Some of these are hot takes, I admit it. But I think that the majority will pan out as being starts or sits just beyond the range of the fantasy production you would expect for those categories. You don't win the championship by being the most conservative team in the league, after all. Check out the drinkfive rankings here on the site as well for a more in-depth view at how I look at the relevant players this year. Any stats listed are according to my Half-PPR rankings as of Wednesday, September 22. Good luck and cheers!
RBs
Start Chase Edmonds (ranked RB20) - Edmonds is going up against a Jacksonville defensive unit in poor shape this week. He is in fact the 20th highest scoring RB in fantasy points so far this season (22.6 pts). His usage has been consistent in the receiving game with at least 4 receptions in each match so far, and he has notched at least 75 all-purpose yards in both weeks 1 and 2 as well. The Jags are currently allowing 25.1 points to opposing RBs and so it’s not tough at all for me to predict 81 yards and a TD for Edmonds this week - projecting a total of 16.1 in half-PPR. Nice game, Chase.
MORE STARTS: Jonathan Taylor, Kareem Hunt, Elijah Mitchell (if healthy)
Sit Ty’Son Williams (ranked RB24) - Williams is going up against the porous Lions defense that both Elijah Mitchell and Aaron Jones were able to pick apart over the first two weeks of the season. Sounds great on paper, but I have to be contrarian with this one. Both weeks he struggled in key situations (Week 1’s blown coverage to lead to the strip sack on Lamar Jackson, and Week 2’s goal-line fumble that was luckily recovered by teammate Devin Duvernay). With more time to learn the playbook, I have to imagine that the Ravens will continue to lean on Murray and Freeman and the snap count will shift accordingly. Projecting a disappointing 73 yards total with no TDs. 8.3 fantasy points.
MORE SITS: Devin Singletary, Jamaal Williams, J.D. McKissic
WRs
Start Ja’Marr Chase (ranked WR27) - Chase has flashed big play ability with good performances over weeks 1 and 2 for a total of 30.8 fantasy points which makes him the WR14 overall so far this season. Normally, going up against the Steelers defense would be a major problem for young receivers, but recent injuries to outstanding contributors like T.J. Watt and Joe Haden make it a little more palatable. We saw the Raiders make progress down the field through the air and I expect that the Bengals will also find some success there if key defensive players are not healthy enough to start this weekend. Projecting 67 yards and a TD on limited receptions for a total of 14.2 fantasy points.
MORE STARTS: Rondale Moore, Tim Patrick, Darnell Mooney
Sit DeVonta Smith (ranked WR 30) - Smith led all Eagles receivers in targets over the past two games, if that means anything. It’s certainly building some hype for the rookie receiver. He did have a great performance in week 1, putting up 16.1 fantasy points against Atlanta, but fell back to Earth in week 2 with only 16 yards on 2 receptions. Yikes. I continue to see Smith being chased as a WR3 or FLEX start against Dallas, but he is only the WR46 on the year in total fantasy points and a rookie to boot. And on the Eagles. Don’t do it. Projecting more yardage and receptions than last week but still a low output at 4.7 fantasy points.
MORE SITS: Deebo Samuel, Marvin Jones, Brandin Cooks
It seems like we've had several "First of His Name" characters over the past season and a half. Most notably, of course, is Joffrey "Baratheon". This week it's his brother, Tommen. Tommen is a boy who, despite being spawned from the evil Cersei Lannister, really seems like a good kid. Maybe that's why he doesn't get a lot of screen time. He's boring, he's nice, he's what a king should be, really. In spite of (because of?) all this, a world like Game of Thrones will just chew him up and spit him out by the end of next episode.
Everything is very low key this time around. Tommen's coronation is a simple ceremony that takes place at Baelor's (I still can't get enough of that awesome set) and it seems that most things will be a very different tone now that Joffrey is gone. Tywin and Cersei, in discussing Tommen's probable marriage to Margaery Tyrell, mention that there will be no jousting dwarves, no 77-course meals and in doing so also provide a nice tip of the hat to book readers.
We meet up with everyone's favorite new character, Oberyn Martell, who is, of course, writing poetry out on the castle grounds. Must be nice to be a filthy rich renaissance man. Oberyn and Cersei then take a tour of the gardens, basically so she can butter up another judge. Cersei seems to do her best to cozy up to both judges, appealing to each judges' (Oberyn and Tywin) biggest source of pride. You can see that all of her drinking is starting to take a toll, as she's no longer a subtle manipulator anymore, but far too direct for her attempts to have any real effect. I do like that they take this opportunity to show us, once again, how beautiful Dubrovnik, Croatia is.
Michelle MacLaren (of Breaking Bad directing fame) directed this episode, as well as last week's "Oathkeeper". This week, we were treated to a great long distance shot in basically every single outdoor scene. The producers and HBO have really hit their stride in this show, churning out high quality episode one after another. Every episode has plenty of eye candy for everyone, from the sets to the costumes to the locations they shoot in.
The setting is fantastic, but it would be nothing without a great story. As we catch up with some, but not all of the other stories outside of Kings Landing, we're treated to yet another budding buddy comedy in Brienne and Podrick. Podrick is the same as he's always been, very aloof but loyal as hell and he tries as hard as anybody. He finally wins the respect of Brienne when he recounts the events of the Battle of the Blackwater when he saved Tyrion. Brienne's scenes in big camps and in the city are really sort of awkward, which seems in character. She's best on the road, and with her mission and her new sword, she is in her element.