PPR Fantasy Rankings Week #2
Joe Owens, Rosterwatch.com Featured Analyst

Editors Note: Joe Owens is a RosterWatch.com featured analyst, and these are his PPR Rankings for NFL Week 2. Please note that official RosterWatch Rankings can be found here. As always, our official rankings are a collective effort among all of our team members. This is how Joe’s side of the equation shook out in PPR this week:

Quarterbacks:

1. Drew Brees – Until Brees begins to fall off statistically we got keep him at the top especially this week going against a defense inferior to that of the Washington Redskins.

2. Matt Ryan – Julio Jones is making Matty Ice look great, not quite the offensive output from last week but still a top five QB performance.

3. RGIII – Facing a St. Louis defense that gave up 355 passing yards to Matt Stafford and a Washington Redskins defense that will get the ball back into the rookie QB’s hands rather quickly.

4. Aaron Rodgers – Putting up a top five fantasy finish against the 49ers defense should better prepare him to do the same against the division rival Chicago Bears in Lambeau.

5. Peyton Manning– Manning showed the world that he is back this past Sunday Night against the Pittsburgh Steelers and will get a chance to do it again against an Atlanta Falcons secondary that just lost their best cover man, Brent Grimes to a season ending injury.

Two sleeper plays this week are both Tony Romo against the Seattle Seahawks and Jay Cutler of the Bears going against the Green Bay Packers on Monday night. Romo looked like a league MVP QB in last week’s match-up in New York. Let’s see if the Dallas Cowboys’ fearless leader can keep it up. Will the “12th man” in Seattle pose a problem? We doubt it. Tony Romo is a must-start. Cutler could be in for a shoot out in Green Bay, and we are banking on him. And his old friend Brandon Marshall.

Running Backs:

1. Adrian Peterson – Peterson scored two TD’s against Jacksonville Sunday, this week The Minnesota Vikings running back’s knee is showing no ill effects from Sunday’s workload. This week Peterson faces an Indianapolis Colts team that gave up 3 rushing TDs in week one.

2. Arian Foster – Right now the Houston defense is producing short fields for its offense to work with and because of that Arian Foster will continue to be a touchdown monster.

3. Darren McFadden – DMC was targeted eighteen times last week and caught thirteen of those passes. While McFadden rushed for less than forty yards against the San Diego Chargers, the beast known as DMC will be a statistical stud this season as long as he stays healthy.

4. Ray Rice – We didn’t bet against Rice but the Bengals are building a defense that can counter the division bully, Ravens. Don’t think Cincinnati is quite there but they could be close nonetheless Rice will get his.

5. C.J. Spiller – After Fred Jackson left last weeks game with injury, Spiller erupted for last week’s best fantasy performance by a RB. This week should be more of the same against the Kansas City Chiefs. Getting the ball out of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s hands and into C.J. Spiller’s seems like the best offensive strategy for the Buffalo Bills at this time.

6. Frank Gore – The San Francisco 49ers rushed the ball 32 times last week and this week it’ll be more of the same as the 49ers will look to keep the ball out of the hands away from the Matt Stafford and Megatron duo.

7. LeSean McCoy – Last week McCoy was in on 81 offensive plays, rushing for 20 and being targeted in the passing game nine times accounting for 35% of the offense when on the field. At home this week against the Baltimore Ravens the Eagles will be playing from behind making McCoy one of this week’s target monsters.

8. Matt Forte – Packers surrendered 186 rushing to the 49ers that averaged 5.8 ypc. Forte could have a field day on Thursday.

9. Stevan Ridley – Finishing as a top five back last week the New England patriots may have finally found a one back rotation.

10. DeMarco Murray – The Dallas Cowboys have yet to have a current roster RB rush for a touchdown since week 10 back in 2011. As the Cowboys will get an early lead the team will turn to controlling the clock via the run game and likely get Murray into the end zone for the first time in the last eight games.

While most breakout players need to prove their worth to me before inserting them into my starting line-up I can’t help but find the sleeper pick of the week at running back on a current roster. The Washington Redskins rushed the ball a league-leading 44 times last week and Alfred Morris responded by scoring two touchdowns and 96 yards on 28 attempts. It could be more of the same this week but then again HC Mike Shanahan could start Evan Royster or Roy Helu this week as well….Just saying!

Wide Receivers:

1. Calvin Johnson – Johnson was on the field for all 69 plays the Detroit Lions offense executed-until Johnson proves unreliable he will currently maintain number one status.

2. Julio Jones – Next to Kevin Ogletree’s breakout performance for the Dallas Cowboys, Julio Jones had the best fantasy performance of the WR class. Jones could find the road a little rough going this week against the Denver Broncos.

3. Brandon Marshall – Last week Marshall was thrown at by former and now current teammate Jay Cutler a total of fifteen times for one of last week’s target monster performances. This week with the possibility of a shootout in Green Bay, Marshall remains atop the WR leader board.

