QBs
1.Cam Newton
2.Drew Brees
3.Eli Manning
4.Derek Carr
5.Aaron Rodgers
6.Carson Palmer
7.Matthew Stafford
8.Blake Bortles
9.Ben Roethlisberger
10.Andrew Luck
11.Russell Wilson
12.Kirk Cousins
13.Jameis Winston
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14.Marcus Mariota
15.Philip Rivers
16.Matt Ryan
17.Joe Flacco
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18.Jay Cutler
19.Alex Smith
20.Dak Prescott
For the first week of the season, I was high on Carson Palmer (ESPN #11, ME #7) and down on Philip Rivers (ESPN #14, ME #18). I said Carson would throw for over 300 yards and have at least 2 TDs. While he did throw a pair of touchdown passes to Larry Fitzgerald, he missed the 300 mark by 29 yards. Still, he finished as a strong fantasy QB play, albeit in a loss to the Pats. As for Rivers, he managed 243 yards & 1 TD at Arrowhead and finished right where I ranked him (18th). Let's see who I like (and don't like) versus the ESPN experts this week, shall we?
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I'm high on: Derek Carr (ESPN #10, ME #4)
Carr looked good against the Saints in Week 1, but that's no big feat. Looking good against the Falcons isn't exactly tough either. Just ask Jameis Winston (and every other NFC South QB for that matter). I like Carr so much this week, I ranked him ahead of Aaron Rodgers. I think he'll throw for 300 yards and 3 TDs and easily be a top-5 fantasy QB versus Atlanta.
 I'm high on: Jay Cutler (ESPN #27, ME #18)
I'm giving you a bonus QB this week because I just feel the need to talk about Cutler too. If you have read my stuff before, you know I'm typically way down on Jay, as I don't care for him and just think he's a pretty mediocre QB in general. That being said, I think he could have a good game against the Eagles on Monday night. Philly is expected to be without their #1 corner, and I'm not convinced they suddenly got better in that area from 2015 to 2016 anyway. I just think they got to play the Browns in Week 1. Philly's pass defense was bottom-5 in nearly every category last year, and I think Cutler will do well against them under the lights.
I'm down on: Andy Dalton (ESPN #15, ME NOT RANKED)
I'm pretty high on the Steelers defense (more on that later), so obviously I'm not too high on Dalton in Pittsburgh this week. The most passing yards the Red Rifle has had in the Steel City is 278 (and he had no passing TDs in that game in 2012). If you look at the last 3 games the Bengals have played in Pittsburgh that Dalton has played, he averages 235 passing yards and has a TOTAL of 5 TDs & 4 INTs. His average QBR in those three games is 42.9. And while I realize you likely don't have fantasy points associated with QBR, this is just to highlight that he hasn't been very good on the road against the Steelers.
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RBs |
1.David Johnson
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2.C.J. Anderson
3.DeAngelo Williams
4.Lamar Miller
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5.Adrian Peterson
6.Ezekiel Elliott
7.Spencer Ware
8.Mark Ingram
9.Todd Gurley
10.Latavius Murray
11.Matt Forte
12.Rashad Jennings
13.LeSean McCoy
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14.DeMarco Murray
15.Eddie Lacy
16.Doug Martin
17.Carlos Hyde
18.Ryan Mathews
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19.Jonathan Stewart
20.Jeremy Langford
21.Danny Woodhead
22.Arian Foster
23.TJ Yeldon
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24.Devonta Freeman
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25.Ameer Abdullah
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26.LeGarrette Blount
27.Melvin Gordon
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28.Jeremy Hill
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29.Isaiah Crowell
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30.Frank Gore
31.Justin Forsett
32.Tevin Coleman
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33.Thomas Rawls
34.Matt Jones
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35.Theo Riddick
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36.Giovani Bernard
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37.Duke Johnson
38.James White
39.Terrance West
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40.Christine Michael
41.Shane Vereen
42.Charles Sims
43.Derrick Henry
44.Alfred Morris
45.Bilal Powell
I was high on LeGarrette Blount (ESPN #40, ME #28) against the Cardinals, and I said he was a safe play as a FLEX. Turns out I was exactly right, as he finished with double-digit fantasy points and was a top-25 RB. As for DeAngelo Williams (ESPN #4, ME #12), I was dead wrong there. He ran all over my Redskins and finished as the AFC Player of the Week and the #1 fantasy RB as well. He helped my fantasy team keep it respectable in a losing effort, and hopefully he'll keep it rolling and help me get a W this week.
