Fantasy Football: Week 1 Round Up & Week 2 4×4

Wow, what a week. It was a story of the haves and the have nots in Week 1. If you had certain players, then you likely won easily. However, if you were like me and had no one play well, there is always Week 2.

Week 1 Highlight Performances

• Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens – Completely lit up the lowly Dolphins in Week 1. Jackson threw for 4 first half TDs and eventually finished with 325 yards passing and 5 TDs with minimal rushing. Now, slow the roll, the Dolphins are atrocious, but Jackson was able to hit WRs deep all game long. He has that Top 5 upside you were hoping for if you drafted him.
• Austin Ekeler, RB, Chargers – Melvin, who? The Chargers used the smaller Ekeler a lot on Sunday, and he delivered with 18 touches, 154 yards and 3 TDs!! Incredible. Now, that is not a ton of yards for the 3 TDs, but they didn’t shy away from Ekeler anywhere on the field.
• Derrick Henry, RB, Titans – Henry was supposedly not 100% healthy, but he looked like the end of last year when he ran for 100 yards in several games. The Browns’ defense had no answer for Henry who got 20 touches for 159 yards, including a 75 yard screen pass for his 2nd TD on the game.
• Sammy Watkins, WR, Chiefs – Now, the Chiefs did suffer a bad injury in Tyreek Hill who will miss several weeks. Even before the injury, Watkins lit up the Jags secondary with count them 3 TDs!! He caught 9 of 11 targets for 198 yards. With Hill out, Watkins becomes the WR1 in KC.
• John Ross, WR, Bengals – Really hasn’t done a thing since he broke the 40 yard dash record in the Combine 2 years ago. Ross flashed his speed over and over against against the Seattle D. Ross finished with 7 catch 158 yards on 12 targets adding 2 TDs to give the Bengals a shot at the win. In AJ Green’s absense, the new coach, Zac Taylor, may be more into that Ross speed than Tyler Boyd’s intermediate route game.
• TJ Hockenson, TE, Lions – Hockenson delivered like no other rookie TE has done in a Week 1. Hockenson converted 9 targets into 6 catches and 131 yards and a TD. He runs very good routes and can run after the catch.
• Josh Jacobs, RB, Raiders – Jacobs was the bell cow for the Raiders with 24 touches and 2 TDs. Game script worked in his favor, but it is clear Chucky likes Jacobs a lot.

Hopefully, you started one or more of these guys somewhere. These were the top performances, but there were several no name guys at WR who went off in Week 1. Beware of the one hit wonder nature of those guys.

Week 2: 4×4 – Waiver Wire, Trade Targets, Sneaky Starts and Possible Mainstream Guys to Sit

Waiver Wire Targets – 60% Owned or Less

• Ronald Jones, WR, Bucs (46% Owned) – Jones looked better than Peyton Barber making the most of his 14 touches for 93 total yards. Coach Arians may look to get Jones more touches going forward.
• Malcolm Brown, WR, Rams (14% Owned) – This may be a Week 1 anamoly, but Brown, not Gurley got the goal line touches converting 2 TDs (Gurley didn’t get one). Brown is worth speculating on, and should be on Gurley owners’ roster. Brown got 11 carries to Gurley’s 15 total touches. In that offense, they may be going to a committee.
• Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, WR, Ravens (29% Owned) – The OU Sooner rookie was super dynamic against MIA. He is electric with the ball in his hands, and if Lamar Jackson can continue to hit him, he will be a WR3 with high WR2 upside. His statline was 5 targets, 4 catches, 147 yards and 2 TDs. Not a high volume WR, but a young DeSean Jackson (who is 72% owned), for sure.
• Jamison Crowder, WR, Jets (48% Owned) – Crowder is much better in a PPR format than Standard, but he got 17 targets in the Jets offense catching 14 for 99 yards. He is a must own in PPR.

