Going For 2 fanbase my name is @TheBLeagueSays and in this week’s ‘Gameplan for the Week’, I will give to you some plays to make for seasonal and daily roster construction, prop bets, and dynasty evaluations. Before you make any start and sit decisions this weekend make sure you check out our weekly rankings also.
Thank you, and enjoy!
Slant Route
Who is trending up this week?
At the end of the 2019 season, PFF had ranked the Pittsburgh Steelers cover defense as the fifth-best overall, and Darius Slayton could not care less as he tore them up as he chalked up 102 yards and two touchdowns, one of which was a 41-yard reception where he left bodies in his smoke as he and Saquon Barkley tied the team for 9 targets in their season’s opener. All offseason the narrative of ‘Daniel Jones finally getting all of his arsenal’ is still yet to ring true as Golden Tate missed their home opener, and Even Engram was a little ‘off’ in his return also, but one thing is for certain, Jones will not hesitate to hit Slayton on the long bomb, or for a 7-yard red zone strike also. The quietly underrated Slayton since Week 5 in 2019 leads all receivers for touchdowns with 10.
He and the Giants visit the Bears this week, who gave up nearly 300 yards to Matthew Stafford last week and is sitting pretty at $5000 on Draft Kings for this matchup. I think the Giants can cause the Bears some problems this week and if a shootout prevails then I’d think Slayton has a big role in that playing out.
Flat Route
The Chargers were on low-battery mode:
…against a rookie quarterback and the worst team in the NFL in 2019. And if they thought a 16-13 win on the road was tough, ‘the other’ team in L.A. now meet the red-hot Kansas City Chiefs (you know, last years Super Bowl Champions who spanked Houston last week) at home on Sunday. Look, it was a clunky game – that was to be expected to some degree for every matchup after this past offseason – however, to see that Tyrod Taylor completed only 53% of his passes (which is rough considering he only had 30 passing attempts), should say something about either how much they either didn’t trust him or how much they respected the Bengals and if that’s the case I think it means more about the former than the latter.
OK, ok I won’t harp on last week against Cincinnati or this week against the Chiefs. But consider this: they see Carolina and their high powered offense, Tampa, New Orleans, and then the stout New York Jets defense. Now, I’m not saying that now is the time to buy Justin Herbert (well, I kind of am I’m just being facetious) because after the Jets matchup they face Miami, Jacksonville, and the Raiders before their bye which is a good schedule to blood someone in. I’m just saying that this is a tough stretch of upcoming games before facing the Dolphins and they didn’t let Tyrod Taylor air it out against the Bengals with all the weapons he has at his disposal then they might be thinking that what they invested in this offseason maybe what they need to utilize sooner than later.
Comeback Route
The bounceback is on for:
Atlanta on the road at Dallas this week has the makings of an instant classic as the Falcons leaky defense tends to bring the best out of every opposition lacking confidence or cohesion. And Dallas could use a confidence boost because all the pomp and circumstance about ‘removing the uninspiring clapper’ Jason Garrett and bringing in Mike McCarthy while adding CeeDee Lamb amounted to absolute squat as they looked more confused on the turf than they do in the negotiation room with Dak Prescott.
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I am stacking everyone and anything in this game in DFS and the O/U at 52.5 could very well get tested by both teams in what I believe will be a shootout. Russell Gage has seen a lot of work with Matt Ryan since the back end of 2019, his price of $4800 is a nice to see, and could be a solid ‘buy’ in dynasty also that won’t break the bank.
Screen Route
The contrarian play of the week:
I’m not saying the New York Jets will beat the reigning NFC Champions in San Francisco. Not at all. However, while they could potentially be without George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk. Which means it’s next man up for Trent Taylor, Kendrick Bourne, Jordan Reed, and… ahem… Dante Pettis. Or Kevin White. Or Juwan Jennings. Or whoever.
