Going to be honest…I was unprepared in my home leagues and took two significant beatings. I won all other matchups, but the home leagues left me disappointed. As I have typed in this column for years, ‘now is not the time to panic.’ The worst you could be right now is 0-1 with Jordan Love, the Miami RBs, and Jake Ferguson on your team. If that is your plight, then I authorize you to panic a little bit.
OK, now that we have gotten the small amount of panic out of our system, and taken a deep breath, it is time to focus on making our roster(s) better. Do not allow a middling performance from your big-name players freak you out. It happens. We all have bad days. Where we should place our focus is solely on injured players. We want to cover down for any player that came away from Week 1 with an injury versus chasing some Alec Pierce 60-yard TD while expecting that happen every week. Sure, a player like Pierce is good for depth, but I seriously doubt he can/should be trusted as a weekly starter at WR.
Do not forget the @Razzball NFL team of writers will be hosting our Sunday Morning Start/Sit podcast every week starting three hours before kickoff all the way up to the official start of the early games. Bobby – @BobbyLaMarco, Sky – @SkyGuasco, Derek – @Derek_Favret, and me/Matt – @stiles08, will be answering all your questions to help you win your weekly matchups. Come for the analysis and stay for the laughs!
WAIVERS:
ADD OF THE WEEK = Jordan Mason – 58% rostered: To quote the philosopher, The NOTORIOUS BIG, ‘If you don’t know, now you know.’ Mason was a late add as starting RB for the 49ers and he impressed against a Jets defense that had been known to stop the run. If you roster CMC or drafted RB Zero, then Mason is your add. The unknown, as Mason is concerned, is the time CMC could miss with his calf injury.
QB: Baker Mayfield – 35% rostered: After a solid Week 1, Jordan Love will miss 2-4 weeks with an MCL sprain. Head Coach Matt LaFleur has not ruled Love out for Week 2, but I am not placing too much value in Love for the upcoming week. I prefer to have a security blanket and like Baker Mayfield to adequately handle the QB duties for my fantasy rosters. Pump the breaks a little as I do not expect a 289-yard, 4 TD performance at Detroit. What I do expect is for Tampa Bay to be trailing and throwing the ball. We love volume from our QB and Baker brings that volume.
Honorable Mention/Cheaper Options:
Derek Carr – 10% rostered: I am passing on Carr at Dallas, but if you need a fill-in QB this early, Carr should be forced to throw all day.
Sam Darnold – 10% rostered: Do not use a waiver move to grab Darnold. Wait until he is free if you need to stash a QB. With Justin Jefferson healthy, Darnold should have value all season.
RB: Are we about to witness another RB split in Jacksonville? I came into the season thinking Travis Etienne had absolutely zero competition for touches and Week 1 happens with a 50/50 split between him and Tank Bigsby – 6% rostered with 12 carries each. I do not love this for Etienne, but please recall Etienne was heading for a second TD prior to fumbling late in the game, so the difference in value is probably more in favor of Etienne than the stats appear. Bigsby is a good handcuff only if you have an open roster slot.
Honorable Mention/Cheaper Options:
Justice Hill – 4% rostered: This is an interesting name especially if you watched the Ravens game and wondered where Derrick Henry was. I know I was one of those people that could not see Henry until I looked toward the bench. Sure, Baltimore was trailing, and Henry is not the pass-catching back, but Hill seemed to be on the field much more than felt appropriate for a Week 1 game. You can get Hill on the cheap now, but temper expectations as I foresee Henry getting the massive workload starting in Week 2.
Jamaal Williams – 4% rostered: Do not get excited. The Saints had Week 1 in the bag in the second quarter versus the Panthers. Alvin Kamara had already done his damage and Williams just mopped up late. Another potential handcuff with no real stand-alone value.
WR: As a Packers fan, I loved seeing the Allen Lazard – 3% rostered show on MNF! He was on the field and in the action much more than Mike Williams. I think that bodes well for Lazard moving forward considering his connection with Aaron Rodgers. Garrett Wilson will be the WR1 for the Jets, while Lazard might be a nice surprise. 9 targets (0 for Williams) are a number we must pay attention to while admitting the Jets were trailing for most of the final three quarters and are probably not a great football team. That means they will need to throw more, and Lazard could be the early beneficiary at least until Mike Williams is fully healthy and entrenched as the WR2.
Honorable Mention/Cheaper Options:
Brandin Cooks – 33% rostered could be a nice option with Jake Ferguson sidelined. For anyone (like me) that has started Cooks in the past, remember what it feels like when he puts up 2-19 on 4 targets. I would not pay up too much to roster Cooks.
Los Angeles Rams WRs – Demarcus Robinson (7% rostered), Tyler Johnson (1% rostered), Jordan Whittington (1% rostered): If I had to roster one of these names, it is Robinson who went 4-42 on 7 targets. An argument can be made for adding Johnson who went 5-79 with the same 7 targets, but I think Robinson is the more proven WR in this offense and should slot in for Puka Nacua as the WR2 with Johnson staying in his WR3 role. Whittington (0-0 o 0 targets) had a TD called back due to a penalty and is probably the longest of long shots to return value.
TE: Mark Andrews owners were sick to their stomach to open the season as they watched Isaiah Likely – 29% rostered put up 9 catches for 111 yards and a 1, almost 2 TDs. I think Andrews will be fine moving forward while also admitting Likely appears to be a must-add especially for teams employing Jake Ferguson and/or David Njoku. The Ravens need to understand AND admit their top pass catchers are Zay Flowers, Andrews, and Likely then move away from forcing targets to Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor.
As mentioned above, it has only been one week, so if you lost, blown out even, relax. It will be OK. There is no need to rush to drop any specific player.
Follow me @stiles08 on X and send questions comments at the bottom of this article. Make sure you jump around the Razzball site for all your fantasy football needs. We have a ton of free content to include or Slot Versus Wide tool, our Win Versus Loss tool, and many more.
-Stiles-
