Well… Tank Dell and Marvin Mims didn’t exactly set the fantasy world on fire last week. Apparently, it was the Nico Collins game, and Dell failed to hit the big play. Mims was, admittedly, a little bit of a longshot, but Russell Wilson spreading the ball around as much as he did was unexpected.
“The secret to being wrong isn’t to avoid being wrong! The secret is being willing to be wrong. The secret is realizing that wrong isn’t fatal.” — Seth Godin
Justin Fields has now had back-to-back blow-up games and we have to wonder… is that Bears attack turning the corner is this just history cruelly repeating itself? Still, such questions are best left nestled in the back of our minds while we work out an opinion!
As Sherlock Holmes once said, “… do you need me to elaborate further or can we just crack on?” So let’s crack on to the WR/CB matchups to target.
FAVORABLE WR MATCHUPS
DeAndre Hopkins vs. Indianapolis Colts
It has been an… well let’s just say what everyone is thinking… it’s been awful for DeAndre Hopkins and the anemic Tennessee Titans attack. Ryan Tannehill has looked like he needs to be repairing all of the broken McDonald’s ice cream machines across the U.S. rather than playing NFL football.
Still, the tissue-soft Indianapolis Colts have been very kind to opposing wide receivers. Even Tannehill can surely muster up some sort of aerial attack. Hopkins’ usage suggests he should be perming MUCH better than his stats show.
Hopkins is being fed. He’s commanding a 27.9% share of the Titans’ targets. His targets are coming almost 14 yards down the field and over 20% of his targets have traveled over 20 air yards. It’s just a matter of Tannehill’s ability to deliver the ball at this point.
Hopkins lines up all over the place on offense and the right side of the Titans’ defense looks particularly, with Darrell Baker Jr. allowing 2.63 yards per snap in coverage. Baker gets targeted on 24.4% of his routes in coverage.
In other words, if Hopkins and Tannehill fail to get the ball rolling this week, then it’s hard to see things panning out.
Calvin Ridley vs. Buffalo Bills
Boy wasn’t week one fun? Where has that been? Since he blew up to start the season, Ridley has paced for:
Given the insane amount of hype surrounding the Jaguars offense this offseason, to say this is a disappointment is putting it lightly. Is averaging less than six targets and three receptions worth of being considered the WR1 on a team?
Well, maybe not, but this is a great get right game and I’m still willing to cast my lots on talent and opportunity.
According to PFF, Ridley lines up on the perimeter on almost 84% of his routes and has produced five explosive plays on the perimeter, all coming against three of the top 12 perimeter coverage units.
Ridley still scores around 0.38 fantasy points per route and, with both safeties in Buffalo playing with hamstring and/or knee issues, he has a decent chance at taking one over the top to paydirt.
With an over/under of 48.5 in this game scoring opportunities should be abundant and Ridley should be started as a high-end WR2.
Honorable mention: Wan’Dale Robinson vs. Miami Dolphins, Michael Pittman Jr. vs. Tennessee Titans
