Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own brief take on what I think will happen, as well as touching on significant injury news since our Weekly came out. I'll check in every so often over the course of the day to answer questions, too.
What follows is a brief look at all the games with how I'd react in my own lineups to injury developments or other news. The official rankings are the ones in the Weekly. Those are the ones that subscribers are paying for. Sometimes players are very close in the rankings, and if I get questions like that, I'll offer opinions. Sometimes I like certain players more or less than Ian, and sometimes I have different risk tolerance with injuries/weather issues, etc.
I've been doing this Saturday column for a few years now. The idea is to talk through debates you might have over players that are close in the rankings, or ones where are there are injury or other workload concerns. If a guy is ranked 20 spots higher and you ask me who to start, you should really just use the rankings; that's what you're paying for. If players are close, and you want my 2 cents, I'm glad to give it. I will try to answer all questions within a few hours of them being posted, though if you ask them Sunday morning, I may not see them in time. OK, on to the games!
Bills at Ravens: I've received some questions about LeSean McCoy. I wouldn't have drafted him, but if I had him and he hasn't been suspended, I'd use him. He won't have a big game, but he's Buffalo's best chance of doing anything, so he should do most of the running and catch a boatload of passes. As for the Ravens, I expect them to win this game easily and I'd be using any I happened to draft (so, Collins and John Brown and their defense, basically).
Steelers at Browns: Weather is supposed to be bad. Rain at a minimum, maybe heavy, maybe high winds. And Saturday morning guess is that even if LeVeon Bell shows up, it will be James Conner against Carlos Hyde. The only real passing game components I'd use anyway are Landry, Brown and Smith-Schuster, and unless we get up tomorrow morning and it looks like early Wizard of Oz, I'd keep them in my lineup. Roethlisberger was 18th among QBs in last night's rankings. Josh Gordon might be on a pitch count.
Bengals at Colts: Like the Bengals offense. Cool on the Colts but it sounds like Marlon Mack will be playing, although you'll want to check Sunday morning to be sure. Inadvisable to use somebody like Jordan Wilkins unless Mack definitely out. I think the Bengals defense is a viable streaming option, especially with the Colts maybe missing their left tackle (and Andrew Luck's tendency to hold the ball too long).
Titans at Dolphins: I'll admit I don't have a great feel for this one. Titans didn't show much useful in the preseason about how they're going to use their receivers, so I wouldn't want to use any of them. DeVante Parker won't be playing and I'm not sure anyone should consider him even if he was. Kenyan Drake, Delanie Walker and the Titans running backs; that's really about it here, right? Titans Defense is my streaming option, though they've got some banged-up linebackers.
49ers at Vikings:I drafted Alfred Morris in a couple of spots. But I'm not keen to use him (or Matt Breida, if I had him) until I see how the committee works and the matchup is a little more favorable. Tough defense in Minnesota. For the Vikings, I'll sign off on pretty much everyone. Nothing scary about 49ers defense. Marquise Goodwin probably the best San Fran option.
Texans at Patriots: Winning in Foxborough isn't easy, but that doesn't make playing the Patriots a bad fantasy matchup. Nobody gave up more passing yards than New England a year ago, 11 teams gave up more touchdown passes. So even if you didn't have Deshaun Watson's huge game against the Patriots from last year to think about, I'd be fine using him, and Hopkins, and yes I picked up Bruce Ellington where I could with Will Fuller gimping around with a hamstring injury that makes him unusable. For the Patriots, it's probably going to be Rex Burkhead leading the backfield (mixed reports on whether he'll be eased in or have a full workload; I'd be fine using him, though it could be a three-back committee with Hill and of course James White).
Bucs at Saints: I'd start regular Saints, but wouldn't mess around with recently signed Mike Gillislee. Remember Adrian Peterson in the Saints offense last year? That's kind of what I think of Gillislee, except he's not as good. For the Bucs, I expect lots of Peyton Barber, and thumbs up on Mike Evans. In my dynasty league Evans was just traded almost straight up for Antonio Brown (there was a pick swap too). Thoughts? Brown is way better, but he's five years older than Evans. Oh yeah, I occasionally talk about my Survivor Pool. Our two picks this week were the Saints and the Ravens.
Jaguars at Giants: Jaguars have a fearsome defense. But the Giants have four really good offensive players. I think you're certainly starting Barkley and Beckham if you drafted them, and I'm starting Engram, and at the moment I've got Shepard in my PPR lineup, though him I might switch off. But good as the Jaguars are, I can't just dismiss the very capable players the Giants will send out. If they can contain Leonard Fournette, this should be a game.
Kansas City at Chargers: Love the Chargers offense. For Kansas City, I'll stick with Hunt, Hill and Kelce but pass on the rest. I think we're done here.
Washington at Cardinals: This should be a good game between teams kind of on the outskirts of playoff contention. Washington is better, Arizona has some a few really good players but the quarterback situation is iffy and so is the line protecting those guys. Curious to see how the Cardinals use their non-Fitzgerald receivers, and what Jordan Reed looks like. I would be fine using Adrian Peterson in this matchup.
Cowboys at Panthers: With this one I'm kind of expecting a game similar to Eagles-Falcons the other night. Not great receiving talent on either sideline, so possibly a lower-scoring game. I will be interested to see if all the people infatuated with Christian McCaffrey this preseason were right. I passed him up in drafts every time. I also don't have Elliott anywhere, though that wasn't my fault; my earliest pick in every draft was 6th and he was always gone.
Seahawks at Broncos: Another probable lower-scoring affair. Most compelling thing is Chris Carson versus Royce Freeman. I think the hype on Freeman is a little high; of course he's better than Devontae Booker, but I didn't see a star in the preseason (but hey, sometimes I'm wrong). With Seattle I don't have much confidence in anything they've done the last couple of years, and wonder if they'll use multiple backs. I'm also not sure about their faith in Tyler Lockett. Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin look fine. For the Broncos, Emmanuel Sanders seems to be the best option after Freeman (or maybe including Freeman).
Bears at Packers: So in one league I did in fact select Aaron Rodgers in the middle of the fourth round. Kind of just figured, eh, if he stays healthy he's a difference-maker at quarterback. Oh yeah, I have Jamaal Williams on virtually every team. And Trey Burton on lots of them. Should be an intriguing primetime game though I'd be a little nervous as a Bears fan that so much faith is being placed in Mitchell Trubisky without him as of yet showing any signs of being able to do it. I mean, not even in the preseason. Anyway, Rodgers-Adams-Graham-Williams. And Burton and Howard. That's the extent of who I'll use in this one until we see a little more to go by.
Jets at Lions: Sky-high on the Lions against a Jets defense that has as much to prove as its young offense. But Detroit's defense is nothing special either so the Crowell-Powell tandem should be productive. Needs to be a nickname. Crow-Pow? As I've mentioned more than once I like Detroit's passing game. Wary of the running back committee in what will continue to be a pass-heavy scheme.
Rams at Raiders: As I do each and every year, I'll complain about the start time of this game. 10:20 p.m. on the East Coast on Monday night. By 10:20 p.m. on Monday we're deep into next week's Fantasy Index Weekly -- we have to be to get it into people's hands on Wednesday. I mean, I'll be up and have the game on. But it's pretty freaking late to be starting a Week 1 game. As for the game itself, it should be a lot of Rams marching up and down the field and a lot of Gruden furrowing his brow on the sidelines. Marshawn Lynch has a groin strain or something but I expect him to play.
Enjoy the games.
--Andy Richardson