Week 9 Reactions: Jared Goff at No. 1

On April 30, 2016, the Los Angeles Rams made Jared Goff the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft and the Philadelphia Eagles took Carson Wentz at No. 2.

A little more than 18 months later, the Rams (second) and Eagles (first) are the top scoring teams in the NFL.

Let's start with Goff, who was the highest scoring fantasy quarterback in Week 9 after he completed 14 of 22 passes for 311 yards and four touchdowns in the Rams' 51-17 obliteration of the Giants in New Jersey. Goff was the beneficiary of some big yardage plays, some thanks to his arm and others thanks to his receivers' legs:

Goff had an average draft position around 209 in 12-team NFFC drafts before the season, and while he has more games this year with one or zero touchdowns (five) than more than one (three), we are starting to see the foundation of a very good fantasy quarterback. The one difficulty with Goff is that he likes to spread the ball around, so it's tough to choose a receiver or tight end to pair with him. One week it could be Sammy Watkins, the next it could be Cooper Kupp or Tavon Austin or Robert Woods. Any of those feel like reliable fantasy options even if Goff starts to be?

One of the biggest reasons Goff has been so successful is that running back Todd Gurley has been so good, even with Sunday's poor yardage game. Gurley, who has to be the primary focus of opposing defensive schemes, rushed 16 times for only 59 yards Sunday, his third game this season with fewer than 100. However, he still scored two touchdowns and caught two of three targets for 45 receiving yards. Gurley has rushed for more than 100 yards four times this season, racked up more than 95 total yards in three others while scoring at least one touchdown in all but two games. Despite the few rushing yards Sunday, Gurley was the fourth-highest scoring running back for the week, the fifth time this season he's been a top-4 player at his position in PPR formats. The future is as bright as the sun in Los Angeles.

Speaking of promising futures, Philadelphia certainly has one, though the present is just as bright as it now has the second-best odds to win the Super Bowl. Not to be outdone by the Rams, the Eagles also dropped 51 on Sunday in a dominant 28-point victory over the Broncos, who came in with the top defense in the NFL. Wentz didn't need nearly as much yardage to do his damage, completing 15 of 27 passes for 199 yards and four touchdowns, his third four-touchdown game in the last five weeks. He was only the fourth-highest scoring quarterback of the week, though he's also thrown more touchdown passes this season than any QB. Wentz connected with seven receivers Sunday, throwing 11 times to Alshon Jeffery as the former Bears wideout finally looks like the main man in Philly. Jeffery hasn't breached 100 yards yet, but he has three touchdowns on 19 targets in the last two games. The continued absence of Zach Ertz has been great for Jeffery's fantasy upside, though the tight end is expected back after Philadelphia's Week 10 bye.

Wentz wasn't the only Eagle of interest Sunday, as running back Jay Ajayi made his team debut following his trade from the Dolphins for a fourth-round draft pick earlier this week. The team didn't throw Ajayi right into the fire, but he did remind everyone what he can do by rumbling for a 46-yard touchdown as part of his game-high 77 rushing yards on eight carries. However, other than the highlight run, Ajayi was very much an afterthought when it came to Eagles running backs, as rookie Corey Clement rushed 12 times for 51 yards and two touchdowns while adding a 15-yard touchdown reception on his lone target. Clement led the Eagles in rushing yards last week, though saying he has a leg up on the competition is tough given Ajayi's acquisition and the fact that LeGarrette Blount rushed nine times for 37 yards and Wendell Smallwood had five carries for 25 yards Sunday. Giving up a fourth-round pick for Ajayi seems to indicate a lead role is in his future, but with the plethora of options in the backfield available at any moment of struggle, it's really tough to expect any kind of consistency from any single option. Props to leagues that use team running backs.

The rookie running back conversation has been dominated by Leonard Fournette, Kareem Hunt, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook (pre-injury) and Joe Mixon, but it was the Saints' Alvin Kamara who was the highest-scoring PPR running back this week after rushing 10 times for 68 yards and a touchdown while also catching six of seven targets for 84 receiving yards and another score. McCaffrey put in a solid game himself (15 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown plus five catches on six targets for 28 receiving yards), and Mixon found the end zone on 16 touches (13 carries for 31 yards and three catches on four targets for 15 receiving yards) but neither held a candle to Kamara's production. The Saints' backfield was expected to be Mark Ingram's to dominate once Adrian Peterson was traded to the Cardinals, and while his 77 yards on 16 carries isn't awful, it's totally forgettable when Kamara finds the end zone twice. Ingram is still likely to lead the Saints in carries each week, but Kamara's versatility in the passing game will continue to be a huge weapon for the Saints.

All this talk about younger players shouldn't have us overlook that Peterson had another vintage game Sunday against the 49ers. Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin had a great quote earlier this week about Peterson saying, "Feed the beast. It's like an old stove. The more wood you put in it, the hotter it gets. We've just got to make sure we feed him the ball so he can get comfortable." Quotes from coaches don't mean a whole lot, and there are plenty of instances when they don't come to fruition, but Goodwin's certainly did Sunday as Peterson rushed a career-high 37 times for 159 yards in a 20-10 win. Peterson has now rushed for more than 130 yards in two of three games for the Cardinals, and with the passing game not nearly as reliable, the heavy workload should continue.