Buccaneers: Week 2 fantasy start, sit and sleeper against the Bears

I have been tapped by the higher ups at The Pewter Plank to write a weekly fantasy football piece pertaining to our Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Each week I will name three Bucs to either start, sit and for you gambling types, a flier or sleeper pick. Followed by my thoughts on why each player deserves this weeks moniker.

Start

Cameron Brate

The Bears went into last weeks match up vs the Atlanta Falcons bound and determined to not let number 1 wide receiver Julio Jones beat them. Essentially bracketing the receiver on every route. When it was all said and done the Chicago’s defense did their job. Even though the Falcons were victorious the Bears held the 4x Pro Bowler to just 4 receptions totaling 66 yards and no touchdowns. I expect similar attention to be placed upon the Buccaneers number 1 wide out Mike Evans.

With heavy attention being placed on Evans that should leave the Bucs other receiver DeSean Jackson with mostly 1 on 1 coverage to the outside. Leading some of the readers to project that Jackson would be the obvious choice, given his speed, to claim the week one start moniker.

Although I am in the camp of thinking that Jameis Winston‘s deep ball percentage will improve this season. I also have on foot firmly planted on the, I won’t believe it till I see it side of the line. I attended over 15 Buccaneer practices this off season and I saw nothing that would lead me to believe that the Winston-Jackson deep ball will be automatic this year. Add in that Winston never threw once to Jackson on a 9 route during the entire preseason slate of games. I’m not saying the Bucs won’t try to deep to Jackson, I just feel that the Winston-Jackson chemistry isn’t quite where it needs to be for 147 yards on 5 receptions with 2 TD’s type of game.

Must Read: Ronde for the Hall

Chemistry between players is hard to define. You either have it or you don’t. Rarely is it instantaneous, usually it takes time and practice. No one on the Buccaneers has put in more time with Jameis Winston than Cameron Brate. Every off season workout I went to Brate and Winston put in extra time after practice running redzone routes. Sometimes O.J. Howard showed up, sometimes Alan Cross was present as well, but Brate was always there first and there everyday.

I don’t think there is a receiver/tight end that Jameis trusts more than Cameron Brate. With Mike Evans working on the outside, mostly between the hash mark and sideline and Jackson pulling a corner back and safety deep down field multiple times on Sunday. This will leave the entire middle of the field open for Brate to move around.

I am predicting 7 catches for 78 yards and 2 redzone touchdowns for the big tight end out of Harvard.

Must Read: Week 2 Fantasy Advice from Each Division

Sit

Jacquizz Rodgers

Starting running back Doug Martin is finishing out serving his suspension for PED use and won’t return until week 4 against the Patriots. So the job has fallen to Jacquizz Rodgers. Rodgers is serviceable back and can be of value to a fantasy owner as a fill in role, when one of your regular starters have a bye week. Or maybe you have been bitten early by the injury bug and were depending on running back such as Spencer Ware or Danny Woodhead, Rodgers is better than nothing.

More from The Pewter Plank

Unfortunately, for Rodgers and his owners he might not ever be much more than that. The Buccaneers have been telling anyone who would listen for the past two years the they love running back Peyton Barber. It took awhile but Barber finally showed fans this preseason what the organization has always seen in him. You could argue that Barber had the best preseason of any of the Bucs running backs. He has a nice power to speed ratio that NFL teams covet. The only thing that was holding him back was his pass protection. Knowing this, Barber hit the playbook hard this camp and with the help of his girl friend constantly quizzing him, he finally looks comfortable on the field during third down.

The more you listen to Buccaneer coaches it is becoming apparent that Peyton Barber is going to see the field more than just to spell Rodgers for a few plays. On top of that, the Bucs like Barber as a short yardage and goal line back, not only taking away more carries from Rodgers but extremely valuable ones around the goal line.

Jacquizz Rodgers line: 46 yards on 12 carries 0 touch downs or receptions.

Must Read: Buccaneers Talk: Week 2 Preview

Flier/Sleeper

Charles Sims

Charles Sims always, always, always make the first guy miss IF he is out in space and I believe that is just what Bucs are going to try to do. The Buccaneers should target Sims about 6 times during the game on Sunday. Lining Sims up in the slot for a quick tunnel screen or leaking him out of the backfield late and dumping the ball off to him. Sims is going to get touches and he is going to get touches in space. The only way Sims gets into the end zone is from 20+ yards out, so projecting a touch down is risky at best, but in a PPR league I am predicting over 10 points from the change of pace back.

2 runs for 11 yards with 6 receptions for 52 yards and 0 touchdowns

Thanks for reading and be sure to fire off any comments you have in the section below. You can find me on Twitter @Ren_Daxt, I’m always down to talk Buccaneer football. I will see you next week when I pick my 3 Bucs to start, sit or take a flier/sleeper pick when the Bucs take on the Minnesota Vikings. Until then…

GO BUCS!!!

Home/Bucs Fantasy Football