I didn’t have a great day, but I went 3-1 ATS with the Giants pending tonight, made some interesting trades for my “real” job and woke up not having to process my catastrophic Week 1 Chargers Survivor pick.
Jonathan Taylor looks like a winning first-round pick right now, the heavy-usage back who also gets enough passing game touches.
The Colts really need Alec Pierce, who left the game in a walking boot, otherwise Laquan Treadwell is the downfield threat, and most of the offense is dink and dunk. They also need more courage on 4th-and-4 from their own 49 in the closing minutes of the game — they punted, played for overtime and got stuck with the loss, though God bless them they covered. (Also just saw a note they won the toss but deferred in overtime. Not a good idea for a 10-minute period where the max possessions is likely three.)
Kenneth Walker — 24 more carries, 10 more targets, 178 YFS — would go top-five if we were to draft again. He got stuffed at the goal line, but will keep seeing those chances. The ONLY question is whether he can hold up.
I bought Rashee Rice YES on over 50 yards, and that garbage time catch at the end of regulation was a thing of beauty. A lot of sharps are slagging Rice for his inefficiency and lack of separation last year, but he was coming off a late-season ACL tear. This is Year 2 since that injury, and he passes the eye test. The real negative is Walker taking a lot of the short stuff that used to go to him.
Travis Kelce (36) and Patrick Mahomes (knee) look like themselves for the first time in years, and I’m not sure why.
Bryce Young has lit up the first two games, and Tetairoa McMillan is looking good from the 3-4 turn. The biggest threat to him isn’t Jalen Coker, who was a great pick in his own right at cost, but Darren Waller who is functioning as a red-zone specialist, another big target when the Panthers get close.
I had Jonathon Brooks YES on 25 rushing yards, and he would’ve gotten there had he not injured his groin in the fourth quarter. I also held my nose and took one share on the cheap (seventh round) in the Primetime where I needed a running back, but that looks like a bad pick — if a guy’s history is telling you he can’t hold up in the NFL, believe it.
Cooper Rush is terrible, but now you understand why the Falcons didn’t turn to Jack Strand earlier. Wish I’d have had the prescience to pick up the Panthers defense and also Devin Lloyd — two picks, one sack, one TD, nine tackles, good for 28 points — in the Steak League
The Falcons are desperate even for below-average Vagenix at this point.
Bijan Robinson had only 81 YFS against a team that yielded 224 rushing yards the previous week to the Bears’ backs.
You’ll probably stick with Drake London no matter what, but unless Vag comes back, I’ll have to bench Kyle Pitts for Evan Engram next week.
I picked up Desmond Claiborne in the Steak League out of desperation, but the Vikings opted to give 100-YO Aaron Jones 24 carries, while DeeJay Dallas was the backup.
Colston Loveland showed infinite improvement from Week 1 (zero) to Week 2 (1.3 PPR points), but that doesn’t mean you should’ve taken him in the fourth round.
Luther Burden is also looking like a bust (and this is before even getting into Caleb Williams’ status.) I know the weather was bad, but even without DJ Moore, the Bears are still spreading the ball around to everyone.
Williams went down late with a hamstring injury. I thought at a minimum he had torn an ACL (or ruptured a testicle), given all the crying he was doing, but turns out it was on the mild side, and he might not even miss a game! (I tore my hamstring a few years ago sprinting at the track, heard and felt a pop, and it actually didn’t hurt that much. I was able to walk home, stretched it daily and didn’t play sports for three months.)
Saquon Barkley left the game early with a stinger, came back briefly then left again. The Eagles offense doesn’t look close to what it was a couple years ago.
I mocked DeVonta Smith’s low BMI last week, but he had a nice game, albeit with Dallas Goedert (knee) out. Dontavion Wicks looks like the No. 2 ahead of Makai Lemon who could also be a lemon.
Why did the Titans draft Carnell Tate and sign Wan’Dale Robinson when they could parlay Ridley and Eric Ayomanor?
The Steelers might be sneaky bad. They struggled for most of the game to beat the Cooper Rush Falcons and got destroyed by a Pats squad missing its best playmaker. TreVeyon Henderson saw the bulk of the work after Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled yet again (real man doesn’t stress about ball security) and broke a long TD run. I imagine the split would be at worst 50/50 next week, but maybe Henderson will finally take over for good.
Aaron Rodgers is cooked. I love the guy, but there’s no juice whatsoever to this offense. He also got absolutely popped on one sack, was borderline elder abuse.
Maybe the Jets defense is better than I realize, but Jordan Love managed only 145 yards on 29 attempts.
I didn’t see that much of this game, but Braelon Allen getting the TD over Breece Hall is a problem. Hall did catch all five targets for 65 yards, but on the Jets, you need to max out the role.
I feel for the people that went down in Survivor with the Bucs. Not because they lost — they deserve it for being retarded, given the Niners were on the board — but that they had to wait for the two-hour rain delay just to get served anyway. False hope is torture.
