Kings, Jesters, and a Triumphant Game Plan (#FantasyFootball)

It’s @TheBLeagueSays here sending my condolences to the Tagliere family for their loss – Mike did so much for so many without even knowing it – Thank you for not only paving the way but continually leading the way for the little guys, Mike. For any start and sit decisions this weekend make sure you check out our weekly rankings. 

Hail Mary

Let me tell you all a story about the (Yung) Joka and the Thief in the night…

This always happens, every year: The New York Giants get everyone on their roster back, and then injuries follow within the first five minutes of that game.

Blake Martinez is a big loss (ACL – season), but to have Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton (both with hamstring issues) are probably going to miss some time as well.

But for DFS, we now have some super cheap options available at our disposal, who now meet the New Orleans Saints in their first game at home this year.

If we are chasing volume, Collin Johnson ($3200) and his 7-5-51 afternoon last week against the Falcons could give you some hope for maybe a nice PPR day, but for a couple hundred more – and very much a volatile play – Kadarius Toney ($3600) may get his first official start, and if they can put him in the slot role that Sterling Shepard was succeeding in?

That could be a huge upside play that the majority fades – both are in play in the Flex spot for GPP tournaments IF Shepard and/or Slayton miss.

Screen Route

The king gets his homecoming, as the prince aims to take the throne…

Consensus says that Tom Brady leaving New England has been one of the most incredible moves of the modern era. And it has nothing to do with the Super Bowl he won in his maiden season with the Buccaneers, but because all of a sudden – Tom Brady is fun. Tom Brady is loveable. Tom Brady is showing a side of him not many people knew existed.

We knew the doom and gloom was the Patriots stifling his happiness and we can see that how things have not changed in his former workplace. Bill Belichick is still a bitter old prick. Their play-calling looks like it has regressed to old times (which is fine, they won right doing it that way right?).

At 1-2, the Patriots look like they can’t get out of second gear. Which makes the beauty of this week’s matchup even more special. Tampa is 3-0 hitting the overs this year, the Patriots are 3-0 hitting the unders this year.

And my gut feeling is the Patriots are going to try and air it out a bit more to stick it to Brady with the heir apparent. Tampa averages about 29 points conceded a week, and now face Mac Jones who quietly has the 7th most pass attempts in the NFL this year.

I can see them forcing his hand, and I’m pushing the Patriots with the +7 in a home game that will hit the overs set at 49.

The Out Route

To the gallows? I think ye not…

If anyone – ANYONE – could make Jadeveon Clowney look like a freakin’ monster again, then it was always going to be this Bears O-Line in front of Justin Fields on his debut.

I’ll be honest I’m getting pretty damn tired writing about the Bears because they are starting to make me look a little dumber than normal, however – IF – there was ever a team to help you get right maybe it’s the Detroit Lions, who for a week made Lamar Jackson look like Dan Marino despite Marquise Brown ‘helping’ Jackson’s stat line looking lesser than what it could have, bombing pass, after pass…

Still, Fields’ price is as cheap as chips at $5200, just like his receivers Allen Robinson ($5800), and Darnell Mooney ($3900) – I probably uttered the words last week ‘you could do worse’ – well you probably couldn’t after what they did against Cleveland.

I’m not the biggest fan of this matchup and players people are being faded (rightfully, also) that everyone is probably avoiding and give them one last roll of the dice. It’s a desperate play.

Comeback Route

Court jesters giving us a weekly LOL…

I will always give the Jets grief (as a Giants fan it’s almost like it’s my only win for the week) because even when they look like they are trying to do things right, it blows up in their face.

And this week they get the resurgent Tennesee Titans, who after a shaky start against the Cardinals have bounced into back-to-back wins.

And what I love more than the Jets failing, is a revenge game.

Corey Davis gets to meet his former maker in the Titans, who have been super generous to wide receivers (although some of those names are the very best in the league, no doubt) in the form of the second most yards on average (226.6 per game), fourth-most targets on average (26.6 per game), and the second-most touchdowns to the position per week on average (2 per game).

Forget the Jets being garbage for a week (they’ve been garbage for a lot longer but that’s beside the point), Corey Davis is priced at $5000 in a revenge game against one of the worst teams in the league at stopping receivers. Book him in for a solid performance with a sweet price point.

Flat Route

Speaking of revenge…

Jacoby Brissett moved to Miami this offseason and now gets to line up opposite his previous employer who preferred an old as dirt Philip Rivers, and Safelite’s number one customer Carson Wentz.

Brissett has been often relegated to being a solid backup to a starter and can somewhat shine when he gets the chance, but those changes have been few and far between over the past few seasons.

The Colts have struggled across the board this season while managing to score over 17 points just once this season, and while Miami’s receivers all got fed quite well in a high-scoring game with the Raiders last week under Brissett’s command – they all kind of went nowhere with it.

The O/U here is currently set at 42.5 and as much as I think this one could surprise a lot of people and be higher scoring than you’d think because let’s face it, there are so many explosive players like Jaylen Waddle, for example, who had a nice 13 target game last week, taking part in this matchup, I tend to think this one hasn’t got a stack of appeal to it.

The Go Route

It’s going to be a mutiny at the top…

I’m not overly convinced on the Chiefs – if you have read my work before you already know this – as the rest of the AFC West makes them chase for the first time in what feels like a decade, and I’m not the biggest believer in the Browns, Bengals or Titans either.

But a quiet opening weekend loss to the Steelers and weird matchups (despite the blowout win) over Miami and Washington have people still not talking about the Bills as much as they should.

This week they get another cushy matchup against a Davis Mills-led Texans will likely see them punch their way to a 3-1 record, further cementing the AFC East as their playground.

But beyond that? The Bills have a nice futures prop to keep an eye on – the $10 they’re getting to take the Super bowl.

If they keep shutting teams down and chucking up 30-burgers every week then I’m not sure who in the AFC can stop them, however, the major tests follow after this week with games at Kansas and Tennesee – if they can go three on the Trott then this may be the last time we see their odds this far out.

Slant Route

The phantom menace…

For the majority of 2020 the Carolina Panthers, led by Teddy Bridgewater, for the majority of the season without star Christian McCaffrey – they were fine for the most part, with a rookie head coach and a young defense in a year without an offseason/preseason – but here we are again, a few games into the season without their best weapon in ‘CMC’.

They mixed in some rush attempts for Curtis Samuel next to Mike Davis which kept everyone guessing and we can assume rookie Chuba Hubbard now carries the load as both guys mentioned are now off the team, but I’m not sure that sort of variety exists with him and Royce Freeman, so maybe Sam Darnold has to sling it about more this week.

These undefeated Panthers travel to Dallas in week four where they meet a team that can put up 30 points on a whim. I like the 4.5 points they’ve been given, and I see this one going over the 51.5 points that are set.

They’ve shown a stack of Moxey, and being 3-0 I believe they’ll back themselves to give the Cowboys a run for their money in the highest-scoring game of the week for me.

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 @GothamCity_STR podcast out (Linktree) – subscribe, rate, review, share, and listen.

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