Hits and misses! Fantasy football is all about hits and misses, and if you play as often as I do you miss A LOT! “You miss 100% of the shots you never take” Wayne Gretzky once said, well New Orleans Saints to win was supposed to be a layup. The team that “would have” won the Super Bowl last year, at home, against a team that wasn’t great last year and missing their starting QB seemed like a no brainer. Enter Ryan Fitzpatrick! Yes, that guy, the 7th round pick playing for his 7th team came in and had a monster of a fantasy day. 453 total yards and 5 total tds later, the former Ivy League MVP and Harvard grad was the highest QB scorer this week in Fantasy sports. Touche Fitz, touche!
Hits
With my gargantuan miss out-of-the-way, lets talk about how I may have helped you last week. James Conner smashed my expectations, and helped you win this week if you took my advice. He touched the ball 36 times, thirty-six times. You could give me the ball that many times and I’ll be serviceable. Conner, however, was more than serviceable. With 135 on the ground, 57 through the air and 2 tds JC was good for 30+ fantasy points. Excuse me while I bask in my own ambiance. Continue to use up Conner just like the Steelers will till Le’Veon Bell comes back.
Week 2
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s move on to week 2. In week 2 there is no excuses. You’ve seen what your team can do, most of your questions were answered, and you can get an idea of usage and game planning for your roster. That being said the first thing you need to do is assess your holes. Unless you’re in an 8 team league with star-studded rosters, you DO have holes. The waiver is where you fill those holes. If you’re hurting at QB or just want to pick up a solid back up Case Keenum is available in 13.1% of ESPN leagues. 329 yards and 3 tds in his first game with the Broncos, Keenum proved to be head and shoulders above whatever they had under center in 2017. The 3 interceptions come with the new team, new teammates territory, but Case looks to be a solid start most weeks with that receiving core. Running Back is not as deep of a position, and James Conner is still the hottest thing on the market, but lets explore a deeper option. Austin Ekeler only saw 10 touches on offense, but that was enough to score 20+ points in ppr leagues. Owned in only 11.3% of leagues, he is almost certainly available and if the Chargers are going to continue to dump off 3-5 passes to Ekeler, look for him to have a solid 10-12 point average. Also, not to sound like a homer, but Phillip Lindsay is only owned in 2.4% of leagues and earned himself carries as well as the receiving role in the Denver backfield. Finally at TE, the number 1 scorer from week 1 is probably just waiting to be scooped by you. Jared Cook looked to be on Carr’s radar all night. Against one of the top defenses in the NFL, Cook went for 180 yards on 9 catches. Even in standard leagues that is an incredible stat line, and I don’t imagine this connection cooling off anytime soon.
In the Rough
Aside from the waiver picks we just discussed, lets dig a little deeper and find ourselves a diamond in the rough. This weeks diamond is actually an old one. At one point in his career Brandon Marshall was a par monster. Six seasons of 100 catches or more, including three consecutive, prove BMarsh is no stranger to fantasy stardom. With Jimmy Graham and Paul Richardson leaving in the summer and Doug Baldwin’s knee not being 100% there are tons of targets and tds up for grabs. If history shows you anything, it’s that if you put something up for grabs, Brandon Marshall is going to come down with it.
On the other hand…
This week we will take a look at the WR position first, and at the top of my list is Keenan Allen! Really, any pass catcher going against this years Bills team is probably going to put up points, but add in Rivers connection with Allen and you’ll understand why I am on board with him in any lineup! On the other hand I am staying far, far, away from Chris Hogan this week. Really, I was never aboard the hype train, but I do understand someone there has to catch passes. That being said going against arguably the best secondary in the league in the Jaguars isn’t a good start to a bounce back week, avoid where possible. Speaking of a good secondary and really all around good defense, the Vikings get to go up against an already hobbled Aaron Rodgers this week. Sure he looked magnificent in his second half comeback on Sunday night, but Minnesota’s defense is a step up from the newly improved Bears. Don’t be afraid to leave them in your lineup against Aaron and the boys. On the other hand the Saints defense made a complete fool out of me last week. Sure Fitzpatrick, Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson are no slouches, but after a performance like that I can’t justify starting them against a Browns offense that seemed to start clicking in the second half last week. A heavier dose of Jarvis Landry and Josh Gordon should really put New Orleans to the test. They may come away with the win, but not after giving up a good chunk of points, steer clear.
I’m a Survivor
Well after last weeks debacle the title for this paragraph is actually a bad one. I’m already having to buy back in to my survivor league, due to the aforementioned Saints. Don’t worry, shake it off, now we know who is who based on our week 1 knee jerk reactions. All that taken into account, the most sure thing I can see about the NFL this year is that the Buffalo Bills are going to be really, REALLY, bad this year. Nothing about their defense shows me they can stop Melvin Gordon, Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen or Philip Rivers. So that puts the pressure on their offense to outscore them. Sure Josh Allen will be starting instead of the interception machine Nathan Peterman, but with that tissue paper o-line, I don’t see them keeping pace. Excuse my mishap last week, and take this info to the bank!
Remember you can keep me posted on your season or ask any questions on Twitter, @NoseBleedsChale! Good luck, and enjoy My Deepest Fantasy!
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