A Boomer and a Buster
Monday Night football. It’s not what it used to be, but it’s better than anything else. Monday used to be the game we all waited for. It was the primetime game. Somewhere along the way, the moneymakers turned Sunday Night Football into the headline; but Monday Night Football will always hold a special place in my heart. In this article, I will give one boom and one bust player for you to start as week one comes to an end. Fantasy football is about matchups; below I’ll give two players who will either exploit their matchup or run into a brick wall.
The Original Boom – Gus Edwards 😢
As I was writing this article, sad news came out of Ravens camp that Gus Edwards and Marcus Peters tore their ACL. The NFL comes fast good people. I hate injuries to elite athletes. We can be cynical and say these guys get paid millions of dollars to play a kids game, but world-class athletes give their lives to be elite. When injuries happen, I feel terrible because I understand the cost of being great – and these guys pay the cost. Prayers up to Gus, Peters, JK, Cam Akers, Michael Thomas, Travis Etienne, and the host of all the other elite athletes struck down by cruel injuries. Anyways, the show must go on.
Boom – Sammy Watkins
With news that Gus Edwards tore his ACL, the Ravens backfield has been absolutely decimated. JK Dobbins tore his ACL in the preseason, then the news came out that Justice Hill tore his Achilles heel. That’s insanely bad luck. But through adversity comes opportunity, and this run of terrible bad luck may lead to fantasy football goodness for the Ravens passing game.
Sammy Watkins should be at the center of Raven’s passing game. Watkins is at a turning point in his career. Still only 27 years old, he has had an up and down career to say the least. He had flashes in Buffalo where he looked every bit as good as his first-round draft capital. But after leaving the frigid Northeast for a huge payday with the Kansas City Chiefs, Watkins became a bit an afterthought. Watkins had some big games, and was great during the Chiefs Super Bowl run in 2019 but he was clearly the third fiddle behind Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Not to mention, he has had a myriad of injuries slow him down.
Moving on up, to the East side
Watkins’ now in Baltimore, where he will be the most complete receiver Lamar Jackson has ever played with. Baltimore can’t run Lamar into the ground. Lamar will still run, but now more than ever they will need to pass to be successful this season. With a lackluster group of RB’s in Ty’Son Williams, Leveon Bell, DeVonta Freeman (just signed), Latavious Murray (just signed), the Ravens passing game will need to take a step this season.
This should start Monday night in Vegas. Watkins has had a terrific camp and Lamar had talked glowingly about him. If Watkins can stay healthy, he will be in line for 5-8 targets and 4-6 catches. He could also be an outside threat for Lamar in the red zone. With first-round pick Rashod Bateman sidelined for at least the first six weeks of the season, Watkins can become the fantasy football WR1 on the Ravens.
More than likely Mark Andrews will lead the Ravens in targets this season. But if (and it’s a big if) Watkins stays healthy, he shouldn’t be far behind.
For some reason, Watkins loves Week 1. In 2019 he was WR1 with 37.8 points and in 2020 Watkins was WR12 with 14.5 points. He has excelled early. I’m looking for Watkins to get off to another hot start.
Projection: 8 targets, 5 receptions, 73 yards, 1 touchdown
Buster – Josh Jacobs
Sometimes talent runs into a bad situation. Josh Jacobs would have been a feature back this year, but then the Raiders lost their mind and signed Kenyan Drake to a 2-year, $11 million contract. Why? I’ll never know. The word has been out for a decade that it’s bad business to sign RB’s past the age of 26. Drake is now 27. He will however have a role on this Raiders team. Judging from the contract, he’ll have a big role. Maybe Gruden is reliving his glory days of Charlie Garner. I don’t know.
It’s always weird to me when NFL teams bring in RB’s when they already have solid RB’s on team-friendly contracts (here’s looking at you Jaguars). This case is even more egregious because at $5.5 million, Drake is one of the higher paid RB’s in the league. It’s odd, especially given Jacobs’ talent, age, and contract.
Jacobs had a great year last year. He was RB8 in fantasy football and looked powerful and explosive. Especially near the goal line (12 touchdowns).
Limited Looks
Jacobs has never been a pass-catching back and that limits his fantasy appeal. I’ve rostered Jacobs since his rookie year; I see a great NFL RB that could do it all but is being limited by the coaching staff. Such is the fickle, cruel world of the NFL and of fantasy football.
There was no need to sign Drake but now that they have, he will severely limit Jacobs’s upside. For a back that gets his points by way of the touchdown and volume (273 attempts, only 3.9 yards per carry), Jacobs could be limited in both volume and at the goal-line.
More than likely, Jacobs maintains his goal-line looks. But in game one, with Drake lurking, who knows. I know this; Jacobs will not see many targets. He only had 27 targets in his rookie year, and 45 targets in year two. I don’t like this two-headed monster for fantasy purposes and playing against an elite Ravens rush defense (8th in rush yards given up in 2020). On top of that, Jacobs now has an injury designation. I’m fading Jacobs wherever I can in week one.
Projection: 2 targets, 1 reception, 55 total yards, 0 touchdowns
