This article takes a look at players from each of the positions in your starting lineup who have interesting matchups. Not all players covered are your classic sleepers who might outperform expectations. Some are nominal starters with tricky matchups or players who might be starters in smaller leagues, but deep sleepers in larger leagues. Realizing that leagues and roster sizes vary wildly; your mileage could vary, too.
Quarterbacks
Eli Manning, NYG at PHI
The Eagles haven’t been able to slow down opposing teams from throwing the ball yet this year. All five opponents threw 2 or more touchdowns, three of them threw 3 TDs against them, and all five QBs amassed 22 or more fantasy points. After a slow start in the Giants’ newly installed West Coast offense, Eli Manning is rolling over his last four with 10 TDs, 3 INTs and a 69% completion rate. With Odell Beckham Jr. added to the mix, Eli is a great bet to keep it rolling against this Eagles defense that has allowed more points to opposing QBs than any other in the league.
Ben Roethlisberger, Pit at CLE
In the season opener, Roethlisberger threw for 365 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT against the Browns. Last week, the Browns gave up 268 yards and 3 TDs (and another rushing TD) to Jake Locker and Charlie Whitehurst while their shutdown corner Joe Haden suffered a hip injury that threatens to sideline him this week. The Browns have now allowed the 6th most points to opposing QBs. If Haden is limited or doesn’t play, then the advantage tilts even more towards Roethlisberger and the Steelers passing game.
Joe Flacco, Bal at TB
Opponents have thrown for 300 or more yards in three straight games against the Buccaneers with a combined 8 TDs averaging 28 fantasy points per game. Flacco is inconsistent from game-to-game, but he’s a solid reach in deeper leagues with QB1 upside like he demonstrated two weeks ago when he threw for 327 yards and 3 TDs against the Panthers. Four of the five quarterbacks who faced the Bucs have produced 20 points or more, including Panthers’ backup QB Derek Anderson in the season opener.
Andy Dalton, CIN vs. Car
The Panthers defense isn’t playing anywhere near the same level they were at last year. They’ve allowed 2 or more passing TDs in four of their give games and the 9th most points to opposing QBs. Jay Cutler (289/2/2) and Joe Flacco (327/3/0) each produced 28 points against them in their last two games and in Week 3 Ben Roethlisberger would’ve done much more damage than his 192/2/0 had they not jumped out to an huge early lead. The Panthers have struggled badly against the AFC North so far and I’d expect the Bengals to rebound in a big way from their embarrassing loss to the Patriots on Sunday night.
Running Backs
Branden Oliver, SD at OAK
Oliver broke out on Sunday against a Jets top-ranked run defense and the coast is clear for him with Donald Brown (concussion) and Ryan Mathews (knee) sidelined. The Raiders have allowed the 2nd most rushing yards this year – 158 YPG – and a league-high 36.8 attempts per game. The Chargers should be able to run the ball, control the clock and Oliver should benefit the most. Making matters worse perhaps, the Raiders placed MLB Nick Roach on injured reserve on Wednesday ending his season.
Andre Williams, NYG at PHI
With Rashad Jennings (sprained MCL) sidelined this week, HC Tom Coughlin endorsed Andre Williams as the team’s featured running back going into this week divisional tilt against the Eagles. Williams has performed well so far as a rookie with his hard, physical running and nose for the end zone. While he doesn’t have good receiving skills, he should still garner the majority of the touches for the Giants this week with RB1/RB2 value.
Fred Jackson, Buf at NE
Jackson is like the Energizer Bunny – he keeps going and going and going. Forget that he’s 33 years old, Jackson did suffer a slight ankle sprain against the Lions on Sunday, but he should be fine going into this week’s game against divisional rival New England. In his last four games against the Patriots, Jackson has produced 10+ PPR points in all four averaging 13.4 standard fantasy points per game with 3 TDs. Of those four games, his worst performance netted him a RB27 finish while ranking 2nd, 7th and 18th in the other games.
Justin Forsett, Bal at TB
The Buccaneers have been dealing with a number of injuries to their defense in the first month of the season and last week the Saints took full advantage as Pierre Thomas combined for 112 yards and 2 TDs and Khiry Robinson 97 yards and a TD. They’ve allowed the 6th most points to RBs thus far. Meanwhile, Forsett leads a 3-headed running attack for the Ravens. Forsett is getting the most touches, especially in the passing game (3+ catches in every game) while combining for 90+ yards in his last two. With a hot hand philosophy Lorenzo Taliaferro or Bernard Pierce remain credible threats, but Forsett has the edge and he remains the best bet to continue leading the way for the Ravens backfield.
Bishop Sankey, TEN vs. Jac
HC Ken Whisenhunt has talked about Sankey’s improved footwork and we anticipated a bigger workload for him on Sunday, but it never materialized as he carried just 8 times for 27 yards against the Browns. We still expect to see an increase in carries for him going forward and why not this week against a struggling Jaguars team allowing the 2nd most points to opposing RBs. Eight different back have produced 10 or more points against them in just five games. There is plenty of risk with playing Sankey, but there’s also plenty of upside in this week’s matchup to take the plunge with him as an upside flex play or even as a RB2 in deeper leagues. Update: Shonn Greene (hamstring) did not practice on Thursday and is now considered uncertain to play on Sunday, especially if he's a "DNP" in Friday's practice.
Storm Johnson, Jac at TEN
After a strong, impressive but brief debut on Sunday, Johnson seemingly has earned a shot for what could be a bigger role this week in the Jaguars backfield. OC Jeff Fisch openly admitted that he doesn't want to have a four-headed backfield. He prefers to have two guys run the show. Denard Robinson seems to be gaining an upper hand on passing downs while Toby Gerhart missed practice on Thursday and his foot sprain is what opened the door for Johnson's debut on Sunday. Gerhart could simply be getting extra rest by sitting out Thursday's practice, but if he's unable to go Friday, then we might see a bigger role for Johnson against the Titans, or at least Johnson splitting snaps with Robinson and serving as the primary back on first and second downs.
