It's hard to look at anything other than the Antonio Brown saga, but there's a lot more going on and a Thursday Night Football game coming up between the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here's a quick review of the most pressing fantasy football related topics:
Top Stories
Antonio Brown accused of Rape and Sexual Assault
Regardless of the details of the case, it won't go away quickly or quietly. Best case scenario - Brown takes the field for New England despite the ongoing investigation. Even in this scenario, Brown would still be a new member of a team whose offense is notoriously difficult to learn. There's also the scenario where New England divests itself from Brown and/or Roger Goodell places Brown on the Exemption List.
Fantasy Bottom Line: Avoid Antonio Brown in fantasy. I actually had a couple trade offers out for him because I thought(and still think, but it's purely my opinion) that these accusations were frivolous. Even still, as more details came out(specifically a couple e-mails Brown wrote to his accuser that showed him to be a scumbags-scumbag) I realized I just didn't want to deal with the headache even if there is a buying window and revoked my offers. I think this is a case where buyers are willing to offer about 60 cents on the dollar, but sellers will want 80 cents. If you have him, I would sell him for any reasonable asset(Emmanuel Sanders, Tyler Lockett, Curtis Samuel, Duke Johnson, Mark Andrews types). Keep this guy off your roster or dump him if you can.
Tyreek Hill's Injury
The most recent news is 4-6 weeks which is consistent with what medical experts have been saying from the beginning. Hill has so far avoided surgery, but it's a tricky injury with lots of dynamic factors hence the relatively large timetable to return. It's good news for Hill owners and also offers a huge opportunity for Sammy Watkins and Mecole Hardman.
Fantasy Bottom Line: Don't panic and sell Hill too cheap. Watkins should be treated as a high-end WR1. Hardman is a waiver priority, but may be boom-or-bust on a week-to-week basis. Expect Travis Kelce to have some monster games for the next few weeks.
Hunter Henry's Injury
Henry suffered a tibea plateau fracture that will likely keep him out for at least a month. Old man Antonio Gates came back to fill in for Henry last year, but was a fantasy no show. Virgil Green has incredible athleticism, but he's never been able to become fantasy viable. This may benefit Mike Williams who's dealing with his own knee issue that knocked him out of last week's game. Keep an eye on Travis Benjamin. This is a pretty big blow to the LAC without any obvious beneficiaries.
Other Injuries
Tevin Coleman is trending towards missing time with an ankle sprain. This opens the door wide open for Matt Breida, but keep an eye on Raheem Mostert who looked good against Tampa Bay and had a big run and TD called back because of a penalty
Nick Foles landed on IR and is out for the year. Gardner Minshew looked good in relief, but this is a major blow to an offense that was barely hanging on with the pieces it had. Leonard Fournette is going to be the Jacksonville offense moving forward. This is also a massive blow to Dede Westbrook who appeared teed up for a breakout year with Foles.
Derrius Guice suffered a knee injury that will keep him out for some time. The extent of the injury is not widely known making this an injury that could easily keep him out longer than expected. Adrian Peterson will obviously benefit from extra touches, but the guy to target is Chris Thompson who will have massive upside as the passing-down option on a team that's likely to be facing a lot of negative game scripts.
Joe Mixon killed fantasy teams in Week 1 with 17 total yards on 10 rushes and 2 receptions after exiting the game with an ankle sprain. It looks like he'll play this weekend, but it'll be tough to trust him where Gio Bernard may cut deep into his production. I won't tell you to bench a guy you drafted in the 2nd round, but I'm probably not playing him if I have another reasonably good option.
Thursday Night Football Preview
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers
Start Time: 8:20
Temp: 88°
Precipitation: None
Wind: 2 mph
Wind Gusts: 2 mph
Both teams are looking for a win following disappointing performances that resulted in Week 1 losses. The big story-line is can Cam Newton and Jameis Winston bounce back from Week 1 performances where they combined for 4 interceptions and 3 fumbles?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The TB offense looked shaky as a whole with lots of penalties and mental lapses last week vs San Francisco. The bad news is this week's matchup is tougher and an away game. The good news is, it can't get any worse. I expect Jameis to have a better week, but he's not worth a start in 1-QB leagues. He's borderline in 2-QB leagues, but Tom Brady, Cam Newton, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Dak Prescott along with the obvious QB studs should all be played in front of Winston. Winston's only value is as a contrarian play in DFS.
The TB backfield is a mess. Ronald Jones took a step forward and had some nice plays for TB last week, but he didn't exactly light the world on fire either. Peyton Barber looked like just another guy. I like Dare Ogunbowale, but he was only in as an occasional relief. I wouldn't trust any of these guys in H2H matchups or DFS.
The TB receivers didn't light the world on fire although no one could blame them with Winston's struggles. You probably have to play Mike Evans because he can take over any game at any time, but this might be another rough week. Chris Godwin played 57.9% of his snaps in the slot, which bodes well for this week's matchup where Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods ate CAR up last week from the slot.
O.J. Howard had a quiet week, but he's a must start. Howard can turn any target into a game-busting play. One thing to keep an eye on is Cameron Brate. The game log shows only 2 targets for 2 receptions and 8 yards, but he had two nice TDs called back on the same drive. Brate is a sneaky DFS play.
TB's defense played fairly well. SF's 31 points is deceptive since TB's defense only surrendered a single TD(although 3 SF TDs were called back on penalties). They largely stopped SF's formidable rushing attack and SF's WR corps. They did get gashed by George Kittle.
Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton was held in check, but his 25/38 on passing is promising considering the shoulder injury concerns he had coming into the season. The biggest takeaway was his rushing. Only 3 attempts for -2 yards may portend a shift away from rushing that made him such a valuable fantasy commodity in years past. Lucky for Newton is the TB defense is nothing close to on par with LAR defense he just faced making him a bounce-back candidate for Week 2. I don't love him in this matchup in 1-QB leagues, but he's worth a start. He's a must play in 2-QB leagues. All it takes is two rushes from inside the 5-yard line to make Newton a GPP winner in DFS.
Christian McCaffrey played 100% of the snaps vs LAR. He's just such a stud that there's really nothing else to talk about for the Carolina backfield.
D.J. Moore turned in an OK performance with 7 receptions for 76 yards. His 10 targets was behind only McCaffrey. He's a plug and play if he continues to see 8 or more targets each week. Curtis Samuel was one of the more hyped players coming into the season, but barely showed up last week. He's not playable in all, but the most deepest of leagues until he starts getting more targets. He's more of an interesting DFS tournament options since he has the type of role/talent that requires only 4 or 5 touches to have a huge fantasy day ala Marquise Brown.
Greg Olsen is questionable heading into Thursday. He only had 4 receptions for 36 yards last week, but he did draw 9 targets. If Olsen is a no-go, Ian Thomas becomes mighty interesting as a desperation TE start in H2H leagues. Keep in mind George Kittle chewed TB up last week. Whichever of these TEs gets the start will be a very interesting DFS play. I'd be willing to put Thomas in the Captain slot for the DK showdown.
CAR's defense didn't do much good against the LAR, but it's a tough matchup for any team. This week is much juicier given Winston's continuing struggles with turnovers. The TB offensive line struggled every bit as much as we expected they would heading into the season. Aside from maybe Miami, it doesn't get much better for a defense.