NFL Preseason Week 2: Fantasy Football Risers, Fallers, and Sleepers

Preseason Week 2 brought plenty of Risers, Fallers, Sleepers and crucial fantasy lessons

“Preseason doesn’t matter!” – random Fantasy Sheep who’ll finish in 10th place yet again.

Indeed, overreacting to Preseason Play and Training Camp Puff is a sheepish move. Still, ignoring meaningful developments would be equally dumb. Fantasy Wolves must consider all possible evidence.

From rapport building, to role and usage developments, to overall team performances and glimpses at new schemes, plus every Penny Stock who emerges in-between, plenty of important notes can be gathered in the preseason.

Just ask Christian McCaffrey   last year.

Just like in Preseason Week 1, find out all the meaningful  Fantasy Football Risers, Fallers, Sleepers and Takeaways from Preseason Week 2.

NFL Preseason Week 2 Fantasy Football Risers, Fallers, and Sleepers | Fantasy Football Podcast

 

RISERS

1) Josh Gordon is Reinstated, and drips in limitless fantasy upside

We all know the Josh Gordon story now: limitless talent, and limitless unreliability.

Still, his addition to a weapons-hungry Patriots offense should not be taken lightly.

In his 11 games with the Patriots last season, Gordon posted 40-720-4 on 68 targets — which would be the WR28 over that time period. This is a 64 rec, 1,047 yd and 6.4 touchdown pace that would make him a rock solid WR2.

Even better, however, were Gordon’s paces without Rob Gronkowski. Over these three games, Gordon posted 4-100 on seven targets, 5-130-1 on nine targets and 4-81 on 12 targets — right around 18 FPPG.

The risk is mammoth, but so is the upside. He slides right back into high-upside WR3, acceptable WR2 territory as my WR23 and 56th overall player. Meanwhile, The Goat rises up the QB ranks to QB16, right alongside Philip Rivers. Brady’s upside is significantly higher with a talent like Gordon at his disposal. Last, though Julian Edelman‘s stock should remain mostly unchanged, “Penny Stock” WRs N’Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers will face much stiffer target competition now, making their breakout appeal far less sexy.

For more, click here.

2) “Guarded Optimism” Andrew Luck Will Play Week 1, Looks Mobile in Warms Up

Andrew Luck’s health has been a complete mystery this entire offseason. Calf? Ankle? Labia? We have no clue.

And, in all frankness, we don’t care… we just want to know when he’s going to play. Finally, we have at least a hint.

According to Chris Mortensen, there is “guarded optimism” Luck will be ready to play Week 1. He was also seen warming up prior to the game and looked to be moving quite well.

Of course, news breaks today that Luck “won’t practice this week.” Thus, even with “guarded optimism,” his Week 1 outlook is still pretty bleak. But the upside is astronomical after Luck thrived in Frank Reich‘s quick-strike attack, behind an improved line, and has now gained several weapons. He’s still worth a look as a Top-6 QB… for now.

 

3) Miles Sanders Starts & Feasts for the Eagles

Miles Sanders has been “easily been the most impressive runner” since stepping on the field for the Eagles. Thus, it’s no surprise he earned the start, and promptly showed why.

Sanders displayed his lauded burst and shiftiness on 12 and 16 yard gainers, ultimately accruing 31 yards on just 5 rushes (6.2 YPC). Perhaps more importantly, he showed well in blitz pickup — an area the Eagles needed to see improvement.

After the game, beat Zack Rosenblatt gushed Sanders “keeps making it increasingly hard to project him as anything less than this team’s No. 1 running back.”

Granted, Doug Pederson has preferred value-draining committees throughout his career. But the team also hasn’t had a back resembling the upside Sanders brings.

Should he emerge at some point with 60% or more share of this backfield, Sanders would warrant high-end RB2 consideration every week. This line is PFF’s top-ranked, Carson Wentz has been in MVP-form, and the weapons cabinet is even more stacked. The Eagles is going to put up scores at breakneck paces, and Sanders could emerge as the centerpiece of it all.

4) Curtis Samuel’s Hype Train Steams Ahead

Whether from his coaches, his teammates, or most importantly opposing CBs like Tre’Davious White, Curtis Samuels has been bathed in praise all off-season.

For a full sampling of the steam being pumped into this Hype Train, click here. Just know: it’s worth finding a seat on this locomotive. Samuel’s always had elite explosiveness, and is an absolute terror with the ball in his hands.

But apparently now equipped with a full route tree and deadly release moves at the line of scrimmage? Samuel could truly make a Tyreek Hill style leap in Year 3.

 

5) Delanie Walker Looks Fully Healthy

One injury-ruined season, and fantasy enthusiasts seem to forget just how good Delanie Walker has been since joining the Titans. Perhaps Saturday’s contest versus the Patriots can remind us.

During Walker’s five season with the Titans, the team never finished higher than 21 pass attempts. Even still, he topped 63 receptions and 800 yards in all but one year, ranking 1st in TE receptions of this span. He ranked as the TE6, TE5, and TE4 in his last three seasons, and hadn’t missed more than 1 game in a season prior to last year.

