In leagues where rosters are 30 players deep and waivers are plucked clean, it’s important not to overreact after week 1. This is especially true for players on the back-end of your roster that won’t see much of the field this year. The hyped rookie that you drafted isn’t burning you by sitting in your 27th roster spot. It’s important to temper your expectations on these rookies and not fall victim to week 1.
Every year there are countless story lines that don’t play out as we suspected. (TB vs NO week 1 last year anyone?). On Thursday night, highly touted rookie David Montgomery was one of those things. Montgomery was out touched by both Mike Davis (I did not see that coming) and Tarik Cohen. This is a bit concerning considering that Montgomery should be game script proof due to his pass catching ability. This will be something to monitor closely in Week 2. I’ll be targeting Montgomery in trades if less patient owners give up on him.
On the other side of the ball, Marques Valdez-Scantling’s usage was encouraging. Having traded for him in the off-season, I was pleased to see MVS being targeted over Allison. I had to check the box score to see if Allison was active. MVS had 6 targets before being removed due to cramping. His buy window is still open, and the fact that MVS is the #2 in Green Bay elevates him to that WR3 range. Here are a few other situations I’ll be keeping my eye on this Sunday.
Royce Freeman’s usage is something to watch. I’m expecting to see a dip in touches for Lindsay. Lindsay was an outlier last year, going undrafted and producing as much as he did. Royce is a RB I was high on heading into drafts last year and I don’t believe we have seen what he is capable of. Keep a close eye on how Denver is utilizing each of these backs. I’d be willing to buy low on Freeman, but judging by his ADP his perceived value has not slipped.
The Jaguars offense is extremely intriguing this year. After averaging less than 20 PPG in 2018, the hiring of DeFilippo and signing of Foles are reasons to believe that will change. Despite Rudy’s endless love for Bortles (anyone watch The Good Place? I can’t help but yell BORTLES! in my head every time I hear his name), he is a downright terrible quarterback. The Jaguars tried to hide this by putting the ball on the ground as much as possible. This lead to one of the most inefficient offenses in the league. It would be difficult for any offense to produce when the play calling was as predictable as it was for Jacksonville last year. John DeFilippo was fired last year for passing too much, but that will play well in this new offense. Foles has plenty of weapons in Westbrook, Cole, and Fournette. Kelan Cole put up over 700 yards in his rookie season before disappearing in 2018 due to bad quarterback play. I’ll be watching for a bounce back year from him. This offense is improved and the only thing holding it back from fantasy nirvana is how good their defense is. They won’t be playing catch up in too many games this year.
Be sure to leverage Rudy’s free Trade Analyzer when targeting any of these players. Also, you can check out a free trial of Rudy’s tools to see how he’s projecting the Bears backfield going forward. Are there any situations you are excited to monitor this Sunday? Drop them below!
