Good News, Bad News: Alvin Kamara, Tony Pollard, Ja’Marr Chase, Marquise Brown

Kamara had his best game of the season last week, but he’s losing red-zone carries to Taysom Hill.

It’s been a couple weeks since a Good News, Bad News report came out but the segment is back as we get ready for the start of Week 6 of the NFL season.

You know the drill: We’re examining the positives to glean from some key fantasy contributors’ recent performances while also acknowledging the underlying threats that exist. Let’s dive right in:

Alvin Kamara, Saints
Kamara finally lived up to his draft price Sunday after a rocky first four weeks. The Saints running back missed a pair of games due to a rib injury and scored fewer than eight PPR points in the two games he did play. Up against a porous Seahawks defense in Week 5, New Orleans fed Kamara to the tune of 29 touches for 194 total yards.

Alvin Kamara is coming off his best game of the season :: Brett Davis/USA Today Sports

It was Kamara’s best rushing (103 yards on 23 carries) and receiving (91 yards on six catches) game of the season. He was also in on a season-high 73% of snaps, another good sign for a player who’s been banged up early on. Kamara does not carry an injury designation heading into Week 6 against the Bengals.

That’s the good news, and compared to Kamara’s first four games it’s fair to call it great news. The bad news is twofold, however: 1) Kamara has a Taysom Hill problem; and 2) he fumbled again against Seattle. To the first point, Hill, who’s played one more game than Kamara, leads the team in rushing yards (228) and rushing scores (five). Four of his 21 carries have come inside the red zone and he’s scored on all of them. Kamara has not scored yet this season despite seeing six opportunities inside the 20. He also has eight total fumbles in his six-year career and two (both lost) have come in three games this season.

The rest of the season for Kamara will look like something between his Weeks 1 and 3 performances and his dominant Week 5 outing. Positive touchdown regression should come, but Hill will continue to be a goal-line threat for the Saints, which caps Kamara’s ceiling.

Tony Pollard, Cowboys
Pollard looked explosive on a 57-yard rushing touchdown last week against the Rams, the Cowboys’ longest play from scrimmage this season. He also ranks eighth in the NFL among qualified rushers at 5.6 yards per carry. It’s no matter—Dallas is still force-feeding Ezekiel Elliott.

Elliott has nearly twice as many carries as Pollard this season despite averaging fewer than four yards per rush. Pollard has at least been more involved in the passing game than Elliott, but not by much. Pollard gained 69 yards on six catches in the first two games of the season and has two yards on one reception over the last three. And against L.A., Pollard did not see a single target for the first time this season.

It’ll be another week of Cooper Rush at quarterback for Dallas as Dak Prescott continues to work his way back from a thumb injury. The Cowboys have preferred the ground game as opposed to asking Rush to air the ball out, but 10 carries doesn’t seem like a lot to ask for the more productive back, especially in a run-dominant scheme. Pollard has only hit that threshold once this year and he cracked 100 yards in that game, something Elliott has yet to come close to no matter how often he carries the ball.

Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals
Chase saw his highest level of involvement since Week 1 last week in a loss to the Ravens. The second-year pro caught seven of 12 targets for 50 yards, his second-lowest output of the season. Compared with his All-Pro rookie year, it’s been a bumpy ride for Chase and the 2-3 Bengals so far.

Joe Burrow found Chase deep often last season and that connection has not been there this year. Chase’s longest catch of the year is 36 yards and his touchdown production is down as well. It’s difficult to rely on chunk plays week-to-week, which is one reason why double-digit targets last week matters so much for Chase getting back on track.

Cincinnati travels to New Orleans this week and might be without Tee Higgins, whose production has mirrored Chase’s on much less volume. If Higgins (ankle) can’t go, which seems likely after he missed two practices this week, Chase could be in for a big day down in the Big Easy.

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Marquise Brown, Cardinals
Brown reuniting with his college quarterback Kyler Murray has done wonders for both of them this season. Brown ranks second in targets, fourth in catches and sixth in receiving yards. He’s been the top target that Arizona brought him in to be, and fantasy managers who believed in him have been rewarded with an unquestioned top-12 receiver.

That very well might change soon with the pending return of DeAndre Hopkins. It’s not like him being inserted back into the lineup will catch anyone off guard as that’s been one of the biggest story lines of the season for the Cardinals. But it will likely siphon off some targets from Brown, who’s been more consistent this season as a volume receiver rather than a deep-ball threat.

Brown managers have one more week of him sans Hopkins and there should be fireworks against Seattle. Hopkins has chemistry with Murray as well, though, and he’ll demand targets as he works his way back into the fold. Week 6 may be the best version of Brown we see this year.

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