Week 2 WR Start, Sit Fantasy Strategy: Fire Up Parris Campbell

Week 2 is a tough week because we tend to overreact to Week 1 in a major way and make decisions based on that. Sammy Watkins had a monster Week 1 last season and then was irrelevant the rest of the way. Will that happen again this year? We shall see. Now there are a few observations we can make about some of the defenses because most of them struggled in Week 1 but some I expect to bounce back. This was a weird offense and some teams are going to need a few weeks to get back up to speed. After watching the Vikings however, the secondary was inexperienced for the most part and struggled to defend against the Packers. Atlanta’s secondary is in the same boat. Green Bay’s secondary didn’t get high praise due to the garbage time late by Minnesota so I am not knocking them down too much and the same goes for Seattle. Tune into our Week 2 Rankings & Projections.

Start Em

Parris Campbell Vs. Minnesota Vikings

Parris Campbell’s nine targets in Week 1 stood out in a major way. He caught six of them for 71 yards which equal 14 fantasy points when you also factor in his nine-yard run. The Vikings secondary looked very exploitable and their front seven struggled to get a pass rush going with their injuries. The volume was high in the Colts offense and Campbell is looking like a clear cut WR2 on the team. While Minnesota was going to have a tough task against Davante Adams, they struggled to defend both Marques Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard. This game has sneaky shootout potential on both sides.

Mike Williams Vs. Kansas City Chiefs

After nearly missing Week 1 with an injury, Mike Williams suited up and had a 4-69-0 line on nine targets. While this is going to be a tougher matchup against the Chiefs secondary, this is a positive game script for Williams where he will see a ton of deep shots and volume due to the likeliness of the Chargers trailing. You can look at this as a boom or bust type option, but Williams projects for double-digit fantasy points this week and I would start him over lesser receivers in tougher spots.

Emmanuel Sanders Vs. Las Vegas Raiders

With Michael Thomas out, Emmanuel Sanders slides into being an easy start this week. He gets a Raiders secondary that we will be targeting all year long and with Thomas out this is going to mean a bump in targets. There isn’t much to this one, as Sanders should be able to exploit this matchup and this is a major plus with Drew Brees throwing to him.

Anthony Miller Vs. New York Giants

Anthony Miller had the game-winning touchdown over the Detroit Lions in Week 1. He is the clear number two in Chicago, and because Mitch Trubisky is under center, I can see why concerns would be there each week to start Miller. I like him in this spot, especially if he can see 6+ targets a game. The Giants secondary is still one to target, even with James Bradberry. Allen Robinson will draw a lot of the focus, and that bodes well for Miller.

CeeDee Lamb Vs. Atlanta Falcons

While CeeDee Lamb might be the third option among wide receivers, this Dallas offense moved the ball well but had some costly turnovers and couldn’t finish off drives. Dallas will get an easier matchup this week against the Atlanta secondary this week. I expect Dallas to put up a crooked number and Lamb to be involved again. He saw six targets in Week 1, catching five of them for 59 yards.

Sit Em

DeVante Parker Vs Buffalo Bills

Both DeVante Parker and Preston Williams are big concerns this week going up against the Bills secondary. This team was able to limit wide receivers in fantasy last season and I expect more of the same this season. Parker has popped up as limited with a hamstring issue and expects to play this week against the Bills. Combining the injury issue and a bottom three matchup, I will try and find some better options.

Julian Edelman @ Seattle Seahawks

Playing less than 60% of the snaps scares me a bit for Julian Edelman. In PPR leagues you might be limited to starting him anyway but any other scoring format I am looking another direction. This is going to be a very run-heavy offense and I don’t think there will be a ton of volume for this receiving group this season. Seattle’s secondary is around league average, so this is more about the usage and potentially Edelman not seeing the field as often for whatever reason it was.

DeSean Jackson Vs Los Angeles Rams

I was on DeSean Jackson last week and then he sat out about half the game with limited snaps. Doug Pederson did not mention an injury, but Jackson was injured most of 2019. I question whether he can make it through a whole game anymore and now he gets a tougher matchup against a strong Rams secondary. This offensive line also made it tough for receivers to get downfield. Jackson is actually a drop for me with so many wide receivers on the waiver wire.

Sammy Watkins @ Los Angeles Chargers

Sammy Watkins did this last year where he had a strong Week 1 to get everyone excited. Houston was a great matchup and this one is the complete opposite. The Chargers secondary did lose Derwin James for the season but added Chris Harris in the offseason. They limit opposing wide receivers and Patrick Mahomes has been limited as well in prior matchups. I won’t be falling into the trap of Watkins.

Christian Kirk Vs. Washington Football Team

Christian Kirk had a disappointing Week 1 going up against San Francisco. While he gets an easier matchup in Week 2, the fact Arizona spread out the ball a ton (outside of DeAndre Hopkins) is a concern. Kirk’s targets were downfield which is encouraging but I do worry about the volume a bit. He is going to have some strong weeks, but the inconsistency is going to make him a frustrating fantasy start most weeks.