Trapasso’s Finest Fantasy Matchups: Week 3
Vincent Jackson vs. Desmond Trufant
Roddy White (if he plays) and Julio Jones are the obvious, must-watch, must-have fantasy wideouts in this one, but they get more than enough (deserved) publicity. So for a change, let’s take a look at a wideout on the other side of the ball…Vincent Jackson.
For the most part, the 6’5″ Jackson has been a frustrating fantasy contributor throughout his career, especially in PPR leagues. For a guy with “possession receiver” size, Jackson’s never reached the 80-reception mark in his career.
He’s been somewhat of a fantasy dud thus far, and he’ll get one of the NFL’s bright young cornerbacks in Desmond Trufant this evening. Josh McCown should have a pretty respectable night facing Atlanta’s timid pass-rush, and he’ll be able to push the ball downfield to his big targets.
While I’m not envisioning a monster evening from V-Jax, because Trufant’s a strong corner, the veteran receiver will have solid WR3 / Flex outing.
Prediction
Vincent Jackson – 4 catches, 70 yards
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Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford vs. Lions / Packers secondaries
Fantasy dream here, isn’t it? This game’s loaded with offensive stars playing against two, ehhh secondaries in a dome. I’ll be brief here, because Calvin Johnson’s gonna Calvin Johnson, Jordy Nelson’s gonna Jordy Nelson and so on.
One slightly troubling issue that may arise is in regard to the Packers offensive line squaring off against the Lions defensive front. If you check the early-season tape, Detroit’s line is just mauling everyone at the point of attack, and the linebackers are smart veterans who can certainly strike downhill and cover.
I rarely bet against Aaron Rodgers, because he’s the best quarterback in football, but it wouldn’t shock me if he runs into some issues against Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley and Ziggy Ansah in a hostile and relatively loud environment.
Matt Stafford was great against the New York Giants in Week 1 but had a very pedestrian afternoon against a stout Carolina Panthers defense in Week 2. He should rebound this week against a Packers unit that’s allowed the most points per drive through two weeks according to Football Outsiders.
Prediction
Aaron Rodgers – 24 for 37, 250 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Matthew Stafford – 22 for 32, 326 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
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Browns running backs vs. Ravens run defense
Thus far, Cleveland’s offensive line and rookie running back Terrance West have been pretty darn impressive. West averages 4.8 yards per carry on 35 attempts and backup Isaiah Crowell averages 5.4 yards per carry on 16 attempts, and he scored twice in the opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On the flip side, the Ravens defense has allowed a respectable 4.0 yards per carry which is tied for third-lowest in the NFL.Something’s got to give here.
In this situation, I’ll give the edge to the Browns offensive line. Cleveland has too many studs up front, and a few are youngsters — outside of monster Joe Thomas, I love Joel Bitonio and John Greco at the two guard spots.
West should have another effective performance, and don’t be stunned when Crowell breaks a few runs of over 10 yards, although he’s not exactly fantasy relevant…yet.
Prediction
Terrance West – 19 carries, 84 yards, 1 TD
Isaiah Crowell – 7 carries, 40 yards
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Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders vs. Seahawks secondary
Had to feature the Super Bowl rematch.
Demaryius Thomas against the Seahawks secondary is tricky. Despite the Broncos being blown out last February, Thomas did have 13 receptions for 118 yards and a score. Then again, much of that gaudy stat line came in garbage time in the second half.
Over the past two years, I’ve learned something. Heck, we’ve probably all learned something. THE SEAHAWKS ARE INCREDIBLE AT HOME. They chew quarterbacks and spit them out. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees…doesn’t matter.
Peyton’s just the next quarterback to feel the wrath of the fans in Seattle and the adrenaline boost the Seahawks defense receives every time it gets to take the field at home. Emmanuel Sanders went over 100 yards last week for the first time in his NFL career.
But don’t bank on that this time around. Thomas is probably the best play — obviously — just because he has the size and physical nature to acome close to matching Seattle’s aggressiveness. However, the Broncos offensive train halts, at least for one week, in Seattle.
Prediction
Demaryius Thomas – 6 receptions, 65 yards
Emmanuel Sanders – 5 receptions, 55 yards
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I own Gore. I want to add Ingram to my line up but need to drop an RB to do so. Do I drop Hyde, McKinnon, Gerhart or J. Hill? I can put Ingram in the IR spot of my roster but we’re only allowed 6 RBs per roster. I also have R. Jennings.
