| | | | Monday, September 14, 2020 | | A lot has already gone down in Week 1, and we've still got Ben Roethlisberger's return from injury, Melvin Gordon's Denver debut and the first games from Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley among others tonight. If you're trailing heading into Monday Night Football, don't give up hope -- at the very least, Week 1 is the time to be optimistic. For four more teams, anything can still happen. | | Everyone else is left with the reality of their first game, good or bad, and the same is true for Fantasy players. If you won already, enjoy it, and then get back to work; if you lost, don't wallow in it. Figure out how to make it right. | | That's our goal today. We're taking an early look at the top waiver wire targets heading into Week 2, and then diving in to winners and losers and notable injuries from every game on the schedule. You'll want to make sure you read all the way to the bottom to see if there's anything you missed from a long opening Sunday. | | Here's what today's newsletter has in store to make sure you have everything you need coming out of Week 1: | | 🆙Early Week 2 waiver targets 🔍Week 1 Review: Injuries, winners and losers 🤔Believe It or Not: Start Colts RBs, sit Keenan Allen, Terry McLaurin? | | | 🆙Early Week 2 waiver targets
| | | | The top option? It's gotta be Malcolm Brown. OK, maybe his stay atop the Rams backfield will be temporary, but maybe we just overlooked the guy who actually has a history in this offense. Brown was the Rams' top back without question in Week 1, finishing with 21 touches while Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson combined for 18. Maybe Henderson gets back to full health and Akers finds his footing and Brown gets pushed to the side. But if you need a running back for Week 2, Brown figures to be a top-25 option against the Eagles. | | Brown wasn't the only running back worth adding coming out of Sunday's game. In fact, five other backs led the top waiver targets for 2, and they're worth targeting in this order: Joshua Kelley, James Robinson, Nyheim Hines, Peyton Barber and Adrian Peterson. Adam Aizer and Heath Cummings broke down some of the top options on Monday's episode of Fantasy Football Today In 5, so make sure you listen to that for a quick breakdown of the top storylines from Week 1. | | Here's who else we're looking at for the top targets heading into Week 2: | | Dallas Goedert - "I still believe Zach Ertz is the best tight end in Philadelphia, but there wasn't any evidence of that on the field Sunday." Anthony Miller - "Miller was a favorite breakout candidate around these parts, so it was nice to see him get that late touchdown and put together a solid Fantasy showing." Russell Gage - "The Falcons won't have to throw the ball 54 times every week, but they did lead the NFL with 43.8 attempts per game last season, so volume should be there. I'll add Gage in any three-WR league." Marquez Valdes Scantling/Allen Lazard - "Aaron Rodgers took numerous shots downfield in this one, and a more aggressive Rodgers would be good news for both. I'm not viewing either as a potential starter for Week 2, but both could be Fantasy relevant all season." Logan Thomas - "Maybe this year's Darren Waller? Maybe Jared Cook would be a more realistic goal. You'd take either from the wire." Laviska Shenault Jr. - "Shenault's stat line won't blow you away, but I loved what I saw from him Sunday. He lined up in the backfield three times, including once in a Wildcat formation, and got two carries and four targets." Mike Williams - "Williams quietly had a 1,000-yard season a year ago, and he's shown the ability to be a red-zone monster, so if he puts both together this year, he has top-15 upside. This was a good start." | | | | 🔍Week 1 Review: Injuries, winners and losers | | | | I've gone through every game on the schedule, identifying one winner and one loser, plus catching up on the injuries from around the NFL Sunday. Click that link above for even more on each game, including one number to know for each game plus one thing you may have missed while box score watching, and check out Monday's episode of Fantasy Football Today for Dave Richard and Heath Cummings' perspective on everything that went down Sunday. | | Jets at Bills | | Injury: Le'Veon Bell left with a hamstring injury. Given that he had issues with that in camp, this is definitely something to monitor. Josh Adams got a late garbage time touchdown instead of Frank Gore, so ... who knows. Winner: Josh Allen. The Jets are a total mess, but