Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
Let's start with RB and perhaps when you drafted them you weren't thinking you would be starting them in Week 1 but it's at least worth a discussion
-There's not a lot of sleeper RBs but if you are looking outside the Top 20 which mostly is just a carbon copy of preseason rankings across numerous sites, the following could outperform their Week 1 ranking
RB - Dylan Sampson, CLE...they host the Bengals and one would think there will be a lot of points. He was outstanding last season for the Volunteers and basically is splitting time with Ford
RB - Isaiah Pacheco, KC...Friday Night vs the Bolts in Brazil. With Rice suspended the first 6 weeks, these would figure to be some of his stronger games of the season.
Can easily see him in the 60-80+ yd range and a TD plus a few catches, 15-20+ would be on the table
RB - Tony Pollard, TEN...with Spears on IR first 4 games, no reason Pollard isn't a solid RB2 or Flex option. Sure the Broncos are heavy favorites but the rookie QB will be something new, even if he doesn't take off until the 2nd Half, this team needs to score 20+ to have any chance to compete, Pollard will be a factor one way or the other. He certainly can catch check downs. PPR double digits.
RB - Travis Etienne, JAX...woefully undersold all off season. Carolina should offer opportunities for the Jags all game long, yes there will be an RBBC we've been told but Etienne 12-15 touches in this new offense should be enough to get him back to when he was putting up 1,400 total yds a season, keep a eye on his usage throughout. Can't start him just yet but the juicy match up at home is worth watching.
Wide Receiver would appear to have a lot more choices.
WR - Emeka Egbuka, TB...Both Godwin and McMillan are gone for at least the first 4 weeks, we think McMillan will miss a much larger chunk and Godwin will need a couple weeks to get up to speed.
In the meantime the rookie will likely be starting and if he does well he might play himself into a starting role the rest of the season. Not saying Godwin sits, just that Egbuka will. be one of three.
Evans getting long in the tooth, things could change a lot in Tampa this year.
WR - Ricky Pearsall, SF...He is being ranked outside the Top 30 and he looks like the lone WR left that has any kind of rapport or rhythm with Purdy at QB. Sure Kittle at TE will pick up some fo the slack but Pearsall is in an unusual position and early in the season he could see a return to some of his eye popping numbers the end of last season. 5/75/TD is not out of the question, also his floor could easily be 2/35, this is not a sure thing.
WR - Mathew Golden, GB...He's being ranked outside the Top 40 on many sites out there, seems very low when you factor in some of the current injuries with Reed reportedly nursing thru a Jones fracture and has opted to play thru it. Doubs was a major disappointment, still he is part of the starting trio. Odds are high that Golden will be involved early, many fantasy managers get bogged down on the target distribution accompanied with the number of throws Love attempted last season, far below his previous year. Unless fans expect a carbon copy of the offense from last season, try to look into the future. Camp reports have been complimentary on the 1st round pick out of Texas, don't be surprised when he hits early.
WR- Michael Pittman, Jr, IND...The Miami Dolphins are looking at other teams waivers or releases to try and upgrade a suspect room. Minkah came back in the Ramsey trade and Rasul Douglas was signed off the streets this past week, they are thin in terms of player recognition. They are starting a 5th-Rd Rookie DB named Jason Mitchell from the Univ of Florida. Could be better things for Josh Downs in the slot but Pittman was given $28M last year and he's due another $18M this season, they gave him a big salary increase on his extension, hard to believe they will allow for him to go down the same road as last season. He's a solid PPR producer, lask of TDs and chunk plays make him more of a WR3, he's also being ranked outside the Top 40, criminal with this match up.
WR - Keon Coleman, BUF...huge game vs Baltimore on SNF, health status of other WRs makes him a candidate for increased targets and his big playmaking ability, his size, WR50 this week?
We will take the over on that one with a chance to crack the Top 30 in a battle of two teams that could be an AFCC preview.
Def/ST - Arizona Cardinals would appear like a good choice in Week 1 even over teams like the Ravens or Bills where they likely are going to play a 27-24 type game.
Cincinnati would have to be on a short list vs the Browns, likely to have a poor offense, turnovers and sacks vs a statue of a QB, they could be Top 10 this week.
What are you looking at in terms of possible sleepers in Week 1?
Folks that took Mixon in early to mid Aug, maybe drafted Aiyuk and Godwin before knowing just how long they would be out...some of those folks have to start looking at their bench.
