So I am sitting at my computer and get an email from Rick Wolf, a/k/a the Wolfman a/k/a the President of Fantasy Alarm and Jeff Mans a/k/a the Voice of the Fantasy Alarm asking if I would take over “Right, Wrong, Indifferent” this year. I said, wait, you want me to praise, lambaste and just dismiss as irrelevant Jeff’s prognostications as only a Monday Morning Quarterback could? I am in! So, each week I will be going over Jeff’s rankings and opinions and well, telling it like it is. Of course, I reserve the right to pepper this piece with a few of my own masterpieces and pieces of [use a word for dung] from the past week.
Here is the first 2015 edition of Right, Wrong or Indifferent taking a look back at NFL Week1:
RIGHT
Carson Palmer: In the terrific FantasyAlarm.com DFS Playbook, Jeff Mans wrote: “The Saints defensive backfield is terrible & they are shorthanded without Keenan Lewis, Palmer is my favorite cheap QB this week.” Bravo Maestro Mans! Palmer was all that and more. Showing little rust from last season’s knee injury, Palmer threw for 307 yards, 3 TD and no interceptions. With a tasty matchup coming up against the Bears, Palmer will be a must start again in week 2. If he stays healthy, he will likely provide QB1 value despite being drafted as a low end QB2. [Shout out to the First Lady of Fantasy here as well – she pushed team CTW to start Palmer over Cam Newton as team CTW begins the strive for five FSTA expert titles]
Chris Ivory: Of Ivory, Mr. Mans penned the “Browns had worst run defense in NFL last year & has given up 5 runs of over 20 yards this preseason. Ivory is a powerful runner who will be fresh here at the start of the season.” Bingo! Chris Ivory ran hard and looked every bit as fast as Nick Mangold told me he would when we chatted on Colton and the Wolfman on SiriusXM Radio last week. Specifically, Ivory totaled 1000 yards and two TD on 21 touches. I know that the Jets brought in Stevan Ridley and Zac Stacy but as long as Ivory stays healthy he will get the ball a ton and be the bell cow the Jets have been missing for quite some time.
Jason Witten: In a prediction that made me smile when I read it and still makes me smile now, Jeff wrote that Jason Witten “could rack up the catches against a very soft Giants pass defense. Witten has been basically forgotten about in seasonal league and thus will likely be lightly owned in DFS this week as well.” Of course, there was no way to know that Dez Bryant would get hurt but Jeff was right on in urging you to play Witten. On the night, the Canton-bound TE caught 8 of 9 targets for 60 yards and two TD. With Dez Bryant on the shelf and Tony Romo looking like he will be running a Tom Brady like short pass offense in Dallas, Witten is poised to outperform his daily fantasy price as well as his ADP.
Travis Kelce: I cannot make this all about Jeff can I? Nope! So, with this final “Right”, I will pat myself on the back. When asked by one of my twitter followers whether to play John Brown or Travis Kelce, I went against common wisdom and chose the TE over the WR. Brown was solid posting 4 catches for 46 and a TD. However, Kelce was great with a huge opener of 6 receptions for 106 yards and two TD. [Note – I have the honor of co-managing a team with the gifted Stephania Bell who insisted we draft Kelce and who convinced me that he was primed for a huge year. Kudos to her genius on that one!].
WRONG
Ryan Tannehill: Ok, enough praising Mr. Mans (though his key role in the amazing DFS Playbook Pro has earned him much praise but I digress). This week Jeff sang Ryan Tannehill’s praises as follows: “Redskins gave up 2nd most passing yards per game in 2014 & Dolphins loaded up with new receivers. Chris Culliver helps but not enough at this price.” I was right with ya Jeff but 226 yards and only 1 TD hardly makes one a fantasy stud. That is the bad news. The good news is that a matchup with Jax and more field time for Devante Parker should equal a strong performance from Tannehill and maybe some undervaluing next week? Watch this one.
Lamar Miller: Sticking with the Fish, the Lamar Miller prognostications stank a bit too: “A great value on all 3 sites for a RB who will run/catch on all three downs against a less than stellar defense.” Well, 75 yards from scrimmage with no TD does not get anyone excited. Miller better get off the block against Jax in week 2 because weeks 3 and 4 bring the Bills and the Jets and week 5 brings a bye. Hopefully the guy who posted almost 1400 yards and 9 TD in 2014 will show up in week 2.
Greg Olsen: Well, Jeff (and me and pretty anyone making predictions) was high on Greg Olsen. Oh well. Jeff noted: “Who else are the Panthers going to throw the ball to this week? Olsen makes for a very intriguing low cost FLEX play on DK and/or Feud this week as well if paired with Gronk at the TE position” Olsen was not Gronk or anything like him. 1 catch for 11 yards on 3 targets. Really? I will have to go back to the film to find out what happened but suffice it to say that with Houston up next, it may take a while for Olsen to get on track.
Doug Martin: Ok, I need to take one on the chin here too. In a display of infinite wisdom, I advocated Doug Martin to many and even started him in two leagues. Unfortunately, Martin was not nearly as good as his preseason appeared to be posting only 54 yards from scrimmage. Lucky for Doug the Saints are next so better fortune should be on the horizon.
INDIFFERENT
Brandon Coleman: On Coleman, Jeff noted: “Coleman is the best GPP WR play of the week. He appears to be stepping into Jimmy Graham's vacated role in the Saints offense and with his size and strength he could post multi TD's against the Cardinals this week.” I think 4 for 41 and a TD qualifies for an indifferent here. He did produce cheap value but did not get the multi-TD. That said watch the tape on this one because Coleman will be a TD machine this year. Book it.
Eddie Lacy: Mr. Mans predicted as to Lacy: “The Bears switched to a 3-4 base defense this year without any significant run stoppers in the middle (or edges) of their d-line. This game will get out of hand early and Packers will likely be run heavy late in the game.” Well he was wrong about the game getting out of hand early as the Packers got a little scare in week 1. However, Lacy did get 21 touches for 99 yards and a TD so we cannot kill Jeff on this one.
TJ Yeldon: My turn. I advocated starting Yeldon to many. Meh. 12 rushes for 51 yards and 3 receptions for 16 yards means a total of 9.6 fantasy points in most PPR formats. Yep, a classic kiss your sister on this one. With the Dolphins and Mr. Suh waiting next week, TJ may have to wait two weeks before getting his sea legs under him.
Good luck in Week 2!