Some sell high big-name fantasy QBs highlight this week’s NFL Week That Was.
Aaron Rodgers , QB GB: Is he going to the Hall of Fame? Probably. Would I want him at the helm of my real NFL team? Yeah. Is Aaron Rodgers still a plug and play fantasy starter? No. Sunday Rodgers went 17-29 for 235 yards and one touchdown. Through three games, Rodgers has not topped that 235 yards passing, has not tossed more than two touchdowns (and did that only once) and has rushed for only seven total yards. Green Bay is good and Rodgers is doing the things he should be doing to help his team win. However, that will not help your fantasy team win. I know it is hard to do if you jumped up to grab AARod earlier than most took QBs but think about making a deal while the memories of yesteryear’s fantasy dominance are still relatively fresh.
Carson Wentz , QB PHI: The Eagles are 1-2 (and pretty fortunate not to be 0-3). Carson Wentz has not been the problem but he has also not been the solution. Sunday, Wentz went 19-36 for 259 and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 33 yards. Pretty good but on days where so many QBs had huge days, if you started Wentz, you were likely behind your opponent. The big fantasy football problems with Wentz are two-fold. First, his upcoming schedule is really tough and includes Green Bay, Minnesota, Dallas, Buffalo and Chicago before a bye and then New England. Second, Wentz has not managed to stay healthy for a full season yet.You like the rushing yards from your QB but if he continues to tote the rock, bad things will happen. I would ring up the Brees, Big Ben, Luck, or Foles owner in your league and see if you can make a deal (same applies to Rodgers above).
D.J. Chark , WR JAX: If you swim in NFL secondaries, beware of a Chark attack. DJ has been swarming all season long. Thursday Chark hit paydirt for the third game in a row grabbing four balls for 76 yards and a touchdown. You have to watch him play to fully understand the physical gifts. The guy can go up and get the rock (when you stand 6’4” and have a 40” vertical leap that does help). He also has speed to burn, clocking in at around 4.35 in the 40. If you add the physical gifts with the second-year maturity, solid rapport with Gardner Minshew, and solid production each week you have a lock and load fantasy starter. [Note: If you listened to Rick Wolf and me on Colton and the Wolfman every Tuesday night this summer, you would have heard that I was grabbing Chark late wherever I could. Now you can see why!]
Cooper Kupp , WR LAR: Cooper Kupp had a huge game Sunday night reeling in 11 catches for 102 yards and two TDs. Any doubts about his health following knee surgery last year are long since erased. First, you can just watch him cut and run and you know he is 100% back. Second, two 100 yard games and 30+ targets in the three games shows he will produce and that Jared Goff will look for him early and often. Kupp is PPR gold and a must start each week. Kudos to Brandon Marianne Lee for recognizing this guy’s huge potential long before most of the fantasy industry figured it out.
Mike Evans , WR TB: Yeah, Daniel Jones stole the back pages but Mike Evans was great, shutting up Janoris Jenkins and putting him in the toaster all day long. Evans finished with eight catches, 190 yards and three touchdowns on the day. Yeah, I know that he only had six catches for 89 yards in the first two weeks combined. I also know the Bucs are not very good and blew Sunday’s game big time. However, remember this – you do not get minus points when Winston throws picks. He will be airing it out and Evans will be on the other end more often than not. If anyone in your league thinks this game was an outlier, oblige him/her and take Evans off their hands. You will not be sorry!
Aaron Jones , RB GB: Last week we wrote: “Aaron Jones lit up the fantasy scoreboard Sunday rushing 23 times for 116 yards and a touchdown (and adding 4 grabs for 34 yards as well). That is a solid 21 point day. More importantly, it shows how good Jones can be as the lead back in Green Bay. Do you think that defenses can stack the box against Aaron Rodgers ? Uh, no. Jones is a guy who averaged 5.5 yards per carry each of his first two years. Now, as the undisputed RB1 in Green Bay, only health can stand in Jones’s way of becoming a top 10 RB by season’s end.” Yeah, yeah, he only had 23 total yards. However, those two touchdowns show Jones will continue to find ways to produce RB1 value. Continue to ride this train.
Final Note: With three games in the books and the bye weeks starting with week 4, now is the time to dispassionately evaluate your squad and see how to improve. Do not fall in love with players simply because you drafted them. On the other hand, if you drafted a player high for good reason and he is simply off to a bad start, do not panic and sell too early. The moves you make over the next couple of weeks could well change the course of your season!