Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

The NFC East division contains the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles & Washington Redskins. While the Cowboys and Eagles both had successful seasons last year, the Giants and Redskins had major issues that they tried to address during the off-season. It looks like the Cowboys are poised for another playoff run in 2015 and the Eagles may have a chance to try their luck as well after just missing the playoffs last year, but the Giants and Redskins may have some trouble turning the ship around. We'll see!

Dallas Cowboys (12-4 in 2014):

Arrivals -

Darren McFadden (RB, from OAK)

Greg Hardy (DL, from CAR)

Departures -

DeMarco Murray (RB, to PHI)

Analysis:

Let’s start at the quarterback position since it will likely be a fairly quick trip through the depth chart. Tony Romo has been the Cowboys’ starter since 2006 and known no other professional team during his career in the NFL. Romo has been a consistently undervalued fantasy QB over the past four years (2011-2014), putting up an average stat line of over 4,100 yards and over 30 TDs each year. His passing yards have decreased over the past two seasons due to the increased lean on the running game, but with question marks hovering over the talent of this year’s backfield he is likely to finish with over 4,000 yards yet again. Backup QB Brandon Weeden is barely worth mentioning as Romo is one of those guys that will play through injuries, even fairly major ones.

I mentioned the running back situation being a cloudy one: after the departure of DeMarco Murray (who rushed 392 times for over 1,800 yards and 13 TDs in 2014) this off-season, the Cowboys are left with 3^rd year RB Joseph Randle (51 rushes for 343 yards and 3 TDs in 2014 but also adding in 2 fumbles), Darren McFadden (who hasn’t even gotten close to rushing for over 1,000 yards since his breakout season in Oakland in 2010) and Lance Dunbar (a small framed, speedy back whose total all-purpose yardage over three years in the NFL is 633 and has never scored a TD). It’s likely that this unlikely bunch forms a committee with Randle as the lead RB unless he goes on any more shopping sprees without paying the bill. Rumors have been swirling in the past few weeks about the Cowboys signing another veteran running back (Ray Rice, Ahmad Bradshaw, Chris Johnson and Pierre Thomas are all free agents currently), but no moves have been made as of yet.

Dez Bryant was finally signed to a long-term contract recently (five years, $70 million with $45 million guaranteed), making him one of the highest paid receivers in the NFL. Bryant should perform at a high level all year and some experts (including me) think that he will finish in the top 3 fantasy points at his position due to an increase in production for the Cowboy’s passing offense. Terrance Williams put up 621 yards and 8 TDs in 2014, but was very inconsistent in the second half of the season. According to ESPN Dalls, Williams had a great off-season and was able to run routes with the first team at all receiving positions (mostly because of Bryant’s absence during the majority of the Cowboys’ training and minicamp). Williams could contribute to fantasy teams but his production is dependent on the volume of targets he receives. Slot receiver Cole Beasley was recently resigned to a four year deal and was very productive (unlike Williams) in the second half of the season. In PPR leagues, Beasley is a late-round sleeper that could perform at a steady WR3 level all season. I don’t see any other relevance in the Cowboy’s receiving corps except to say that UDFA Lucky Whitehead has an unfortunate name.

Tight end Jason Witten has spent his career catching passes from Tony Romo and although he did see a decline in production over the past two years, that decline coincides with the recent rise of the running game in Dallas and since I am predicting an overall increase in passing yardage, Witten’s stats should rise slightly. At an ADP somewhere between rounds 10-12, Witten is a value pick that could end up finishing the season somewhere around #10 at his position. 33 years old this season, it’s my opinion that Witten is a great pick in redraft leagues (especially PPR) but is nearing the end of his relevance in dynasty and standard scoring leagues.

