Whether you started your fantasy football season with a win or a loss, last week was a good week. We finally got to watch meaningful NFL football. There were lots of great games, and several not so great games. Some of our studs played like duds, and some of the scrubs played like studs. At this point in the season it is important to not over react. It’s important to read between the lines to determine what we actually need to be worried about.
For example, Adam Thielen only had 36 receiving yards with just 3 receptions. But Thielen played more snaps and ran the same amount of routes as Justin Jefferson. There will be better days for Thielen with this type of usage, so it’s important to not panic.
As you start to prepare for your Week 2 matchups, make sure you clear your rosters of your roster cloggers. This will allow you to add some stash players to your roster that are currently being undervalued, or players that could have big jumps in value. In last weeks Roster Clogger article I recommended adding guys like Darrell Henderson and Khalil Herbert since it seemed like they may be more involved than the fantasy community was expecting. If you added either of them or Jeff Wilson, you likely saved a good amount of FAAB this week.
Late Week Additions
At this point in the week, there are still some decent players available from the the Week 2 Waiver Wire article. Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, and Curtis Samuel are rostered in just 5.2%, 27.3%, 45.7% of ESPN leagues respectively. But one of my favorite adds today is Jamaal Williams. He is rostered in just 37.8% of ESPN leagues. In Week 1, Williams only rushed for 28 yards, but he had two rushing touchdowns. Williams was only on the field for about 1/3 of the snaps. But with Swift already battling an injury Williams is someone I want to stash on my bench.
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville, 53.4% Rostered
After. a disappointing rookie season there were reasons to be optimistic about Lawrence entering the year. He had a new head coach, several new pass catchers, and a full year to adjust to NFL speed. But in Week 1, Lawrence left fantasy football managers wanting more yet again. His 275 passing yards was fine, but he only completed 57.1% of his passes. In addition to his low completion percentage, Lawrence also threw his first interception of the season.
Lawrence did throw 1 touchdown on the day. But that is just not enough to cut it as a starting QB for fantasy football purposes. Until Lawrence steps it up he is just going to be rotting on your bench. He is currently in just 8% of ESPN starting lineups which are most likely superflex or maybe dynasty leagues. Lawrence should be nowhere near your starting lineups quite yet.
Trevor Lawrence is killing fantasy teams around the country. Criminal.
pic.twitter.com/3WuThbfSmJ— Mik’d Up (@Mikdup_8) September 11, 2022
James Cook, Buffalo, 63.5% Rostered
The Bills 2nd Round pick did not get off to a great start this season. In his debut, Cook only had one carry. He fumbled that one carry and did not get another touch in the game.
James Cook first touch leads to a fumble thanks to Leonard Floyd and Nick Scott pic.twitter.com/eEFcPkgOij
— Ian Wharton (@NFLFilmStudy) September 9, 2022
I do expect Cook to get better as the season goes on. But for the time being, that backfield is Devin Singletary’s. Singletary was the only RB to see goal line or 2 minute drill snaps. In addition, Singletary was the clear favorite for early downs and 3rd down work.
Outside of Singletary, Zack Moss was the next best RB on the team. He had 22 snaps compared to the 34 that Singletary had. So no matter what, when Cook is ready to get going he will have to surpass Zack Moss before he really has any fantasy football value for this season. I will be watching to see when his usage starts to pick up, but until then I will not have him on any of my roster.
Kadarius Toney, New York Giants, 74.6% Rostered
When Toney gets the ball in his hand he is electric. According to PlayerProfiler he ranked first in Juke Rate, which he has already shown off again this season.
The #Giants have barely used Kadarius Toney today and its been weird to see.
He made something happen the one time he had the ball in his hands.
And then they took him out immediately after. Very odd.pic.twitter.com/GnMCUNVzXw
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 11, 2022
But for some reason, the Giants just do not want to give him more opportunities. In the Giants Week 1 matchup against the Titans, Toney was only on the field for 7 snaps. This was behind Richie James (42), David Sills (27), and Wan’Dale Robinson (9). In the post game press conference, Giants head Coach Brian Daboll said that Toney was only on the field for specific packages.
If Toney is not able to get onto the field more often, there is no way he should be in your starting lineup. But with the uphill battle for fantasy football relevance, it might be a long time before I am ready to plug Toney into my lineup. Therefore I am going to just drop him today to eliminate any temptation I may have to put him in there. Just this morning I was discussing waivers with some of my league mates about other leagues and I found it very difficult to justify keeping Toney over many of the available options.
Mike Gesicki, Miami, 67.5% Rostered
You may be tempted to stash Mike Gesicki. But I am here to tell you to just go ahead and cut him. Sure, you used a draft pick to get him, and it is still early in the season. But what value is he actually adding for you. He is currently started in just 19.6% of ESPN leagues; meaning he is taking up a bench spot in the majority of leagues. Chances are you play in a league that starts just 1 TE, so it is not important to carry a backup. Especially at such a volatile position.
In Week 1, Gesicki was on the field for less than half of the offensive snaps; and he ran routes on just 60% of the snaps that he played. In other words, Gesicki was not even an option to get the ball on 75% of the Dolphins plays. So it is not surprising that he only had one target in the game. He did catch the ball, but only gained 1 yard on the play.
As expected, Mike Gesicki a non-factor in Mike McDaniel offense. Only 16 routes run on 37 Tua Tagovailoa dropbacks.
Gesicki saw one target for a 3% share.
— Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) September 12, 2022
Gesicki will have better games, but its going to be hard to predict when it will happen. So rather than have that good game be on your bench, you should drop Gesicki today. Maybe one of your leaguemates will drop a more valuable player to add him. Dropping Gesicki not only clears one of your bench spots, but should add a roster clogger to one of your league mates teams.
Roster Clogger Watchlist
The watchlist players are all rostered in over 50% of leagues and are very close to being considered roster cloggers. With another week of concerning usage or trends, they will find themselves on the main list. But if you are in desperate need of a roster spot these players should be considered drop candidates.
- Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings, RB
- Robert Woods, Tennessee Titans, WR
- Irv Smith, Minnesota Vikings, TE
- Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears, TE
