Week 1 is upon us internet friends and that means real, live American Football! Let us rejoice. With that, it’s time to crush our opponents and begin the systematic take down of our fantasy leagues. The focus of this article each week is to bring you the best passing and rushing matchups along with a few interesting notes and stats pertaining to QBs, WRs, RBs & TEs. After you’ve processed the information you’ll be ready to make the right lineup decisions to help you win . As the season progresses, we’ll have a bigger sample of data to draw on. But for this week we’ll stick to some historical trends and numbers that will help us better identify the top plays of the week. So what I’m basically saying is…..This article will definitely dig deeper and be more complete as the season moves along. So without further hesitation, let’s dig into some numbers that might help you win your match up this week. But……before we dive in I should probably offer up some sort of lede which ties into the catchy title. Right? Okay, well Kirk “You Like That” Cousins has a delicious match up with the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh ranked 22nd in TDs allowed last season and 30th in passing yards allowed. That’s not optimal for a defense. In fact, that’s pretty close to orange cone level. Add those numbers to the fact that he’s at home this week (which we’ll talk about below) and you have yourself a QBILF!? Anyway, here’s a look at some other numbers to guide you through Week 1:
[graphiq id=”3AJp2yM3eSN” title=”Kirk Cousins Overview” width=”640″ height=”670″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/3AJp2yM3eSN” link=”http://football-players.pointafter.com/l/4317/Kirk-Cousins” link_text=”Kirk Cousins Overview | PointAfter”]
Quarterbacks
- Believe it or not, Brock Osweiler has a plus match up. The Bears secondary is an absolute mess right now with all three Bears’ cornerbacks (Brice Callahan, Kyle Fuller and Tracey Porter) questionable for Sunday night. He threw for at least 250 yards in 4 of his 6 starts last season, while completing 61.8% of his passes. The O/U for this contest is 44 and the Texans have an implied team total of 25.
- Tyrod Taylor had a 5.7 percent touchdown rate and ran for 30 yards or more in 9 of his 14 games during the 2015 season.
- Although it was just preseason action, Dak Prescott completed 78% of his passes and tossed seven touchdowns. In Week 1 Dak will face a Giants defense that allowed the 3rd most fantasy points to QBs in 2015.
- Drew Brees continues to be a top 5 option nearly every week based on volume alone. He ranked 2nd in attempts last season (627), 1st in 2014 (659) and 3rd in 2013 (650).
- I wish I loved anything as much as Kirk Cousins loves playing at home. He produced a 117.0 QB Rating, which ranked first in the league and he threw for 16 scores against just two interceptions. Oh yeah, he also managed to run it into the painted grass four times as well.
Running Backs
- The Rams should rely heavily on Todd Gurley this week as Case Keenum will be under center. He should carve up the 49ers defense, which allowed the 4th most rushing yards and the most touchdowns to RBs last season.
- Last season in two match ups with Tampa Bay, Devonta Freeman had 51 touches which included 16 receptions. Freeman was leaned on near the end zone last year as he totaled 49 red-zone carries which ranked first and he was second among backs with in red-zone targets.
- The Raiders and Saints will square off in what Vegas believes will be the highest scoring game of the week. Latavius Murray should be a solid option facing a New Orleans’ defense that ranked 32nd in YPC and 31st in yards per game.
- Spencer Ware should immediately pay dividends for those lucky enough to pluck him off the board in their drafts. San Diego ranked last in TDs allowed and yards per carry this preseason and in 2015 they finished 27th in total yards allowed and surrendered the most touchdowns as well.
- Charles Sims might be worth a look this week as the Falcons gave up the most receptions (112), 2nd most rushing TDs (16) and ranked 30th in passing yards allowed to RBs last season.
Wide Receivers
- Michael Crabtree drew 8 targets inside the ten last season – totaling 36% of the Raiders’ overall output. Amari Cooper was shutout inside of the ten, but did manage to draw 8 total red-zone targets in 2015. Both will be of high usage Sunday in what should shape up to be a shootout.
- Marvin Jones better bring his appetite to Indianapolis this week because he’s about to eat like a King. With the Vontae Davis sitting out the season opener he’ll spend most of his time opposite Antonio Cromartie. Cromartie ranked 103rd among 118 qualified cornerbacks in 2015 according to PFF.
- Jarvis Landry drew 166 targets in 2015, which accounted for 35% of Miami’s total output.
- Tavon Austin saw 38.5% of the Rams red-zone targets in 2015.
- Brandon Marshall saw 173 targets last year, which totaled 31.8% of the Jets’ total output. Meanwhile, Eric Decker grabbed 36.7% of New York’s red-zone targets.
Tight Ends
- I’m not labeling Jared Cook a complete bust yet. He’ll have the luxury of catching passes from the best QB on the planet. Vegas believes the Packers will score 26 points Sunday and the Jaguars were a bottom five team in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns last season.
- New Orleans went to the air 63.8% of the time last season so hopefully Coby Fleener has a better grasp on the playbook than he did earlier in training camp.
- Gary Barnidge saw 54.5% of the Browns red-zone targets in 2015 and he led all TEs with 24 RZ targets which included 13 inside the ten.
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