It wasn’t all bad to start the season. Lining up a successful B-Team for Week 1 of the season has proven difficult for me now in our third try. It’s tough assuming roles and completely throwing darts at the wall, hoping for one to stick. We had some bright spots, but a bunch of underwhelming numbers across the board. We’ve got some football behind us, so let’s go out and get those 100 points this week!
This is a series where I construct a hypothetical fantasy football lineup using players that are owned in less than 40-percent of Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues. The goal of the series is to top 100 PPR fantasy points using the make-shift team. The premise is to show that there is readily available value at all times across most waiver wires. You can find last week’s results below.
It’s crucial for the B-Team to have a strong performance by our quarterback. Sam Darnold got us off to a good start with his 19.06 fantasy points in his first game away from the New York Jets. Kenneth Gainwell and Bryan Edwards were our next top scorers at 12.3 and 12.1 fantasy points respectively. Beyond that, we had a bunch of single-digit performances. Like I said in the introduction, let’s move on to Week 2!
Week 1 Results
Sam Darnold (Carolina Panthers) - 19.06 points
Kenneth Gainwell (Philadelphia Eagles) - 12.3 points
Ty Johnson (New York Jets) - 3.6 points
Terrace Marshall Jr. (Carolina Panthers) - 5.6 points
Tyrell Williams (Detroit Lions) - 3.4 points
Tyler Conklin (Minnesota Vikings) - 8.1 points
Bryan Edwards (Las Vegas Raiders) - 12.1 points
Jacksonville Jaguars - -3 points
Total: 61.16 points
Week 2 Lineup
Quarterback
Teddy Bridgewater (Denver Broncos) - Owned in 16% of Yahoo and 13.8% of ESPN leagues
Matchup: @JAX
Teddy Bridgewater had a decent debut with the Broncos in their Week 1 game with the New York Giants. Bridgewater went for 264 yards and two touchdowns, while completing 78-percent of his passes. He gets another plus-matchup this week while visiting the underperforming Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars allowed Tyrod Taylor to post 23.64 fantasy points last week. I love this matchup even though Bridgewater will be without Jeudy. He still has Courtland Sutton, Noah Fant and company.
Runningbacks
Tony Jones Jr. (New Orleans Saints) - Owned in 24% of Yahoo and 19.1% of ESPN leagues
Matchup: @CAR
Tony Jones Jr. did what we all expected out of him last week as the new RB2 in New Orleans. He had 12 touches last week behind Alvin Kamara. It’s not ideal, but when we’re picking runningbacks for the B-Team, these are the type of players we have to roll with. Jones posted 50 yards on his 11 carries and should see similar volume this week against the Panthers. Give me double digit touches out of Jones and I’ll be a happy man.
Kenneth Gainwell (Philadelphia Eagles) - Owned in 36% of Yahoo and 27.1% of ESPN leagues
Matchup: vs. SF
I’m going back to the well with Kenneth Gainwell. The rookie was my top scoring skill position player in our B-Team debut on the season. I have to go back to him. Boston Scott didn’t record a single touch last week against the Falcons, so I think it’s safe to assume that Gainwell is the clear number two in Philadelphia. The 49ers allowed two top-four fantasy performances to the Lions’ runningbacks last week. I don’t see that happening again, but it seems that running against the Niners may be the way to success. Also, let’s not forget that Gainwell caught two-of-three targets as well.
Wide Receivers
Tim Patrick (Denver Broncos) - Owned in 22% of Yahoo and 12.2% of ESPN leagues
Matchup: @JAX
When it comes to the B-Team. I do like to stack a receiver with my quarterback when possible. It didn’t work out too well for me last week with my stack of Darnold and Marshall. I’m hoping for a better result this week with Bridgewater and Patrick. I’ve gone back and forth between playing Patrick or Hamler, but knowing Bridgewater’s conservative style, I like Patrick a bit more for me. Of course, Jeudy is sidelined with an ankle injury, so this is opening up a lot of work for both Patrick and Hamler, which is where my dilemma comes from.
Bryan Edwards (Las Vegas Raiders) - Owned in 20% of Yahoo and 17% of ESPN leagues
Matchup: @PIT
Just as Gainwell was in my lineup last week and posted 12-plus fantasy points for me, so is Edwards. Edwards’ was Derek Carr’s favorite target in the final drive of regulation that allowed the Raiders to tie the Ravens in route to an eventual victory. Now, the Raiders get the Steelers, in what could be another high scoring affair. I think Edwards gets into the endzone this week to go on top of six receptions for 68 yards, or at least, I hope.
Tight End
Cole Kmet (Chicago Bears) - Owned in 39% of Yahoo and 27.5% of ESPN leagues
Matchup: vs. Cin
Cole Kmet seemed to be one of Andy Dalton’s favorite targets as he saw seven targets in the Bears’ Week 1 tilt with the Rams. I’m looking to get a good chunk of points off receptions when it comes to Kmet this week and if I’m lucky, he might find the endzone. That would be ideal.
Flex
Jamison Crowder (New York Jets) - Owned in 26% of Yahoo and 18% of ESPN leagues
Matchup: vs. NE
The matchup is not ideal for Jamison Crowder as he looks to make his season debut this week. He missed the Jets’ Week 1 game, but is back to help rookie quarterback Zach Wilson. We know Crowder as a PPR gem with the targets and receptions he gets week-in-and-week-out. I’m hoping that Wilson is happy to see a sure-handed Crowder to throw to and he goes to him early-and-often.
Defense
Chicago Bears - Owned in 27% of Yahoo and 10.6% of ESPN leagues
Matchup: Vs. Cin
Must be not enough people are reading my Streamable Defenses of the Week article because the Bears were my top suggestion and they only went up in ownership by 0.6-percent in ESPN leagues. Anyhow, Joe Burrow was sacked five times last week. We know that the weakness of this Bengals’ squad is the offensive line. Not only do sacks allow defenses to post fantasy points, but anytime the quarterback is constantly being hit or under pressure, mistakes and turnovers are destined to happen.
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