Last week was a good one here inside the Locker Room, finishing as Fantasy Pros’ 5th most accurate expert for Week 2. That didn’t translate into any DFS cash, mind you, but I’ll still take the outcome and try to keep it rolling into Week 3.
Most of you know my strategy isn’t particularly complex… understand matchups, and understand a team’s relative distribution of workload. Knowing that RBA gets 80 percent of his team’s work and he matches up against DEFB that yields the 3rd most FPPG to backs allows you to make a clean, straightforward decision. There’s more nuance than that, but it is a very good place to start. With that in mind, this week’s ranks are introduced with a review of changing fantasy depth charts throughout the league to help you make your start/sit decisions.
- I’ve been lower than most on Joe Mixon throughout the offseason and into the year, but he’s led the trio of backs in Cincinnati by a very small margin in both each of the team’s two games, and with the change in offensive coordinator I’m expecting them to pick a back and ride him. Or at least, to not rotate the three players to the point that there is no tempo to their games. I think you see Mixon, who averaged 4.0 YPC in Week 2, assert himself this week and start to pull away from the others in terms of workload as we head into October.
- Kerwynn Williams wasn’t particularly effective for Arizona, while Chris Johnson gave the run game a bit of a spark. He finished with an 11-9 edge in carries and should grow that margin this week. If you’re desperate for an RB start / add, he’s certainly worth a look. According to The Daily Audible, Johnson is the 24th ranked RB this week and Williams is the 33rd.
- If you’re a Blount owner, you won’t need me to tell you that he didn’t have a single carry last week. I’d expect him to maintain a role of some sort in the offense, but through two weeks it is clear that Darren Sproles is the only viable fantasy back in that offense. He’s hit double digit opportunities (carries+targets) in both games so far, and while that’s nothing to write home about it’s at least consistent opportunity which isn’t always easy to find on offenses these days.
- I’ve been banging the Kendall Wright drum all season, and I was happy to see his double digit target week against the Bucs. I’ve also noted five looks for Deonte Thompson, however, and made a speculative add in a few deeper leagues. With limited options available and zero pedigree associated with Josh Bellamy I’d encourage you to do the same.
- Allen Hurns, a waiver wire gem I advocated for a week ago, got his work this past week and scored a TD. But, I’d note that Marqise Lee had 12 targets and was used consistently throughout the game, while Hurns had just seven and most of that came in the second half while the game was getting away from the Jags. Now, Jacksonville looks like they’re going to let their fair share of games get away from them, but in the early going Lee looks like the best bet for consistent volume.
