I’m going to give you the same advice I did to DeMarco Murray owners: you have to be patient for now.
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David Johnson – Deeper leagues, especially PPR ones, stash now. On Sunday, he had five rushes for 43 yards and a touchdown. Now I think the market has overcorrected on Marshall, dropping him to the ninth round, about 87th overall, in NFL.com’s ADP. The problem he has is Alfred Morris, who is still the starter for the Redskins.
In Week 1, Morris out-carried Jones 25-6. The Redskins are going to use the running game to control the clock as long as DeSean Jackson is out and Kirk Cousins in the QB.
Week 2 saw a big name quarterback go down, a surprising repeat performance by a Browns receiver and more struggles for top draft picks.
Maybe it’s because I’m an old man in a fantasy football landscape that’s skewing much younger, but this owner is a sucker for veterans. LeGarrette Blount, back from suspension, only got two carries in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills. All Moncrief has done is catch 13 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns, and help keep Andrew Luck from completely imploding. Johnson took the opening Week 2 kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown, then added a traditional running back score late in the contest.
Travis Benjamin has two solid weeks under his belt and he plays against the Raiders this week. In just the first two games, Benjamin has recorded 164 punt return yards and a touchdown.
– Detroit’s Eric Ebron (20 percent owned in ESPN) has two touchdowns in two games.
Everyone, including Bruce Arians, anointed Chris Johnson as the go-to-guy this weekend. He should not be viewed as anything higher than a WR4/WR5 straddler at this time, though, so just keep expectations in check. Murray has 109 rushing yards and 48 receiving (10 catches) with a touchdown, so people aren’t fawning over him. 3 TDs equals 18 fantasy points, and that is a pretty good day for any RB. Starks is the guy who Lacy owners can turn to and he should give you very serviceable numbers in Lacy’s stead. With perhaps the most talented group of skill players he’s ever enjoyed, Dalton is worth a look as, at least in the short term, a fill-in. Starks shouldn’t be expected to replicate Lacy’s production, but has proven plenty capable of handling the load in the past.
T.J. Yeldon (Jacksonville Jaguars), Melvin Gordon (San Diego Chargers) and Tevin Coleman (Atlanta Falcons) also are off to promising starts. Kneejerk trades rarely pay off unless you’re targeting an underperformer, and another week might make clear whether to ride it out or start dealing.
For each of the main fantasy football positions-quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end-I’ve listed some of the biggest studs, some of the biggest duds, and the biggest sleepers. And in most leagues, holding onto a handcuff is a losing strategy.
But as Week 3 approaches, there are still some questions in the FLEX and Defense (D/ST) rankings, with several intriguing matchups coming our way and no players truly standing head and shoulders above the rest. He might be a big play-only receiver, but that’s paid off so far. In Week 1, he had just two catches for 23 yards (on four targets), so you may want to wait at least one more game to see if this week’s success was just a fluke. Add in the yards and he finished with somewhere around 30 fantasy points, depending on your scoring set-up.
I’ve been blown away by the number of folks asking if DeAngelo Williams holds significant value moving forward in fantasy football.
Analysis: As mentioned above, Matt Jones opened eyes with his performance against the Rams. I thought about Travis Benjamin. He has established himself as one of the league’s premier deep threats, and Bortles go-to guy when he needs to move the sticks.
Take Larry Fitzgerald for instance. Bortles is a great scrambler and will surprise those who gamble on him in Week 3. You have about a month to prey on players other teams have given up on too early.
Brady gets to pick apart the Jags, while Roethlisberger has a tougher matchup against St. Louis’s on-again off-again D. Manning draws a Lions secondary that’s allowed 539 passing yards and a 108.1 opposing passer rating. Woodhead pounded in a one-yard touchdown at the goal-line and also scored on a nine-yard draw play.
Normally I try to do anything I can to avoid endorsing Cook, but even I have to take notice of his five catches in each of the first two games of this season. His previous career high was 99 yards back in 2011 with the Philadelphia Eagles. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they were also able to force 3 INTs and a lost fumble. At the end of the season the Cowboys’ defense has a shot at being a top ten defense and a top ten scoring defense in fantasy football.
So, what do we know after two weeks of NFL football?
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If you’re one of those unfortunate owners, we at Today’s Pigskin have a couple signal-callers worth considering. CJ2K out-touched him, but only had a few more yards.
