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| Tuesday, September 15, 2020 |
| One of the hardest things to do as a Fantasy analyst or player is to keep things in perspective in Week 1, and that may be more true than ever this season. We waited so long to see anything from these players that there is a natural tendency to look at what happened in Week 1 and assume, "This is the new normal." |
| And it very well may be! But for every Week 1 breakout who turned into a star, there are probably three who fell flat on their faces the next time out. We're going to try to keep things in perspective today as we take a look ahead at Week 2 and beyond. Today's newsletter will feature Jamey Eisenberg's top waiver targets for Week 2, answers to some of the biggest questions coming out of the opening week, plus a rundown of what you might have missed in Monday Night Football and during all of Week 1's games. |
| But first, a quick rundown of all of the Week 1 injuries we'll need to keep an eye on this week. Check out the Fantasy Football Today In 5 podcast on Apple or Spotify for more a brief breakdown of what these injuries might mean: |
| Michael Thomas — high-ankle sprain George Kittle — knee sprain James Conner — ankle Phillip Lindsay — foot Le'Veon Bell — hamstring DeVante Parker — hamstring Justin Jackson — quad |
| Here's what today's newsletter has in store to make sure you have everything you need coming out of Week 1: |
➕Top Week 2 Waiver Wire Targets 📈Week 2 Rankings Preview📉 🔍Monday Night Football and Week 1 Recap
Believe It or Not: Add Shenault, start Taylor, and bench Allen? |
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| ➕Top Week 2 Waiver Wire Targets |
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| There is going to be a frenzy on the waiver wire ahead of Week 2, and you need to know how to best allocate your resources. Jamey Eisenberg's Waiver Wire column is up and ready for you to get all the help you need. Here are the top targets for this first waiver run of the regular season: |
| Jamey Eisenberg's top targets |
| Benny Snell (23%) — Conner's injury may not end up being too serious, but given his history, Snell needs to be rostered in a lot more spots. If Conner can't stay healthy — or if he struggles — Snell is going to get a ton of work in a great situation. Nyheim Hines (31%) — Hopefully, the Colts willingness to use Hines near the goal line even when Marlon Mack was healthy was a sign of things to come. Playing next to Phillip Rivers will keep Hines Fantasy relevant all season even while Jonathan Taylor figures to be the top option, but if Hines can be a Danny Woodhead/James White-esque red zone threat, he could be an RB2 right along with Taylor. Malcolm Brown (40%) — Brown might be the best of this trio if you need a Week 2 starter, given that he seems to have a passing-down and goal-line role for a good offense. He may eventually cede the job to Cam Akers, but for Week 2, he looks like a No. 2 back. |
| One* target for each position |
| *Or, in the case of running back, one more |
| QB: Gardner Minshew (50%) — If you need a start for Week 2, I'd rather go with Jimmy Garoppolo. But long term, Minshew has the easiest path to a top-12 finish of any widely available passer. He'll contribute with his legs a bit every week, which helps, but it's an improved receiving corps thanks to the addition of Laviska Shenault (a good waiver target in his own right) and led by Jay Gruden that really could make him stand out. RB: James Robinson (69%) — Robinson is rostered in a few more leagues than we typically feature for Waiver Wire, but he's still out there in nearly one-third of leagues. He's a starting running back with almost no competition, and he should be in the RB2 discussion moving forward. WR: Russell Gage (5%) — There's no shortage of options here — Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard and Anthony Miller all come to mind — but Gage's combination of an incredible Week 1 showing and super-low roster rate makes him the most impactful name I can drop here. TE: Dallas Goedert (46%) — I don't buy that Goedert is all of a sudden the best tight end in Philadelphia, but I can buy that he's better than most tight ends in most other cities right now. I'm not sure how you'd consider sitting him in Week 2, which pretty obviously makes him a must-add guy wherever he's available. |
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| 📈Week 2 Rankings Preview📉 |
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| Every week I like to put together a little survey for the Fantasy Football Today crew to answer about the upcoming waiver run and their rankings for the upcoming scoring period. Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, Heath Cummings and Adam Aizer's responses are up on CBSSports.com, and here's my perspective on those big questions: |
| 1. Who is your top waiver-wire target for Week 2? |
| It's Snell for Jamey, but it's Malcolm Brown for me. If Snell starts in Week 2, he'll deserve to be ranked ahead of Brown, but Brown has a more direct path to a significant role moving forward. Sure, maybe Cam Akers or Darrell Henderson are ready for a larger role at some point, but Brown looked good enough in Week 1 that the Rams don't need to rush anything. He looks like a No. 2 Fantasy RB given his passing downs and goal-line role. |
| 2. Who is your top non-RB target? |
| It has to be Dallas Goedert, a top 10 tight end last season who outclassed Zach Ertz in every way in Week 1. That doesn't mean he's the Eagles top option just yet, but it does mean he needs to be viewed as a must-start tight end moving forward. Considering there are maybe six of those, that makes Goedert a real priority. |
| 3. Which player helped himself most long term in Week 1? |
| DeAndre Hopkins. There was a lot of skepticism about how much work he would see playing for a new team with a new quarterback, but Kyler Murray seemingly only had eyes for him. He might be back in that top-three group at WR after one week. Honorable mention to Aaron Rodgers, who showed a willingness to throw down the field that has been missing oftentimes lately. If he can trust Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, he could be in for a huge season. |
| 4. Which player hurt himself most long term in Week 1? |
