Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

Last week I had some work come up and was unable to contribute! Hopefully you enjoyed all the upsets and won your fantasy matchup! Darn work gets in the way of fun from time to time.

Rookie QB’s

Something about Rookies gets me excited. It’s the potential. More often than not they are disappointing, but when they pan out it is exciting! This week we have 2 new Rookie QB’s getting thrown into the mix, Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen get their first NFL starts. Why am I interested in watching them this week? Well, the potential.

Baker Mayfield looked much better then Tyrod Taylor when he came in to lead the Browns to victory last week. It will be interesting to see how this affects the rest of the team. Njoku should get back to the preseason hype level. Landry has already been quoted that Mayfield throws “with so much zing”. Calloway has some breakout potential and would have had an easy touchdown if Tyrod didn’t under throw him last week (he did drop a dime from Mayfield in the second half).

Josh Rosen got thrown to the wolves last week vs the Bears. Down in the 4^th quarter against one of the scariest defenses in the league, perfect time to let the rookie show what he is made of. Rosen had great chemistry with Christian Kirk in the pre-season and I would expect to see his name on some waiver wire lists next week. The big thing to watch will be how the rookie benefits David Johnson, because quite frankly it can’t get worse….right?

Prediction- Baker Mayfield goes off passing for 300+ yards and touchdowns to 3 different receivers (Landry, Calloway, Njoku). Rosen looks more like a rookie, but David Johnson owners breathe a sigh of relief as he targets his best weapon out of the backfield and has his best fantasy performance of the year.

Thursday Night Football

Any football fan will sit down and watch Thursday night football, even a Jets vs Browns game. This week should be one of the better matchups on the season with two of the favorites to win the NFC squaring off.

Minnesota was downright awful last week vs Buffalo and looks to bounce back on the road vs the 3-0 Rams. The Vikings hold 27-16-2 record all time vs the Rams including last season when the Vikings blew out the Rams 24-7. A lot of the same faces this year, but two very different starts to the season. With a Vegas over/under set at 49.5, this should be a shoot-out and great fantasy days for all involved. I’m just excited to start Week 4 with what should be an exciting game.

Prediction: Minnesota coming into LA as underdogs score the last points of the game and that proves to be the difference. Final 38-35 Vikings

 The Bills?

Did you see Josh Allen hurdle?! In an age when defenders are getting flagged for patting a quarterback on the head, no one expected Josh Allen to hurdle a tackle. He didn’t only do it with his legs (2 rushing TDs) he also went for 15-22 for 196 yards and a touchdown in a game where he did not need to pass much.

With LeSean McCoy coming back this week, I will be watching to see if McCoy can return any value with a new signal caller out there. Since Allen has already proved his ability to keep plays alive and use his legs, we might see more swing passes and option plays going McCoys way.

Prediction – The Bills lose to the Packers, but Josh Allen surprises with 250 yards, 1 passing touchdown and another one on the ground. His mobility opens up the game for LeSean McCoy and owners that nabbed him in the 4^th or 5^th round are starting to get excited. 

Week 2 Recap

Denver Backfield - Nailed my prediction of Freeman getting in the end zone week 2 (did it again week 3) and both backs are RB2/Flex worthy. Lindsay got ejected for throwing a punch week 3, but he will be back and we can expect a split backfield once again.

JETS - Missed badly here. Darnold looks…..like a rookie. I called for Crow to get into the end zone twice in week 2, and was off a week in both directions. He scored twice in week 1 and twice in week 3. Maybe start Crow on odd number weeks? Smarter play is to avoid the Jets all together.

Steelers vs Chiefs – It was the highest scoring game of the week with a whopping 79 points. Kelce and Hunt also had great bounce back games. Missed on AB being the #1 WR of the week, but can’t win them all!