There’s no way to massage it — DeShaun Watson had a pretty good game. It looks like Denzel Boston is his big play guy, over the trendier KC Concepcion.
Baker Mayfield’s confidence is commensurate with his paycheck, but not his abilities.
Bucky Irving looks like a great 5-6 turn pick. He’s the clear starter (17 carries, four targets), while Kenny Gainpoorly is just a backup.
Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin look like busts at their respective costs. Neither can make a play down the field.
The Saints have to be the favorites to win the NFC South. They probably should’ve beaten the Lions in Detroit and they did beat the Ravens in Baltimore.
If Jordyn Tyson is good when he returns, Tyler Shough will be a top-five QB.
Travis Etienne is now basically 50/50 with Alvin Kamara. This is Jordan Mason/Aaron Jones if Mason were healthy.
I passed on Chris Olave in the second round for De’Von Achane because I didn’t like Olave’s concussion history, but that was obviously a mistake.
The Ravens are overrated.
Ja’Marr Chase’s toe-tap TD catch over a Pro Bowl CB was one for the ages. He’s a top-five all-time receiver in his prime.
CJ Stroud figured with Nico Collins out, he should give ALL of his targets and production to Dalton Schultz but keep everything else the same.
The Texans’ backs (Monty/Marks) had 14 carries for 18 yards between them. Dexter Lawrence (former Giant) probably had something to do with that.
Parker Washington (12-7-98-0) is the rare case of someone living up to the industry hype. Usually it turns out like Jameson Williams.
JK Dobbins got hurt again, but apparently it isn’t serious. Jonah Coleman passed the eye test on a few carries.
Jaylen Waddle (10-8-138-0) made up for the zero in Week 1. I still don’t trust him in this offense.
Some people avoided the Retargers in Week 1 Survivor, only to use them in Week 2. Real man never learns.
My two worst picks of the draft season were Brock Bowers in Round 2 (BCL1) and Justin Herbert in Round 10 (Primetime). Mike McDaniel seems like a bad fit for this personnel. It’s killing all the Chargers receivers, and Rhamondre Hampton isn’t helping by fumbling like a retard every single game. Kimani Vidal would be an upgrade!
The Chargers lost home games to the Cardinals and Raiders and now get six weeks of murderers row on the schedule.
It’s possible the Raiders aren’t bad, but I’m dubious.
The one game I lost ATS was the Redskins +4 at Cowboys, and that was going fine until Jayden Daniels (another do-not-draft eggshell player) dislocated his elbow after being stepped on by his lineman. Daniels was killing Dallas with the scrambles before that too.
Stefon Diggs caught two TDs, and maybe the WR usage on this team will be less erratic while Marcus Mariota starts. Not sure how long Daniels will be out.
Rachaad White looked good running and catching. I’d take him over Merritt on merit.
George Pickens was the odd man out with CeeDee Lamb going off and Jake Ferguson catching two TDs, but Pickens saw eight targets. I expect him to get his.
Javonte Williams isn’t doing much early on, but the Cowboys don’t really have an alternative except to pass every down.
Tom Brady called one of Dak Prescott's throws a "piss missile," also said "shit" when Daniels got hurt. Apparently, he’s not especially worried about getting in trouble with the network.
My best bet was the Seahawks -4. They are still the best team in the NFL (maybe the Bills are second, Chiefs/Niners/Rams tied for third.) It makes no difference whether Sam Darnold or Drew Lock is the QB, except to JSN owners like me who prefer Lock.
Speaking of which, why were people gambling the No. 4 overall pick on Puka Nacua when they could just snag JSN or ARSB? It was almost as stupid as taking Bowers a round ahead of Trey McBride.
Jadarian Price was apparently hurt (chest x-ray negative), so for God knows what reason, the Seahawks ran three straight goal-line plays into the teeth of the Arizona defense with Emanuel Wilson and got stuffed. Wilson wound up with 92 yards on 21 carries, but it was bizarre.
I can’t believe people were STILL drafting Marvin Harrison in the fifth round this year. What more does he have to do to prove he sucks? In fairness the Seahawks shut down everyone, but that was still a bad pick.
Jeremiyah Love has looked ordinary thus far, probably in part due to the high-ankle sprain.
Christian McCaffrey had a modest game, but still had 20.6 fantasy points.
Brock Purdy attempted only 22 passes, completing 20 of them for two TDs, no picks and no sacks. He also led the team with 30 yards rushing and scored on the ground. Basically a perfect game, albeit against a terrible team.
Achane got 20 carries, but caught only three of six targets. Malik Willis looks like Anthony Richardson, though his stat line was salvaged somewhat by a garbage time 77-yard TD to Ryan Miller. Willis is not checking down much to Achane, and the team doesn’t seem especially creative in getting its best player the ball.
I hope the Chargers go 0-17.
Real man fumbles three times in a game… dares the head coach to bench him.