FantasyFeud Week 2 Values & Top Plays
Welcome to Week 2. While there were no Kevin Olgetree-2012-type performances, Week 1 didn’t disappoint as it once again lived up to its topsy-turvy reputation. Marcus Mariota finished as a top-3 quarterback. James Jones partied like it was 2012. Greg Olsen was outscored by Jim Dray (WHO?!). And Danny Woodhead had more fantasy points than Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore and Lamar Miller…COMBINED. Makes perfect sense, right?
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Note: For an introduction to FantasyFued's scoring system and a lineup building primer, check out the first edition of this column here.
Week 2 Plays
As we enter our second week, the best advice I can give you is to take Week 1 with a grain of salt. There were certainly things to file away in our memory banks, but it’s even more important to make sure we don’t make any grand assumptions based on the smallest of possible sample sizes. Sure, Carlos Hyde looked great in front of a national audience on Monday night, but let’s not anoint him as a top-5 running back just yet. And conversely, Andrew Luck might have looked more like Jimmy Claussen, but his performance was much more the exception than the rule.
I probably should’ve saved my “here’s the best advice I can give you” statement until the end, but let’s see if I can come a close second with my Week 2 plays.
Quarterback
Step 1: Ryan Fitzpatrick ($118,500) @ IND
Admittedly, Fitzpatrick can be a lineup killer. But he’s also one of the cheaper quarterbacks this week and should have game flow working in his favor in a road game against the Colts (which is also the same reason I’m not a huge fan of Chris Ivory this week). The Harvard grad completed 62.5 percent of his passes last week and has some legit weapons in Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker. Fitzpatrick certainly has a four-interception game in him. But I’m also willing to take the chance his four-touchdown game comes out this week at such a low price.
Step 2: Teddy Bridgewater ($123,00) vs. DET
Bridgewater is more of a tourney play due to his expected low-ownership after last week’s lackluster game, but the 22-year-old also has a great matchup against the Lions this week. Detroit allowed Philip Rivers to put up 403 yards on them last week while completing 83.3 percent of his passes, and while Bridgewater is no Rivers, he comes at a relatively cheap price and should have no trouble topping his 8.84 fantasy point performance from last week.
Step 3: Carson Palmer ($143,200) @ CHI
Palmer paid off last week and I’m going back to the well, as he has a golden matchup against a Bears defense that is rated 30th in our matchup ratings. Finally healthy, Palmer put up 307 yards and three touchdowns against the Saints last week and finished as the second-highest scorer at the quarterback position last week. While you’ll likely see many targeting Drew Brees, Tony Romo and even Marcus Mariota this week, you can plug in Palmer and watch money roll in.
Step Away: Tom Brady ($135,300) @ BUF
As those of you who follow me on Twitter know, I’m an unabashed Patriots fan (I know, booo….hiss…). But while I may be a fan, that doesn’t mean a homer. And as such, I’m here to tell you Brady isn’t worth his salary this week. Sure, he may be a man on a mission, but he’s seen a decrease in his stats any time he faces a Rex Ryan defense. While there isn’t a fantasy category for QB rating, Brady’s career QB rating of 96.1 has taken a dip to 88.9 when he’s faced (Sexy?) Rexy. In two games against Ryan’s Jets in 2013, Brady only completed 48 percent of his passes for an average of 216.5 yards, 0.5 touchdowns and 0.5 interceptions. As a fan, I hope I’m wrong here, but I just don’t see any reason to pay for Brady this week.
