Tag: Emmanuel Sanders

Three Takeaways From Thursday

It was a dominant and efficient performance by the Seattle Seahawks in the opener.

Percy Harvin was explosive and versatile… he looked like Percy Harvin. His projected fantasy numbers going forward will be inflated. Seattle is too efficient and diverse on offense for Harvin to consistenly put up great fantasy numbers. The Seattle defense also hurts his value due to the fact that the Hawks will rarely trail in the fourth quarter. I’m still taking Emmanuel Sanders over Harvin as wide outs that were taken in the WR2/WR3 portion of drafts.

The Green Bay defense isn’t awful. Julius Peppers was a top 20 defensive end last year according to all the advanced stats. Clay Matthews looks healthy and the Green Bay D will perform better than last year- 25th in yards allowed, 24th in points against. They have the Jets at home next week and that should be a great stream opportunity.

Russell Wilson finished 2013 as the 8th best fantasy quarterback despite throwing the 22nd most passing attempts among all NFL QBs. He does get it done with his legs but it is surprising that he was the 14th QB on average taken off the board in drafts.

ADP Watch- WRs Part 5

The third week of the preseason is over so that can only mean one thing… that it is time to draft. As usual the third week of the preseason served up a few major injuries and smart fantasy leagues/owners have not drafted yet.

Analysis: Emmanuel Sanders is looking like a WR1 out there. On Saturday night he posted 128 yards and 2 touchdowns on 5 receptions and 8 targets. Eric Decker finished 2013 as the 8th best fantasy wide out and his replacement may be able to do the same. It seems even if you “slightly lowball” Sanders to 1,100 yards and 9 touchdowns you still have yourself a wide out that would have finished 2013 as the 15th best receiver.

Currently, Sanders is the 28th to 31st wide receiver being taken in the 65-85 pick range. Is this real life? Guys like Golden Tate, Cordarrelle Patterson, Sammy Watkins and Percy Harvin are being taken around and even before Sanders comes off the board.

There are far too many “reaches” in fantasy drafts these days but Sanders is not one of them. He can easily put up WR1/WR2 numbers for the price of a low end WR2 or a WR3.

Week 6 WR Recap

Let’s take a look at some of the big performances by fantasy wide outs in week six.

Analysis: Riley Cooper had himself a big day on Sunday afternoon against the Bucs. Cooper caught 4 balls on 6 targets for 120 yards and a touchdown. Cooper isn’t the most reliable fantasy wide out though. Today was his first game with more than two receptions and 30 receiving yards this year. Cooper may get some love on the wire this upcoming week but it would be wise to avoid him. He is available in 90-97% of fantasy leagues.

Emmanuel Sanders is another under the radar wide out to check out. Sanders posted 3 receptions on 6 targets for 70 yards and a touchdown against the Jets. Sanders has two 70 plus receiving yard games this year and four games he has surpassed the 55 yard mark. He’s not going to be a touchdown/red zone performer but he should rack up a decent amount of yards with the Steeler running game missing in action. Sanders is available in 15-50% of fantasy leagues.

Brandon LaFell is another wide out like Cooper that will be hard to trust going forward. LaFell put up 107 yards on only 4 receptions with a touchdown against the Vikings; he now has 3 receiving touchdowns this year. LeFell has been targeted more than five times just twice this season. He makes more sense than Cooper and can be considered a depth add. He is available in 80-95% of fantasy leagues.