players who stood out and ones who didn't
By Martin Richardson
Week one seemed to have it all- the shootout between Tua and Herbert, the player with the most expensive contract in NFL history on the end of a blowout, Baker Mayfield feeling dangerous and the Cowboys sending a message to the league at the Giants’ expense.
But what does that mean for Fantasy football? We all can’t redraft Tyreek Hill or hope that those Achilles injuries never happened (sorry Jets and Ravens fans).
Each week, I will look at some players who have either balled out or perhaps may need to ride the pine a little bit, or maybe even be dropped if things don’t improve. But, whilst it would be easy for me to say: ‘everyone pick up Tua’ and we all know that’s unlikely, I will take a look at who may well be worth a waiver claim or a cheeky low stakes trade if your league does that, as well as who could be bench warming sooner rather than later.
BROCK PURDY
220 yards passing, 2 touchdowns.
20 yards rushing
Mr. Irrelevant is becoming Mr. Relevant week after week.
I imagine several waiver claims have gone in for Purdy, who finished the day with 2 touchdowns, and was rostered by 24% of players before the start of the week 1 games. He threw for two touchdowns to Brandon Aiyuk who looks the business this season.
Purdy has the Rams, Giants and Cardinals coming up before he takes on the Cowboys, so he has a real chance to get you some valuable points before coming up against a top team in the Cowboys (If week 1 is anything to go by). But even then, with Kyle Shanahan leading the way, who knows what Purdy could produce once he’s settled and truly healthy by then.
Anthony richardson
223 passing yards, 1 Touchdown
40 rushing yards, 1 Touchdown
1 Interception
With a rushing TD and a passing TD to Michael Pittman Jr., Anthony Richardson did what people hoped he would do, perhaps a little sooner than they would like to admit.
He leaned heavily on what he knew, with ten attempts at running with the ball, but only for an average of 4 yards a carry. What we did see was a blossoming relationship with Michael Pittman Jr who was just shy of 100 yards from 8 receptions.
What does this mean for this week? Well, a game against the Houston Texans would certainly help the Richardson band wagon get rolling. But what we saw from the Texans last week was a defence that was anything but a pushover- 4 sacks, 2 INTs and a fumble recovery against the Ravens made people notice that perhaps they are not the team of the past 2 years. Should Richardson come away with a win here, he will be one to watch as the weeks go on.
Jordan addison
Week 1- 61 yards, 1 Touchdown
*Week 2- 72 yards, 1 Touchdown
As a Bucs fan, and someone who has him in his fantasy team, I was conflicted somewhat when I saw that 39-yard touchdown in the first half for rookie Addison. But I can honestly say I am not shocked. I wrote previously that he would be a top player and that was plain for everyone to see last week. He is going to be a stud for the Vikings and if this was week 1, then he could well be on to big numbers as the season rolls on.
DISCLAIMER- I started this article before Thursday’s prime time game.
So, with that in mind, another touchdown that was very similar to the one in week 1, Addison is the real deal. 3 receptions, 72 yards and one more touchdown, the Vikings are showing that they have an eye for wide receiver talent. Add the two Hockenson touchdowns and a KJ Oborn touchdown to the mix, and you can see that Addison is a main feature of the offense going forward and I feel happy knowing I can ride the Addison wave until the late bye week in week 13 as a solid WR2.
CALVIN RIDLEY
101 yards, 1 Touchdown
Just as a reminder, the Jags gave a 5th round pick to the Falcons for Ridley during his suspension last season, which will become a 2nd if he signs a new deal with the Jags this season.
Why do I remind you of that? Well, after last week’s performance it was clear that he looked like a top weapon for Trevor Lawrence this season. On his debut he went for over 100 yards, taking in a touchdown and it looked like he had never been away.
With games coming up this week against a tough opponent in the Chiefs, and then against Houston and Atlanta, Ridley could well have over 400 yards before the season hits halftime.
Players who get a second chance- My Mulligan of the week
By definition, in golf you could well have a mulligan (a second chance to perform an action, usually after the first chance went wrong through bad luck or a blunder).
Therefore, it seems only fair that a team or someone in particular gets a second chance to stay in your lineup for at least one more week based on what happened the previous week.
The Steelers Offensive Lineup:
They got cooking at the end of the second quarter with a 95 yard drive ending in a touchdown for Pat Freiermuth, but the ship had sailed at that point. But it was the 49ers defense who have been mean for a few seasons now. With that in mind, I’m throwing my mulligan for the week to the Steelers this week. Add to the mix that Diontae Johnson went off injured with an injury that could keep him out for a few weeks, Pickett and co will have to adjust quickly to try and get a win on the board in week 2. Which can be done, Pickens looks the part so could be ready to take a leap forward. Pat Freiermuth is someone I really think the Steelers should use more often and add to the mix the man mountain that is Darnell Washington, Pickett will need every tool in the Steelers arsenal to make sure they avoid a defeat to the Cleveland Browns.
Who should you keep an eye on this weekend?
It has to be the Giants, right?
That goose egg sits hard on the scoreboard for all fans of the NFL. Either the Cowboys are legit and will take a lot of beating this season, or the Giants are terrible and it’s going to be a long season for anyone who has Saquon Barkley and Darren Waller in their fantasy teams. I’m not going to reel off numbers from that horrendous showing last week, but I would be keen to see the Giants bounce back against the Arizona Cardinals, a defence ranked second behind who… yeh, you know who. And they threw up some impressive numbers: six sacks, two fumble recoveries (one of which was returned for a touchdown) and an interception. The Giants don’t half make it hard for themselves.
But, I am also intrigued to see what Justin Fields does with DJ Moore. He only had two receptions in the whole game against the Packers, so surely he has to get in the game more against the Bucs this weekend? We saw that between Jefferson and Addison that the Bucs defence can be passed through, with nearly 200 yards thrown by Kirk Cousins. However, the Bucs defence tightened up in the second half and limited Jefferson to just 12, yes, TWELVE yards in the second half. If the Bucs can bring that energy to the Bears game, then perhaps DJ Moore could be in for more of the same.
MARTIN RICHARDSON
NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST
A Yorkshireman living in Lancashire, Martin is a massive NFL fan but his heart belongs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Also a huge Fantasy Football enthusiast and spends far too long crunching the numbers! Follow him at @MRBucsFan31