I didn't look very hard at QB or TE, maybe some of you have ideas there. Tight End always feels like a crapshoot
-There's not a lot of sleeper RBs but if you are looking outside the Top 20 which mostly is just a carbon copy of preseason rankings across numerous sites, the following could outperform their Week 1 ranking
RB - Dylan Sampson, CLE...they host the Bengals and one would think there will be a lot of points. He was outstanding last season for the Volunteers and basically is splitting time with Ford
RB - Isaiah Pacheco, KC...Friday Night vs the Bolts in Brazil. With Rice suspended the first 6 weeks, these would figure to be some of his stronger games of the season.
Can easily see him in the 60-80+ yd range and a TD plus a few catches, 15-20+ would be on the table
RB - Tony Pollard, TEN...with Spears on IR first 4 games, no reason Pollard isn't a solid RB2 or Flex option. Sure the Broncos are heavy favorites but the rookie QB will be something new, even if he doesn't take off until the 2nd Half, this team needs to score 20+ to have any chance to compete, Pollard will be a factor one way or the other. He certainly can catch check downs. PPR double digits.
RB - Travis Etienne, JAX...woefully undersold all off season. Carolina should offer opportunities for the Jags all game long, yes there will be an RBBC we've been told but Etienne 12-15 touches in this new offense should be enough to get him back to when he was putting up 1,400 total yds a season, keep a eye on his usage throughout. Can't start him just yet but the juicy match up at home is worth watching.
Wide Receiver would appear to have a lot more choices.
WR - Emeka Egbuka, TB...Both Godwin and McMillan are gone for at least the first 4 weeks, we think McMillan will miss a much larger chunk and Godwin will need a couple weeks to get up to speed.
In the meantime the rookie will likely be starting and if he does well he might play himself into a starting role the rest of the season. Not saying Godwin sits, just that Egbuka will. be one of three.
Evans getting long in the tooth, things could change a lot in Tampa this year.
WR - Ricky Pearsall, SF...He is being ranked outside the Top 30 and he looks like the lone WR left that has any kind of rapport or rhythm with Purdy at QB. Sure Kittle at TE will pick up some fo the slack but Pearsall is in an unusual position and early in the season he could see a return to some of his eye popping numbers the end of last season. 5/75/TD is not out of the question, also his floor could easily be 2/35, this is not a sure thing.
WR - Mathew Golden, GB...He's being ranked outside the Top 40 on many sites out there, seems very low when you factor in some of the current injuries with Reed reportedly nursing thru a Jones fracture and has opted to play thru it. Doubs was a major disappointment, still he is part of the starting trio. Odds are high that Golden will be involved early, many fantasy managers get bogged down on the target distribution accompanied with the number of throws Love attempted last season, far below his previous year. Unless fans expect a carbon copy of the offense from last season, try to look into the future. Camp reports have been complimentary on the 1st round pick out of Texas, don't be surprised when he hits early.
WR- Michael Pittman, Jr, IND...The Miami Dolphins are looking at other teams waivers or releases to try and upgrade a suspect room. Minkah came back in the Ramsey trade and Rasul Douglas was signed off the streets this past week, they are thin in terms of player recognition. They are starting a 5th-Rd Rookie DB named Jason Mitchell from the Univ of Florida. Could be better things for Josh Downs in the slot but Pittman was given $28M last year and he's due another $18M this season, they gave him a big salary increase on his extension, hard to believe they will allow for him to go down the same road as last season. He's a solid PPR producer, lask of TDs and chunk plays make him more of a WR3, he's also being ranked outside the Top 40, criminal with this match up.
WR - Keon Coleman, BUF...huge game vs Baltimore on SNF, health status of other WRs makes him a candidate for increased targets and his big playmaking ability, his size, WR50 this week?
We will take the over on that one with a chance to crack the Top 30 in a battle of two teams that could be an AFCC preview.
Def/ST - Arizona Cardinals would appear like a good choice in Week 1 even over teams like the Ravens or Bills where they likely are going to play a 27-24 type game.
Cincinnati would have to be on a short list vs the Browns, likely to have a poor offense, turnovers and sacks vs a statue of a QB, they could be Top 10 this week.
What are you looking at in terms of possible sleepers in Week 1?
Folks that took Mixon in early to mid Aug, maybe drafted Aiyuk and Godwin before knowing just how long they would be out...some of those folks have to start looking at their bench.
I didn't look very hard at QB or TE, maybe some of you have ideas there. Tight End always feels like a crapshoot
