Last week’s sleeper page was a no-show, which isn’t a big surprise. Week 1 is the most unpredictable slate of the year, and it’s also a week where most fantasy managers play the hits and start their signature players. The fantasy season doesn’t really start until some chaos creeps in.
Of course, we have that chaos now. Week 1 was filled with underperformance and injury, and it means plenty of fantasy managers might be scrambling for unconventional answers. Let’s get to work.
Last year, the easiest way to accrue quarterback points was to dial up someone, anyone, against the Washington defense. And in the fresh season, not much has changed. Baker Mayfield carved up the Commanders on opening day to the tune of 289 yards and four touchdowns. It was a near-spotless performance, with just six incompletions, one sack and zero turnovers. Mayfield even ran for 21 yards, finishing as the QB2.
Okay, Jones isn’t Mayfield, we know that. But a pair of New York journeymen last year (Tyrod Taylor, Tommy DeVito) both logged QB7 performances when Washington came calling.
When the matchup is this juicy, you have to stay open-minded.
Raiders RB Alexander Mattison at Ravens
The Raiders were one of several teams to struggle on offense last week — 14 first downs, 296 total yards. That’s not going to feed the cat. But their biggest highlight came on their lone touchdown, a 31-yard catch-and-run from Mattison.
The rest of Mattison’s touches were marginal, but he did see plenty of usage. Mattison logged 36 snaps to Zamir White’s 23, and Mattison collected six targets to White’s two. Las Vegas has declared a hot-hand situation in its backfield, and even if Mattison doesn’t get humming at Baltimore, he’s likely to collect plenty of work in the passing game. The Raiders are a 9.5-point underdog in this spot, and a negative game script would favor Mattison.
Cooks wasn’t fantasy-relevant for much of the 2023 season, but he did end the season on a high note. He had touchdowns in five of his last seven starts and grabbed six passes in the playoff loss to Green Bay. His 2024 opener wasn’t bad, either — a 4-40-1 line on seven targets. Cooks led the Dallas receivers in routes and was second in targets.
Everyone knows CeeDee Lamb is the alpha in the Dallas huddle and his production will spike soon enough. But if dinged-up TE Jake Ferguson is compromised Sunday (or out completely), Cooks stands as the clear second option in a good offense. Dallas has an implied total of 26.5 points, third-best on the Week 2 slate.
Giants WR Wan’Dale Robinson at Commanders
We have to be careful with the Robinson recommendation, I get it. Last week’s 12 targets could easily be a fluke (this offense very soon will flow through rookie hotshot Malik Nabers), and Daniel Jones is a hard quarterback to trust.
But Washington’s pass defense, as we established above, is the juiciest matchup in the league right now, and the Commanders were especially toasted in the slot last week. Robinson won’t play every snap — he ran a route on 74% of the dropbacks last week — but his routes offer the quickly defined throws that Jones looks for.
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The Rams have two obvious problems on offense at the moment — Puka Nacua is out multiple weeks, and the offensive line is battling cluster injuries. The Nacua absence will lead to more opportunities for others, and when an offensive line is playing backups, it’s easier to mask in pass blocking. Sean McVay will let his hair down this week.
Cooper Kupp collected a whopping 21 targets last week, but they weren’t as big a win as you might think — Kupp averaged a modest 5.2 yards per target. Parkinson and Robinson will likely see a bump in their target share here, and WR Tyler Johnson isn’t a bad alternative for those in especially deep leagues. Arizona’s leaky defense also presents a plus matchup.
The Panthers couldn’t stop the Saints in the opener, gashed for 22 first downs and 379 yards of offense. Most of the New Orleans plays worked like a charm, leading to five different players scoring touchdowns. Heck, two different tight ends (Juwan Johnson, Foster Moreau) found the end zone.
So the Hurst homecoming might be a happy one.
The Chargers obviously are a run-first offense, but Hurst showed last week that he’s the tight end they feature in the passing game. Hurst ran 23 routes on 29 dropbacks and made a 2-33-0 line on three targets. With more goal-line equity likely in this matchup, Hurst is a possible deep-league play for managers who are struggling with injuries at the tight end spot.
Defensive streaming is generally about a few basic concepts — find a favored team, hopefully at home and pick on a bad quarterback. And it’s time to accept that Deshaun Watson is a lousy QB. Watson hasn’t posted above-average metrics since 2020 — four years ago. Physical problems have played into this, and perhaps his confidence is shot for good, too.
There are some other strong and widely available options at D/ST if you’re playing week-to-week at this position — the Colts get to attack Malik Willis at Green Bay, while Seattle could expose a New England offense line that struggles to pass block. But the Jaguars at home, they’re my first streaming choice.
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