New York Giants (6-10 in 2014):

Arrivals -

Shane Vereen (RB, from NE)

Steve Spagnuolo (Defensive Coordinator, from Ravens – assistant head coach)

Departures -

Antrel Rolle, Quintin Demps and Stevie Brown (S)

Zackary Bowman and Walter Thurmond (CB)

Outlook:

We don’t often start the conversation talking about the defense, but the Giants loss of most of their backfield (see above) after just making it over in 2013 is troubling for a team that has been treading water lately. Still, they can’t be much worse after retooling their defense with a younger bunch of players; they ranked as the 4^th worst defense in total yards last year – just above the Chicago Bears – giving up 6012 all-purpose yards over the course of the season.

Eli Manning (or, ‘The Winning-est Manning’ as he likes to be called) has certainly has his ups and downs as a fantasy QB. Over the past four years (2011-2014) he has averaged over 4,200 yards and just over 25 TDs per season. The main issues at play here are his consistency and his interceptions. Manning has averaged 18 interceptions per year over that time (more than 1 per game!), which makes any smart fantasy football manager question the decision to draft him in leagues that penalize for INTs. This is his second season under new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo and that’s great news because his passing completion percentage last year of 63.1% was his highest ever and he only threw 14 interceptions (tied for his lowest ever when playing a full season). With great receiving talents and the addition of passing back Shane Vereen, I’m betting that Manning will have a great 2015.

Odell Beckham was a rookie in 2014. A rookie that put up insane stats, that is. 91 receptions for 1,305 yards and 12 TDs. Try as I might, I can’t throw his performance in 2014 away as a fluke. It’s difficult to put a 2^nd year receiver up there with guys like A.J. Green and Calvin Johnson, but – difficult or not – he deserves his current ADP of first or second round overall. I’m going to assume a slight regression in stats for Beckham now that he is on tape and opposing defenses have had time to study and plan against him, but he should still be a WR1 regardless – he’s just too talented not to be. Remember when picking up Victor Cruz as a free agent in 2011 would have won you a fantasy football tournament? Well, he’s back and supposedly ready to produce at a high level. After regressing each year since his breakout 2011 performance, though, I’m going to hold off on drafting Cruz and let someone else salsa their way into misstep during the draft (yes, I think his current ADP in the 10^th round is more than fair – Cruz will not be the same receiver that he once was. Reuben Randle is a name that has come up a lot in recent years, always with the possibility of breaking out as a big receiver in the red zone. He has not yet lived up to the hype, but if we are to follow the trends, he has continued to improve year after year (2014 stats were 71 receptions for 938 yards and 3 TDs) and he had some ridiculous games at the end of the year. It’s odd, because he currently has an ADP in the 21^st round but I see him ending up as the WR2 on the Giants – not Cruz.

Ah… running backs. The Giants have always kept a big stable of RBs on the roster and this year is no different. Rashad Jennings should lead the charge at the start of the season and perform decently, but he has never played all 16 games in a season (11 in 2014) and his yards per carry were dismal last year at just 3.8 – this should give pause to anyone looking to draft Jennings as a RB1 or RB2 to count on. He is also just recently celebrated his 30^th birthday. Old and injury prone is not what you should be looking for in your RB! Andre Williams is a 2^nd year RB that will start off the season behind Jennings, but will likely end up splitting the carries later in the season. He had 217 rushes for 721 yards and 7 TDs last year – making his average yards per carry even worse than Jennings’ at 3.3 but his age and ability at the goal line should not be ignored, especially in dynasty leagues. I would shy away from both RBs in redraft leagues unless you have a very accurate magic 8-ball. An interesting addition to the team is former New England Patriot Shane Vereen, who excelled as a passing back there and will have the same job in New York. He’s going to have a hard time putting up big numbers, but should be valuable in PPR leagues as Manning’s new best friend when the going gets tough.

Larry Donnell is a 6’6”, 265 lb. beast who ended up as the #12 tight end at the end of the 2014 season. This is mostly due to a 3 TD game against the Redskins in week 3, but he was involved in most games during the season, averaging 3-4 receptions per game. The major issue here is that he is a touchdown dependent player on a team that needs to utilize him for blocking as well except that he graded out as one of the worst blocking TEs in the NFL. Tough to pull the trigger on this guy.

