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.
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. OK, on to the games!
Saints at Falcons: Sometimes these expected shootouts aren't, but I feel good about this one. New Orleans defense has struggled, Falcons defense down a couple of its best players. No Devonta Freeman, so a leading role for Tevin Coleman. Would have been huge last week if Matt Ryan hadn't decided to sneak a couple of touchdowns in. No other noteworthy injuries to skill players. I'm trying Austin Hooper in a TE-friendly league, hope he pays off.
Broncos at Ravens: Looking like Denver's defense isn't quite as good as it's been in the past. Maybe trading off Aqib Talib a mistake. I'm using John Brown, in short. Not as keen on Alex Collins, though I think he will ultimately be OK. For Denver, might be a better situation for Phillip Lindsay than Royce Freeman, though we're still looking at a committee. And I'm kicking myself for not grabbing Lindsay in my dynasty league. Case Keenum in Baltimore isn't overly exciting.
Bengals at Panthers: I'm in this Survivor Pool where you can buy back in the first three weeks of the season. So since I can lose this week and still get back in, I'm not using the obvious Vikings pick (taken by 55 percent of the pool), but instead chose the Panthers. Defense pretty good, offense has overcome the line injuries thus far. No Joe Mixon, so the story of this game should be Giovani Bernard versus Christian McCaffrey as virtual full-time running backs. And A.J. Green and Cam Newton in lineups, maybe Tyler Boyd against a defense that tends to encourage passing.
Giants at Texans: Disturbing line play for the Giants thus far, although the biggest fear is that Eli looks like his feet are nailed to the ground. I'm currently benching Sterling Shepard but using Evan Engram, and I'd be OK using Beckham and Barkley (though I'm truly concerned about New York's offense). For Houston, hard to argue against Watson and Fuller when the latter is playing, but Lamar Miller has been a disappointment.
Titans at Jaguars: Titans swept this series a year ago, just something to keep in mind before getting too excited about the Jaguars. Figuring it for a low-scoring affair where the running backs have the most value. Jacksonville secondary reduces any Corey Davis appeal. I don't know or much care which quarterback the Titans will end up starting, he probably won't do well.
49ers at Kansas City: The Patrick Mahomes excitement may be a little out of control, but then again maybe it is isn't. The way he's playing you certainly need to start they ke starters, and I think Kareem Hunt is bound to score, too. For San Francisco, Marquise Goodwin is questionable but you really want to use him if he's active; the Kansas City defense has been essentially letting players catch passes in front of it for two games. San Francisco lead running back is Matt Breida for now. A week to use Garoppolo, Kittle and maybe Garcon.
Raiders at Dolphins: Congrats to the Dolphins for winning two games, and maybe they'll make it 3-0. But I think the only player on offense you actually want to start anywhere is Kenyan Drake (and it's a great matchup). Raiders you've got Carr (maybe), Cooper, Cook and Lynch. Miami defense has been good so far but also haven't faced anyone.
Bills at Vikings: Minnesota favored by 16.5. It's understandable because the Bills are essentially devoid of good players, while the Vikings look great on both sides of the ball. No Dalvin Cook, making Latavius Murray appealing. And the Vikings passing game, although it won't need to put up huge numbers because it will be a surprise if the Bills score more than 10 points. LeSean McCoy might be playing through a rib injury. If you accidentally drafted him, probably best to give him a seat.
Colts at Eagles: Eagles get Carson Wentz back, and sounds like Corey Clement will be the lead back with Jay Ajayi out. I'd use those players and Nelson Aghlor. Colts defense has played better than expected (frustrated Washington last week) but let's not overrate it. Negative for Clement is it will still be a committee. I think I'm giving Jordan Matthews in a PPR league where my wideouts have been gutted by injuries (Doug Baldwin most notably) but wouldn't advise it. Colts don't have Mack or Doyle, so thumbs up on Eric Ebron (but not their running back committee against a shutdown run defense).
Packers at Washington: As an Aaron Rodgers owner, I'm a little concerned about the knee thing. But I'm starting him anyway, because the matchup is good and my other option, Philip Rivers is facing a tough Rams defense. I'm also using Jamaal Williams, he gets one more chance. For Washington, I think it's Jordan Reed and Chris Thompson. Not optimistic about the wide receivers. On Adrian Peterson, maybe if no better option, but I'm not expecting him to run wild any more after being burned by him versus the Colts.
Chargers at Rams: Tough matchup for the Chargers offense. Sitting Rivers where I have an alternative. Playing Gordon and Allen. For the Rams, the matchup looks fine seeing as the Joey Bosa-less Chargers haven't been very tough thus far. You've got three good wide receivers which is a negative, so I think I'm giving Robert Woods a seat. (Wanted to call him Robert Brooks, showing my age I guess.)
Bears at Cardinals: More defense than offense in this one, because the Bears defense is really good and it's tough to say their offense is (Mitchell Trubisky needs to prove it). Think I'm sitting Trey Burton, Jordan Howard is the only Bear I'd confidently use, Allen Robinson at least seems to be a legit No. 1. If you have David Johnson, I think you just kind of grit your teeth and use him, wishing you'd selected Elliott or Kamara. In-game switch to Josh Rosen can't be ruled out. Oh, Larry Fitzgerald (hamstring) looks like he's OK.
Cowboys at Seahawks: Two teams who look better on defense than offense right now, so look for a low-scoring game. Cole Beasley is hurting, for those unfortunate souls who actually need to invest in the Dallas passing offense in any way; please don't. I think the bloom is off the rose with Pete Carroll's ridiculous statements involving his running backs; the guy can't be trusted. In this entire game the only players worth using are Elliott and maybe Russell Wilson, though things look bad for him these days. Maybe Tyler Lockett, and I might actually be rolling the dice with Will Dissly somewhere.
Patriots at Lions: Sad to see the Lions maybe headed for 0-3, but hard to see them stopping or slowing New England the way their defense looks. New England committee at running back is daunting, and hard to know which wide receivers to favor, either. I think I personally am a little higher on Josh Gordon than Ian is, but very risky to use him just six days after he joined the team. I'm also worried about Marvin Jones, who apparently picked up an ankle injury in practice; he's questionable, and this is the Sunday night game, so I'm thinking about switching off him (although the injury might not be anything significant). Just, it's a three wide-receiver mix anyway, so I have some comparable options who aren't on the injury report. Higher-scoring affair most likely. Wish the Lions would put Theo Riddick to bed and give Kerryon Johnson a shot, but hasn't happened yet.
Steelers at Bucs: Should be a high-scoring shootout on Monday that decides a lot of matchups. I'm using key starters where I have them, including Fitzpatrick, DeSean Jackson, and of course Evans and all the Steelers starters. Cool on the Tampa Bay ground game, not because of the opposing defense but because that's not what the Bucs are about right now. Some value in both Jesse James and O.J. Howard in this matchup, I think.
Enjoy the games.
--Andy Richardson