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Quarterbacks
1. Drew Brees 27.3 FPs (NO @ TB) – With or without Jimmy Graham, this should be a dangerous New Orleans Saints offense coming out of the bye week and facing a Buccaneers squad that all ranks 30th against the pass in our strength-of-schedule-adjusted NFL efficiency rankings. While the analysis may be a brief this week, I do want to highlight each player’s Rest of Season Fantasy Rankings as well. Keep in mind that players who have had their bye week already have a full game advantage the rest of the way. ROS Fantasy Rank: #1 Overall/#1 QB
2. Robert Griffin III 24.1 FPs (WAS @ NYG) – Save for the week that he was injured against the Falcons, Griffin III has had at least 22.5 fantasy points every week this season, including 37.1 FPs in his return from injury last week. ROS Fantasy Rank: #3 Overall/#3 QB
3. Cam Newton 23.9 FPs (CAR vs. DAL) – Combining the traits of the two quarterbacks above, Newton is a running QB who is coming off of a bye week and taking on a suspect secondary. ROS Fantasy Ranking: #6 Overall/#6 QB
Breakout Candidate: Carson Palmer 22.8 FPs (OAK vs. JAC) – While he has not quite lived up to expectations this season, Palmer has an inviting matchup this week against the Jaguars and the healthiest receiving corps he has had all year. ROS Fantasy Rank: #10 Overall/#10 QB
Must Avoid: Matthew Stafford 16.5 FPS (DET @ CHI) – The Lions are going on the road on Monday night to take on a very good and opportunistic defense in Chicago. Expect a low scoring game. ROS Fantasy Rank: #16 Overall/#16 QB
Running Backs
1. Arian Foster 17.2 FPs (HOU vs. BAL) – Per usual. ROS Fantasy Rank: #25 Overall/#2 RB
2. Trent Richardson 16.1 FPs (CLE @ IND) – This comes with the enormous caveat that Richardson may not be healthy enough to play in this game against Indianapolis. He also projects to score just one point more than the seventh ranked RB this week. If he does though, he will be taking on the worst run defense in the league and one that just gave up 34.1 fantasy points to Shonn Greene (all in the running game). ROS Fantasy Rank: #42 Overall/#10 RB
3. C.J. Spiller 15.9 FPs (BUF vs. TEN) – Even in splitting equal time (every two series apparently), now that he is healthy again, CJ Spiller looks like a great candidate for a(nother) breakout game this week. ROS Fantasy Rank: #35 Overall/#8 RB
Breakout Candidate: Daryl Richardson 8.4 FPs (STL vs. GB) – Richardson had two touches in Week 1, yet has averaged 10.4 touches and 5.5 yards-per-touch since then (without Steven Jackson missing any games). His role will continue to grow. At 25th on our RB rankings, he’s a fringe starter right now. ROS Fantasy Rank: #163 Overall/#35 RB
Must Avoid: Jonathan Stewart 5.3 FPs (CAR vs. NYG) – Even if Carolina game-plans to get Stewart more involved in the offense coming out of the bye week, he is still likely the third option of four in the running game and the third option of four for goal-line touches. ROS Fantasy Rank: #201 Overall/#44 RB
Wide Receiver
1. A.J. Green 15.5 FPs (CIN vs. PIT) – Green has double-digit targets in all but one game (and he had 23.7 PPR FPs in that other game) and has at least 12 PPR fantasy points in every game with an average of 23.6 PPR FPs. ROS Fantasy Rank: #33 Overall/#1 WR
2. Brandon Marshall 14.4 FPs (CHI vs. DET) – Though safety Louis Delmas is back, all of the corner backs for the Detroit Lions are banged-up in some fashion right now. Marshall is already one of the more targeted options in the league. With the great matchup and Alshon Jeffery still hurt, Marshall is likely to exceed 100 receiving yards this week. ROS Fantasy Rank: #51 Overall/#3 WR
3. Vincent Jackson 13.7 FPs (TB vs. NO) – Mike Williams got the yards last week, but it’s Jackson who is the red zone target and more of a focal point in this passing offense. Look for a shootout with the 30th and 29th ranked pass defenses playing in this game. ROS Fantasy Rank: #64 Overall/#10 WR
Breakout Candidate: Kendall Wright 8.2 FPs (TEN @ BUF) – With Kenny Britt getting healthier and Jake Locker coming back soon, there may not be great value in Wright much longer, but he has been a favorite target of Matt Hasselbeck with 19 targets in Hasselbeck’s s two starts. ROS: #130 Overall/#33 WR.
