Week 2 Fantasy Football Busts: Don’t expect Devonta Freeman and the Falcons run game to get things going against the Eagles, or Larry Fitzgerald to repeat his Week 1 performance.
In the Weekly Fantasy Unit, there are crimes committed that would shock and appal you: Negative points, underwhelming superstars and outright busts. These are the findings of one man on a mission to expose the NFL’s biggest perpetrators before they strike again.
These are … the Fantasy Files.
Welcome back everyone to Week 2 of the 2019 NFL Season! With one week’s worth of NFL action out of the way fanbases are either flying high or singing the blues. Fantasy owners have either started their seasons feeling untouchable, or cripplingly full of roster holes.
Allow me to be the voice of reason and say that Week 1 is a mirage more often than not. Everyone is going into the first game with hype completely manufactured from last season’s statistics, but now that the rubber has hit the road, things are different.
Here at the W.F.U. we appreciate and embrace the wild card nature of Week 1, and we’ll freely admit that mistakes were made in our first report of the year. Let’s take a look at where we hit, and where we need improvement after a wild Week 1:
WHERE WE HIT:
- Kirk Cousins (14 fantasy points)
- Cousins’ fantasy value on Sunday was buoyed completely by an uncharacteristic rushing TD late in the contest. The Vikings dominated the Falcons for four quarters with Cousins only throwing the ball TEN times. The Mike Zimmer dream offense of feeding Dalvin Cook the ball and playing through the run game seems to be finally coming to fruition in Minnesota. That could drastically lower Cousins’ ceiling weekly moving forward.
- Robby Anderson (3.8 fantasy points)
- Anderson’s second meeting with Tre’davious White wasn’t a pleasant one for the Jets wide-out. Quarterback Sam Darnold struggled all day long to stretch the field against Buffalo’s defense, and Anderson was held to just 3 receptions for 23 yards. Greener pastures surely lie ahead for Robby, but with Darnold reportedly out of action due to mono for an undetermined amount of time, it’s tough to trust any of the Jets pass catchers.
- Jacksonville D/ST (-4 fantasy points)
- When the MVP comes to the town, the damage is sure to follow. Patrick Mahomes picked apart this defense from the very start of this contest, scoring on a staggering seven straight drives. Jacksonville held their own in the first half with Nick Foles under center but fell behind after losing their new QB to a broken clavicle. Jacksonville still has the talent on defense to produce for fantasy, but they may be a match-up based play with Gardner Minshew II under center.
WHERE WE MISSED:
- Derrick Henry (28 fantasy points)
- The ghost of Derrick Henry wasted no time swooping into our halls for a haunt. The Titans’ power back was nothing short of remarkable in both the rushing and passing games on Sunday against Cleveland. Like most in the country, we were stunned to see the Browns come out as flat as they did against Tennessee, but kudos to Henry and the boys in baby blue. They balled out, and they proved us wrong.
- Evan Engram (23 fantasy points)
- It turns out the Dallas secondary didn’t even seem to care if Evan Engram beat them in this one. The Cowboys offense was effortlessly scoring touchdowns on the Giants all day long, so the middle of the field was practically wide open for Engram to do his damage. As the Giants’ most trustworthy pass catcher, it appears Engram could have another breakout season coming.
- Devin Singletary (12 fantasy points)
- Despite not getting a single carry until late in the third quarter Devin Singletary shined instantly. In stark contrast to his backfield partners Frank Gore/TJ Yeldon, Singletary ran the ball with ferocity, cutting through the Jets defense for 70 yards on just 4 carries (a stunning average of 17 yards per attempt!). The Bills loved this rookie in the preseason, but committee concerns made us weary. Safe to say we aren’t weary anymore, and the Bills shouldn’t be either. Fire this man up and see what he can do with 15-20 carries Buffalo.
NOW, with that out of the way, let’s jump into the bust candidates for Week 2:
QUARTERBACK: MITCH TRUBISKY (Chicago Bears)
Anywhere you looked this past week you could easily find criticism of Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky. The criticism was, of course, well-warranted after the third year QB laid an egg in the NFL kickoff game against the Packers.
