If you know me at all, you know I love Madden. I'm a huge fan. And you know the first thing I used to do when playing dynasty mode would be to move St. Louis back to Los Angeles. Though, I can't remember a situation where my version of the new Los Angeles Rams were as bad as the version that we saw on Monday night.
But I must admit my first love in the EA Sports franchise was the college game. Oh man, that was such an amazing game (thanks for ruining that, Ed O'Bannon). Similarly to Madden, I would immediately go to dynasty mode to build a mid-major into a D1 powerhouse (usually a team like UNLV or Hawaii). Of course, I would jump into the create-a-player mode. Don't act like you don't do that, either. We all would jump in there and create a version of ourselves. I would always create a 6-foot-1 running back named Jesse Bell. (I'm not a total narcissist. Jesse Bell was the name of my maternal grandmother.) But it was the routine. I would make this superstar running back and then attempt to win the Heisman trophy. (The crowning achievement was taking Bell to the Heisman as a freshman one year. I know, I'm super proud of the wrong things.)
I mention this, of course, because it seems like the Chargers do this in real life. The Chargers always seem to have an endless supply of 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 receivers who come off an assembly line. Dontrelle Inman, Malcom Floyd, Danario Alexander (credit Matt Harmon for pulling that name out of the hat), Vincent Jackson and even David Boston way back when. Although Boston looks like the guy that you create whose arms are way too big. It looks sweet when you are first creating a player, but looks dumb while you're trying to play. Which I guess played out similarly in real life for the Chargers and Boston.
The latest in this line of receivers for the Chargers (who clearly have a type, much like we all do. Just look at me. My favorite celebrities are Zooey Deschanel, Katy Perry, the mother from "How I Met Your Mother" Cristin Milioti oh yeah, spoiler alert. And I believe the former undrafted free agent out of Western Oregon is the next ... wait for it ... big thing for the Chargers.
We got a small glimpse of him in Week 1 as the Chargers scrambled without wide receiver Keenan Allen. Williams was targeted five times on Sunday, which he turned into two receptions for 71 yards. A far cry from the eight targets and seven receptions Travis Benjamin got. But Allen outgained him by a lot. Sorry, Williams outgained him by a lot. See, I miss Allen so much, I wrote his name again. And you might wonder why I just didn't go back and edit that for space, but I believe in total transparency.
So I put in claims for Williams where possible, and I'm going to play him in bigger leagues. And since I feel like Will Fuller and Spencer Ware have graduated from Rank's 11, I'm going to omit them from this list.
Rank's 11 Sleepers, Week 2
Rank's 11
QB: Marcus Mariota, Tennessee Titans
QB: Brock Osweiler, Houston Texans
RB: Tevin Coleman, Atlanta Falcons
RB: Kenneth Dixon (stash), Baltimore Ravens
WR: Tyrell Williams, San Diego Chargers
WR: Phillip Dorsett, Indianapolis Colts
WR: Tajae Sharpe, Tennessee Titans
WR: Mohamed Sanu, Atlanta Falcons
TE: Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions
TE: Jesse James, Pittsburgh Steelers
D/ST: Baltimore Ravens
Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans
No team has given up more points than the Lions to fantasy quarterbacks this year! Yeah, all right, it's one game. But the Lions looked good at times on Sunday, but ultimately it was the same old Lions D. Of course, they were going against Andrew Luck who just happens to be one of the best quarterbacks on the planet, so the truth is some place in the middle. Mariota didn't set the world on fire in Week 1 but passed for 271 yards and a pair of scores. And one brutal pick, though. But I foresee similar numbers against the Lions this week.
Yeah, this was bad news for the Devonta Freeman fans. If you need to figure out how I ended up with Freeman in a league, read here. Coleman made his noise with 95 receiving yards. The majority of which came from 21 personnel, which the Falcons ran on 25 percent of their plays during the game. So as long as he is involved in the passing game, he's going to be a big factor. I see this playing out similarly to the way Doug Martin and Chuck Sims played last year.
Kenneth Dixon, RB, Baltimore Ravens (stash)
This is a long-term play for me. Neither Terrance West nor Justin Forsett was especially impressive to me on Sunday. I'm going to add Dixon where available and see what I'm going to be able to do with him. This might be a guy who doesn't pay off until the midway point of the season. But that's cool if you have the space.
Mohamed Sanu, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Hey look, two Falcons! You might as well start Matt Ryan this week, too. But Mo was somebody I had my eye on headed into last week. There is some production to be had there opposite Julio Jones. Ryan actually made a point to spread the ball around. He hit seven of his first eight attempts for 90 yards going to five different receivers before he even got to Jones. Which is great. In fact, Sanu finished with eight targets, which was the same as Julio, but was more effective. I won't be foolish enough to suggest he is going to outshine Julio every week, but you could get some solid production from him this season.
Eric Ebron, TE, Detroit Lions
I've been burned by Ebron previously. But he turned five targets into five receptions and scored a touchdown. I really wish I had believed previously. I understand that he abused the bad Colts defense. But you can't ignore the efficiency. Plus, the Lions have played so well since Jim Bob Cooter became the offensive coordinator. Especially Matthew Stafford. He's going to be a quarterback you have to start every week. I'm going to get as many shares of the Lions offense as possible. Ebron is an easy buy-in option.
Be sure to watch "Fantasy and Friends" at 6 p.m. ET on NFL Network, Monday-Wednesday and Friday. (Sorry, the Thursday night game preempts us. But you can be a part of the show by going to NFL.com/fantasyandfriends. Also follow Adam Rank on Twitter @adamrank.
Follow Adam Rank on Twitter @adamrank