Once again I find myself sitting down after midnight, after a long day with family and work, to try to make sense of the coming Sunday games, with so many key players either facing questionable tags, or potentially playing at less than 100%: Julio Jones, Kenny Golladay, Jerry Jeudy, John Brown, Sammy Watkins, Braxton Berrios (yes, we actually need to talk about Braxton Berrios), Darren Waller, and others.
Then there's Rob Gronkowski, who acknowledged (2-3 weeks too late for many fantasy managers) that he's a "blocking tight end," meaning he's probably the sixth or seventh offensive option in Tampa Bay. So all of you who picked O.J. Howard in deeper leagues look brilliant, while Mike Evans and Chris Godwin get a boost. That said, Evans and Godwin also get knocked down, thanks to a seemingly improved running game (no more Peyton Barber) and more developed peripheral receiving options (Justin Watson and Scotty Miller), not to mention an obviously declining Tom Brady.
My favorite underrated QB this week has to be Justin Herbert (expert-consensus 25th-ranked Week 3 QB) facing an anemic Panthers D. Herbert could throw for 350/3 in this one; no joke. And Aaron Rodgers (QB-10) makes me nervous in New Orleans with no Davante Adams.
At RB, I have to take Jerick McKinnon at his consensus RB-27 ranking. 70 on the ground and 50 in the air are realistic, especially with Nick Mullens playing things a bit conservatively in a game the Niners should win. And am I the only one a bit cautious about Derrick Henry (RB-3)? Minnesota will snap back after last week's debacle, and Henry isn't much of a threat to catch balls. So you're banking on 100 and a score from Henry, at minimum. I don't think he'll be top-10.
At WR, Tre'Quan Smith is a solid WR3 flyer despite his WR-52 ranking. So is Justin Jefferson (WR-69) in a plus matchup in, as I said, a rebound game for a club that's better than what they showed Week 2. On the flip side, Tyler Boyd pretty much has to score to meet his WR-25 expectations, and I see this being more of a high-usage Joe Mixon context mixed in with an "A.J. Green needs to be fed" game.
At TE, Jordan Reed (TE-18) deserves TE1 consideration, and Noah Fant (TE-14) deserves top-6 consideration. On the flip side, Tyler Higbee has three scores on nine targets. Top-12? Possibly. But his TE-5 ranking makes him a must-start, and I don't think he's a must-start.