| Evan Engram. Because tight end is so shallow, you're still starting Engram in Week 2 in all likelihood, but this was a rough showing from Engram. He got his hands on several balls but wasn't able to bring them in, and there's going to be even more competition for targets with Golden Tate likely back in Week 2. There's so much potential here, but he sure didn't show it Monday night. |
| 5. Who are three players you are starting in Week 2 who weren't drafted as starters? |
| Excluding injuries, I'll go with: Russell Gage, James Robinson and Goedert. You might want to see more of Gage, but he had a solid camp and saw as many targets and ran nearly as many routes as Calvin Ridley and Julio Jones, and the Falcons may have to throw the ball 50 times again to keep up with the Cowboys. Robinson (Jacksonville's starting running back) and Goedert speak for themselves. |
| 6. Who are three players who are on notice for dropping if they don't perform in Week 2? |
| Mecole Hardman, Chris Herndon, Matt Breida/Jordan Howard. |
| 7. Who is your top streaming QB, TE, and DST? |
| Jimmy Garoppolo, Logan Thomas and the Rams. |
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| 🔍Monday Night Football and Week 1 Recap |
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| Didn't want to stay up for Monday Night Football last night? Miss a few key plays Sunday while binging on Red Zone? Whatever your excuse, we've gone through every game on the schedule to identify one winner, one loser, one stat to know, and one detail you may have missed if you weren't able to watch. Here's what you need to know from the Monday night double-header: |
| Steelers at Giants |
| Injury: James Conner left with an ankle injury in the first half, and though he stayed on the sidelines with his helmet on, he did not return to the game. This will obviously be a key one to watch for any details this week. Winner: Benny Snell. We'll see what happens with Conner's ankle, but if he is set to miss even one game, Snell should be the top waiver target for Week 2. Snell looked great in filling in for Conner, rushing for 113 yards on 19 carries and looking like the more explosive back we heard about camp. He was only targeted once, but that was also apparently an area of marked improvement in camp as well. Snell should be a three-down back for the Steelers if Conner misses time, and he looked good enough that it's not impossible to imagine him pushing Conner for work even if he is healthy. Loser: Evan Engram. The expectation is that this is going to be an offense that spreads the ball around, and that was the case, with each of Engram, Saquon Barkley, Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard getting at least six targets. Unfortunately, Engram just had a miserable showing, getting his hands on several balls but only catching two for 9 yards, plus he negated a 24-yard gain with an offensive pass interference. I'm certainly not giving up on Engram yet, but with Golden Tate likely returning in Week 2, this was a wasted opportunity. One stat to know: The Steelers had a stingy defense in 2019, but the 29 rushing yards the Giants managed Monday were fewer than any game last season. The Giants line won't face many (any?) defenses this good again, but this was an ugly start for those of us hoping Saquon Barkley's job would get a little easier. One thing you may have missed: The overall line for Diontae Johnson was pretty solid, but he had a rough first half. He did most of his work in the second half en route to his 6-57 line, and he was Ben Roethlisberger's favorite target by far. I didn't want to start him in Week 1, but the chemistry he showed with Roethlisberger in the second half positions him as a WR3 candidate. |
| Titans at Broncos |
| Injury: Phillip Lindsay left with a foot injury in the second quarter and did not return from the locker room. Royce Freeman saw a few snaps, but it was the Melvin Gordon show in the second half. He'll be a workhorse and must-start back if Lindsay misses any time, while Freeman would be worth adding only in deeper leagues — especially with so many other enticing running backs worth your time on waivers this week. Winner: Courtland Sutton. I know, he didn't play, but he was a game-time decision, so he shouldn't be gone long, and things went pretty well for him in his absence. Primarily because Jerry Jeudy didn't look like he was ready to challenge Sutton for the No. 1 receiver role. Most accounts out of training camp made it sound like that was the case, but this put it in front of our eyes. Jeudy wasn't bad, and there were definitely flashes of his prodigious talent, but he also left several plays on the field. Sutton is going to be a must-start Fantasy WR and the top option here when healthy. Loser: A.J. Brown. I want to be clear — I am not worried about Brown. But if you had to pick out a loser from this game, Brown is the clear choice. Brown matched Corey Davis for the team lead in targets with eight (an 18.6% target share), but Davis was the star in this one as Brown finished with five catches for 36 yards compared to Davis' seven for 101. Again, not worried. But the hope was Brown would dominate targets in this offense, so a rare high-volume game not turning into a huge performance is a big disappointment. One stat to know: Derrick Henry played 76% of the Titans snaps in this one, matching his high from a game in 2019. It took until Week 4 for him to reach that mark last season, and he didn't get to 75% again until Week 11. Jeremy McNichols played just 16% of the Titans snaps and had just one target, compared to three for Henry, so the dream of Henry playing more in passing downs seemed to come true for at least one week. One thing you may have missed: Brown had a chance to salvage his game late when he easily beat the coverage on a fade to the corner, but misjudged a slightly overthrown ball that would've won the game — they won it on a field goal on the next play, no worries. Coming off a rookie season where absolutely everything that could have gone right did, Brown was just off on a few plays, and Ryan Tannehill was way off on a few more. Hopefully all of that regression we expected was coming for Brown got out of the way in one game. |
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