Philadelphia Eagles (10-6 in 2014):

Arrivals -

Sam Bradford (QB, from STL)

DeMarco Murray (RB, from DAL)

Ryan Mathews (RB, from SD)

Nelson Agholor (WR, Rookie)

Tim Tebow (QB)

Departures -

Nick Foles (QB, to STL)

LeSean McCoy (RB, to BUF)

Jeremy Maclin (WR, to KC)

Outlook:

The Eagles are likely the NFL team to have made the biggest moves in the off-season this year. We’ll see how it pays off for Chip Kelly & Co. There is certainly a lot of explosiveness and firepower here to go around and the Eagles have been running an exciting, fast paced offense that figures to get even more exciting and fast paced in 2015.

Sam Bradford is the QB that everyone thinks could be great but those expectations are continually cut short by injury and also by the lack of weapons that he had available to him in St. Louis. Here in Philadelphia, Bradford could be a high scoring fantasy QB but what are the odds that his knee acts up again? Probably about 1 in 2. Meanwhile, The Eagles have taken Tim Tebow and are looking to use him in any way possible (which will probably be to come out and confound the defenses in the red zone) and Mark Sanchez is fighting every day for the possibility of being the Eagles’ signal caller. He also knows that there is a good chance that Bradford either gets re-injured or doesn’t live up to expectations in this new offense that he knows well.

DeMarco Murray is the #1 RB here any way you slice it. Reports from the Eagles’ camp are saying that Kelly will spread the football around, but this probably just means that Murray will be spelled by both Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles from time to time and Sproles will mix in similar to how he was used last year. I’m not expecting big things out of Mathews with Murray around, so his 11^th round ADP is probably warranted, though if Murray were to go down Mathews would immediately become a RB1 in this system. Murray’s ADP, on the other hand, is currently in the middle of the 2^nd round. How likely is it that his production warrants such a high draft spot? I think he is being slightly overvalued but should put up similar numbers to RBs drafted around the same time, such as LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Hill.

The departure of former WR1 Jeremy Maclin came as a shock to many, but you have to remember that Maclin was not a guy picked by the current administration. After the shake-up, the new receivers of note here are Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, Riley Cooper and Josh Huff. Matthews was a rookie last year and ended the 2014 season with 67 receptions for 872 yards and 8 TDs behind Maclin. He showed great promise and ran routes both in the slot and as an outside receiver, and this year should have the most targets out of the Eagles’ receiving corps. Agholor is a rookie from USC with great measurable and projects to replace Maclin on most snaps – putting him in prime contention with Matthews for targets and setting the bar high out of the gate for production. It’s tough to say how well he will perform over the course of the season, but his 10^th round ADP is undervaluing him – I would have no problem reaching for Agholor in the 8^th round, for example, if I’m in need of some high risk/reward WRs at that point in the draft. Huff and Cooper both have too much preseason hype, if you ask me – I’m staying away from the both of them because even if they are strong fantasy producers, it won’t be consistent.

The tight end situation in Philadelphia is an interesting one. Zach Ertz has been heralded as the second coming, but the Eagles are too much in love with Brent Celek and his amazing blocking skills to truly switch over to Ertz as an every down player. I do think we’ll see more of Ertz this year, however, as he has just started playing over 50% of snaps in 2014 and has increased his blocking abilities. 2014 brought us a good stat line of 58 receptions for 702 yards for 3 TDs and I’m not jumping on the bandwagon like some others, but I think Ertz has a shot at being a top 10 TE if he has proved himself an able blocker in Chip’s system. His 9^th round ADP is not such a tough sell and I see some people probably reaching for him earlier than that in drafts this year.

