Fantasy Football Week Three: Starts, Sits, and Sleepers
Los Angeles Rams @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sunday, 25 September @ 4:05 PM
The Buccaneers have licked their wounds and are coming home for a chance to rebound.
START: Tampa Bay Buccaneers D/ST
Yes, I said start the Buccaneers’ defense and special teams unit. The same which gave up 33 points to the Cardinals and scored -3 points in my fantasy league. Just take a minute and let that wash over you for a minute.
Right now this defense is a mixed bag of confusion and I don’t blame anyone who dropped them – if you had them in the first place – and I certainly won’t begrudge any fantasy football owner who promptly sent them back to the pool after their performance in Arizona.
Remember this though, we’re two games in and this is a defensive unit which came in admittedly “on our high horse” according to Lavonte David, and were facing one disaster after another following four turnovers by the Bucs offense.
Note: Yes, Winston turned it over five times, but only four led to Arizona possessions as one was at the end of the game.
This week they’re facing a Rams offense which ranks last in passing offense and 28th in rushing.
If Tampa every had a prime setup to bounce back and get some momentum on their side, it’s here against Los Angeles.
This same offense dismantled the Bucs defense last year with pretty much the same starting cast.
In 2016 though, the relocated franchise has come out flat and Mike Smith will look to get his unit firing on all cylinders Sunday.
SIT: WR, Tavon Austin
There some obvious names to sit here: Case Keenum, Austin Seferian-Jenkins and even Vincent Jackson are all must sit players for the time being.
Star wideout Tavon Austin may not be the most obvious though. While the Rams offense has struggled he’s really struggled.
He did break 10 points last week in a win against the Seahawks, but those ten put him just over 15 on the year.
His highest weekly ranking thus far is 48th in the league meaning unless you’re in some kind of crazy 24 team league he doesn’t even crack WR2 in fantasy football scoring.
The young man is talented, there’s no doubt about it, but this offense just hasn’t clicked and he’s a big piece missing. From Week 1 to Week 2 he lost three targets as Kenny Britt’s went up.
Keenum isn’t looking good to anyone but he’s much better to the veteran than the speedy youngster.
This fact coupled with the Buccaneers’ struggles against taller and stronger receivers so far this year points to Britt being the man to have – if any – from the Rams receiving group.
It’s not time to release him yet, but sit Austin here.
SLEEPER: WR, Adam Humphries
For two straight weeks Adam Humphries is going to be our sleeper. He made good on the prediction last week as he put up a respectable nine spot.
If you saved some cap money with his signing and used it to land Kelvin Benjamin or Matt Forte then you’ll be happy with his production.
This week his contribution could get even better. He’s starting to look like one of Winston’s favorite targets as he went from five in Week 1 to eight in Week 2.
In fact, Humphries was just one target behind Vincent Jackson for second highest on the team.
The offense got him more involved in the second half of last week’s loss, which is when the team had their two best offensive drives of the game – even though one ended in Winston’s fourth pick of the game.
Humphries should see a continued increase in his workload and will have a shot at making those who gamble on his fantasy football potential very proud.
Next: Baltimore Ravens @ Jacksonville Jaguars