Andy Reid has a history of making his tight ends fantasy relevant, and Lazor and the Dolphins want to run a fast-paced, Chip Kelly-style offense. If they run more plays, that means more volume for both relevant running backs in Miami. The problem is that we can’t – and shouldn’t – assume that Miami will all of a sudden become Philadelphia offensively (Miami ranked 20th last season on offense according to our metrics, while Philly was 5th), and we’re still unsure how carries will be split. It’s not worth your time right now to try and sort it out.
Buy Russell Wilson
I’ve let it be known that FantasyFootballCalculator.com.
In 2013, Wilson finished seventh in Passing Net Expected Points, which is a cumulative metric. This happened despite the fact that Seattle dropped back to pass fewer times than any team outside of San Francisco.
Wilson tied for fifth in the NFL in top-12 (QB1) weekly quarterback performances last year, and scored the eighth-most fantasy points at the position. Add in a healthy as we’ve seen in the preseason, Gates is still the man at tight end for San Diego.
The Chargers face the Cardinals on Monday night, and Arizona is the perfect matchup for your fantasy football tight end. A season ago, the Cardinals allowed 95 receptions, 1,156 yards and 16 touchdowns to opposing tight ends. They were the worst team against the position in each of those categories.
Go with Gates over Green until we have reason to believe otherwise.
Add the Bears’ Defense
Remember when the Bears were an every-week, must-start defense? Now they’re owned in just 8% of ESPN.com leagues, with 17 defenses having higher ownership numbers.
But in Week 1, Chicago gets Buffalo, a team led by arguably the worst quarterback starter in the league, EJ Manuel. The Bills ranked fourth-to-last in Passing NEP a season ago, only better than the Texans, Giants and Jaguars. Manuel had a 73.07 quarterback rating in the preseason, throwing two interceptions to just one touchdown. Chicago, at home, should have no trouble getting turnovers against Buffalo on Sunday.
Sell the Rams’ Passing Attack
This statement would be true even if Sam Bradford was playing this year. The Rams offense doesn’t lead to fantasy production from wide receivers, and there’s not a whole lot of reason to think this year will be any different.
Kenny Britt and Brian Quick are both decent fliers in fantasy leagues, but the last time St. Louis had an 800-yard receiver was when Torry Holt was in the league. Because it was done by Torry Holt, all the way back in 2007.
Shaun Hill is an underrated backup, but don’t think St. Louis is going to be a pass-heavy team with him under center. Through Week 7 last year, the seven games Bradford played, the Rams were actually the ninth-ranked team in pass-to-run ratio. At the end of the season, St. Louis ranked 24th.
The team isn’t going to trust Hill to throw 35 or 40 time per game, which means the pass-catchers will suffer. Zac Stacy is the guy to own in this offense, not someone like Kenny Britt.