Fantasy football 2017: Week 2 starts, sits, pickups and drops
So, here’s my analysis page. This is where I look at how my picks worked out last week and decide whether or not I was right or wrong. If the player was startable or not startable based on my advice, I was right. If not, I was wrong. There will be a couple of half-points awarded when someone was right on the edge or something.
Quarterbacks (2/4)
Start: Ben Roethlisberger – Wrong (15.7 points, 15th at position)
263 yards and two touchdowns is good, but that interception kept him out of the top ten.
Sit: Philip Rivers -Right (17.7, 11th)
Rivers wasn’t a top ten quarterback but came close, and scored two points more than Roethlisberger
Pickup: Carson Palmer – Wrong (9, 23rd)
Three interceptions against a Lions defense that intercepted 10 passes all season in 2016. Eww.
Drop: Andy Dalton – Right (-3, 121st)
Well, I was right. Probably should take my own advice.
Running Backs (1/4)
Start: Frank Gore – Wrong (6.2, 48th)
I thought Gore would get 20 carries. He got 10 and Marlon Mack got the touchdown. Gore is in a timeshare and basically isn’t startable for the time being before bye weeks.
Sit: Isaiah Crowell – Half-right (10.6, 26th)
Crowell got the vast majority of the touches among Cleveland’s backs on Sunday, but did have tough sledding against Pittsburgh, averaging less than two yards per carry on 17 rushing attempts. He could have technically started in some flex spots due to the high volume I thought he wouldn’t get, so I’m not going to give myself full credit for this one.
Pickup: Latavius Murray – Wrong (0.6, 77th)
Completely wrong on this one. Dalvin Cook is getting all the carries and he looked outstanding on Monday night. Murray is droppable immediately.
Drop: Rex Burkhead – Half-right (3.3, 60th)
Last week’s piece went up after the Thursday night game, but my rule of thumb regarding starting New England running backs is always “don’t, unless you’re sure your guy is getting the carries,” so I’m taking half-credit.
Wide Receivers (1/3)
Start: Stefon Diggs – Right (27.7, 2nd)
Diggs looked amazing on Monday night and is Sam Bradford‘s best target by far, putting up huge numbers even with Adam Thielen‘s big game. He could finish in the top ten this season.
Sit: Keenan Allen – Wrong (14.5, 17th)
He wasn’t fantastic, but Allen got enough targets to be startable in PPR with a touchdown.
Pickup: Zay Jones – Wrong (3.1, 77th)
Jones didn’t go off this week, but hang on to him. He’ll be a great bye-week fill in later this season.
Tight Ends (2/3)
Start: Jason Witten – Right (18.9, 3rd)
Nine targets means Witten is a big target for Dak Prescott, which means consistent looks. He could be a season-long starter.
Sit: Eric Ebron – Right (2.9, 37th)
I’m bullish on Ebron’s talent, but he’s still returning from injury and the Lions have a lot of targets. There are easily 10 or 12 better options just about every week.
Pickup: Jermaine Gresham – Wrong (4.5, 26th)
Man, I’d have swept the position this week if Gresham’s touchdown hadn’t been called back for holding. He only got four targets and didn’t do much with them, so he didn’t even reach the six-point floor I set for him.
Next: Lions draft watchlist: Clemson vs. Louisville
Overall – 6/14 (42.9%)
Kind of all over the place. A couple of big hits, a couple of big misses, much worse than I like overall. Now that we have a better idea of who’s getting the ball in the running back timeshares, I think I’ll do a better job with running backs next week.