September 26th, 2015
Saturday
Fantasy Football Rule Number...
When in doubt, Thursday's Out.
No, this is not my rule, but it happens to be one that I am strongly endorsing. It's always a tough start in any fantasy format playing on a short week, so unless you are starting those typical fantasy studs that are locked into your weekly lineup, you are safer staying away from those Thursday night matchups.
First of all, no one wants to go into the weekend with a couple of fantasy duds already locked into your lineup. It's just too much time to languish in the misery of second guessing and wishful thinking.
Where's the evidence? I don't know if there are any hard numbers to support the coined phrase, but just looking at this past Thursday's matchup is enough to convince me.
Even an elite receiver like the Giants Odell Beckham Jr provided little to excite the average fantasy owner. Now he did have a nice night with 7 receptions for 79 yards and a score, but considering where he was drafted and his current salary on the DFS sites, that bar is a little too low.
The Redskins tight end Jordan Reed also turned in a nice effort with 6 catches for 96 yards, but the lack of a score hurts those owners in leagues where touchdowns are heavy (especially the DFS sites). And if you were like me believing the hype around the Redskins rookie running back Matt Jones, his 38 yards rushing with a fumble and zero catches were costly in those lineups you played him in. Wide receiver Pierre Garcon, with DeSean Jackson out was a disappointing 5 catches for 64 yards and no score.
The best plays of the night were the Giants quarterback Eli Manning with 2 touchdown passes, 279 yards passing, and no turnovers, and wide recevier Rueben Randle with 7 receptions, 116 yards receivng, and a score.
When breaking it down, you had a division rivalry, so the teams are very familiar with one another. Playing on a short week it's tough to expect a traveling team to play big. You have an 0-2 Giants team, that could easily be 2-0, playing at home; you have to expect a better effort. It just reads as a risky play to count on much offensive output from the road team.
I think next time, if there's any dobut, Thursday's out.
That's my take.
~David G
September 20th 2015
Sunday
Sunday Rankings
After watching some replays of a few of the week 1 matchups (but I also watched quite a few games on Sunday), I came up with my short list of favorite plays for week 2.
These are a lists of favorite for Sunday, not in any order of ranking, just the fact I like their matchup on Sunday;
Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers (just the best in the game)
Carson Palmer (the former Trojan looks like he's got plenty left)
Drew Brees (a bounce back week for Brees at home)
Andrew Luck
Ben Roethlisberger (Niners D could force Big Ben to sling-it all day)
Sam Bradford
Matt Ryan (might not be a big passing day in yards, but 2-3 scores works)
Tom Brady
Colin Kaepernick (love his matchup agains the woeful Steelers D)
Tony Romo (could be forced to play catch-up today)
Running backs
Carlos Hyde (the kid looked strong in week 1, love his matchup today)
Adrian Peterson (he gets more than 20 touches today)
Doug Martin (should get it going today, 120-130 total yards today)
Bishop Sankey (playing the numbers, favorable matchup today)
Justin Forsett
Mark Ingram (involved in ground attack and pass game)
Darren Sproles (gets enough touches to be a strong flex)
Dion Lewis (even with Blount back, will see a lot of the field)
Marshawn Lynch (Packers D will get a huge load of Beast mode tonite)
Matt Forte (have to love his heavy workload)
Wide Receivers
Jordan Matthews (the number one in Philly)
Antonio Brown (consistency, consistency, consistency)
Keenan Allen
Brandon Coleman (can you say 7 targets in week 1, sleeper)
Odell Beckham Jr
Julio Jones (hard to keep a stud receiver out of the end-zone)
Larry Fitzgerald (a reliable target for Palmer, should find end-zone today)
Jermaine Kearse (busy week 1, could be heavily targeted in week 2)
John Brown (could follow up week 1 score with another trip today)
Pierre Garcon (this is a reach, but I like his matchup and no D-Jax)
Tight ends
Rob Gronkowski
Tyler Eifert (12 targets in week 1)
Vernon Davis
Jordan Reed (when he's healthy, he can play)
Austin Seferian-Jenkins (good matchup versus Saints today)
Heath Miller
Dwayne Allen (will have a good chance to score Monday night)
Jimmy Graham (still a top-10 play every week)
Ladarius Green (No Gates, another productive Sunday)
Martellus Bennett (will see a slew of targets today)
Now names omitted doen't mean poor performances today, only that the above names are my favorites for today.
That's my take for Week 2
~David G
