass Yards, 1 Pass TD, 1 INT = Total Points 16.46)

[RB]

Marshawn Lynch - There was a lot of drama circulating about Marshawn Lynch, but he managed 62 rush yards (4.4 YPC) on low end RB1 carries (14). Dropping a would-be touchdown catch from just outside the endzone, Lynch would not produce much of anything with his targets this afternoon. Beast Mode hauled in just a single catch on 4 total targets for 2 yards, and, left his fantasy owners starved for a touchdown across the board. Thats now three weeks without a score from Lynch, but, next week in Oakland, things should absolutely be looking up. A locked in RB1 going forward, look for a significant bounce back next week vs the Raiders.

(62 Rush Yards, 1 Catch, 2 Rec Yards = Standard 6.4/PPR 7.4 Points)

Robert Turbin - Filling in as the lead full back for Seattle, Turbin did his best to stay fantasy relevant today, rushing twice for ten yards and catching 3 passes for 32 yards on 3 targets to round out his day vs Carolina. There is next to no relevance here with Robert Turbin. Christine Michael is emerging healthy and its just a matter of time before he starts to ascend to the top of the depth chart behind Lynch. Turbin is droppable outside of the worlds deepest leagues.

(10 Rush Yards, 3 Catches, 32 Rec Yards = Standard 4.2/PPR 7.2 Point)

Christine Michael - With all of the Lynch drama, Christine Michael may see a surge in opportunities. He's clearly looking healthier than weeks ago, and he rushed for 12 yards on 4 carries (3.0 YPC).  A dynasty gem, and potential re-dradft playoff hero, Michael has stash value more so than immediate value. If Lynch was ever to take a major injury Michael would immediately become a borderline must start RB1. Until then, we wait.

(12 Rush Yards = Standard/PPR Points 1.2)

[WR]

Doug Baldwin - For those that expected Baldwin to suddenly morph into a WR1, welcome back to planet earth. Pulling down 6 catches for 61 yards on 8 targets, Baldwin certainly played the role of "go-to" option for Wilson today. Albeit not Dez Bryant targets, but 8 targets is definitely in the high end WR2 range from a usage standpoint. Inside of PPR leagues you can squarely plant Doug on the WR3 radar.

(6 Catches, 61 Rec Yards = Standard 6.1/PPR Points 12.1 Points)

Jermaine Kearse - H-h-helo?? This is what you can expect from most every Hawks receiver on a week-to-week basis. On just 2 targets Jermaine hauled in 2 passes for 15 yards sunday afternoon. Wildly unpredictable as it stands for most any receiver outside of Baldwin. You can plan for Kearse to float in that weekly WR4/WR5 range.

(2 Catches, 15 Rec Yards = Standard 1.5/PPR Points 3.5 Points)

Paul Richardson - The Percy Harvin replacement, Paul Richardson also had an extremely quiet afternoon vs Carolina on Sunday. On just 3 total targets, Richardson managed to convert 2 of them into 20 yards. Richardson dynasty value is far superior to his 2014 redraft value, roster accordingly.

(2 Catches, 20 Yards = Standard 2/PPR 4 Points)

Kevin Norwood - We mentioned him last week, but, not much has changed since then. A gifted athlete who is buried on the depth chart of a run first offense. Similar to Richardson, it appears Norwood's dynasty value exceeds his current redraft value. He's droppable in all 10-12 team leagues. His day shaped up to look like: 2 catches, for 13 yards on 2 targets.

(2 Catches, 12 Rec Yards = Standard 1.2/PPR 3.2 Points)

Ricardo Lockette - At most a role player here in Seattle. Lockette cannot be trusted in the fantasy football world whatsoever for production on a week to week basis. He like many of the rest of Seattles receivers saw just 2 targets in which he converted for 2 catches and just 22 yards. I assume almost nobody is playing him outside of hail mary options in fantasy daily leagues.

(2 Catches, 22 Rec Yards = Standard 2.2/PPR 4.2 Points)

[TE]

Luke Willson - It wasn't until the very end of the game, but, for those of you who had the stones to start Luke Willson, he paid you back for your prodigious rocks. Luke unfortunately only reeled in 1 of the 4 targets he saw on the day, but, many would argue it was the most important as it was the Seahawks' game winner. A 23 yard touchdown reception with just 47 seconds left in the 4th quarter would save Luke Willson's biscuits as he finish the day with a 1-23-1 line. He is an inconsistent TE2 and a week to week guessing game.

(1 catch, 23 Yards, 1 TD = Standard 8.3/PPR 9.3 Points).

Cooper Helfet - Being a tight end in Seattle doesn't usually league to fantasy relevance, and that is especially the case when you are the number 2 tight end on the team. Despite seeing 4 targets on the day, Cooper was miles away from cracking any one of your starting lineups. Cooper made just one grab on the day for 11 in what most fantasy football experts would call a "what I expected" sort of outing. There is nothing usable here. Move along, folks.

(1 Catch, 11 Rec Yards = Standard 1.1/PPR 2.1 Points)

[DST]

Seattle Seahawks - As expected, the war with Carolina was a low scoring affair. From a fantasy football perspective this was the 2nd highest scoring outing by the Seattle DST all year long. Allowing only 9 points to Cam Newton and the Panthers at home was a major accomplishment. The Seattle DST scored in 5 separate statistical categories this game which had previously been missing for a while (fumble recovery, interception, 7-13 points allowed, kick return yards, sacks). 2 of the last 3 weeks have yielded 16 or more points per outing from the DST, so perhaps things are starting to click. It doesn't get much juicier than the Raiders at home next week either, prepare to start them with utter confidence.

(9 Points Allowed, 3 Sacks, 1 INT, 1 Fum Rec, 73 Return Yards = Standard/PPR = 16.33 Points)

[K]

Steven Hauschka - A bonus for Steven's FG that was beyond 50 yards (4 points). Accuracy is never an issue, but tonight opportunity was. Going 2 for 2 from field goal range and sinking 1 extra point. He should be a good bet for more opportunities for points next week versus the Oakland Raiders.

(2 FG's, 1 XP = 9 Total Points)

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Editor's Note: FanDuel is hosting a $500,000 one-week fantasy football league this weekend. It's $10 to join and first place wins $40,000. League starts Sunday 1 PM ET and ends on Monday night. Here's the link.