The Monday after Week 1 of fantasy football is what I refer to as "overreaction Monday." Before you do anything, take a deep breath. Every Marshawn Lynch, Megatron, and Dez Bryant owner knows that Week 1 was real bad. The season is a marathon and all three of these players, if they remain healthy, will be fine. They are Studs and as we say repeatedly at FFChamps.com, always start your Studs.
Week 1 was fabulous for most of the top quarterbacks. Peyton Manning topped the scoring list, putting up one of the all-time greatest fantasy football scores ever, exceeded only by Priest Holmes and Marshall Faulk. Most of the FFChamps.com FFCPI top ranked receivers had solid weeks, with Calvin Johnson and Dez being the exceptions. Adrian Peterson did not take long to show everyone why he was the first pick in almost every fantasy football draft in the nation, taking the first play of the game to the house. Shady McCoy also looked great and Lynch and C.J. Spiller struggled. I was actually encouraged by the Bills offense and the potential of rookie QB EJ Manuel. However, Fred Jackson did not look 32. He looked fast, motivated, and very much like a player that will need to be on the field, which could diminish Spiller's value. This is worth keeping an eye on. If you can claim Fred Jackson on waivers, do it. If you are a Spiller owner, I am hopeful you followed FFChamps.com strong advice to handcuff Spiller with Fred Jackson, but if you did not do this, you need to try to do it now. The FFChamps top 3 FFCPI tight ends (Jimmy Graham, Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten) all had great weeks, as did the Rams Jared Cook and the Broncos "Orange" Julius Thomas. I assume Thomas will be the hottest waiver pick-up this week, and as we have emphasized, we love players from great offenses and Denver has one. However, Cook looked awesome and may be stolen off the wire while the masses focus on Thomas.
Most leagues' waivers begin on Wednesday. If you are like me and have David Wilson, two more fumbles is worrisome. Coach Coughlin has very little tolerance. Wilson is an explosive player who will need to remain on the field but he will be limited if he cannot hold on to the rock. It should be noted that Tiki Barber had a fumbling problem early in his career and Coughlin got that straightened out. If you have Wilson, you need to make sure you pick up Da'Rel Scott this week as a handcuff. He may be the starter soon enough. We also believe the Giants could sign a free agent like Willis McGahee or Brandon Jacobs. McGahee would be a compelling waiver pick-up, as he has been a fantasy beast the past few years. Join https://www.ffchamps.com/subscribe/ and we will make sure you receive daily strategy alerts so you don't miss anything crucial.
Other waiver wire pick-ups to consider are Fred Jackson as discussed above, Knowshown Moreno and Joique Bell at RB; Leonard Hankerson, who had a great game for the Redskins, and Julian Edelman at WR; and as written about earlier, Julius Thomas and Cook at TE. At QB, I don't see much value yet but if you wanted to make a move, I would look at replacing a back-up QB such as Brandon Weeden or Blaine Gabbert with young guns Terrell Pryor or EJ Manuel.
One of the questions pouring into FFChamps.com 1-on-1 advice and our Internet radio programs are, should I trade so and so? Do not trade your high drafted players after Week 1. The only trade that you should be considering in Week 1 is one that makes your starting lineup better. If you lost a starter to injury, and there is a trade that can make your lineup better by replacing that player, then join FFCHamps.com https://www.ffchamps.com/subscribe/ and get some 1 on 1 advice.
One of the most valuable tools we update each week is the Strength of Schedule, or simply the SOS. Now that Week 1 is over, the SOS is active with a color chart for each week, each match-up, by position and colored green which is favorable, red which is not favorable, and black which we see as neutral. The SOS tool is incredibly powerful when you are evaluating a trade, or want to see how your player's match-up will be in playoff weeks 14-16. Once an FFChamps member, you can see the SOS here at http://www.ffchamps.com/p/resources.sos/.
! In Week 2, a few match-ups stand out. At QB we like RG3 vs Green Bay in a bounce back game, Eli and Peyton vs. each other, and Jay Cutler has sleeper potential against the Vikings. At RB, Reggie Bush should have a good outing vs. Arizona, LeSean McCoy should run wild against the Chargers, but Trent Richardson (vs. the Ravens) and Chris Johnson (vs. the Texans) have tough match-ups. At WR/TE, Cam Newton to Steve Smith should be strong against the Bills, All Falcons WRs vs. the Rams, and Tampa's wideouts vs. Jax and Mike Williams should be strong against the Saints. One match-up to watch out for is Megatron's vs. the Cardinals. Arizona appears to be vulnerable against the run, stronger against the pass. We always play Megatron, the No. 1 WR Stud, but just something to note.
Let's look at our Patriots for the home opener in Week 2. Brady was stellar in Week 1, overcoming all kinds of issues at WR and TE. The Jets D is good and Rex Ryan can coach defense. I expect the Pats defense to force major Geno Smith mistakes, giving the offense great scoring opportunities. With Shane Vereen out, Gronk almost surely out, Amendola questionable and Thompkins totally lost at least in his first real game as a Patriot, it is a bit nerve wracking to start Brady. Do it anyway and trust that he will find replacement targets as he usually does and did with Edelman in Buffalo. Stevan Ridley's entire game benching was a bit much in my opinion, and Bill should have given him a redemption opportunity inside the Bills 3, where he is almost automatic. Instead, the Patriots fumbled the snap on fourth down and turned it over on downs. Look for Ridley to shine this week. Start him if you have him. If you own the Patriots defense, play them as well. I also expect Stephen Gostkowski to get some distance opportunities this week.
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