I'm not sure why I signed up for this, considering we're 60 minutes into the NFL season and I'm already getting dragged for this amazing tweet.
I didn't say he was going to get three touchdowns. Just it would have been fitting if he had. And since I have you, why is this so wrong anyway? Are you upset about getting 30 PPR points? It's not my fault Sark is the NFL's premiere shutdown coordinator.
But, it's cool. We can plainly see Julio Jones doesn't quite need to get touchdowns to be one of the top receivers in the league. I mean, think about it. He's had double-digit touchdowns once in his NFL career. And yet, he's still amazing.
Enough about that, however. Here are five bold predictions for Week 1.
Deshaun Watson is the QB1
Here are two things to know about the New England Patriots. They struggle against mobile quarterbacks. Watson threw two deep touchdowns (at least 20 yards) against the Patriots last year. The Patriots allowed just four other deep touchdown passes all year. How? He was able to buy time, taking 4.52 seconds to throw the ball per deep attempt. All other quarterbacks averaged 3.28 second to throw on deep passes. So, there's that.
And there is the fact the Patriots seem to mail in the first month. The Patriots are like that class you took in college where the professor handed out the syllabus the first day of class and then dismissed you for the week. The Patriots look at the teams in their division, figure they just need to break even in the first month, and then they start to get serious. Just check out Alex Smith who threw for (what I remember as) 893 yards and 12 touchdowns in the season opener last year. You might want to double-check that math.
Kirk Cousins throws four touchdown passes
Did you know Cousins is the first quarterback in NFL history to change teams after posting at least 4,000 passing yards in the previous three seasons? The one knock on him always seemed to be the lack of touchdowns. But that's because Washington was one of the worst red zone offenses in the league. Was it Kirk's fault? I'd lean no. He's got better weapons with Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph. But more importantly, he has Dalvin Cook behind him and a new offensive coordinator, John DeFilippo, who specialized in red zone offense. His numbers in the red zone are going to jump through the roof.
Dion Lewis starts off with a bang
But Rank, he's in a committee. Yeah, that's what he does. He's topped more than 20 rushes in just two NFL starts in his career. And yet, he's still a fantasy maven. So don't you worry about it. Seriously, everyone complains about the Patriots backfield situation, but he was the RB12 last year after he set career highs with 212 touches, 1,110 scrimmage yards and nine touchdowns last year. The Dolphins allowed 6.1 receptions per game to running backs last year, so I'm going to stick with this one. He's got a great matchup against the Dolphins who allowed more than six catches to running backs per game last year.
Mike Williams will score a pair of touchdowns for the Chargers
The Chargers signed Antonio Gates, which led some to say, "welp, there goes Mike Williams value." Wait, what? Gates is great. But the dude is old. I mean, I was going to make a joke about him enrolling at Michigan State way back when Nick Saban was the coach. But it turns out that's absolutely true. And he might not play anyway. So what are you worried about. Williams will get some work in the red zone. There's a good chance he'll score two touchdowns and you end up with just 14.9 fantasy points from it. But he's getting into the zone.
Jalen Ramsey shuts down Odell Beckham
Yes, I know Ramsey showed up on the injury report. Do I look worried to you? Well, I should. Because I have shares of OBJ all over the place. And it's not a comfortable place to be. Kind of like the backseat of a Volkswagen Beatle. But Ramsey has become an elite shutdown corner who travels all over the field, and figures to be on OBJ this week. And as you can see from last year, DeAndre Hopkins was the only player who had success against Ramsey. Otherwise, Jermaine Kearse, T.Y. Hilton, A.J. Green and Larry Fitzgerald struggled.
Now obviously, I don't know how you bench him in redraft leagues. But you can't start him in DFS.
