Ok we are back, let’s get right to it.
49ers @ Vikings
First guy I will talk about is 49ers 2nd round Draft Pick, Dante Pettis. Pettis had an up and down game, muffing a punt and also falling down on an In route, but he also schooled a few of the Vikings Corners on some nice route running and also kept working for Jimmy G on his TD catch. Pettis has great feet and is a solid route runner. He has fairly good speed and has the ability to go and up and get the ball. He would have had another TD if it wasn’t for Vikings CB Trae Waynes making an excellent play to knock the ball out of Pettis’ hands. It appears that Marquise Goodwin is going to be OUT this week with a quad injury, so Pettis has a huge opportunity to showcase his talent. The matchup is golden against a Lions defense that just got torn up by the Jets on Monday night. Jimmy G will look to Pettis often and I expect Pettis to produce nicely this week and going forward. I think he’s Odell Beckham light. Use him as a thrift shop option in DFS and grab him if he’s still available in your league. Check out this article regarding Pettis, showing some of the plays from last Sunday. Check it here
Matt Brieda looked Ok in a tough matchup running 11 times for 46 yards. Surprising was he only caught one ball for five yards. Brieda has good speed, but he isn’t the most patient runner, running too fast to the line and also falling over his own feet a few times in this game. However, the opportunity is there and Brieda should produce as a solid flex most weeks. Brieda isn’t a bigtime talent but he’s solid enough that he can gather up some yards. If I was a Brieda owner, which I’m not, I would feel fairly decent about him at this point. We will continue to monitor him as the season goes on.
Even coming into last year I was never a huge Dalvin Cook guy. A lot of people really love him. I recognize the talent, excellent speed, great receiving back, he just never wowed me like he does some others. In his first game back I thought Cook looked like his usual self, displaying his excellent breakaway speed and receiving ability. I don’t think he is as good of a pure runner as most people make him out to be, I think where he catapults most backs is the fact that he’s able to be such a fluid pass catcher. He showed that in this game again. One thing I give Cook credit for is he likes to get into holes, instead of always just trying to bounce things outside. Once in a while Cook will break a few tackles and turn it into a long run. Other times he just beats the defenders to the corner and he’s gone. In this game he had one run where he broke about two or three tackles but then fumbled. It was a nice run nonetheless. Most of his production in this game was as a WR (6-55). Cook will remain productive all year because of his receiving ability, but I could see at some point him relinquishing more carries to Murray and possibly later down the line, rookie Mike Boone. Murray did have a better game on the ground than Cook on Sunday, rushing 11 for 42 yards compared to Cook’s 16 for 40.
Jaguars @ Giants
Real quick, go and watch Saquon Barkely’s 68 yard TD a run a few times more. It shows you everything you need to know about the guy. Saquon loves to set up defenders and he did it multiple times in this game. If he’s breaking 68 yard runs against the best D in the league, imagine when he gets some cake matchups. The Giants run blocking opened up some nice holes for him on a few runs, but Saquon is capable of doing everything himself. If you are a doubter, please stop now. Barkley could easily be the RB in the league right now and we may be saying this at the end of the season. If you want to trade for him, the time is now.
I thought Beckham looked like the player we all remember in his first game back. Just a quick checkup to make sure there were no lingering effects at all from last year’s injury. Barkley and Beckham unreal, what a combo. Eli Manning is in for a good season by default.
Redskins @ Cardinals
Impressive showing from the Redskins backs. Chris Thompson looked explosive and his usual self, props to you if you grabbed him in your drafts. Adrian Peterson also had a great game, hitting holes, running strong and making a few nice cuts. The Skins OL was blocking well. This is not the Adrian Peterson from the Vikings however. Don’t get too excited, he is going to wear down after a few more games. You can tell his footwork and speed is just so much slower than from his Vikings days. AP has a ton of mileage on those legs. He’s not the bionic man, he’s going to slow down and run out of gas eventually. After this week, I would trade AP.
We know about Jordan Reed, or if you don’t, he is definitely the best, if not one of the best route running Tight Ends in the league. He looked like the Jordan Reed we have been accustomed too. Let’s hope he stays healthy.
Sam Bradford looks bad, I mean he has never really been good in this league but he missed his WR’s multiple times in this game. Chad Williams who basically played the whole game, was getting open, Bradford just couldn’t get him the ball. He also overthrew Ricky Seals-Jones on a corner route and the ball was picked off. They may need to go to Josh Rosen soon, Bradford didn’t look equipped at all in this game.
Rams @ Raiders
Cooper Kupp continues to be a favorite of Jared Goff. Kupp continued his crisp route running and overall awareness on the field in this game. Robert Woods also displayed his route running ability and Brandon Cooks was used often. All three of these guys are going to produce for your fantasy teams. There is no Sammy Watkins this year, Cooks is going to put up numbers. Goff is going to put up numbers.
On the other side, Amari Cooper owners are perplexed. I got a few offers for Cooper in my leagues this week, as owners are trying to jump ship. Well Cooper isn’t the issue, it’s Derek Carr. Gruden was quoted saying we had Cooper open a few times deep, for whatever reason we didn’t go there. The tape reveals just that. Carr was trying to force balls across the middle missing Cooper wide open on the outside a few times. He also threw a few balls at Coopers feet. Very concerning if you are a Cooper owner. I think it can get better though, Cooper is still a good talent and Carr is still capable, try to be patient.
That’s it for part 2, stay tuned for a in-depth bonus breakdown of the Dallas Cowboys passing game vs the Panthers. Also we will have our Player Rankings released Saturday and we hope to have our first radio show of the 2018 season. Follow me on twitter @FantasySavvy. Thanks for reading.
Fantasy Savvy 