Every Thursday on 1500ESPN’s Fantasy Football Pants Party, Anthony Maggio and Bo Mitchell field their Ballsy teams—a full fantasy lineup comprised only of players available in at least half of ESPN leagues. Each week Zoneblitz.com will publish a preview, with Maggio’s top-rated at each position among the Ballsy-eligible players.

Carson Palmer at Oakland

Palmer’s return from numb-arm last week went well, and now he gets to face a lackluster Oakland defense. Though to be fair, the Raiders as a matchup actually works against Palmer a bit because of how bad Oakland is against the run. That said, the Raiders have given up five touchdown passes the last two weeks after facing Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick and pre-revival Tom Brady their first three weeks, and Bruce Arians isn’t shy about airing it out.

 

Jerick McKinnon at Buffalo

Buffalo isn’t exactly the matchup you’re looking for in your fantasy running back, but the same is said for Detroit, and McKinnon just went for 82 combo yards on 17 touches against the Lions last week. There’s talk that what was a lopsided workload last week might skew closer to 50/50 with McKinnon and Asiata this week, but I don’t buy it. McKinnon’s at least a two-down back and a three-down back in some cases, so I’ll bank on what I think is a secure workload for a talented runner.

 

Eddie Royal vs. Kansas City

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Royal has five touchdowns the last three weeks, and the rib injury that held him out late last week isn’t supposed to sideline him this week. I’ll continue to warn against Royal’s unsustainable pace—he’s had just five targets the last two weeks and caught all five—but I might as well reap some of the rewards before they dry up.

 

Dwayne Allen vs. Cincinnati

I’ve said it before in this space, and I’ll continue to say it until Allen is no longer available in more than 50% of leagues—Dwayne Allen is going to finish as a top 10 tight end this season. He’s already comfortably there, yet he remains mostly a fantasy free agent. Sure, he’s likely going to be in the 40- to 60-yard range most games, and he’s not going to score every game, but he’s already got four touchdowns, and if you’ve got that yardage floor, why not chase the touchdown too? Especially against a Bengals defense that is allowing the most fantasy points to tight ends this season.

 

Randy Bullock at Pittsburgh

It’s been a quiet couple of games for Bullock after double digit scoring in two of his three games prior, but Bullock is facing a Pittsburgh defense ceding the third most fantasy points to kickers this season. That’s good enough for me.

 

Cleveland at Jacksonville

For the long term you should pick up Houston—I’ve got no clue how that unit’s not owned in at least 50% of leagues. And Jadaveon Clowney could return this week. But for a one-week fix, pretty much any team against Jacksonville will do. The Jaguars have allowed a league-high 27 sacks (4.5 per game) and thrown eight interceptions thus far—tied for second most in the league.

 

For even more Ballsy picks of the week, listen to 1500ESPN’s Fantasy Football Pants Party.