Ok, ok they still have a healthy running back trio of Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman, and Jerick McKinnon (welcome back). This is great news for the 49ers, as the Jets did give up 98 yards rushing to the Bills, but 57 of those yards was Josh Allen scrambling. They did however concede over 300 yards in the air. Which seems to be the area that the 49ers are lacking talent in for this week. So when you look at the lines set so far and when I see home underdogs in a potentially low scoring game I just can’t resist. Currently, the Jets have the +7.5 start with the line currently set at 42.5 which I think is extremely generous to give to a team that is not only without Le’Veon Bell but without a clue also.
Out Route
‘Hey! You wanna see a dead body?’:
Carson Wentz took a beating against the ‘Football Team’ in Week 1 and it doesn’t get any easier as the Eagles welcome in Aaron Donald and the L.A. Rams who stood out against the Cowboys at home last week. The Eagles (and their fanatics) who always complain about depth and resources in December are in that vocal form already in September. They lost their starting left tackle and moved Marcus Peters back there who was shifting into a guard role, and Lane Johnson was ruled out also didn’t help their cause that much is true. But can you trust any of their receivers going up against Jalen Ramsey? I highly doubt it. That along with a hamstring issue that has been lingering about on Miles Sanders in the opening game which opened the door for Boston Scott and Corey Clement isn’t the way you want to see this prolific offense limp into Week 2.
None of this is ideal for them as the NFC East favorites depth chart looks shook already. The bright spot was Dallas Goedert, who looks set for a breakout in 2020, but with little around him or Zach Ertz are you that surprised he had a massive week? This game is already a ‘pick’em’ and I would be surprised if the Rams aren’t the favorites by Sunday. I think I’ll pass on the Eagles in Week 2.
The 9 Route
A straight forward confidence play of the week:
Now I’m not saying I touted for Jeremy Sprinkle this offseason. No, wait… I did. And I was wrong. But the premise of the idea that a tight end in Washington could break out was somewhat right, as it was Logan Thomas, not Sprinkle who did the damage against the Eagles in Week 1. Thomas debuted for the ‘Football Team’ (lol) with a solid 8-4-37-1 TD statline, which was also good enough to be the ‘Teams’ leader for targets in the season-opening game.
This week Arizona welcomes Thomas and the ‘Team’ out west this week and (yes, I am aware that it’s George Kittle I’m about to sub-reference here) allowed seven targets to the tight end position and had Kittle not got hurt during the game I’d dare say he would have caused them more trouble and possibly a different outcome in a close matchup. I am an advocate of generally finding a cheap tight end option in DFS most weeks and Logan Thomas undoubtedly fits that criteria easily in Week 2 and is punching only $3600 against the Cardinals.
Hail Mary
I love the narrative…:
Of home underdogs and the O/U hitting the ‘Under’ and I know, I know this isn’t the first time I have said that today. And when I think about the New Orleans Saints without Michael Thomas for a few weeks (who succumbed to a high ankle sprain against Tampa), I think of taking the Las Vegas Raiders at home with the +6.5 start and the ‘Unders’ currently set at 51. That doesn’t mean that the Saints won’t do damage or win, I’m just saying that I like the idea of the Raiders keeping it close enough for this to happen especially if speed demon Henry Ruggs is unavailable.
Josh Jacobs went bonkers last week against the Panthers for 139 combined yards and 3 touchdowns, and I guess that was to be somewhat expected with the Panthers having one of the worst run defenses last year and doing little to patch that up since 2019 ended. He also had an impressive 6 targets on the day which trailed only Darren Waller. The Saints gave up a stingy 86 total rushing yards to the Buccaneers last week and that backfield looked muddied at best, but the Raiders will be a bit more transparent with how they deploy Jacobs, who at $7500 on Draft Kings may be faded by the majority due to the matchup.
I want to thank you for checking this article out! As always you can follow me at @TheBLeagueSays and feel free to check out my @BackRowGiants podcast out (https://linktr.ee/TheBLeagueSays) – subscribe, rate, review, share, and listen.
Let’s all get better together!
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