By making this move I can also pick up Cousins to protect Romo or even just start, starting.
IF ya want Ingram that bad, at this point we’d probably drop McKinnon – cant picture dropping Hyde as a Gore owner, gotta give Gerhart a little time w/ easy schedule coming up and Hill isn’t droppable right now. GL.
just acquired rashad jennings and mike evans in a trade for kelvin benjamin, west, ivory (both rbs claimed off waivers last week) so now my team looks like this:
12 team standard:
qb: big ben
rb: lynch, jennings (t. richardson, k. davis, d. brown)
wr. julio jones, patterson (garcon, m. evans, j. gordon)
te: orange julius
flex: gronk
def: miami
k: n/a
1. which player should i drop for a kicker? i’m thinking one of my rbs since guys like greene, mjd, dmc, j. stew, freeman, blount, and crowell are available still?
2. big ben is still a better play than any of tannehill, a. smith, locker, ej manuel, geno smith, fitzpatrick or even glennon now right!? missed out on cousins and i wanna trade for philip rivers but don’t know who to trade away? the rivers owner already has matt ryan
3. still like jennings the best for rb2 this week? out of: jennings vs. texans, knile davis @dolphins, t-rich @ jags, or d. brown @bills?
ebud-
1. Yeah, you have to drop Donald Brown here. If you can wait until game time if it looks like Jamaal Charles is active (because now it’s looking possible he may play) you could consider dropping Knile since you aren’t a Charles owner. However, he is gold if Charles is out or re-aggravates his injury during the game. Brown looks more like bronze than gold, but he does appear to have more long-term value than Knile.
2. Yes, you need to aim for Rivers. If you get him- you have a championship caliber team- and will be very hard to stop. Big Ben is only a weekly matchup play- as are the other guys on your wire- so of that group we are squarely looking at match ups. Ben is not a “must start”
3. Yes, don’t outsmart yourself- we love Jennings. Good luck.
thanks for the reply byron! who would you offer for rivers when the team with rivers looks like this:
qb: m. ryan
rb: mccoy, bernard
wr: jeffrey, steve smith
te: cameron
flex: sproles
bench: t. smith, welker, bradshaw, asiata and rivers
ebud-
He needs a WR- would offer Garcon and see if we could get him to take that straight up. Rivers in a vacuum is more valuable than that- but the fact he is on that guys bench and that QB is deep on the wire limits what he should be able to get in a trade. I think he might do it for Garcon. If you had to sweeten it- I might be willing to throw in Gronk if he gave you Cameron back- if the guys sees that as an upgrade. Good luck.
haha it’s funny you said garcon and gronk because i’ve already tried to trade him garcon but he oddly enough is not a garcon believer! even after today’s performance he’s still not showing much interest and for some strange reason, he hates gronk and instead wants julius thomas… would it be worth flipping orange julius for anyone?
some other qbs combos who are owned on other teams include brady/dalton, foles/wilson, stafford/kaepernick, eli/cousins, luck/romo soo which other qbs would you target in a straight up trade for garcon assuming the team needs a WR? thanks in advance and appreciate all your advice!
K boys who do I start t rich, bush, asaita, d brown also benjiman or watkins or andrew Hawkins its standard scoring
grahamhill87-
Not sure if you are just asking for one here? Our order Top 3: Bush, Watkins, Brown
Good luck
I’ve looked at the rankings list, and still a bit stumped on 2 players that I have, and will plan on starting one at FLEX, Non-PPR:
Rashad Jennings vs. Hou
Darren Sproles vs. Wsh
I just have that feeling that Jennings is going to assist the O-Line a lot today, with the front 4 of Hou. Am I that crazy to think this, or am I just thinking way too much for my own good?
Thanks for your time,
~Dustin
I have Jordan Reed as my tight end who is out this week. Niles Paul is already rostered on another team in our league. I have to choose between starting Travis Kelce or Derek Carrier in a full point ppr league. Who would you start? Love the show on Sirius XM. I am 1-1 in our 12 team league. Hoping to get back into the win column after last week. Thanks in advance for the help.