If you haven’t been paying attention, now is the time to panic. Some of you out there have teams loaded with Falcon’s, Jets, Saints and 49ers. (Sadly, if you loaded up on the 49ers running backs, you’ve probably lost hope already) If you don’t have a back-up QB, kicker, tight end, or defense, so roll up your sleeves and let’s go dumpster diving!
QB’s:
Carson Wentz, Colts vs. Texans: I don’t care if it’s Carson Wentz or Carson Daly, whoever starts against the Texans gets my nod here. Also, last week Wentz completed 75% of his passes with two TD’s against the Miami defense.
Taylor Heinickie, The Football Team vs. Chiefs: It’s not just the Buffalo Bills greatness, everyone has been roasting the Chiefs defense through the air this year. They are giving up two passing TD’s per game. I wouldn’t recommend Heinickie against a good D, they usually contain him, but against the Chiefs, even Taylor Heinickie can have a good day, and chances are that The Football Team will have to do a lot of throwing to keep up with KC.
Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars vs. Dolphins: Remember week 1 when Lawrence posted three TD’s through the air against the Texans? Then he was very mediocre against two tough defenses. But there are signs he’s getting the hang of playing pro football. Over the last two weeks his completion percentage is 5th in the league. The Dolphins defense has given up 9 TD’s and 341 passing yards per game over their last three games. I’m betting that Lawrence can outduel Jacoby Brissett.
TE’s:
Cameron Brate, Buccaneers vs. Eagles: If Rob Gronkowski is out again, and it looks like he will be, Cameron Brate will be the fill-in to pick up. He was third in targets behind Evans and Godwin and likely will be the Bucs primary receiving tight end going forward.
Ricky Seals-Jones, The Football Team vs. Chiefs: Let’s see a show of hands, who knew that Ricky Seals-Jones was still in the league? He is and he’s got the valuable Washington TE position to himself. Against the Chiefs porous defense he ought to make some hay this week.
Dan Arnold vs. Dolphins: I’m pointing to the bleachers and calling my shot. This is the week that Urban “Grind Me” Meyer and Trevor Lawrence get their first win of the season. Dan Arnold has been with the Jags a couple weeks now and has caught 80% of the passes thrown his way. Trevor is getting better and the Dolphins are reeling. The only way this goes wrong is if the coaching staff screws it up. What are the chances of that?
Kickers:
Jacksonville Jaguars Kicker: Josh Lambo vs. Matthew Wright. One of these guys will be the kicker, but that’s up to Urban Meyer. I trust his judgement in everything. He is infallible. The fact is that the Jaguars as a team have yet to make a field goal this year. I trust in regression to the mean. Someday, maybe Sunday, a Jaguar will make a field goal. Maybe several. They can’t go forever without a field goal, right?
Nick Folk, Patriots vs. Cowboys: The Patriots know they don’t have the ammunition to win a shootout with the Cowboys, so you know that Bill Belichick is going to make this an ugly game. They’re going to control the ball, run a lot and throw a lot of short, safe passes. And they will take points when they can get them, any way that they can get them. Also, Folk lost his job to a rookie in training camp who got injured week 1 and he is not giving it back. (Seriously, how do placekickers get hurt?)
Randy Bullock, Titans vs. Bills: The Titans are going to run the ball all day with Derrick Henry to keep the Bills offense off the field. Some of those drives are going to fall short of the end zone and wily veteran kicker Randy Bullock will be there to get them three points every time. The Bills score fast and often, meaning that the Titans will have a lot of possessions.
Defenses:
Seattle Seahawks vs. Steelers: C’mon, how can you not take any defense that’s playing Big Bad Ben, and the bad really means bad. He’s also without Juju too. He can’t throw every pass to Diontae. Some of them have to go to the defense. Odds makers have this as the lowest scoring game of the week. I think part of that is how decrepit Roethlisberger has become. The O-line is so bad that they called me to try out for them this week.
Green Bay Packers vs. Bears: If Justin Fields is starting again, you’ve got to go with the Packers D. Fields is going to be a great QB in the NFL, but this probably won’t be that week. He’ll make some plays that will make you scratch your head and not just because of your lice. Fields is still growing into the role and he’ll make as many great plays as he will bad plays and the Packers are good enough to take advantage of his inexperience.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Lions: The Bengals have been a good NFL defense this season with 13 sacks through the first 5 games and this week they get Jared Goof. No, that’s not a typo. I’m starting a thing. Jared Goof. The fantasy community is going to pick up on this. Trust me, after the Bengals dismantle the Lions offense this week, Jared Goof is going to be a thing.
That’s it for this week. How do you feel about the addition of the tight end position? Keep it, yea or nay? Hit me up on Twitter @thephilfactor.
