Darnold wasn’t even drafted in early drafts because the assumption was that McCarthy would be starting for the Vikings. After the McCarthy injury, Darnold began moving up in quarterback rankings and drafts but still went undrafted in nearly every 10 and 12-team league that only starts one quarterback. He should be rostered because there’s a good chance that he will finish the season somewhere between QB 18-22, especially because he has Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and eventually TJ Hockenson to throw the ball to. There will be weeks where Darnold has a better matchup than the other QB you are rolling out.
I think that because Geno burned a lot of people last season, he was overlooked during this draft season. I certainly wouldn’t be happy with him as my starting QB, but in terms of a backup, you could do a lot worse. Firstly, he has DK Metcalf and JSN to throw the football, too, but more importantly, the Seattle offense is going to open up this season with a new coaching staff in town. This is not the same run-first offense that we saw for years with Pete Carroll and it is going to benefit Geno Smith in fantasy. You want to grab him in your leagues now before others have time to notice.
The 49ers are an elite offense that is projected to score a ton of points this season. A lot of their TDs are going to come on the ground, and as much as Christian McCaffrey is going to dominate those touches, there is still room for another RB in this offense. I will state the obvious here first. If CMC does get hurt at any point this season, Mason becomes a must-start player in this 49ers offense. Whether you have CMC on your team or not, Mason is a great pickup. If you do have CMC, Mason should be a priority add for you this week. Here is something else to consider, too. The 49ers play in a lot of blowouts throughout the season, and late in the game, when they are running the football to run the clock, they aren’t going to hand the football to their superstar RB; they are going to hand it to his backup (Mason).
Although he dealt with an ankle injury late in the pre-season, Tracy will enter the season as the main backup to RB Devin Singletary. Although Singletary is the clear number-one back right now, there could come a time this season when the Giants are looking to next season, and they either trade Singletary or start to give Tracy more and more touches to see what they have in him. Let’s be honest: Singletary has never been overly impressive in the NFL, and his value in fantasy football is strictly because of his volume. If he proves to be ineffective, Tracy is waiting in the wings for his opportunity.
I like Estime quite a bit in general, but I think his biggest value comes in standard-scoring leagues. Of the three main RBs in Denver, he is the most suited to be a red zone/goal line back, which, of course, could lead to plenty of TDs. Both Williams and McLaughlin are more explosive and have experience in the Sean Payton offense, but Estime could lead the backfield in TDs and is an injury away from seeing a lot more work in general. The other RB on the Broncos depth chart is veteran Samaje Perine, but he too lacks what Estime has in terms of being a short-yardage/goal line threat.
I am a big believer in the Cardinals offense this season. They put up plenty of points last season when Kyler Murray was healthy, and they have added what could be a generational talent at WR with Marvin Harrison Jr. Dortch has a chance to be the number two WR in the Cardinals offense, worst case, the number three. The Cardinals offense is one worth having shares of because of Murray and head coach Jonathan Gannon, but you also have to consider that their defense is so bad that they are going to be playing in mostly high-scoring games, and many times, they will be playing in garbage time too. All of which is a benefit to Dortch.
If you believe that Joe Burrow will be healthy this season and bounce back, then you should be looking at Iosivas on the waiver wire. He was one of my last-round picks in my final drafts of the season, and the reasons are simple. He is a talented player in a good offense with an elite QB, and he is going to be open on nearly every single play because defenses HAVE to pay so much attention to Chase and Higgins. Chase and Higgins both dealt with injuries last season and although Chase only missed one game, Higgins missed five. Any game that either one misses will bump Iosivas up in weekly rankings.
The Cowboys’ running back room is probably the worst in the NFL this season. They are going to struggle to run the football, which will lead to them throwing the ball 40 or more times per game. Lamb is going to see 15 of those targets, Ferguson could see 5-7 of them, the RBs collectively could see 5 or 6, and Brandin Cooks, who was a huge disappointment last year, could see 4-6. That comes out to around 30-33 targets, which leaves five or more for Tolbert while still accounting for the random targets for backup TEs or Turpin. Tolbert is being overlooked and should be added before he has a big game.
The Rams are a good offense, led by a great head coach in Sean McVay and a great QB in Matthew Stafford. There’s no question that Kupp and Nacua will dominate the targets in the passing game and that Kyren and Corrum will get a lot of touches, too, but with Tyler Higbee injured, Parkinson is the starting TE in this offense, and he is going to have some solid games in PPR formats. If you waited on TE in your drafts and ended up with TE 10-14 overall, Parkinson is a nice dart throw for you.
So this is not a defense I like all season long, but in shallower leagues, you can often stream, even if you have a good defense already rostered. The Seahawks get the Broncos in Seattle in week one, so a rookie QB is making his NFL debut in that incredibly loud and hostile environment. Seems like a good time to use the Seahawks. Then, in week two, it arguably gets even better. Although they go on the road, they go to New England, and the Patriots are the worst offense in the NFL. I love Seattle for the first two weeks of the season, and then you want to drop them because in week three, they face the Dolphins.
