Sunday’s 3 Biggest Surprises: Desmond Ridder, Zack Moss, Dallas Goedert
The fifth Sunday of the NFL season produced more entertaining contests, with a number of tight matchups and big-time performances. There were a handful of surprising fantasy outings too.
A couple of my biggest surprises from Sunday’s games were Atlanta Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder, Indianapolis Colts running back Zack Moss and Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert.
Let’s dive into each of their days and determine whether or not those games can be replicated again.
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Desmond Ridder Shows Potential
Ridder has taken plenty of criticism in the early going of the season. Coming into week 5, he’d thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns and not yet reached 250 passing yards in a contest.
Ridder broke out in the Falcons’ tight win over the Houston Texans, throwing for 329 yards. He completed 28-of-37 passes and tossed one touchdown while throwing no interceptions.
Ridder wasn’t sacked for the first time all season. He also rushed for a touchdown to help Atlanta prevail.
It was the most passing yards of Ridder’s young career. He also set new career highs in completions and avoided a sack for the first time.
Any doubts about the younger’s possible potential have been put to bed for at least a little while. Ridder should also get some consideration on the waiver wire this week, especially for the owners who have quarterbacks on a week 6 bye.
The question now becomes whether or not week 5 was a one-game wonder, or an idea of what he can produce every couple games.
Houston had been one of the better defenses against the pass coming into the contest, so Ridder’s performance was at least fairly encouraging. Atlanta will take on the Washington Commanders next. The Commanders’ defense was just shredded by Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears, so that sets up to be another solid week for Ridder.
The Falcons play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans to round out the month. Both of those defenses have been slightly above average in slowing opposing quarterbacks.
You might want to wait another week to see if Ridder can replicate his performance before starting him, but before the end of the month is up, we should all have a better idea of what the young QB can do on a weekly basis.
Zach Moss Dominates as Jonathan Taylor Returns
Jonathan Taylor returned to the field for the Colts in week 5, but Moss stole the show.
It was reported coming into the game that Indy would ease Taylor back into things, and Moss made it a lot easier to follow through on that plan. Moss played 53 offensive snaps to just 10 for Taylor.
Moss finished with 165 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Taylor was held to 18 yards on six attempts.
Moss also caught his two targets for an additional 30 yards, including a 26-yard gain. Taylor had a 16-yard catch on his lone target.
Taylor is simply too talented a player to keep off the field, but the way Moss is playing right now, you can’t take him off the field either. That probably means that Moss will continue to get the majority of snaps and touches at least for the next game or two, allowing Taylor to get back into playing shape.
As for the long-term picture, things become much more muddied. We’ll take a stab at figuring out how things might play out later in the week. But for now, definitely keep Moss on your roster and in your starting lineups.
Dallas Goedert Finally Breaks Out
It’s probably weird to see a name like Goedert in a story about surprising performances from the weekend, but given how he’s played so far this season, week 5 was definitely a surprise.
Goedert broke out his early season funk with an eight-catch performance. He turned his eight grabs into 117 yards and a touchdown. This was the kind of performance that fantasy owners were expecting when they drafted Goedert as one of the top guys at the position this fall.
If you look at Goedert’s game-by-game totals for the season, his production has actually improved each week. Of course, when your starting point is no catches and zero yards, you can’t actually go backward.
The breakout game in week 5 should help ease fantasy owner’s minds when it comes to deciding whether or not to start Goedert. He’s been targeted seven or more times in three of the past four games and has a catch percentage of about 78%, which is fantastic, especially for the tight end position.
Philly does have some tough matchups looming, with games against the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys over the next month. The Jets and Dolphins are among the 10 worst teams in the league when it comes to defending tight ends, so hopefully Goedert get keep gelling with quarterback Jalen Hurts before some tougher matchups with the Cowboys and Commanders.
