Tony Cutillo
On the verge of Week 2, the Stars and Stiffs Report is here to point out the guys you should feel safe about starting and the ones who are better off left at the bar until closing time. After one of the most exciting opening weeks in fantasy history in the books,, there is plenty to be concerned about heading into Week 2.
Guys like OBJ and Dez Bryant, who didn’t perform well last week, will still get their numbers going forward. However, if you are a Jamaal Charles or Sammy Watkins owner, now is the time to be concerned. The constant fear of injuries always exists, but when guys coming off of a specific procedure either can’t get on the field or admit still being sore, the feeling of nervousness is definitely warranted. Now that we have hard evidence to go off of from Week 1, it makes the decisions a little more simplistic for Week 2.
The world of sports media is a beautiful thing when all parties are involved and engulfed in a stern debate. As always, I look forward to your opinions and feedback. You can tweet me (@TCutillo23) with any questions and leave your comments below. For my statistical hounds out there, I will put last week’s stats in parentheses so you can see how I performed.
Here are my picks for Week 2:
Stars
QB: Matthew Stafford (TEN), Joe Flacco (@CLE), Eli Manning (NO)
RB: Rashad Jennings (NO), David Johnson (TB)
WR: Doug Baldwin (@LA), Emmanuel Sanders (IND), Alshon Jeffery (PHI)
(Last week: 5 out of 8, 63%)
…
Stiffs
QB: Jimmy Garoppolo (MIA)
RB: Arian Foster (MIA), Ryan Matthews (@CHI)
WR: Desean Jackson (DAL), Jordy Nelson (@MIN), Vincent Jackson (@ARZ)
(Last week: 4 out of 6, 66%)
…
Sleepers
Tevin Coleman (@OAK), Travis Benjamin (JAC), Cole Beasley (@WAS)
(Last week: 3 out of 4, 75%)
…
Bust Alert
Jameis Winston (@ARZ), Todd Gurley (SEA)
(Last week: 1 out of 2, 50%)
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Week 2 Triple Threat
Joe Flacco (@CLE) – Joe Flacco has looked pretty good as he comes back from an ACL injury and the Ravens have a lot of firepower on offense that can help him ease back in. This week, the road goes through Cleveland, who couldn’t get pressure on the QB even if they tried. It will be a long day for the Dog Pound as they will have nightmares of purple and black running through their minds all week. Get Flacco in your lineup now!
CJ Anderson (IND) – Did anyone expect CJ Anderson to come out on Thursday night against the Panthers and command the ball for the entire game? We heard whispers of Kubiak naming him his workhorse, but it was hard to imagine it being true. Well, it definitely looks to hold merit and CJ has gone from mid-to-late round draft status all the way up to RB1 material. It looks as if the receivers will be taking a step back this year and the running game will be the featured play of the week.
Are you still worried about Devontae Booker? Since he showed he could of been the lead spokesmen for “I can’t believe it’s not butter” on his first carry, I think CJ owners can feel safe.
Last week, the Lions erupted for 448 total yards and four total touchdowns from their running backs against the hapless Colts defense. This leads me to believe Mr. Anderson will bring it once again and show everyone why he will be a top RB1 option this year.
Odell Beckham JR. (NO) – Did you see last week’s game between the Saints and the Raiders? If you did, you know it had enough offense to keep even Mike Martz happy. There are two things that weigh heavily in the favor of OBJ this week; he wasn’t on his game in Dallas last week and the Saints secondary couldn’t stop the Little Giants team led by Ed O’Neil.
Amari Cooper showed off his skills last week to the tune of 6/137, which is just a starting point for OBJ. And to make matters worse, the Saints will be without their top CB, Delvin Breaux, as he broke his fibula last week and is lost for the season. If you haven’t realized it already, OBJ should explode this week and make his last game a distant memory.
As always, you can stop by my Facebook page (Fantasy Sports Addiction) or tweet me (@TCutillo23) for questions or some nice fantasy debates. I can also be heard weekly via the internet stream live at WENG RADIO every Monday at 4:00 P.M. ET for a weekend sports wrap. But most importantly, you can catch me here at Pi!
For fantasy purposes, all my articles are predicated upon a PPR-based system.