Everyday we will post a Market Check, which is a summary of our research on a different position for the week.
This is not the end of our advice for the week. At the end of the week, we’ll make our picks at each position. Some of the picks will not be discussed in the Market Check.
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BULL MARKET
Players we believe will out-perform their salary for the week. These guys will give you the most bang for your buck when you are building lineups.
The Colts panic needs to stop. They faced 2 of the league’s best defenses and Andrew Luck is too good of a QB to not correct his turnover issue. If you are a in a traditional league, reach out to Luck owners and see if you can get him on the cheap right now, he will still have a monster year. The Colts O-line has been really bad but it hasn’t stopped Luck in the past. The Colts will take out their frustrations this week against Tennessee. If Johnny Manziel and Travis Benjamin can torch the Titans secondary for 2 bombs on Sunday, Luck and Hilton will do much worse. Frank Gore will finally get it going on Sunday and open up play action for Luck-Hilton to connect on their first long TD of the season. Book it!
At the time this was posted he is questionable, stay tuned.
The Texans face a desperation game in front of their home crowd. Similar to the Colts, this offense has struggled to start the year, but have faced very good defenses. They will finally get it going on Sunday in front of the home crowd. The Bucs secondary kept Brees and the Saints in check, but will face a let down in week 3. The best way to get out of a funk is to get your best player the ball and Bill O’Brien will do that. There is no lockdown corner on the Bucs roster and Mallett will feed Hopkins double digit targets on Sunday. DeAndre will be a fixture in my cash game lineups.
Looking for a sleeper? Go with Tavon Austin. New offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti has already used Tavon way more than past OC’s in St. Louis, including multiple carries while lined up as a running back. This game features one of the highest over under totals on the week. While the Rams try to keep pace with the elite Steelers offense- targets, receptions and usage will increase to the only Rams playmaker (Until Gurley gets healthy). I like Tavon’s chances of breaking a screen or run this week and with a very low salary, he will likely be the last guy squeezed into many of my tournament lineups.
BEAR MARKET
Players we don’t believe will perform up to their salaries. We think you can find better value elsewhere.
The Eagles offense is a complete mess right now, and they now face an elite defense and D-line that has been very disruptive in their first 2 games. I expect Chip and the Eagles O to figure this out at some point this season but this matchup will make it tough. It will be interesting to see if the Jets scheme up the Eagles to put Matthews on Revis Island, but if they play them straight, Buster Skrine will be more than enough to blanket the big slot. I believe most the public will be off Matthews too, which made me try to get myself to like him as a contrarian play, but I think that D line will eat up the Eagles run game and disrupt Bradford too much to allow Matthews to get anything going in week 3. Let’s stay away from him for a week…..but we will be back!
Tate has had a quiet first 2 weeks (like most games that Calvin participates in). The Denver defense will continue to make life miserable on the Lions slot. He will likely draw coverage from Aqib Talib or Chris Harris. Pro Football Focus shows us that QB ratings when throwing to these two lockdown corners are 5.6% and 56.7%, respectively. Having 2 corners in the top 6 in that category is pretty incredible. Game script will call for the Lions to throw a lot, but Stafford will try to force the ball to Calvin again (17 targets in week 2) and look for Ebron over the middle when he feels the pass rush. I expect Tate to be the odd man out in the pass fest, and at his mid range salary there are a number of better matchups to invest in at the WR position.
Terrance is overrated to being with, utilizing a late garbage touchdown last week to bail himself out from a dreadful day. He doesn’t have the skills to be a #1 WR and can’t beat coverage consistently. Next, the Cowboys will start one of the worst QB’s I have ever watched (trust me, I’m a Browns fan) in Brandon Weeden. Garrett will call this game EXTRA EXTRA conservative so that the Big Ginger can’t screw it up. The Falcons secondary may have more picks than Terrance has receptions…..fade his hyped up fantasy bust.
