Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 2: Wide receivers

While I have your eyes on this piece, allow me the opportunity to say Robinson should be extended as he’s in the final year of his contract and now he might be requesting a trade??? Depressing to watch all of these players get extended over the last week or so, and there’s Robinson. Like the kid who is sitting there watching all of his classmates get invited to party while he’s going to have to stay home and play Mario Kart with his mother. Not that I know anything about that. But this is a great matchup for the Bears this week against the Giants, who allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to receivers in 2019 and then allowed three touchdown passes against the Steelers on Monday night. And if Mitch has a heart, he will target Allen like 30 times in this game.

This is going to be a tough one this season. Kirk Cousins attempted five passes during the first half of Sunday’s game against the Packers. And it wasn’t until he was forced to throw the football late in the game that they finally opened it up. The good news here is the Vikings defense is kind of bad. So there are going to be a lot of chances for the Vikings to throw the ball late in the game. You’re probably going to be scared for most of the contest waiting for the Cousins to dial it up for Thielen.

The strength of the Miami Dolphins is with the cornerbacks on the outside. But I look for the Bills to attack them deep. Brown had 10 targets last week that he turned into six receptions for 70 yards and a touchdown. Brown torched the Dolphins for an average of 27 fantasy points per game in 2019. If you’re looking for a decent sleeper, keep an eye on Cole Beasley in this contest. The Dolphins were one of the worst against slot receivers last year, giving up 15 touchdowns from the slot. Beasley led the Bills in slot targets in Week 1.

Fuller was a favorite of the fantasy community once DeAndre Hopkins was traded away. And for good reasons. There are concerns about his health, but let’s ride it while you can. It’s like golfing twilight. You can sit there and worry about how many holes you’re going to be able to finish. Or you can just enjoy the holes you’re getting to play. Fuller led the Texans in targets, receptions, receiving yards and air yards in Week 1. The matchup isn’t great. Let’s be honest about that. But I would expect the Texans to be in a negative game script, which means they will have to throw it.

I’m really kicking myself because I had so many shares of Robert Woods in drafts this year, that by the end of draft season I started hedging between him and Kupp. I love Kupp. He was huge last season. But he was really touchdown dependent toward the end of last season. In fact, Kupp hasn’t topped 100 receiving yards since Week 8 last year when he had 220 against the Cincinnati Bengals. With Malcolm Brown out there taking over the goal line stuff, this could be a real problem moving forward. The Eagles did not allow a passing touchdown in Week 1. I mean, it was Dwayne Haskins. The Eagles allowed 21 passing touchdowns to receivers last year, which was tied for third in the league. I’m willing to roll with Kupp for one more week. Even if it makes me nervous.

You never want to say that a team has a quarterback’s number. Because once you start popping off, he’s going throw for 511 or something. Which would be huge because Mahomes has never had 300 passing yards against the Chargers. He didn’t have 200 against them in his lone start last year vs. Los Angeles. And it hurts Hill, especially in those three games. The Chargers have held him to fewer than 11 fantasy points in the last three games against the club (he did leave early in one, to be fair). He’s had 100 yards in one career game against the Chargers. Now remember, you will likely play him in your home league. I understand that. But if you’re setting your DFS lineup and you’re looking for some action on Chiefs players, I would certainly look for some other players from this squad.

The Buccaneers have gone through a Laney Boggs-like transformation (watch some 90s movies, kids) where you don’t want to start your star wide receivers against them. The Buccaneers haven’t allowed a 300-yard passer since Week 10 of last season. Heck, just one quarterback has topped 280 passing yards against them during that stretch. It was Matt Ryan. Twice. Moore was good against the Bucs last year, but that was early in the season. And when you look at what happened to Michael Thomas last week, you might want to look at some other options. I mean, if DJ is your WR1 you might not have a choice. But this is a tough matchup.

The highest-targeted receivers in Week 1 were Davante Adams, DeAndre Hopkins, Amari Cooper and (checks notes), Crowder last week. His overall fantasy point totals were significant last year. And you might be asking yourself, “Rank, why would you sit this guy if Sam Darnold is targeting him so much?” Fair question, imaginary reader I have created. But Crowder had 13 targets, but just seven receptions. He had 110 receiving yards, but 69 came on one play. Most of Crowder’s production came from the slot and the 49ers are one of the better teams at defending the slot. So unless you expect him to have a huge pop play again, I’m going to pass.

Jones clearly works better as part of a tag team with Kenny Golladay than as a solo act. And that’s not intended to be any disrespect. Billy Gunn and the Road Dogg Jesse James were much better as tag team wrestlers than singles wrestlers. Even though they tried to push Billy Gunn to the moon before The Rock eviscerated him. The point is, the Lions passing game struggled a bit last week. And Jones had three receptions for 25 yards in his last two games against the Packers. No. That wasn’t what he averaged. That was his combined total.

You know, the FT might have a sneaky good little defense working. The defense is absolutely loaded up front. Chase Young was the highest-rated rookie according to Pro Football Focus. It’s up to the secondary to come through. The FT allowed just 130 receiving yards to receivers against the Eagles. Mostly because the tight ends played a huge role for the Birds. But I’m going to take a cautious approach to all of the Cardinals receivers here, outside of Deandre Hopkins (we are starting him). Kirk was targeted five times against the 49ers, but had only one reception for no yards.