Week 2 Sleeper Picks

     

QB	RB	WR	TE	D/ST	K
Ryan Fitzpatrick	Willis McGahee	Nate Burleson	Fred Davis	Texans	John Kasay
Cam Newton	Tim Hightower	Jordy Nelson	Tony Gonzalez	Cowboys	Alex Hanery
Chad Henne	Cadillac Williams	Robert Meachem	Greg Olsen	Colts	Jay Feely
Rex Grossman	Darren Sproles	Brandon Gibson	Lance Kendricks	Rams	Lawrence Tynes
Sam Bradford	DannyWoodhead	Eric Decker	Benjamin Watson	Buccaners	Nick Novak

QB

Ryan Fitzpatrick has the tools to have a decent week and can produce great weeks for players. While he may not be a fantasy stud as of now, he definitely has potential especially if you play him based on matchups. This week Fitzy plays against a Raiders defense that has lost it's star CB. It's a good matchup and it doesn't hurt that Stevie Johnson is his main connection. I expect 250-300 yards plus 2 TD's minimum.

Cam Newton may have beginners luck, but I am more confident starting Cam Newton against Green Bay's defense than I am in starting Matt Ryan against Phillys secondary. Newton may not produce a Drew Brees-esque performance, however with the ability to produce 200-300 passing yards, 2 TD's, 50 yards rushing, and a rushing TD he may be a fantasy beast this season.

RB

Willis McGahee may see an increase in carries with Knoshon Moreno fighting an injury. Even with Moreno playing a limited roll, McGahee is the 3DB and GLB which mean potential upside. In fantasy football position players points favor those that get TD's versus getting 6 points the hard way for the featured back.

Tim Hightower will definitely have something to prove against the team that has let him go. Mike Shanahan has found a complete running back in Hightower and I see his production increasing as the o-line becomes in sync and Sexy-Rexy can continue to produce in the air. I was sold on him during the preseason and I am having him start in place of Chris Johnson due to the matchups.

WR

Brandon Gibson will see increased looks with the absence of Amendola. Sam Bradford had a little trouble against Philly's secondary and pass rush, but he is going against a NY Giants defense that isn't what it used to be. I look for Gibson to have a breakout performance this week.

With Brandon Lloyd's injury Eric Decker should get increase looks and opportunities. While I'm not sold on the Kyle Orton Broncos offense, I feel that Gibson can be good flex play if you have tough matchups this week or are in a 12-16 team league with little depth. Decker could be a good player to store in case of long term injury to Brandon Lloyd or any of your other players.

TE

Fred Davis will be the man in Washington. Mike Shanahan likes Chris Cooley, however Cooley is not durable for the season and Coach Shanahan also likes Fred Davis enough to run enough 2 TE plays to get Davis some looks. I think 50-100 passing yards weekly is doable for Davis with the potential of one or two touchdowns any given week.

Ben Watson has always been on my radar, but I never thought he was consistent enough to start and he may not be this season, but there is  major upside to owning Watson. Dalton will need an out as a rookie QB and Watson is his guy. I think Watson is a risk, but has potential to have a career year.

D/ST

I picked the aforementioned defense/special teams based on the matchups. Texans play Miami and while I think Henne will have a decent game, I feel Houston's defense is better than the Patriots and think Chad Henne will come back to earth in this game. The Cowboys play my team the 49ers. While I am hoping the 49ers win, I realistically feel that Alex Smith will make some costly errors that favors the cowboys defense.

K


Nick Novak was signed by the Chargers earlier this week and will get all of the same opportunities that Nate Kaeding would have gotten. While I don't think Novak is an exact Kaeding replacement, he should do well enough for fantasy owners to get double digits more often than not.

St Louis ' defense isn't bad. They were able to hold up well enough against Philly's offense in the fourth quarter. I feel their defense is good and bad enough for the Giants to kick multiple field goal attempts to have Lawrence Tynes finish with double digits this week if he hits them through the uprights that is.

Follow me on game day on Titter handle @ffbchamp and on my weekly podcast with Drew at ffbchamp.podbean.com.