Washington Redskins (4-12 in 2014):

Arrivals -

Terrance Knighton (DL, from DEN)

Chris Culliver (CB, from SF)

Matt Jones (RB, Rookie)

Departures -

Brian Orakpo (OLB, to TEN)

Leonard Hankerson (WR, to ATL)

Roy Helu (RB, to OAK)

Santana Moss (WR, Free Agent)

Outlook:

Everyone was so enamored with Robert Griffin III’s 2012 season that the subsequent years of sub-par performance came as quite a shock. Explaining away a poor sophomore effort doesn’t take much of a stretch, but he may never return to his previous form after having been injured and losing both physical explosiveness and mental confidence in his game. The Redskins are going to continue to give Griffin a chance, however, and he was starting to grasp Jay Gruden’s new offense. The interesting thing here is that RG3’s draft stock is so low that he could end up being an extreme value pick as a late round flier. That said, I’m avoiding this situation regardless of whether or not Griffin shows signs of turning his career around. Based on past history, we’ll likely see one of either Kirk Cousins or Colt McCoy taking the field at some point in 2015 – neither of which are worth much consideration.

Alfred Morris has consistently been a 1000+ yard rusher in the NFL and that will certainly continue in 2015. Morris has never been too involved in the passing game (former Redskins’ RB Roy Helu had 42 receptions last year), and rookie Matt Jones will be filling Helu’s role this season and trying to get as many carries as possible in this offense. I think Morris’s position in the offense is very secure right now, though, and he holds an excellent value at his current ADP (beginning of the 4^th round). Jones looks like a RB that could grow into a strong fantasy producer, but he’s currently off the draft radar except in deep PPR leagues or dynasty leagues.

The acquisition of DeSean Jackson in 2014 was a boost for the Redskins’ offense and he performed very well (56 receptions for 1169 yards and 6 TDs), although not approaching his career best numbers in 2013 as a Philadelphia Eagle (82 receptions for 1332 yards and 9 TDs). We’re projecting him to have a very similar season, putting up around the same numbers when all is said and done but being a high risk/reward play on a weekly basis. Pierre Garcon was the league leader in reception in 2013, with 113 for 1346 yards and 5 TDs. Obviously, his production went down when Jackson was brought on board (Garcon’s 2014 stats were 68 receptions for 752 yards and 3 TDs) but that also has a lot to do with Redskins’ troubled offense in general last year. All signs point to Garcon being more involved in the offense this year, but expectations should certainly be tempered here. Andre Roberts and Ryan Grant are intriguing prospects, but there is not enough to go around yet on this offense.

Jordan Reed has had some great games as a safety valve for Robert Griffin III. The problem is not his talent, but his health. A 3^rd year player in the NFL, Reed has never played more than 11 games in a season and it’s difficult to say with any conviction that he will be able to do so in 2015. When he is on the field, however, he is an asset to the team and a talented enough player to contribute positively on a fantasy team (especially PPR & deep leagues). Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s a smart decision to gamble on Reed this year based on his past history and also fellow tight end, Niles Paul, who will certainly be pushing for snaps on the field as well.

Last week was a no brainer, with the Steelers walloping the Cleveland Browns. In the process they may have done them a favor concussing Cody Kessler and allowing Josh McCown to regain the starting spot. McCown is the only choice if you are the Browns head coach and don't want to finish the season winless, which they still probably will. Which leads me to this week's survivor pick - the New York Giants 7.5 point favorites at Cleveland. I think the Giants cover in this one as they desperately try to keep pace with the Cowboys.

Looking at the Browns remaining schedule I would say either this game or Cincinnati in two weeks are their best shots to steal a win. In fact, I plan on placing a wager on that Bengals game coming off the bye.

Miami, Buffalo, and New Orleans are also very strong picks this week. Jay Ajayi is going to eat up the 49ers last ranked run defense, making Miami a safe pick.

Blake Bortles has shown this year that he cannot perform well enough to flourish against a top tier defense like Buffalo's. Expect a lot of pressure and interceptions in that one for Blake.

Finally, the Saints, believe it or not, are still in contention in the NFC South at 4-6, only 2 games back of the 6-4 Falcons. I expect them to have an easy day in the dome against Jared Goff and the Rams. The Rams defense will have to have a perfect game to even give them a shot in this one.

