So as I’m watching the Sunday night game, I’m thinking Seattle gave up a first round pick and a pretty solid starting center to acquire Jimmy Graham during the offseason – and Jimmy Graham is really nowhere to be found in Seattle’s offense.
Graham did catch a TD in week one, but in the small portion of the game I saw, was on the field certainly no more than Luke Willson and seemingly less. The same seems to be holding true tonight against the Packers. If you’re going to give up that much to acquire a guy, you might be well served to have a plan on how to use him.
Lots of interesting tidbits today. We’ll start in Dallas, where the entire fantasy football roster there took a hit when Tony Romo broke his collarbone this afternoon. The running game already was a committee and, with Romo hurt, Brandon Weeden is going to be called on to more than likely just manage games. I’m not feeling too good about Terrance Williams or Cole Beasley, though Weeden did throw one nice slant to Williams that ended up a TD. I guess Jason Witten has looked good and probably remains a safe target.
Also not feeling good about the Eagles. Holy cow, does that team seem a mess. DeMarco Murray is on pace for 88 yards rushing FOR THE SEASON. Sure, that’ll improve, but it’s certainly a sign of the team’s struggles so far. Jordan Matthews is the only receiver who has shown up. Nelson Agholor caught three passes. Maybe he’s starting to figure it out.
Who else am I nervous about? How about Brandin Cooks? He did catch five passes on seven targets, but that gives him just nine for the season and just 111 yards and no scores in two weeks. The Saints don’t seem to have it together just yet either. The team wasn’t supposed to do that well, but the offense was supposed to be lively.
How about Lamar Miller? Two weeks that looked like cupcakes heading into the season and he has produced just 67 yards rushing and 50 receiving. Ouch. That’s a team that has looked rough so far – and they play Buffalo and the New York Jets in back to back division games coming up. It’s not going to get any easier.
A week after gashing Minnesota, Carlos Hyde came back to earth too. He managed 43 yards and lost a fumble against Pittsburgh before leaving with a head injury. Guessing the truth in his case lies somewhere in the middle of the two performances so far.
And one more: Jeremy Hill fumbled twice and Giovani Bernard reminds observers why he looked like a fantasy weapon in 2013. Gio ran for 123 yards and caught three passes to help the Bengals hold off the Chargers. Hill’s mistakes and Bernard’s success the first two weeks could lead to a more equal sharing of time in that backfield, bad news for those who spent second round picks on Hill.
Who do I like?
How about Matt Jones in Washington? He lost a fumble, but rumbled for 123 yards and two scores, taking one more carry than counterpart Alfred Morris. Jones would appear to be the more dynamic of the two. He chipped in with three catches, too.
How about Allen Robinson from Jacksonville reminding everyone why he was a sleeper fantasy pick around the sixth round? After a bad week one, he caught six passes on 12 targets, scoring twice and putting up 155 yards.
Amari Cooper caught a long TD early and put up a 100 yard game in his second week on the job. More weeks like that to come most likely – he and Derek Carr seem to be putting something together.
He’s not going to be consistent, but Karlos Williams has done exactly what you want your short yardage/change-of-pace guy to do. He’s scored a TD in each of the first two weeks
David Johnson is not the starter in Arizona, but he has three TDs in two weeks, one on the opening kickoff today that set the tone for a Cardinals win over Chicago. If he keeps producing like he has, the Cardinals won’t be able to keep him off the field.
And a tip of the cap to Jameis Winston and John Manziel, each of whom notched their first career wins in leading their bad teams over hapless opponents.
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