- Miami Dolphins playmakers don’t disappoint: Raheem Mostert put up 150 yards of offense while both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle scored touchdowns, but that wasn’t enough for Miami to earn an upset victory.
- Cole Beasley disrupts Buffalo Bills receiving room: Beasley came out of retirement, leading to less snaps for Isaiah McKenzie and Nyheim Hines.
- Backups find the end zone: The first four touchdowns of the game went to backup Bills tight end Quintin Morris — his first career touchdown — and three backup runningbacks, much to the frustration of fantasy managers.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2022.
Miami Dolphins @ Buffalo Bills
- Jaylen Waddle: 3 receptions, 114 yards, 1 touchdown
- Raheem Mostert: 17 carries, 136 yards, 1 reception, 20 receiving yards
Cole Beasley‘s return: Beasley came out of retirement to join the Bills practice squad earlier in the week.
- He was added off the practice squad earlier Saturday to be the Bills' fifth wide receiver.
- John Brown had been coming off the practice squad to take this role in recent weeks, but he wasn't called up to the active roster this week.
- Buffalo largely used a three-man rotation for their slot receiver, and Isaiah McKenzie led the group after taking 11-of-12 snaps in the two-minute drill to end the first half.
- Nyheim Hines had been taking some snaps in the slot over the last months in two running back sets, but that didn’t happen Saturday night. This restricted his offensive snaps, but he did score a touchdown.
- McKenzie can be dropped in most fantasy leagues because his playing time will probably only decrease from here.
- It’s also possible Jamison Crowder returns from his October ankle injury within the next week or two, which would further decrease McKenzie’s upside.
Bills running back rotation: The Bills used Devin Singletary and James Cook interchangeably for the third-straight week.
- Singletary played all nine snaps over the Bills' first two drives, which seemed like a step in the wrong direction for Cook.
- Buffalo mostly rotated by drive after this point.
- Cook was the more effective runner. He gained eight yards on his first carry while Singletary totaled six yards from his first six carries.
- Cook finished with more than twice as many yards per carry than Singletary at 6.8 to 3.2.
- Singletary caught more passes, but Cook scored a touchdown on one of his receptions.
- Buffalo plays the Chicago Bears next week in a game where Cook should be able to see double-digit carries. He is a fine waiver wire target for someone who is desperate for a running back.
- The Bears have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to running backs this season.
- The Bills' Week 17 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals is less favorable both in terms of quality and defense and expected game script.
The Dolphins without Jeff Wilson: He suffered a hip injury last week that caused him to miss this game.
- He didn’t practice on Tuesday or Wednesday but seemed to have some hope after a limited practice on Thursday, which led to him earning the questionable injury tag.
- Wilson had been the Dolphins' primary running back in Weeks 10 and 12 prior to the injury, but Raheem Mostert took over as the lead back in Week 13.
- Mostert put together a great game with Salvon Ahmed serving as the backup.
- Ahmed rotated in a little bit more than backup running backs last week, but that is understandable considering the weather and Mostert's big plays.
- Mostert played well enough that we can be pretty confident he will keep the starting job for at least one more week.
- Wilson can be released from fantasy rosters. It wouldn’t make sense to start him next week given his injury, and even if he is the starter in Week 17, it’s against a New England Patriots defense that has been dominant at stopping running backs.
Miami’s tight end situation gets worse for fantasy managers: The Dolphins don’t have a top-25 fantasy tight end, and it’s becoming less likely they will end the season with one.
- Miami tight ends caught six passes in the previous five games and added just two receptions in this game.
- The Dolphins are starting to use more personnel groupings without a tight end on the field.
- Miami first started using 20 personnel for a few snaps a game in Week 10, and that trend continued tonight.
- The Dolphins used 10 personnel for a season-high four times Saturday night. They had used it just seven times total this season prior to Saturday night. This meant less playing time for both Durham Smythe and Mike Gesicki.
- Gesicki is a free agent after this season and will likely have a larger receiving role with a new team next year.
- It wouldn’t be surprising if the Dolphins don’t have a fantasy-relevant tight end in 2023 based on Miami's recent adjustments.
Table Notes
• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.