Last week we kicked off the B-Team series, where I will be creating a hypothetical fantasy football team each week. The catch is, the players I choose can only be owned in less than 40% on one of or both of Yahoo and ESPN. The goal of this series is to score over 100 fantasy points each week with the make-shift squad. The purpose is to show that there is value readily out there and a quality fantasy football player can find that.
Last week we kicked things off with the first edition of the series (I was a week late on getting to it.) I fell short of the mission of achieving 100 points last week, where I only put up 76.12. What really held me back was selecting C.J. Anderson and Danny Amendola to my team. Without those two combining for a grand total of 0.8 fantasy points, I had a real shot. I also forgot to add a flex position, which I will do moving forward. Here’s my roster from last week and how it performed.
Week 2 Results
QB: Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills) - 22.22 points
RB: Raheem Mostert (San Francisco 49ers) - 24.1 points
RB: C.J. Anderson (Detroit Lions) - 0.8 points
WR: Mecole Hardman (Kansas City Chiefs) - 16.1 points
WR: Danny Amendola (Detroit Lions) - 0 points
TE: Vernon Davis (Washington) - 5.9 points
DEF: Indianapolis Colts - 7
Here's now we'll lineup this week.
Quarterback
Kyle Allen (Carolina Panthers) - Owned in 2% of Yahoo and 0.9% of ESPN leagues
Across the first two weeks of the season, the Arizona Cardinals have allowed Matthew Stafford to score 27.6 fantasy points in Week 1 and Lamar Jackson to score 30.88 fantasy points in Week 2. The team simply can’t stop the pass. Even if Kyle Allen is a back-up, he’s a capable one. Even if he’s constantly dumping passes off underneath to Christian McCaffrey or throwing short passes to Greg Olsen or D.J. Moore, he’s still going to put up quality numbers. If you’re looking for a quarterback in super deep leagues or even for your DFS lineups, look towards Allen. Matthew Stafford is available for me here, but I don’t like using a player who is owned in over 50% of leagues in at least one of the sites, even if he qualifies on one.
Runningbacks
Darwin Thompson (Kansas City Chiefs) - Owned in 32% of Yahoo and 21.5% of ESPN leagues
This is one of the picks thus far in the early life of the B-Team that I’d definitely hang my hat on. Damien Williams will miss Sunday’s game with the Ravens, leaving the door open for Thompson to step into. LeSean McCoy too left last week’s game with the Raiders early with a knock. It’s not the most ideal matchup for Thompson, but I’ll take a runningback on the Chiefs who will get around 15 chances. Thompson also proved in the pre-season that he’s very capable in the passing game. I think this could be the game that propels Thompson into a more prominent role with the Chiefs.
Rex Burkhead (New England Patriots) - Owned in 20% of Yahoo and 15% of ESPN leagues
James White is slated to miss Sunday’s game with the New York Jets due to the birth of his child. That opens a huge door for Burkhead to step through. Burkhead is much like White, a receiver that lines up in the backfield. The Patriots have been running plenty of two runningback sets with no tight-end. This allows both Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead to co-exist. Look for Burkhead to have a large impact in Sunday’s game and a healthy amount of fantasy points.
Wide Receivers
Randall Cobb (Dallas Cowboys) - Owned in 30% of Yahoo and 30.7% of ESPN leagues
Michael Gallup will miss the next few weeks, including Sunday’s clash with the Miami Dolphins. He leaves behind 11 targets from the first two weeks. In a game where the Cowboys should post a boat-load of points, Cobb will get his chances as Dak’s number-two.
Deebo Samuel (San Francisco 49ers) - Owned in 38% of Yahoo and 21.2% of ESPN leagues
Last week Deebo scored his first career touchdown as the 49ers took on the Cincinnati Bengals. He also saw seven targets and posted 20.3 fantasy points. Now the team is home for the first time this year, following two road victories. They also get the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have allowed the fifth most fantasy points to opposing receivers over the first two weeks.
Tightend
Will Dissly (Seattle Seahawks) - Owned in 41% of Yahoo and 24.3% of ESPN leagues
Dissly has big play potential written all over him. Over the past two seasons, he and Russell Wilson have connected on some big time plays. He also is one of, if not Wilson’s favorite target in the red zone, which is evident in his two touchdown performance a week ago. It’s not the most ideal matchup with the New Orleans Saints, but it takes one play for Dissly to have a great week.
Flex
Phillip Dorsett (New England Patriots) - Owned in 27% of Yahoo and 5.3% of ESPN leagues
I forgot to pick a flex player last week for my lineup. So in my first ever flex selection for the B-Team, I’ll go with Phillip Dorsett. Antonio Brown is out of town, leaving Dorsett as Tom Brady’s number two. In Week 1, without Brown, Dorsett saw four targets and went on to post 25.5 fantasy points. He saw three last week with Brown playing. Expect Dorsett's workload to go back up with Brown out of the picture. The Jets currently rank 13th in the league in points allowed to opposing receivers.
Defense
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Owned in 14% of Yahoo and 7.3% of ESPN leagues
It’s weird to say, but the Bucs’ have a competent defense. Todd Bowles may just be a wizard. The Bucs’ play the New York Giants and first time starter Daniel Jones. Expect some bad choices and a turnover or two on Sunday, giving the Tampa defense another quality week, as they currently average 10.5 points-per-week.