Week 1 is in the books and, hopefully, you walked away from it a winner. If you’re a returning reader, hopefully, one of my sleepers from last week helped you out. If you’re new, welcome and hopefully you can find some information to help you get a win come week two. Now before we get to the sleepers for week two, I want to review last week’s choices to hold myself accountable throughout the season and to provide some insight on the players I picked moving forward.
Last week at quarterback I was 1 for 2 on my picks. Jameis Winston was a strong start and went 14-20 for 148 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also added in 6 rushing attempts for 37 yards and finished as QB4 on the week. Winston looked good this week and did not turn the ball over. He will definitely be on th§e streaming radar for positive matchups this year. Baker Mayfield played a good game, but fantasy-wise was not that great of a start finishing QB27. The game script was in the Browns’ favor for most of the game as they jumped out to a lead and relied on the run game until later on.
The Week 1 sleeper article was posted prior to the injury to Gus Edwards, who is out for the year and we wish him a speedy recovery. On the positive side, Jamaal Williams was also a strong start this week as he rushed 9 times for 54 yards and a touchdown while adding in 8 receptions for 56 yards. Williams finished as the RB6 on the week and should continue to be a decent flex play alongside Swift as Goff and Detroit’s offense will likely run through Swift, Williams, and Hockenson.
I hit on both of my wide receiver sleepers this week with Antonio Brown and Corey Davis. Brown finished as WR9 on the week after his 5 receptions (7 targets) for 121 yards and a touchdown performance. Davis finished as WR5 on the week after hauling in 5 receptions (7 targets) for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns. I feel like you can continue to roll out Brown and Davis as WR2/Flex plays and they should continue to be productive for fantasy this year.
I would also say the tight end position was a decent pick this last week with Gerald Everett as he finished as TE9 after catching both of his targets for 20 yards and a touchdown. If you were already looking for a streamer at tight end, Everett likely didn’t kill your fantasy week as some other options may have. As we mentioned before, when streaming the tight end position you’re relying on a touchdown that Everett delivered. He definitely remains on the streaming radar, but I’d continue to monitor the matchup and look for one’s where there is a high over/under.
As mentioned before, I will utilize several factors when exploring who my weekly sleepers will be. I will be looking at ADP (Fantasypros.com ADP), weekly positional rankings (Fantasypros.com ECR), rostership percentages, and some betting info (to help give perspective on possible outcomes).
When referencing scoring in these articles this season I will be looking at Half-PPR scoring and in terms of league size, I will stick with 12-team leagues.
Quarterbacks: Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 2
Jameis Winston (QB, NOS) vs. Carolina Panthers
I am going back to the well with Jameis Winston again this week as he matches up against the Carolina Panthers. Currently, he sits at ECR QB16, but may climb as more experts submit their rankings. After finishing as QB5, he matches up against the Carolina Panthers who allowed Zach Wilson to finish as QB16 on the week. The over/under for the game is around the middle of the pack for the week at 45.6. I don’t know if I would expect 5 touchdowns again, but he’s got a good shot at another strong week.
Teddy Bridgewater (QB, DEN) vs. Jacksonville
I would call Bridgewater the safe floor play this week as he currently sits at ECR QB20. Jacksonville just had Houston drop 37 points on them and Tyrod Taylor finished as QB11 on the week. Denver is a better football team and Bridgewater should outperform his current ECR this week. The current over/under for the game is 44.5, which I expect a lot of those points coming from the Denver side. I imagine Bridgewater will once again outperform his ECR rank and could finish as a back-end QB1.
Jared Goff (QB, DET) vs. Green Bay Packers
Goff is the real deep dive, desperation play at quarterback this week as he currently sits at ECR QB28. The Packers look to take out all of their frustrations from last week on the Detroit Lions, which I expect them to be able to do. However, Goff should look to rack up the garbage time points similar to last week where he finished as QB3. It won’t be pretty, but if you’re needing a potential deep sleeper, I think you can do worse than Goff.
Running Backs: Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 2
Jamaal Williams (RB, DET) vs. Green Bay Packers
Another repeat from week one, Williams sits at ECR RB30 on the week after just finishing as the RB6 in week one. Williams should continue to stay involved in the offense, which essentially consists of him, D’andre Swift, and T.J. Hockenson. The Lions should be playing from behind for most of the game this week once again and I expect Williams to continue to be involved as a good flex option.
Ronald Jones (RB, TB) vs. Atlanta Falcons
Jones put up a dud week one after he fumbled the ball and was sent directly to Arians dog house. Jones currently sits at ECR RB38, but will be starting again this week. Atlanta just had Miles Sanders finish as RB14 and Kenneth Gainwell as RB20 in week one. As long as Jones holds onto the ball, he should have a productive day and could get back into the RB2/flex range.
Wide Receivers: Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 2
Marquise Brown (WR, BAL) vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Brown currently sits at ECR WR40 in the Week 1 rankings after finishing WR18 in week one(6-69-1). He was second on the team behind Sammy Watkins in targets. With their matchup with the Chiefs coming up I expect a high-scoring affair (55 points over/under) and the Ravens may need to throw more. Brown just needs to get loose on one reception to finish better than his current rankings. I think he’s got the potential to crack the top 24 WRs this week.
Nelson Agholar (WR, NE) vs. New York Jets
Currently at ECR WR51 Agholar looks to continue on from a strong week one showing where he finished as WR22 (5-72-1). He finished the week second in targets amongst patriot wide receivers. I expect Agholar to still be involved and could be used as a flex play if needed.
Tight Ends: Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 2
Jared Cook (TE, LAC) vs. Dallas Cowboys
Cook finished last week as the TE15 (5-56) and sits currently at ECR TE14. The current over/under for this matchup is 55.5 points. Like I said last week if I’m streaming tight ends I want to find a potentially high-scoring game with a good offense in the hopes they catch a touchdown. I expect an 8-12 point game from Cook which won’t win the week but won’t kill you either.