Written By: Cory Stace | @corystace
Member of Ball State Sports Link
Last week was the first time we got to see every player out on the field giving a full 100%. Carols Hyde came out of week 1 appearing to be the best running back in fantasy football. Although fantasy owners shouldn’t expect that every week, he definitely put on a big enough show to get fans buzzing.
Adrian Peterson, in the same game, was the biggest disappointment in week 1 finishing with only 5.2 fantasy points and 13 total touches. Once again, I’m not over reacting to either performance. The playing field will level out as the season goes on no matter how much fantasy owners try to put stock into one good week.
With the hype of week 2 growing dimmer than what we saw in week 1 it will be interesting to see how every player follows up their performance. Here is my week 2 Start ‘Em and Sit ‘Em.
Quarterbacks:
Start ‘Em: Drew Brees- Relying mostly on matchup, which in some cases is the best way to go when choosing a fantasy quarterback from week-to-week. The Saints are at home, in the Dome, vs the Bucs this Sunday. The Bucs are a team that gave up a career opening day for Marcus Mariota where he threw from 209 yards, 4 touchdowns, and added 6 yards rushing.
The Bucs defense couldn’t stop the Titans offense in Tampa Bay last week without giving up 42 points. The Titans offense is far from the best in the league, which in turn means that the Bucs defense could in fact be the worse in the league.
Drew Brees threw for 355 yards last week with 1 touchdown against Arizona. Look for both of those numbers to climb against a very poor defense traveling on the road to New Orleans.
Ryan Tannehill- Cam Newton wasn’t able to make the most of his matchup last week against Jacksonville, but Newton also has the worst wide receiver corps in the NFL. The Jaguars are not an elite passing defense, and expect Tannehill to test out more of his weapons this week for a big game.
Matt Ryan- Julio Jones was terrific as always last week vs Philly. Ryan threw 2 interceptions last week, but so did Tony Romo against the Giants who Ryan is facing this week. Romo still came away with 22.1 points last week with the 2 interceptions against a poor Giants secondary. Expect Ryan to take advantage just like Romo did.
Sit’em: Russell Wilson- I have never looked at Wilson as a top 5 quarterback in the NFL or even in fantasy circles on a week-to-week basis. Wilson faces the Packers this week in Lambeau. Although its not November yet where the Lambeau effect begins to become relevant.
The Packers have seem to have Wilson’s number the past few years always playing good games defensively and keeping his fantasy points to a minimum. With the Packers retooling their secondary again through the offseason, they may cause troubles for Wilson and the Seahawks on Sunday Night.
The Packers will have to deal with Russell WIlson’s new favorite target in Jimmy Graham, but if they can keep Graham in check, Lambeau should be rocking at the end of the night.
Peyton Manning- Yes, I said it… Peyton Manning is on my sit ’em this week. He comes in after a short week, which benefits defenses. Also, Peyton hasn’t faired well with the recent rushing defenses he has faced late in his career. When you get pressure on him, he has crumbled. Kansas City can definitely provide pressure with lead sack man Justin Houston leading the charge.
Cam Newton- Newton’s sit ’em tag really has nothing to do with his ability or the lack of ability of the defense. It’s the wide receivers on Carolina’s roster that shy Newton away from fantasy football productivity. Ted Ginn Jr. was the #1 wide out last week… I think you get the picture.
Running backs:
Start ‘Em: Mark Ingram- As I said above for a quarterback start ’em, Tampa Bay may have the worst defense in the NFL this season. Bishop Sankey looked like an RB1 last week going up against them with 2 touchdowns and over 80 total yards.
The Saints brought in offensive lineman this offseason trying to become a running football team. Mark Ingram shoulders the workload, and you can expect him to get plenty of touches both in the rushing and passing attack.
Expect the Saints offense as a whole to possibly trump the Tennessee Titans output from last week with over 42 points in this week’s constant in New Orleans.
Ameer Abdullah- Although this may seem like a stretch with Ameer Abdullah only have one good week to show for it in his NFL career. Last week showed the playmaking ability for Abdullah, and this week he goes up against Minnesota who gave up 30.2 points to Carols Hyde last week.
The Johnson’s from Arizona- Chris Johnson and David Johnson find themselves in a unique role after the injury to Andre Ellington this past week. The Bears run defense is far from stout, and the Cardinals backfield as a whole could take advantage with Ellington out and facing a weak run defense.
Sit ‘Em: DeAngelo Williams- With Le’veon Bell still serving his last game of his two game suspension, Williams will get the nod at starter this week for the Steelers. Williams showed some promise last week with having big holes to run through and making the most of his opportunity.
This week is a different story, and even though everyone wrote off the San Francisco defense this offseason after their losses, they held AP to a disappointing performance to say the least last week. The 49ers defense has something to prove it seems this season with everyone against them
DeAngelo Williams isn’t a premier runner, and with the San Francisco defense revved up as a unit, expect the Steelers to pass more to try to create offense on Sunday.
Latavius Murray- The Raiders got behind early last week vs Cincy which forced Murray to produce in the passing offense as well. Although he produced well for the touches he had. Baltimore’s defense held C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman in check with a great front 7, expect the same against the Raiders.