Cheers! Drink Five!

Philadelphia Eagles

What’s changed since last year? The Eagles acquired Jordan Howard (WR34) from the Bears and signed Desean Jackson (WR50) as a free agent. Both guys look to be fantasy relevant this year, but will likely be later round picks, with Howard going in the 9^th and Jackson going in the 14^th rounds on average. Nick Foles has also moved on, so the Superbowl MVP and safety blanket for Carson Wentz is gone.

Who is the breakout/3^rd year WR on the team? The Eagles are pretty set at WR right now, but TE Dallas Goedert could be a potential breakout. He had a good catch percentage last season, hauling in 33 of his 44 targets for 334 yards and 4 TDs last season. The Eagles run a lot of “12 personnel” which has 2 tight ends on the field. With Zach Ertz drawing a lot of attention, and Desean Jackson’s speed, Goedert could find a lot of 1 on 1 opportunities over the middle of the field.

Who is a sleeper you can draft? Currently, the best value I see on this team is Desean Jackson late in drafts and Dallas Goedert as an easy free agent pickup after the draft is over.

What stud can you draft without hesitation? Zach Ertz is currently the consensus TE2 and being drafted at the end of the third round. With the scarcity at the top of the position, I don’t mind taking him if you can get him at the end of the third or beginning of the 4^th. I do suspect that his ADP will rise as the draft season heats up based on his massive numbers from last season, especially in PPR leagues.

Who could be a waiver pickup during the season? Dallas Goedert is a good handcuff for Ertz if you do draft him early, but chances are he will remain on the waiver wire for at least the first few weeks of the season. If you do not take a TE early and have a deep bench, Goedert is a good add for depth and has some breakout potential. JJ Arcega-Whiteside is another player who is not being drafted and could contribute to the team, especially if any of the starting WRs goes down.

Who are the rookies to know on this team? Will any of them be relevant this year? Miles Sanders is the main rookie to know, as he’s going to compete with Jordan Howard for the bulk of the carries. The RB group in Philly is crowded, and includes Wendell Smallwood, Corey Clement and Darren Sproles – all of whom have contributed in big ways in the last couple of seasons. As mentioned earlier, JJ Arcega-Whiteside is behind a lot of veterans on the depth chart, but could see more action if there’s injury, which is a safe bet in the NFL. Arcega-Whiteside could also see more playing time if Nelson Agholor remains underwhelming.

Dallas Cowboys

What’s changed since last year? Cole Beasley has left for Buffalo, leaving his 87 targets behind. In his place, the Cowboys signed Randall Cobb. Last season, Cobb had just 38 catches on 61 targets, which is a dismal 62% catch rate. If Cobb could not produce with Aaron Rodgers last season when he was short on WRs, then I don’t expect him to turn it around in Dallas. Cobb’s ADP of 219 (WR74) backs me up as someone who is not draftable. Jason Witten returns as their TE. He spent a year in the booth with ESPN and will not be missed by viewers who are not his mother. Witten returning is probably not a guarantee for much production, however with the lack of depth at TE across the league, he’s at least fantasy relevant. Witten was the 10^th best TE in 2017 (his last season) , but will still be an upgrade over Blake Jarwin, who was TE26 last season. His ADP of 284 means that he’s a waiver pickup if you want him.

Who is the breakout/3^rd year WR on the team? I don’t want to force this category, and obviously there is not going to be an actual breakout on every team. I will drop one name, however. Michael Gallup had a poor catch rate, but was an outside guy and had a very solid 15.4 yards per reception. If the Cobb experiment doesn’t work out (it won’t), then Gallup could find himself getting a few more targets opposite Amari Cooper.

