Fantasy Football Corner
3 min readStart Em:
QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick (BUF)– The Harvard grad tore up last year’s AFC West champion Chiefs in Arrowhead in Week 1, passing for four touchdown passes in Buffalo’s blowout win. With a home game against the Raiders on slate this week, the matchup is nothing to fear.
RB: Rashard Mendenhall (PIT)– After disappointing owners who invested a high draft pick in him last week, Mendenhall should have no problem bouncing back this week. Pittsburgh’s main runningback will face the Seahawks’ defense this week, and he should have a much easier time navigating through holes in this one than he did against a stiff Ravens’ defense in Week 1.
WR: Vincent Jackson (SD)– Jackson didn’t live up to his pre-season hype in his first game of the season, but that won’t be the norm in 2011. Jackson is not a possession receiver, so his catches may fluctuate from week to week. However, now facing a Patriots’ defense that gave up over 400 yards to Chad Henne last week, I think Philip Rivers has a massive week and Jackson should be a big part of that.
RB: LeGarrette Blount (TB)
WR: Mario Manningham (NYG)
TE: Jermaine Gresham (CIN)
K: Jason Hanson (DET)
DEF: Cleveland Browns
Sit Em:
QB: Jay Cutler (CHI)– Don’t be fooled by Jay Cutler’s Week 1 final line (312 yards and two touchdowns); he wasn’t that impressive in the season’s debut. Two of his longest passing plays were short dump-off passes to Matt Forte and Devin Hester, and those players did the heavy lifting with the help of a poor tackling Falcons defense. Expect the blitz heavy Saints D to bring a lot of pressure and give Cutler problems this week.
RB: Frank Gore (SF)– Gore’s talent has never been in question, but his health and his teammates have. While the latter has yet to bite him yet, the former is looking like a major issue. Opposing teams will continue to stack the box on the 49ers until Alex Smith can prove he’s competent, and that will obviously limit his holes to run through. With a Cowboys’ defense coming to town that limited the usually impressive Jets running game to just 45 yards on the ground on 16 carries last week, Gore is set to disappoint yet again.
WR: Steve Smith (CAR)– Smith turned back the clock in Week 1, totaling 178 receiving yards and two scores; good for the most fantasy points among wide receivers. However, Smith was running wide open a lot against a highly questionable Cardinals’ defense, and it seems unlikely that Smith will find it so easy to get open against the defending Super Bowl champion Packers this week.
RB: Shonn Greene (NYJ)– Much like last season, Greene has entered this year with a lot of expectations and little early return. Fellow New York runningback LaDanian Tomlinson looked like the better Jets back last week, and the Jaguars held Chris Johnson in check last week.
WR: Kenny Britt (TEN)– The troubled Tennessee wideout exploded in the season opener, going for 136 yards and two touchdowns. But with a Baltimore defense than forced seven turnovers last week on the schedule for Week 2, things won’t be as easy for Britt as they were against a subpar Jacksonville defense.
TE: Dallas Clark (IND)
K: Josh Brown (STL)
DEF: Atlanta Falcons
Add Em:
QB: Chad Henne (MIA)
RB: Carnell Williams (STL)
RB: Deji Karim (JAX)
WR: Devery Henderson (NOS)
WR: Early Doucet (ARZ)
TE: Ed Dickson (BAL)
K: Rian Lindell (BUF)
DEF: Washington Redskins