Must Avoid: Anquan Boldin 7.3 FPs (BAL @ HOU) – The Ravens’ offense is generating buzz, but Boldin has just one game all season with more than ten fantasy points. Plus, Baltimore is traveling to face a great Houston Texans’ defense that is much better than it looked last week against the Packers. ROS Fantasy Rank: #116 Overall/#30 WR
Tight End
1. Jimmy Graham 10.9 FPs (NO @ TB) ROS Fantasy Rank: #78 Overall/#2 TE***
2. Rob Gronkowski 10.2 FPs (NE vs. NYJ) ROS Fantasy Rank: #92 Overall/#4 TE
3. Owen Daniels 9.5 FPs (HOU vs. BAL) ROS Fantasy Rank: #114 Overall/#5 TE
Breakout Candidate: Brandon Myers 8.0 FPs (OAK vs. JAC) ROS Fantasy Rank: #122 Overall/#7 TE
Must Avoid: Jermaine Gresham 7.2 FPs (CIN vs. PIT) ROS Fantasy Rank: #192 Overall/#20 TE
Kickers
1. Sebastian Janikowski 11.6 FPs (OAK vs. JAC) ROS Fantasy Rank: #76 Overall/#1 K
2. Stephen Gostkowski 10.3 FPs (NE vs. NYJ) ROS Fantasy Rank: #102 Overall/#6 K
3. Lawrence Tynes 10.0 FPs (NYG vs. WAS) ROS Fantasy Rank: #90 Overall/#2 K
Breakout Candidate: Greg Zuerlein 8.7 FPs (STL vs. GB) ROS Fantasy Rank: #144 Overall/#18 K
Must Avoid: Jay Feely 6.8 FPs (ARI @ MIN) ROS Fantasy Rank: #197 Overall/#29 K
Defense
1. Minnesota Vikings 13.6 FPs (MIN vs. ARI) ROS Fantasy Rank: #111 Overall/#11 DEF
2. New England Patriots 11.9 FPs (NE vs. NYJ) ROS Fantasy Rank: #112 Overall/#12 DEF
3. Chicago Bears 11.1 FPs (CHI vs. DET) ROS Fantasy Rank: #35 Overall/#1 DEF
Breakout Candidate: Oakland Raiders 9.5 FPS (OAK vs. JAC) ROS Fantasy Rank: #201 Overall/#28 DEF
Must Avoid: New York Jets 0 FPs (NYJ @ NE) ROS Fantasy Rank: #133 Overall/#15 DEF
Injuries to Watch
1. Jimmy Graham *** As a transcendent athlete at the tight end position, Jimmy Graham was a first round draft choice in many leagues. He is our top rated tight end for this week and a top two player at his position for the rest of the season. He is also dealing with an ankle injury that some thought may rule him out for up to six weeks when he injured it. Pay close attention to his status for this early Sunday game.
2. Trent Richardson Similar to Graham, we love Richardson’s matchup this week. If he does not play, given this matchup, Montario Hardesty should be picked up and started in most formats. The greater concern, though, is that with Richardson’s injury concerns, he and Hardesty split carries, which would make it tough to start either. We’ll do our best to update as we learn more about the situation, but please note any feedback that can be gleaned from Pat Schurmur’s comments leading up to game day.
3. Other Starting RBs As a reminder, DeMarco Murray (Felix Jones as backup), Donald Jones (Vick Ballard), Beanie Wells/Ryan Williams (William Powel) and Cedric Benson (Alex Green) are all out this week. Also, Jahvid Best will not be coming back for the Detroit Lions this season (benefitting Mikel Leshoure owners) and it looks like the Steelers’ backfield is a mess this week (with Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman questionable).
Fantasy Football Rankings for the top 200 players in standard and PPR scoring leagues each week will be posted on Thursday mornings during the season. Subscribers to the weekly Picks packages will receive projections for every player as well. Rankings and projections will be updated throughout the week as injury information or other news dictates. To know exactly when picks and rankings are posted, please sign up for our NFL Pick Availability Alerts.
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NFL Picks Pages:
October 18: Predictalator Picks
October 21: Predictalator Picks Paul's Analysis
October 22: Predictalator Picks Paul's Analysis
Play Analyzer - View Updated Picks on Current Consensus Lines
Customize the Predictalator - Play the Games with Any Lines
Buy Picks