Who is a sleeper you can draft? Michael Gallup’s ADP is currently 163 (WR57) and he can basically be taken at the end of drafts as a flyer. I also think that Dak Prescott is decent value, his ADP is 139 (QB21) and will go undrafted in some leagues. Prescott has been remarkably consistent and did show an uptick last season when Amari Cooper joined the team. He also has 6 rushing touchdowns in each of his 3 seasons so far – providing a pretty decent floor for a backup QB on your team, or a second guy in a 2 QB league.

What stud can you draft without hesitation? Easy – Ezekiel Elliott. This is not a situation like Bell where Zeke can sit out a year and move on after that. Zeke is still under contract through next year, and then they can start putting the franchise tag on him. He will play and he was the only player last season to carry the ball over 300 times. He is a first round pick in all formats (ADP 4/RB 4) and he’s firmly in the top tier of running backs this season.

Who could be a waiver pickup during the season? In week one or two, you may find Michael Gallup on the waiver wire, and if Jason Witten has a good performance to start, you’ll also see him being picked up based on his name alone. That being said, I don’t see a lot of good fantasy depth on this team. You’re basically going to want Amari Cooper, Ezekiel Elliott and maybe Dak Prescott. After that, it’s difficult to find any fantasy relevance on the Cowboys.

Who are the rookies to know on this team? Will any of them be relevant this year? Again, I’m not going to force any of these categories. The Cowboys didn’t draft a skill position until the 4^th round with Tony Pollard at RB. His ADP is currently 209, which shows that people really aren’t concerned with him taking Zeke’s spot, despite reportedly playing well with Zeke out of camp. Pollard will not be relevant unless Zeke can’t/doesn’t play at some point.

Washington Redskins

What’s changed since last year? The Redskins had a carousel at QB last season, and I expect more of the same this year – so I suppose that there’s not a fundamental change there. Colt McCoy sits on top of the depth chart in the preseason, with Case Keenum right behind him. Alex Smith is still out from his broken leg last year, and first round pick Dwayne Haskins is being brought along, but isn’t a threat to start the season. I would not be surprised if every one of those guys got a start this year. They did lose Jameson Crowder to the Jets, though his 388 yards and 49 targets won’t be hard to replace. In fact, the leading receiver last year was Jordan Reed, with only 558 yards. No receivers had more than 2 TDs on the team, so it’s safe to say that the receiving group will be better this year, no matter what happens.

Who is the breakout/3^rd year WR on the team? Paul Richardson, if healthy (recovering from a shoulder injury last November), could be someone who can finally live up to his potential. This is his 6^th season in the league, though he’s only started 23 games total. His ADP of 269 (WR88) makes him undraftable and he is, admittedly, a long shot here. Derrius Guice had to sit out last season, and has been nursing a hamstring injury this year. Despite this, he is the highest Washington player on the ADP list (ADP 65/RB 30). Guice has the most potential of the unknown talents on the team, but he’s yet to see a single snap in the NFL. We’re talking potential here and there’s not much more to go on.

Who is a sleeper you can draft? Well, I don’t know about sleepers as in players who will surprise you, but there’s great value for Adrian Peterson at an ADP of 140 (RB51) and Chris Thompson at ADP 192 (RB63). The best WR on the team last year, Josh Doctson, has an ADP of 285 (WR94). The leading pass catcher on the team, Jordan Reed, has an ADP of 155 (TE16). Basically, you can have any of the “leaders” from the Redskins last year. The Redskins could very well be the least drafted team in fantasy football this year.

What stud can you draft without hesitation? None. This is a stud-less team. They are so far away from having a fantasy stud that were I to suggest one, you would immediately close this article.

Who could be a waiver pickup during the season? Basically any of the players mentioned earlier. The entire team will likely be available on the waiver wire early in the season, so if the Redskins do manage to have a good start, there will be plenty of options available. Of course, they play the Eagles and Bears in two of their first three games, so fat chance of that good start happening.