T.J. Yeldon- The rookie suited up although there were questions going in, and he produced well with the touches he had with 12 carries and 51 yards on the ground. Miami defense didn’t perform their best vs. Washington last week, but expect that to change this week against a rookie rusher and a strong defensive front.
Wide Receivers:
Start ‘Em: John Brown- I talked about how much I like Brown in my Fantasy Football Team-by-Team Preview as possibly being the lead receiver for Arizona overall this season. Michael Floyd only had 9 offensive snaps coming back from dislocated fingers.
Michael Floyd doesn’t look to get too many more offensive snaps this week as Arizona will try to ease him back into the offense. We know that Carson Palmer likes to throw the deep ball and John Brown is the man when it comes to that department.
The Bears secondary is one of the worst in the league and it has been for quite some time. John Brown seems like a sure fire to at least get past the defense with his blazing speed on at least one snap this week, and it’s just a matter if he catches the ball, which he has done so far in his career.
Jordan Matthews- Matthews had a really good opening day, but a lot of fans overlook the day at just one play which resulted in a tipped pass from Matthews that was ultimately intercepted by the Falcons to sure up the win on Monday Night. Matthews had 102 yard on 10 catches and goes up against a weak Cowboys secondary again this week.
Terrance Williams- I am not someone who is jumping all in on Terrance Williams because Dez is out. Although it can’t hurt Williams’ stock. Williams faces the Philly defense that allowed Julio Jones to run circles around them. Williams is no Julio Jones or Dez Bryant, but he can be a solid play this week.
Sit ‘Em: Brandon Marshall- When you are looking for sit ’ems, often times with regards to receivers you have to look no further than the defensive back that they will be going up against in that particular week.
Well, Brandon Marshall is going to be going up against Vontae Davis, who is a VERY underrated cornerback in the NFL. Davis held Sammy Watkins to 0 catches on only 3 targets on Sunday vs. Buffalo.
Marshall had 60+ yards with a touchdown last week, but this week, Vontae Davis will follow him all over the field. Expect less targets and less catches with Davis shadowing Marshall all night.
Kendall Wright- A breakout star in week 1 gets my sit ’em tag for week 2 again because of matchups. Joe Haden is a corner that follow opposing wide receivers across the field, and Kendall Wright seems to be the biggest threat the Browns will face at the receiver position this week.
Stevie Johnson- I won’t say that the week 1 performance was a fluke, but Cincy won’t let Stevie Johnson’s 14.2 points happen again this week. Keenan Allen is the top target still for Phillip Rivers. The Bengals have faired well in passing defense over the last few years and expect Stevie Johnson to be held in check this week.
Tight Ends:
Start ‘Em: Austin Seferian-Jenkins- It’s just one week of production to go off of, but it looks like Jamies Winston likes to throw to his new tight end weapon. Seferian-Jenkins hauled in 5 catches for 110 yards and 2 touchdown.
It’s not just the production in week 1, but also, the Bucs go up against the Saints in one that the Bucs could find themselves passing early and often after falling behind once again. Darren Fells for the Cardinals had himself a day with 82 yards and a touchdown last week against the Saints.
Seferian-Jenkins has to like his own chances of getting open this week, and with Mike Evans looking like he could still be out this week, that only increases the chances of Winston’s targets going to the young tight end.
Jimmy Graham- He didn’t have the huge bang like a Rob Gronkowski last week, but Graham put up a solid 51 yards with 1 touchdown against a Rams defense that was great with guarding tight ends last year. Plus, big players come up big on big stages. Sunday Night Football is a platform that Graham will build off of.
Sit ‘Em: Darren Fells- With a breakout performance last week vs. New Orleans, fantasy owners almost get the feeling that is was a fluke. Probably because most fantasy owners had never heard of Darren Fells coming into the week.
The Cardinals face a poor Bears secondary, but it seems like breakout fluke situation for Fells. Richard Rogers for the Packers also only had 27 yards last week vs. Chicago.
Jordan Cameron- Surprisingly enough, the Jags actually face opposing tight ends well. Greg Olsen was held to only 1 catch for 11 yards last week vs. Jacksonville. With Cameron looking like a TE1 in week 1, don’t be fooled and stay away this week.
Kickers:
Start ‘Em: Zach Hocker- With kickers it’s simple, look at the matchups if you are going from week-to-week and see which game looks like it could be high scoring. With New Orleans playing in the Dome against a poor Bucs defense, I expect Hocker to get a lot of opportunities, and he went 4-for-4 in last week’s contest.
Sit ‘Em: Dan Carpenter- The Buffalo Bills offense will be held more in check this week against a familiar foe in the New England Patriots. The Pats have had success in Buffalo in recent years. Expect the Bills offense to have limited snaps in scoring position resulting in a down week for Carpenter.
Defenses:
Start ‘Em: Ravens- The Ravens defense finished with 14 points against the Denver Broncos high powered offense. Last week the Raiders didn’t show any signs of a high powered offense resulting in an 11 point outing for the Bengals defense in week 1. Expect the Ravens to cause problems for Derek Carr and company.
Sit ‘Em: Titans- The Titans defense put up 14 points last week in a fluke outing vs. a poor Bucs team overall. The Titans don’t face much better of an offense this week with the Browns, but as a fantasy owner, you learn not to rely on two fluke performances in a row with a Titans defense that is far from elite.