I'm high on: Rashad Jennings (ESPN #18, ME #12)
Latavius Murray didn't have a huge game against the Saints in Week 1, but as a team the Raiders had the most rushing yards in the NFL. Assuming Jennings gets 20+ touches against New Orleans this week, I think he's in line for 100+ total yards and a score. That would likely put him in RB1 territory.
I'm down on: Devonta Freeman (ESPN #17, ME #24)
In Week 1 against the Bucs, Freeman and Coleman had a near-even snap and touch count. If you drafted Devonta, you have to be a little worried. Call it an overreaction, but I'm not sure it is. We'd been hearing rumblings of a RBBC/even timeshare all during camp, and it sure was to start the season. Will we see a change in Oakland on Sunday? I don't think so. Both RBs could have value this year, but that could be a borderline RB2 for both, not a #17 ranking for either (at least not for me this week).
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WRs
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1.Antonio Brown
2.Odell Beckham, Jr.
3.AJ Green
4.Julio Jones
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5.DeAndre Hopkins
6.Alshon Jeffery
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7.Allen Robinson
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8.Amari Cooper
9.Brandin Cooks
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10.Brandon Marshall
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11.Jordy Nelson
12.Doug Baldwin
13.Kelvin Benjamin
14.Mike Evans
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15.Dez Bryant
16.Jordan Matthews
17.Larry Fitzgerald
18.Jeremy Maclin
19.DeMaryius Thomas
20.Marvin Jones Jr.
21.Randall Cobb
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22.Eric Decker
23.Jarvis Landry
24.Willie Snead
25.Michael Crabtree
26.Golden Tate
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27.Allen Hurns
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28.Donte Moncrief
29.Julian Edelman
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30.Michael Floyd
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31.Sammy Watkins
34.TY Hilton
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36.Tajae Sharpe
37.Travis Benjamin
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38.Sterling Shepard
39.Will Fuller
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40.Corey Coleman
41.John Brown
42.Mohamed Sanu
43.Mike Wallace
44.Tavon Austin
45.Kevin White
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I was high on Willie Snead (ESPN #38, ME #27) in the opening weekend, saying Brees would put up a ton of points in this game. He sure did, and there were nearly 70 combined points between the Saints and Raiders. Snead got in on plenty of the action and finished with 172 yards and a score, good enough for a top-5 finish at the position. As for Jordy Nelson, I was down on him (ESPN #8, ME #30) because I was worried about him being limited coming off the torn ACL. Turns out, ESPN ranking him as a top-10 option proved to be way off. If it weren't for Rodgers scrambling around in the pocket and threading the needle to hit Jordy in the endzone, he would've had a horrible fantasy day. As it was, Nelson had 32 receiving yards and that TD, which landed him right around where I had him ranked (32nd).
 I'm high on: Allen Hurns (ESPN #38, ME #27)
I'm still high on Willie Snead versus the experts, but I'd rather give you someone different for Week 2 while the ESPN guys catch up. The funny thing is, Hurns is ranked right where ESPN had Snead last week (38th), and I like him right where I ranked Snead last week (27th). I'm starting to see a pattern. Allen Hurns was only targeted 5 times in Week 1, but he caught 4 of those balls and actually led the Jags in receiving yards against the Packers. If you paid attention to Hurns last year, then you know he didn't need a ton of targets to get fantasy points. He was efficient when it came to his targets. I think he may only catch 4 or 5 balls against the Chargers, but he'll turn that into 60 yards and a TD.
I'm down on: Sammy Watkins (ESPN #17, ME #31)
I'm not liking the news on Watkins and his foot injury, and I also think Revis is going to play pissed off after getting torched by AJ Green last week. Already with a questionable tag on him for tomorrow night, I'm not as sure about Sammy as the ESPN experts seem to be.