Who are the rookies to know on this team? Will any of them be relevant this year? Dwayne Haskins is the QB of the future for Washington. He is not relevant in redraft leagues to start the season (ADP 236/QB28), but his pedigree is there. He has the single season record for passing yards and TDs at Ohio State and was picked at #15 overall, the 3^rd QB taken in the 2019 draft. He will be relevant if you have a dynasty draft, but otherwise he will be a pickup later in the year once he gets some starts. Haskins’ college teammate, Terry McLaurin, is a guy who can shine at WR. He ran a 4.32-40 at the combine and should see plenty of time on the field since there’s nobody on the depth chart ahead of him that really demands playing time. McLaurin can hopefully keep his relationship with Haskins going and turn it into a productive rookie year.

New York Giants

What’s changed since last year? Most notably, the Giants traded Odell Beckham away to the Browns. They did acquire a top tier offensive guard, Kevin Zeitler, which should improve their running game. That being said, the loss of Beckham will be felt all year long, as they did not replace him or his 124 targets at all. Golden Tate is new to the team and will try to pick up the slack, but he is now suspended for the first 4 games of the season. Tate will probably be a very high volume PPR receiver when he returns and can be had at a cheap price right now, his ADP is 111 (WR44).

Who is the breakout/3^rd year WR on the team? Nobody really stands out to me as a potential breakout on the Giants, mostly because of the presence of Eli Manning. It’s certainly possible that one of the WRs can step up just based on the fact that there’s nobody else to throw to, but the 2018 Redskins proved that that doesn’t have to be the case.

Who is a sleeper you can draft? The uncertainty with the passing game in New York, coupled with his 4 game suspension, makes Golden Tate probably the only “sleeper” candidate on the Giants. Of course, he’s going to miss 4 games – but most sleepers don’t come on right away anyways.

What stud can you draft without hesitation? Saquon Thunder-Thighs Barkley. He’s currently ADP 1 and will have a very high percentage of the offense going through him this year. If (when) the Giants are losing, he will see lots of check down passes out of the backfield, he’s going to be even more fun in PPR leagues.

Who could be a waiver pickup during the season? It’s certainly possible that a WR like Bennie Fowler, Cody Latimer, or Russell Shepard can step up due to a lack of depth at the position. However – I wouldn’t count on it, but they are names to keep an eye on anyways.

Who are the rookies to know on this team? Will any of them be relevant this year? Daniel Jones is the Eli Manning of the future, drafted 6^th overall this year. I certainly think that given the state of the team, they might as well start him as soon as possible, but that doesn’t seem to be the plan. I do expect Jones to eventually get starts, but that will probably come later in the season when they are eliminated from the playoffs and have a (likely) 1-9 record. Almost all of the rest of the Giants draft picks came on the defense.

Last week, we finally had some upsets in the NFL, and 568 entrants were eliminated from the pool. I gave you an easy winner last week with the Chargers, who stomped out the Dolphins like everyone else has this year. But alas, this week the Dolphins are on bye, so I'm going to have to really put on my thinking cap to pick this week's winner.

Looking at the schedule I was inclined to pick the undefeated 49ers against the Cleveland Browns at home, but I just don't know which one of those teams is for real and which one’s a pretender yet, so I'm going to skip that one. After seeing I've already used some of the biggest favorites of the week, I decided to go out on a limb a little bit and pick the Minnesota Vikings.

There's been a lot of drama and shit talking regarding their terrible quarterback Kirk Cousins, but I think that it just motivated guys like Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen to really go off this week and put a whooping on a resurgent Giants team. Danny Dimes is looking good so far, but the Vikings defense is fierce and I think the Vikings will win this game. Plus, one Golden Tate minus one Saquon Barkley equals negative Saquon Barkley's. That pretty much sums up how I feel the Giants are performing this game.

On a final note, I would like to add a suggestion. Stefon Diggs should to request a trade destination like either the New England Patriots or the Kansas City Chiefs. My fantasy teams would really enjoy that. This article was written while driving to Sequoia National Park for a camping weekend so I hope it's plenty coherent and enjoyable enough and that the pic is a good one. Have a good weekend everybody.