Allen has faced bad teams before and had never thrown for more than 300 yards before. Sure, it took him 46 attempts, but it suggests a newfound confidence in his ability to put up numbers. Loser: The Jets. Just … all of the Jets. Jamison Crowder is the only player who had a good Fantasy game, and it seems like reports out of Jets camp about the struggles on both sides of the ball weren't overblown. It's just one game, but this certainly looked like the worst team in the NFL in Week 1. | | Dolphins at Patriots | | Injury: DeVante Parker left with a hamstring injury and did not return. He was limited in the final week or so of training camp with a hamstring injury, so this is definitely a concern for Week 2. Winner: Cam Newton. 15 carries for 75 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Yep, that's what we wanted to see. The receiving corps might be an issue, but if Newton is still his old self running the ball, he's going to be a must-start Fantasy QB. Loser: Matt Breida. Somehow, Myles Gaskin, he of the 36 carries 2019, led the Dolphins in rush attempts. It's bad news for Jordan Howard, too, but Breida didn't even receive a target in the game — Gaskin had four and Patrick Laird had two more. | | Browns at Ravens | | Injury: David Njoku left with a hamstring injury and was unable to return, Winner: Marquise Brown. We expected a step forward, and he led the team with five catches for 101 yards on six targets. He didn't find the end zone, but Brown might be the 1b to Mark Andrews' 1a. Loser: Mark Ingram. I don't think Ingram has just lost the goal-line role. But, if he's splitting it with J.K. Dobbins, he's probably no more than a low-end No. 2 back most weeks. | | Colts at Jaguars | | Injuries: Marlon Mack left with what is feared to be a torn Achilles. He is an impending free agent and may have played his last game with the Colts. Winner: Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines. Injuries are always unfortunate, but Mack's is a particularly tough one to swallow. But there's no doubting Taylor and Hines have a big opportunity here. I'm viewing both as No. 2 backs moving forward, especially in PPR. Loser: D.J. Chark. A touchdown helped salvage what was a pretty uneventful game, and he was out-targeted by both Keelan Cole and Laviska Shenault. I'm not worried, given that Gardner Minshew only threw it 20 times, but it's not an ideal start. | | Eagles at Washington | | Winner: Peyton Barber. It was very much a Peyton Barber type of game — he scored two touchdowns and did very little else with his 17 carries, while blocking a back Fantasy players are much more excited about. Some things never change. Loser: Carson Wentz. To be clear, this wasn't his fault — the Eagles are falling apart around him. The line was an absolute mess Sunday, and it needs to get better quick. | | Bears at Lions | | Winner: Adrian Peterson. Speaking of things never changing, Peterson rushed for 93 yards on 14 carries. Kerryon Johnson had seven carries and no targets, while D'Andre Swift rushed the ball three times for 8 yards with a touchdown, to go along with three catches on five targets. Loser: Marvin Jones. Jones has huge weekly upside, but you never know when you can trust him — presumably, Kenny Golladay being out means you can. He responded with four receptions for 55 yards, so not a nothing performance, but it certainly won't make you feel confident enough to start him when Golladay returns. | | | | Packers at Vikings | | Winner: Aaron Rodgers. Without question, Rodgers is one of the biggest winners of Week 1. He started off pretty conservatively, but started taking some real shots and put together a massive performance. If Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard took a step forward this offseason, it could be a huge deal for Rodgers. Loser: There isn't really a good option here, but if you were hoping A.J. Dillon would have an early role, his five snaps were a blast of cold water. | | Seahawks at Falcons | | Winner: Russell Wilson. Did … did they let Russ cook? In a game that saw the Seahawks get off to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and hold that for the entire second half, he threw the ball 35 times compared to only 20 rush attempts — one of which was a Wilson scramble. If he's going to throw that much, Wilson will probably be a top-three Fantasy QB. Loser: Chris Carson, if you have to pick someone. The passing game usage was great, but it's a tiny bit concerning that Carlos Hyde had more carries. | | Raiders at Panthers | | Winner: Josh Jacobs. I don't care