Now, there are a ton of players that should be owned that are above the 60% threshold – WR Tyrell Williams (78%) needs to be owned in all leagues, WR Michael Gallup (68%),

Trade Targets – Guys to Buy Low On after Week 1

• Jared Goff, QB, Rams – Yes, he was bad, but he did not play in the pre-season, so this was a dust off game. The Rams offense will produce points, and so will Goff. See if you can get a deal on this cheap QB.
• Kerryon Johnson, RB, Lions – Johnson was drafted as an RB2, but in Week 1 he got 18 touches to CJ Anderson’s 11. Johnson has more talent, and not sure why the Lions went away from him down the stretch. His value cannot be lower which makes him a Buy player.
• Mike Evans, WR, Bucs – The entire Bucs’ offense was bad. Evans was almost invisible, which is why he is in this list. The entire Bucs’ team got a flu bug, which may have limite performance. Evans almost had a garbage time TD pass, but somehow the refs didn’t call a Pass Interference and even the review let the play stand to end the game. When in doubt, Winston will go to Evans (more than his 5 targets).
• James Washington, WR, Steelers – I’m telling you, he is going to be the WR2 in Pittsburgh. Donte Moncreif dropped 2 balls including a TD. Washington made a big play and can run quality routes. The Steelers will be better, and Washington is a buy low (even Waiver Wire target at 79%).

Sneaky Starter Plays – Not likely guys, but match up guys

• Tyrell Williams, WR, Raiders – The Raiders called Tyrell early and often in Week 1, 6 receptions on 7 targets for 105 yards and 1 TD. The Chiefs gave up big play after big play to DJ Chark in Jacksonville. I like Williams to continue to roll, and he is still going to be sneaky. Plus, the Raiders will need to throw to keep up with KC.
• Ito Smith, RB, Falcons – Smith looked much better than Freeman, in my opinion. Plus, the Falcons will need to keep up with the Eagles in a game that is slated for 51 points. He is a great daily play, and a good flex starter if you are grasping for straws.
• Jared Goff, QB, Rams – I know he sucked in Week 1 (on one of my teams, too), but that was his first game action this year. I like this game to be a shoot out with the highest total in Week 2 (54). Most people will shy away from Goff, but grab him in your daily lineups as a contrarian play and stick with him this week in your season long leagues.
• DK Metcalf, WR, Seahawks – Metcalf led the team in targets in Week 1, which bodes well for the season and in dynasty leagues. The Steelers’ secondary was shredded by the Pats. So, look for Metcalf to keep things rolling. The total is 46.5, but I think that is low for this game. Neither defense was impressive in Week 1.

Last week was a mixed bag. The SF/TB game was weird – low scoring then an explosion of mostly defensive scores. The game went just under the total, but Winston was atrocious. Every other game produced big, save the Steelers who did not show up.

Sit If You Can Guys – Typical starters that are facing a tough match up.

• Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers – That’s right 2 weeks in a row that Rodgers will not produce like a Top 10 guy. He only threw for 203 yards against the Bears. Yes, he will be at home, but he faces another great defense in the Vikings who looked incredible against the Falcons.
• Marlon Mack, RB, Colts – I do like the Colts in this game, but Mack eviscerated the Chargers in Week 1. I love the O line in Indy, but the Titans were impressive at Cleveland. I would temper expectations here, and even consider sitting him if I had better options.
• Mark Ingram, RB, Ravens – Ingram was great in the blow out versus Miami. I didn’t like how good the Cardinals were against the run against Detroit holding them to 3.2 Yards Per Carry. Ingram had a huge Week 1, don’t expect the same in Week 2.
• DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Texans – Yeah, I know, you aren’t sitting this guy. However, Hopkins will draw Jalen Ramsey in coverage, so he will not produce at his normal clip. You won’t bench him per the listing, but don’t expect Week 1 results here.

There you have it – Week 2 is already upon us. Hopefully, you got some wins last week. If not (like me), then hit the wire or make some trades to change that tune.

Wegs