D.J. Chark was a favorite target of Gardner Minshew. Does having Nick Foles back as the Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback hurt Chark in fantasy?
All good things must come to an end. Minshew Mania may have run its course in North Florida, as the Mississippi Mustache that is Gardner Minshew will be taking his spot back on the Jacksonville Jaguars sidelines, now that Week 1’s starter Nick Foles will be coming back from a broken clavicle after the Jaguars’ bye week. How does wide receiver D.J. Chark feel about this?
The Fantasy Footballers point out that Chark was a favorite target of Minshew’s for the last eight weeks. They developed quite the rapport during Minshew’s time as the Jaguars starting quarterback, going 4-4 in the process to stay alive in the AFC playoff race. But will Foles be able to give Chark the ball to the degree that Minshew had done?
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Overall, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright of The Fantasy Footballers aren’t overly concerned about Chark not getting as many balls throw in his direction as he had been with Minshew now that Foles is back as the starter. Holloway pointed out that the only touchdown Foles has thrown in Jaguars uniform was to Chark, so there’s that to lean on for evidence.
But if you really think about, one of the things that Foles does very well as a quarterback is distribute the football all over the gridiron. He did that most noticeably as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles the last few seasons. Foles did a better job of this than normal Eagles starter Carson Wentz, who tends to get a little to Zach Ertz-heavy in the Philadelphia passing game.
And it’s not just Foles’ supreme distribution ability that shouldn’t have Chark’s fantasy owners worry about a potential drop in production. The guys think that Chark is having his breakout season out of LSU and is an elite fantasy receiver going forward. For the last nine weeks, he’s been the best receiving option on the Jaguars, and if you have him on your team, you’ve noticed that.
But don’t look to see Chark go off this week with Foles back in the fold because the Jaguars are one of six teams that will be on their annual byes this week. Jacksonville will be making the trek back from London after getting trounced once again by their AFC South nemesis in the Houston Texans. Look for the Foles-to-Chark connection to be in full effect in Week 11.