that Josh Jacobs scored three touchdowns. It's nice, obviously, but it tells me nothing about his value moving forward. I care very, very much about his six targets, compared to four combined for Devontae Booker and Jalen Richard. If Jacobs is a 60-to 70-target back, he's probably a top-five RB. Loser: Christian McCaffrey. OK, look, McCaffrey was still awesome. But he only had four targets, and while that might just be a one-game thing, he does have a new QB and head coach, so it's worth considering the possibility that he may have a smaller role in the passing game. Not that you'd trade him or anything like that, but it would limit his league-best ceiling. | | Chargers at Bengals | | Injury: Justin Jackson left with a quad injury after just two carries. Winner: Joshua Kelley. Maybe it was because Jackson was dealing with a quad injury, but Kelley was definitely the backup Sunday, getting 12 carries to Jackson's two. Loser: Austin Ekeler. Like with McCaffrey, this may just be a one-game thing and nothing to worry about. However, one of the concerns with the move to Tyrod Taylor at QB was that he'd be more willing to take off and run than dump off to his backs, and that was the case Sunday, as he targeted running backs just once. That bears very close watching. | | Cardinals at 49ers | | Injury: George Kittle left with some kind of leg injury at the end of the first half, and while he was able to return, he did not have a target after the injury. He missed time in training camp with a tight hamstring, so we'll watch the practice reports this week, though he did downplay it after the game. Winner: DeAndre Hopkins. So much for the Cardinals spreading the ball around. For one game, at least, Hopkins was the only receiver Kyler Murray could see, drawing a 40% target share en route to 14 catches for 151 yards on 16 targets. Loser: Everyone else on the Cardinals except for Kenyan Drake, I guess. We'll see if that Hopkins-heavy game plan was just a one-week think, but it'll be tough for Christian Kirk to have his breakout if Hopkins dominates work like he did in Houston. I wouldn't drop Kirk yet. | | Buccaneers at Saints | | Injuries: Chris Godwin left late in the game with what looked like a head or neck injury. We haven't gotten any update as of publication, but that's definitely one to watch; Michael Thomas also left late with an ankle injury. This one doesn't sound serious, but we'll likewise have to watch the next few days to see if anything comes up that indicates it might cost him time. Winner: Ronald Jones. 27 carries or targets went to a Buccaneers running back, and Jones got 20 of them. He dominated work early, with Leonard Fournette not even seeing the field until the second quarter. And, while Jones only played 30 of the team's 70 snaps, Fournette only played nine; LeSean McCoy got 25, but he just isn't a real threat. Jones won the first round of the battle against Fournette. Loser: Tom Brady. It's the first game with a new team after an incredibly weird offseason, so this may be nothing. Or maybe Brady was at least part of the reason New England's offense was so lackluster last year. He's got the weapons now, but he needs to get on the same page with them. | | Cowboys at Rams | Winner: Malcolm Brown. Brown was sort of the afterthought this offseason debate between Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson, but at least for one week, this was his backfield. He rushed for 79 yards on 18 carries and a pair of touchdowns, all team highs, and he led all running backs with three catches on four targets for 31 yards. Henderson's return from a hamstring injury surely played some role, but Brown didn't get the Rams any reason to think he should have a smaller role next week.
Loser: Cooper Kupp. It's not anywhere close to time to be concerned, especially because Kupp actually only played one fewer snap than Robert Woods, a welcome improvement from the last few games of 2019. But Woods was a lot more productive and a lot more involved in the offense, while Kupp mostly failed to stand out from the crowd. In an offense this top-heavy, that's not a great sign. But, like I said, it's too early to be concerned at all — one of the downsides of doing this kind of exercise is, well, someone has to be the loser, even if there isn't a great answer. | | | | | | | | 24/7 Sports News | | Parlay Pick'em | Want your sports news and highlights straight without the noise? Stream CBS Sports HQ on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and more!
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