Of course, that’s part of the risk with Walker. Going on 35, he’s certainly no spring-chicken. But he looked plenty spry and healthy in making diving catches and fighting through traffic in the Red Zone this week. He’ll face more target competition than any of his previous years with AJ Brown and Adam Humphries added, but Walker makes perfect sense as a Top-10 TE target that falls far later than he should right now.

6) Emmanuel Sanders Looks Explosive & Healthy in First Game Back

Recovering from a torn achilles is no joke, especially at 32 years old.

Nonetheless, Sanders exceeded all expectations by looking fully explosive and healthy in his first game action since the injury. He burst through the defense on a 19 yard rush, had a 45-yard bomb negated by penalty, and barely missed a beautiful sideline toe-tapper.

Granted, Joe Flacco is a ceiling-capper for any WR. But Emmanuel Sanders managed WR10 numbers in fantasy with Case Keenum last year. Falling well below the top-100 and below fellow WRs Courtland Sutton and even Daesean Hamilton, Sanders is one of the top bargains in the game right now. He could thrive in Rich Scangarello‘s creative scheme.

7) Sam Darnold, Robby Anderson, and the Jets Surprisingly Pushing the Pace and Scoring this Preseason

Adam Gase earned a reputation as dull and uncreative after his Dolphins teams floundered the past few seasons. Most concerning, Gase’s offenses moved at a snail’s pace, ranking 32nd, 29th, 31st and 27th the past four seasons.

But maybe, just maybe, this was by design. Who can blame him for trying to shorten the game when Ryan Tannehill was leading the charge, afterall?

Since joining the Jets, they’ve been moving at a breakneck speed. In fact, the Jets have gone no-huddle on 11 of 23 plays (48%) with Sam Darnold. Comparatively, Gase used this 15% of the time with the Dolphins.

More importantly, they’ve been marching down team’s throats with this approach. Darnold has led two lengthy scoring drives in his four chances, spraying the ball beautifully at every layer of the field. In Week One, Jamison Crowder was the primary beneficiary. This week, Darnold rekindled his beautiful connection with Robby Anderson, who led the team with 3 receptions (3 targets) for 32 yards.

Recall: Robby Big Dick posted 23 receptions, 336 yards, and 3 TDs over his four final games after Darnold returned (and earned PFF’s second-best passer grade over that span). This was good for the WR5 numbers. With Darnold and this offense firing on all cylinders, Robby is a screaming bargain in Round 6, while Darnold becomes a far more intriguing QB2.

8) Kalen Ballage Thriving in Drake’s Absence, Gets Starters “Rest” Treatment

Though most of these reports are what people did on the field, Kalen Ballage rises exactly because he wasn’t on it. 

Ballage was rested by the coaches, often a sign they envision him as a key cog in a prominent role. Especially amidst Kenyan Drakes‘s absence, Ballage should expect exactly that. Ballage had already been taking first-team snaps ahead of Drake before the injury, and has since forged a stranglehold on the role.

This is especially true after he’s reportedly lit the Bucs up throughout joint practices. Seemingly every other tweet is about another Ballage highlight:

Granted, Ballage’s game-tape doesn’t always seem to match the praise. He can often look lost or hesitant, and seems to be a little too fancy behind the line given his size.

But the speed and explosiveness is real, as is his ownership of the backfield. A porous line and weak overall offense limit the overall appeal, but any starting back with this kind of athleticism and positive praise is worth a look in Rounds 8-10.

 

9) Other Important Snap Notes:

Though the following players haven’t made enormous Box Score splashes, these snaps often tell just as much as the stats would:

 

Takeaways:

  • Don’t buy the committee talk. James Conner remains the Steelers unquestioned lead-horse, and remains criminally undervalued outside of the Top-7 picks.

 

  • Despite James Washington‘s impressive preseason, Donte Moncrief maintains a stranglehold on No.2 WR duties and is the definite fantasy play here

 

  • Vance McDonald could explode as an every-snap player. With Jesse James removed, the Steelers have suggested an every-down role. And we’ve seen exactly that. Some juicy stats via Scott Barrett:

“2A. Vance McDonald ranked 10th in total fantasy points last year, despite ranking just 17th in target market share and playing on only 50% of the team’s snaps.

2B. In that limited role, he stood out in efficiency, ranking fourth-best (of 35 qualifiers) in yards after the catch per reception (7.7), third-best in yards after contact per reception (4.3), and second-best in missed tackles forced per reception (0.29).

  • OJ Howard is the most physically gifted TE, if not player, in the entire NFL. As an every-down player for the first time in his career, only health stands in his way from exploding into the elite TE tier.

 

  • Alvin Kamara has scored the 1st and 4th most FPs per touch of all time over his first two seasons. After receiving ~50% of snaps and touches with Ingram, even just a 10% increase would be a game-changer for Kamara.  Reports have suggested “it’s Kamara’s backfield now. This is his time… this won’t be a true platoon the way he and Ingram operated,” and early preseason usage suggests a 60-65% role. Huge, and just another reason supporting him at No.1 overall.

For Fallers, Injuries & Sleepers, Continue Onto Page 2 BELOW  

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