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 my top rated at each position among the Ballsy-eligible players.

Carson Palmer vs. Philadelphia

Palmer more or less met expectations last week against Oakland when I chose him in this space, and this week he’s even further removed from his nerve trouble and gets an even friendlier—though much more opportunistic—defense against fantasy quarterbacks. You could do a lot worse than the 250-yard, two-touchdown floor that Palmer generally supplies, and he comes with plenty of upside at home against the Eagles.

 

Jerick McKinnon at Tampa Bay

Folks have been slow to warm up to McKinnon and I’m not sure why. He’s visibly the more talented Vikings running back, and the box scores the last two weeks prove he’s the No. 1 guy. And this week he’s going against the team allowing the fifth most fantasy points to running backs? Sign me up!

 

Doug Baldwin at Carolina

With seven catches on 11 targets for 123 yards and a touchdown at St. Louis last week, Baldwin proved to be the clear beneficiary from Percy Harvin’s departure. He moves back to the slot, where he’s most comfortable, and is the most proven commodity in Seattle’s pass offense. A clear No. 1 against any defense is a valuable fantasy commodity, and even more so when facing the fourth worst fantasy defense against opposing wideouts.

 

Dwayne Allen at Pittsburgh

The seventh-highest scoring tight end in the NFL is well under 50% owned. This is lunacy, that’s all I have to say at this point.

 

Caleb Sturgis at Jacksonville

Sturgis hasn’t topped two field goals made in a game since Week 1, but has three or more opportunities in two of his last four games and is consistently getting several extra point chances—providing a decent floor. And with the Jaguars allowing the most fantasy points per game to kickers, the ceiling is nice here, too.

 

Dolphins DEF at Jacksonville

 

Just like with the Browns last week, I’m rolling with whoever plays Jacksonville. The Jaguars have allowed a league-high 29 sacks (4.5 per game) and thrown a league-high tying 11 interceptions. Cleveland was decent last week despite giving up a ton of points, and Miami just stymied the Bears offense in Chicago, so I like the Dolphins even more this week than I liked the Browns last week.

 

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