Fantasy Football Week 2
Hopefully, you’re not like me and avoided the baffling frustration of having star players produce sub-par point totals on opening weekend.
Todd Gurley and Devonta Freeman were my starting running backs in a Yahoo! PPR league and combined for 13.20 points (versus a combined projection of 34.36).
Many times in fantasy football a player will, for whatever reason, have the kind of game that’s completely opposite than the one you envisioned them having. The trick is to identify that as as fluke, or, identify which player to replace him with.
Yes, it’s only Week 2, but there’s no time to waste.
Here’s some insight that should help you move in the right direction this week.
Week 2 Fantasy Football Quarterback Streaming: Buying Into Joe Flacco
In case you’re not familiar with the fantasy term ‘streaming,’ it’s when you pick a new player off the waiver wire at a certain position each week, depending on their matchup. For instance, as Austin Kas of numberFire points out here, if you have Andrew Luck as your starting quarterback but he’s facing a tough Denver defense in Week 2, you might consider a temporary replacement for that week.
What about Joe Flacco?
According to Kas, Flacco is on a roster in only 14.8 percent of ESPN leagues. Furthermore, Baltimore is playing at Cleveland this week–a team that just gave up 278 yards and two touchdowns to Carson Wentz, a man who’s never played an NFL game in his life before last week.
Flacco has thrown for an average 216 yards per game in his career against Cleveland (15 games), to go along with 22 touchdowns (19 passing, three rushing). Those aren’t eye-popping numbers on a per-game basis, but as Kas points out, Flacco began this season posting an average of 18.55 fantasy points in every game the Ravens were favored in.
In Sunday’s game, Baltimore is favored by 6.5 points.
Fantasy Football: Can Spencer Ware Win You Your League?
If you have a player on your team that’s usually a backup but started in Week 1, you’re probably sitting pretty right now.
Spencer Ware (Kansas City), DeAngelo Williams (Pittsburgh), and Tevin Coleman (Atlanta) all played significant roles last week. Those three back up elite players, but last week, they were the ones putting on a show. Altogether, Ware, Williams, and Coleman posted 66.7 fantasy points in standard scoring leagues.
Ware’s performance was particularly encouraging, as he has a shot to become the lead back even when Jamaal Charles returns. Joseph Nammour of numberFire makes that point, and says Ware may have overachieved in Week 1.
In all of 2015, Ware caught six passes. Last week alone, he caught seven passes (for 129 yards).
Nammour says that, according to Pro Football Focus Fantasy’s Scott Barrett, since 2007, the ‘RB1’ in Andy Reid’s offense has averaged 19.7 points per game. That’s a huge number. Last week, Ware was tied for 4th among non-quarterbacks with a 25.9-point performance.
Let’s not write off Jamaal Charles, but based on how Ware played in Week 1, Reid will have a very tough decision to make as to how he distributes playing time between the two going forward.
Stay tuned.
Sammy Watkins not a sure thing for Week 2?
Last week against the Ravens, Sammy Watkins led the Bills with four receptions for 43 yards. Not great.
The biggest reason for that was the way Baltimore’s defense swarmed Buffalo’s receivers. Another significant factor in Watkins’ below-average performance was his health.
According to ABC Buffalo’s Joe Buscaglia, Watkins isn’t a sure thing for Thursday night’s game against the Jets. Buffalo will be at home, but will be playing its second game in five days. That’s bad news for Watkins and his ailing foot.
Although Watkins said Monday he’s “definitely playing” on Thursday Night Football, you have to wonder if he actually will. If he does, how effective will he be, between his foot injury and probable matchup against Darrelle Revis?
Reading the Defense: Seahawks swoop into Week 2
For those of you who utilize defensive players in your lineups, NFL.com’s Fantasy Editor Marcas Grant takes a look at which ‘IDPs’ could help you secure a Week 2 win.
First of all, he points to the Jets/Bills matchup and highlights New York’s entire defensive line. Gang green should have their way against the Bills, and every one of those guys up front could be in for a sack and a couple of tackles for loss.
Seattle (at Los Angeles) and Oakland (versus Atlanta) are two teams with the proverbial dream matchup this week. Both Los Angeles and Atlanta didn’t perform well in Week 1. Atlanta was playing from behind most of the game, and Los Angeles was shut out against a 49ers team that, quite honestly, doesn’t seem very good.
Both Seattle and Oakland won extremely close games last week, and after breathing a sigh of relief, can re-focus on playing dominant defense this week.
If you have these defenses, don’t be surprised if their point totals reach the 20’s.
Quarterback: Carson Wentz (5,113, 3rd overall)
Wide Receiver: Victor Cruz (2,225, 10th overall)
Running Back: Buck Allen (4,539, 4th overall)
Tight End: Jesse James (17,318, 1st overall)
Defense/Special Teams: Tennessee (1,616, 16th overall)
