We have turned the page on week 1 of the 2020 NFL season and are on to preparing for week 2. Hopefully, you started off your fantasy football season with wins, but even if you came up short don’t panic yet. Even some of the best in fantasy and real football get off to slow starts sometimes; just ask Saquan Barkley and Michael Thomas!
As you know, every Thursday here on Razzball, I will be posting the weeks “Sexy Flexies” to give you a couple of players to consider starting in your flex spot. The objective isn’t to point out the obvious guys you’re starting in your RB or WR slots, but to take a look at a couple of players who are a bit more under the radar. These will likely be guys that you won’t start every week but will be good rotational pieces in the flex spot of your lineup based on matchup and opportunity.
What I do here is look at the match-ups and opportunities and highlight for you a couple of guys who I believe will perform in the situation they are in for the given week. For this column, we will be looking at players who are ranked 60th or later at the flex position for the week, according to Fantasy Pros Consensus Ratings, but will still get you double digit fantasy points in your flex spots. Last week, we went 1-1 on the Sexy Flexies with Desean Jackson failing to live up to expectation despite tying for second on the team in targets, but Sony Michel salvaging his day with a late TD. Let’s take a look at the players who will be the “Sexy Flexies” for week 2!
Parris Campbell – WR – Indianapolis Colts – vs Minnesota
Coming out of Ohio State in the 2019 NFL Draft, Parris Campbell was regarded as one of the most explosive players in the rookie class. He was touted for his elite speed and game breaking ability that he showed in college with the Buckeyes. Unfortunately, his rookie campaign was hampered with a smorgasbord of injuries and we were not able to see much from Campbell in his 7 games.
We did get to see a lot of Campbell in a disappointing week 1 loss for the Colts. Campbell tied for the team lead in targets with T.Y. Hilton at 9 each, and he was able to pull in 6 of those 9 targets for 71 yards. In addition to the 6 catches, Campbell also got schemed a rushing attempt that he took for 9 yards to finish the week with 80 total yards. What we were able to see is that Parris Campbell established trust with new QB Philip Rivers and that Rivers was looking to Campbell over the middle of the field. Nearly 20% percent of Rivers pass attempts went Campbells way which was a very encouraging thing to see.
The Colts will be looking to bounce back in week 2 against a Minnesota team whose secondary is their glaring weakness. The Vikings are rolling out Holton Hill, Cameron Dantzler and Mike Hughes at cornerback and were exposed last week by Green Bay. In 2 WR sets, Campbell will either see the rookie Dantzler or Hill, who graded out at a 29 last week in PFF grade. I look for Campbell to continue to build his rapport with Rivers and use his tremendous speed and athleticism to take one to the house this week as well. Start Campell as a flex this week for a 6 for 85 and a touchdown upside, giving you 20 points in a ppr league!
Anthony Miller – WR – Chicago Bears – vs New York Giants
One of the surprises of week 1 was Mitch Trubisky leading the Bears to a come from behind win against the Detroit Lions. The game winning touchdown was a beautiful 27 yarder to wide receiver Anthony Miller. Miller had a great final 6 weeks of the 2019 season and is looking to pick up where he left off.
Even with Allen Robinson showing frustration with the Bears organization this week by taking down all references to the team from his social media pages, it was said that he intends to finish the season in Chicago. Robinson being there and being the star is a good thing for Anthony Miller. Defenses focus on Robinson as one of the game’s top receivers and that allows Miller to work against lesser coverage and with less focus on him. Although Miller only caught 4 passes in week 1, he did draw 6 targets and led the team with 76 yards and that go-ahead touchdown.
This week’s match-up sees the Bears going up against a Giants secondary that we just saw Ben Roethlisberger beat for 3 touchdowns on Monday Night. Miller predominantly lines up in the slot which would match him up against rookie fourth rounder Darnay Holmes. This is a very favorable match-up for Miller as he looks to take advantage of the rookie and continue to cement himself as a big part of this Bears offense. In a game where he only caught 4 passes, he was able to put up over 17 fantasy points in a PPR last week. If Miller can bring in 5 for 60 and reach paydirt again, he can bring you another 17 fantasy points in a ppr league with it.
With injuries to some of the top wide receivers in the game this week, I’ve decided to give you two wide receivers this week as the week 2 Sexy Flexies. Both players have great double-digit point upside and should have significant roles in their team’s game plan this week. For some more help with setting your lineups, and even for full season projections, don’t forget to check out Rudy Gamble’s Pigskinator as well! Good luck in all your match-ups this week!