4. Andre Johnson – 119 yards and one TD receiving last week and until Johnson begins to show signs of health issues is still one of the safest line up insertions on the fantasy market.

5. Reggie Wayne – Could Andrew Luck have given Wayne new life as a fantasy football stud? 135 yards on 18 targets and 9 actual receptions seems to point in that direction. Wayne finished last year with 75 receptions while playing with QB’s like Kerry Collins, Curtis Painter and Dan Orvlosky.

6. Demaryius Thomas – Was a target seven times by Peyton Manning, that’s just as many targets as “possession” receiver Eric Decker had thrown his way and Thomas has the home run capability as was on display during the 71-yard catch and gallop TD against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night.

7. Steve Smith – Targeted eleven times during last weeks game, Smith is going to get his opportunities. Smith faces a New Orleans Saints team that allowed a top 10 fantasy WR performance last week in Pierre Garcon, so the Carolina Panthers WR is a safe bet this week.

8. Percy Harvin– Harvin finished last week with only 84 yards receiving but is in line for a big week this Sunday as the Minnesota Vikings play an Indianapolis Colts secondary team that allowed Brandon Marshall to corral nine receptions and a touchdown.

9. Stevie Johnson – A trash time TD in last week’s debacle against New York shows Johnson is back at close to 100% health. Either Johnson or Donald Jones could follow suit with C.J. Spiller having a fantasy extravaganza against the Kansas City Chiefs.

10. Victor Cruz – Cruz was targeted 11 times still hauling in six catches despite dropping three passes that hit the salsa dancing gridiron king right in the hands. Doubt the Giants will be able to run the ball against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers run defense that allowed only 10 yards last week. Expect a lot of passes Victor Cruz’s direction.

Wide receiving sleepers this week: Rod Streater had Carson Palmer’s eye more than any other Oakland Raiders WR on the team. He also played more than any offensive skill position player, only missing one snap. Streater was targeted nine times, catching four of those passes, one for a TD and one for a two point conversion. Streater faces the Miami Dolphins this week. Also Dexter McCluster of the Kansas City Chiefs was on the field for more plays than any WR besides Dwayne Bowe but the ball was thrown McCluster’s was three more times than Bowe had thrown his way. Against the Buffalo Bills, McCluster could have a repeat performance of last week and could get into the endzone.

Tight Ends:

1. Jimmy Graham – Top TE last week and will likely remain at the top for another week.

2. Rob Gronkowski – Missed on the TD spike but not on the TD catch. Big target in the redzone.

3. Aaron Hernandez – New England is still lining this guy up outside like a slot receiver will and it shows as he had one more target than fellow TE and teammate Rob Gronkowski.

4. Jermichael Finley – 11 looks his way led all pass catchers on the Green Bay Packers roster and in the upcoming duel at Lambeau field Aaron Rodgers will likely lean on Finley yet again.

5. Tony Gonzalez – See Pittsburgh Steelers TE Heath Miller’s stats from last week’s game against the Denver Broncos defense last week. While the Broncos gave up only 209 yards passing to the Steelers’ passing offense Miller accounted for almost ¼ of those yards his self along with a TD. Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan will look to Gonzo early and often.

Last week’s sleeper pick at TE was Minnesota Vikings Kyle Rudolph. Rudolph finished with 5 catches for 60+ yards and had a redzone target all on seven targets. Rudolph is once again one of our sleeper picks this week along with his Indianapolis counterpart, TE, Coby Fleener. Quickly becoming a favorite target of former Stanford Cardinal teammate Andrew Luck, Fleener had the ball thrown his way 10 times reeling in six for 82 yards. This match-up should be a good game to watch two future NFL quality tight ends.

Defense:

1. Houston Texans – The Texans could remain atop of this list all year with the division opponents in the AFC South.

2. New England Patriots – The Patriots held Chris Johnson to under twenty yards rushing and now face an Arizona Cardinals team that is a poor offensive team at this point in the season.

3. Baltimore Ravens – Until Mike Vick gets all the rust knocked off I’m taking the Ravens defense to help Vick out a bit with knocking off a lot of things besides the rust.

4. Washington Redskins – Forced the New Orleans Saints to abandon the run early. Currently third against the run Steven Jackson and Sam Bradford are both in for a long day.

5. Dallas Cowboys – Look to the Rob Ryan coached defense to follow suit with what the Arizona Cardinals did last week to rookie QB Russell Wilson….Blitzkrieg!

The San Francisco 49ers held the Green Bay Packers offense to only 22 points at Lambeau field, do you really believe that the Detroit Lions will fare any better going into Harbaugh’s house?

Okay, okay, I don’t really throw a dart to decide my kicker…well maybe sometimes, and with fantasy leagues getting more creative in scoring for the place kicking professionals here is our top five pigskin punters!

Kicker:
Justin Tucker
Sebastian Janikowski
Nate Kaeding
Matt Bryant
David Akers