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TEs
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1.Jordan Reed
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2.Greg Olsen
3.Delanie Walker
4.Travis Kelce
5.Antonio Gates
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6.Julius Thomas
7.Gary Barnidge
8.Eric Ebron
9.Jason Witten
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10.Dwayne Allen
11.Martellus Bennett
12.Coby Fleener
Last week I was high on Dwayne Allen (ESPN #15, ME #10), who I said would likely end up with 60 yards and a TD. I was off by 7 yards, and Allen was the #2 fantasy TE for the week (after his teammate Jack Doyle...um, who?!?). As for Martellus Bennett (ESPN #11, ME not ranked), a lot of that ranking was with the thought that Gronk would play. So to be fair, I probably would've moved him up into my top-10 knowing Gronk was out. But either way, Bennett was not a factor on Sunday night as he finished with only 3 catches for 14 yards. This week I'm leaving Gronk out of my TE rankings again, but if he suits up then he's obviously a top-3 play and you start him. I'll rank Bennett as though Gronk is out again though.
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 I'm high on: Antonio Gates (ESPN #8, ME #5)
Everyone is jumping back on the Gary Barnidge bandwagon now that RGIII is out and Josh McCown is in. I'm not saying I'm not because I still have him in my top-10, but I'd rather talk about old man Gates this week. It's very surprising to me that he wasn't targeted much against Kansas City, but maybe they just took the option away. With Keenan Allen lost for the year, I have to think the game plan this week against Jacksonville will involve 10 targets or so for Gates. That has me ranking him as a top-5 play.
I'm not really down on any tight ends versus the ESPN experts, but I gave you a bonus QB above. What do you want from me?!?
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DEF
1.Panthers
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2.Seahawks
3.Patriots
4.Broncos
5.Texans
6.Jets
7.Cardinals
8.Ravens
9.Packers
10.Steelers
11.Eagles
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12.Bills
I'll say I was 1 for 2 with my defenses last week, as I was high on the Arizona Cardinals (ESPN #8, ME #2) and down on the Green Bay Packers (ESPN #5, ME #11). Arizona didn't play as well as I thought they would against Garoppolo and company, and they finished as a middle of the road fantasy defense. As for Green Bay, they were just slightly worse than the Cardinals and finished well outside of the top-12 fantasy defenses (nowhere near #5, as was ESPN's consensus ranking of them).
 I'm high on: Pittsburgh Steelers (ESPN #18, ME #10)
The Steelers haven't given up more than 23 points to the Bengals since 2006, so I'm not too concerned about Andy Dalton lighting up the scoreboard in Week 2. If you look at more recent history (last season), Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati in 2 out of the 3 games they played them (including the Wild Card playoff game). In those games the Bengals averaged 17 points per game, and the Steelers had 3 sacks in each of them. The Bengals also averaged 3 turnovers in each of those 3 matchups. I think the Steelers are a top-12 fantasy D in their home opener against their division rival.
I'm down on: Kansas City Chiefs (ESPN #9, ME NOT RANKED)
The Chiefs gave up 21 points to the Chargers...in the first half alone! Granted, they had a much better 2nd half and ended up winning the game in overtime, but they still were a bottom-10 fantasy defense against a weak San Diego squad (who lost Keenan Allen midway through the game too!). I think this Kansas City defensive unit just might not be the same without linebacker Justin Houston, and Tamba Hali was also on a snap count as he's returning from a knee scope. I just don't quite trust this squad yet, and definitely not on the road. I'd probably leave them on my bench until after their Week 5 BYE.
Good luck to everyone in Week 2!
(Except you, Brandon...)
Cheers,
Bart
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Remember last week when I mentioned the uncertainty in these first couple of weeks of
the fantasy season? Well not only did guys like Adrian Peterson and Dez Bryant not perform (just to name a couple of big name examples), but there were several key injuries that had a serious impact on Week 1 and beyond. The biggest loss was Keenan Allen, who was everyone's favorite to have a bounce back monster season (especially in PPR). He went down with a season ending ACL injury. The foot issue has resurfaced for Sammy Watkins, so his status is a bit cloudy for tomorrow night (maybe more?). The same goes for Chris Ivory, who ended up in the hospital for an undisclosed reason and is now highly questionable in the short term until we know more. Oh, and Gronk didn't even make the flight to Arizona and missed the Sunday night game. Where did that come from?!? 
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