Trubisky had made great strides in the fantasy realm last year, using his legs to extend plays and score, but he didn’t appear to have those traits with him on Thursday. Green Bay is an improved defense from last season, but they’re not the Broncos, and few home-field advantages are tougher than Mile High.
We can’t in good conscious predict a bounce-back for the Mitch against this Broncos defense. This should be a low scoring fight between two mediocre quarterbacks and two Top 10 defenses.
RUNNING BACK: DEVONTA FREEMAN (Atlanta Falcons)
We bounce from an under-performing QB to an RB that was also under the microscope coming out of Week 1. Devonta Freeman is a name that fantasy owners have traditionally trusted. He has a known injury risk attached to his name, but with Tevin Coleman leaving for San Francisco it was assumed that Freeman could be a steal in the middle rounds on his own in Atlanta.
It turns out that the schedule makers (and HC Dan Quinn) had other ideas, pitting Freeman against two top 10 run defenses to start the year (MIN/PHI), and splitting his carries almost evenly with Ito Smith. Even at home, I don’t trust the Falcons to get the run game going in a game that they could easily be trailing in against an explosive Eagles offense.
WIDE RECEIVER: LARRY FITZGERALD (Arizona Cardinals)
Larry Fitzgerald played the role of an older Bruce Wayne on Sunday for Kyler Murray. Swooping in out of the fantasy shadows like Frank Millers Dark Knight to rescue the rookie QB from what could have been an embarrassing first impression.
Trailing 24-6 in the fourth quarter, the sure-fire Hall of Famer went to work, catching 8 balls for 113 yards and a TD to push the game from a loss to a tie. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, that kind of “get out of jail free” card is a rarity for Fitzgerald nowadays.
That kind of performance is unlikely to be repeatable every week, and it almost certainly won’t be in the cards against a crushing Baltimore defense. Leave Larry Legend in the Batcave this week.
TIGHT END: KYLE RUDOLPH (Minnesota Vikings)
Without fail, Kyle Rudolph is one of the more over-drafted fantasy assets on a year in, year out basis regardless of format. Due to the lack of depth at the Tight End position he’s a trendy pick-up in a good offense that always finds a way to put up zero points on some poor schlubs roster.
That was exactly what he did in Week 1 against Atlanta, and that’s exactly what we see him doing this week in a divisional battle in Green Bay. Cousins isn’t throwing the ball more than a dozen times, and he has at least three better options in the passing game than Rudolph to target. Stay far away.
DEFENSE: NEW ORLEANS D/ST
The Saints were fortunate to win their Monday Night match-up with the Texans. They were fortunate to have Drew Brees under center, and they were fortunate to have one of the best kickers in the league in Wil Lutz (kicking indoors). Had Lutz missed that kick we would all be singing a different tune today because the Saints defense got demolished by Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins.
They may have gotten their sacks on Watson (who hasn’t?), but they failed their team where it matters most; on the scoreboard. I look for this team to go on the road to LA and run into a Rams buzz saw that’s a different offense at home. This could easily end up being a shoot-out, and I wouldn’t recommend having either defense on Sunday.
PRIMARY SUSPECT: EMMANUEL SANDERS (Denver Broncos)
Emmanuel Sanders deserves a ton of respect for what he’s done in his career. This is a man that was drafted by the Steelers, balled out, and left for the Broncos. He balled out there as well, quietly being the best WR on a juggernaut Peyton Manning offense that more prominently featured Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas.
Now, with Peyton riding off into the sunset, and both of the Thomas’ becoming journeymen, Sanders is the last man standing. He returned from last year’s torn Achilles injury at 32 years young and looked explosive against Oakland on Monday night. He’s one of the more underrated talents in the league, but he’s going to have to sit on the bench this week against Chicago.
Even within the confines of Mile High Stadium, we don’t trust Joe Flacco to score on the Bears defense (he could barely get anything done against the Raiders). Flacco’s inadequacy will limit Sanders’ upside, and a match-up with Kyle Fuller will prove to be too much to overcome. As great as he still is, we strongly advise keeping Manny on the sidelines this week.
