Last week I presented the first bargains/busts column of the season. Compared to consensus expert opinion (based on Fantasy Pros' compilation of 100+ experts), I pushed folks to embrace the underrated Philip Rivers (QB-18), Devonta Freeman (RB-20), Gio Bernard (RB-50), Trey Quinn (WR-92), D.J. Chark (WR-82), and Jason Witten (TE-25). Five of these six turned out to be modest-to-significant bargains. Meanwhile, I warned against Deshaun Watson, James Conner, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Vance McDonald (basically, don't start any Pittsburgh players). Three of the four were big-time busts.
As most of you know, there's no way I can keep this up, but will try with this slate of 12 Week 2 surprises:
At QB, Matthew Stafford was my preseason, slam-dunk, #1 fantasy bargain. His QB-24 ADP made zero sense. Fantasy experts still aren't coming around despite his impressive 2019 debut. The veteran QB is sporting a QB-19 ranking in a home matchup against the Chargers. Stafford could easily toss three more scores. He's nowhere close to the back-end QB2 experts believe. On the flip side, I'm putting the breaks on Dak Prescott (QB-6). He obliterated the Giants at home in Week 1, making five receivers fantasy-relevant. Meanwhile, Zeke Elliott handled the ball only 14 times. Tomorrow Zeke will get more run, and Dak will end up outside the top 10.
At RB, game flow will dictate which RBs the Patriots utilize, and for how long. Rex Burkhead (RB-42) is a decent bet to post double-digit touches once again, and this time against perhaps the league's worst defense. Chris Thompson (RB-32) is also undervalued as Washington's most valuable RB (no, I don't think Adrian Peterson will turn heads). Additionally, I'm doubling down on Devonta Freeman (RB-24) in a plus matchup. On the flip side, Chris Carson (RB-12 won't be able to run on Pittsburgh's defense the way most Patriot RBs did last week, and David Johnson (RB-9) is a risky fantasy start in Baltimore.
If I had a need for a fifth WR, I'd pick up Deon Cain. Fantasy experts have clearly forgotten about him. His WR-90 WR ranking suggests he's Indy's back-end #3 wideout. Cain has Week 1 Chark potential. A.J. Brown (WR-55) is also a good start as (arguably) Tennessee's most talented receiver. On the flip side, T.Y. Hilton won't come close to replicating Week 1's bust-out (8/87/2). Tennessee will make life a little harder for Jacoby Brissett. While Cain needs only a 6-60 line to be deep-league relevant, Hilton (WR-16) needs more than he'll likely earn.
Finally, at TE, Austin Hooper (TE-12) is surprisingly underrated. He remains one of my favorite non-Big-Three fantasy tight ends. On the flip side, one of the Big Three members (George Kittle) owns a shocking TE-2 ranking. He was targeted 10 times last week while the next-best receiver earned only three. Jimmy G's Week 2 distribution won't be that lopsided.
As most of you know, there's no way I can keep this up, but will try with this slate of 12 Week 2 surprises:
At QB, Matthew Stafford was my preseason, slam-dunk, #1 fantasy bargain. His QB-24 ADP made zero sense. Fantasy experts still aren't coming around despite his impressive 2019 debut. The veteran QB is sporting a QB-19 ranking in a home matchup against the Chargers. Stafford could easily toss three more scores. He's nowhere close to the back-end QB2 experts believe. On the flip side, I'm putting the breaks on Dak Prescott (QB-6). He obliterated the Giants at home in Week 1, making five receivers fantasy-relevant. Meanwhile, Zeke Elliott handled the ball only 14 times. Tomorrow Zeke will get more run, and Dak will end up outside the top 10.
At RB, game flow will dictate which RBs the Patriots utilize, and for how long. Rex Burkhead (RB-42) is a decent bet to post double-digit touches once again, and this time against perhaps the league's worst defense. Chris Thompson (RB-32) is also undervalued as Washington's most valuable RB (no, I don't think Adrian Peterson will turn heads). Additionally, I'm doubling down on Devonta Freeman (RB-24) in a plus matchup. On the flip side, Chris Carson (RB-12 won't be able to run on Pittsburgh's defense the way most Patriot RBs did last week, and David Johnson (RB-9) is a risky fantasy start in Baltimore.
If I had a need for a fifth WR, I'd pick up Deon Cain. Fantasy experts have clearly forgotten about him. His WR-90 WR ranking suggests he's Indy's back-end #3 wideout. Cain has Week 1 Chark potential. A.J. Brown (WR-55) is also a good start as (arguably) Tennessee's most talented receiver. On the flip side, T.Y. Hilton won't come close to replicating Week 1's bust-out (8/87/2). Tennessee will make life a little harder for Jacoby Brissett. While Cain needs only a 6-60 line to be deep-league relevant, Hilton (WR-16) needs more than he'll likely earn.
Finally, at TE, Austin Hooper (TE-12) is surprisingly underrated. He remains one of my favorite non-Big-Three fantasy tight ends. On the flip side, one of the Big Three members (George Kittle) owns a shocking TE-2 ranking. He was targeted 10 times last week while the next-best receiver earned only three. Jimmy G's Week 2 distribution won't be that lopsided.