There are a few other possible injury replacements that could be worth a look this week such as Benny Cunningham (STL vs. SF), George Winn (Det at Min) or even the Broncos’ Ronnie Hillman (at NYJ). However, it looks like Zach Stacy will go making Cunningham a poor play outside of really deep leagues as a what-the-heck flex and Winn projects as a #2 assuming either Joique Bell (concussion), Theo Riddick (hamstring) or Reggie Bush (ankle) are able to go. (Update: Riddick and Bell returned to practice, while Bush did not. Bell moves back into RB2 consideration, and Riddick is next man up if Bell has a setback or isn't active on Sunday).
With the Broncos, the Jets defense took a hit with an injury to MLB David Harris and Branden Oliver seemingly exposed their otherwise strong run defense on Sunday, but it’s a guessing game whether Ronnie Hillman, C.J. Anderson or Juwan Thompson (or all three) will lead the team in carries. Given the tougher matchup, you might want to watch and evaluate the pecking order this week and roll with whoever emerges later. Hillman was the #2 last week, but Anderson or Thompson could just as easily fill that role against the Jets.
Wide Receivers
Justin Hunter, TEN vs. Jac
Last week, we talked about it being just a matter of time before Hunter broke out and he did against the Browns. He finally played more snaps as a full-time starter and we expect that to be the case going forward this week against a Jaguars defense allowing the fifth most points to receivers. There’s reason to be concerned about the Titans’ quarterback situation, but Hunter’s big play talent has to be in your lineup unless you just can’t put better players ahead of him on the bench.
Torrey Smith, Bal at TB
Smith has been totally underwhelming this year being outplayed by Steve Smith and dropping passes to boot, but there’s reason to believe that his fortune could change. The Ravens coaches continue to say they want to get him more involved in the offense. He’s in a contract year and the Buccaneers have allowed the 3rd most points to opposing receivers. He also caught a TD in Week 4, so there are enough signs of a pending breakout along with this matchup to take a leap on him this week. For that to happen, Joe Flacco will first have breakaway from his radar lock on Steve Smith and look to his old deep threat on the other side of the field.
Markus Wheaton, Pit at CLE
Wheaton has been a bit of a tease this year with a strong 6-97-0 effort in the season opener against the Browns and a couple of other near touchdowns that didn’t materialize. His production dwindled to just 1-17-0 last week despite a strong matchup against the Jaguars. Last week, Justin Hunter dropped 3-99-1 on the Browns and Joe Haden is banged up a bit with a hip injury giving Antonio Brown and Wheaton both a slight bump in value. The Browns have allowed the 7th most points to opposing WRs with a healthy Haden, so maybe Wheaton will find the end zone this finally in their rematch.
Mohamed Sanu, CIN vs. Car
Sanu was already looking like a nice reach against the re-tooled, but struggling Panther secondary, but after A.J. Green went down in Wednesday’s practice his upside went up even more. The Panthers have allowed the 5th most points to receivers over their last three games and the 11th most overall. The #1 receiver has produced 20 or more points against them in three straight weeks, so if Green is sidelined then make sure you have Sanu in your lineup.
Odell Beckham Jr., NYG at PHI
The Giants first round pick made his NFL debut on Sunday by catching four passes for 44 yards and a TD on five targets against the Falcons. For an encore this week the Giants coaches say they’ll continue to work him even more into the offense as they matchup against an Eagles secondary allowing the 2nd most points to opposing WRs. Beckham is a prime-time player who has made play after play in the spotlight at LSU and he should continue to make an impact on the quickly improving Giants offense in this plus matchup.
Allen Robinson, Jac at TEN
The Titans have allowed the sixth most points to opposing receivers over the last four weeks and last week they were stung by the Browns combination of Travis Benjamin (4-48-2) and undrafted rookie free agent Taylor Gabriel (4-95-0) during the Browns comeback. In prior games, Reggie Wayne, TY Hilton and AJ Green all produced 100 yard games against them. Due to attrition and his own talent and solid play, Robinson has emerged as Blake Bortles’ #1 target with 11 targets last week and 28 over the last three weeks (since Bortles took over from Chad Henne). Robinson has the size, speed and skills to be a productive WR3 in most leagues and the Jaguars should do plenty of throwing again this week.
Andre Roberts, Was at ARI
The Cardinals have allowed the most points to opposing receivers and nobody wants to have a bigger game for Washington this week than Roberts does against his former team. He’s a risky play as Washington’s #3 receiver, but he has seen 5 or more targets in four straight games scoring in each of his last two in an offense that we expect to continue throwing the ball a lot.
Tight Ends
Owen Daniels, Bal at TB
The Buccaneers injuries have added to their difficulties on defense matching up against opposing tight ends. Through the first five games, they’ve allowed the fourth most points to tight ends, or 8-81-0.4 per game. When Jimmy Graham hurt his shoulder on Sunday, backups Ben Watson and Josh Hill combined for 8-96-0 during the rest of the game highlighting the upside for Daniels as a low-end TE1 in this week’s matchup.
Garrett Graham, HOU vs. Ind
Graham flopped as a sleeper pick last week despite having a nice matchup against the Cowboys, so this week he has a chance to rebound against a Colts defense allowing the 7th most points. Graham seems to be no better than third in the pecking order for the Texans, but four of the five starting tight ends against the Colts have produced 4+ catches for 70 yards or more and a combined 4 TDs (although three of them were to Julius Thomas in the opener).
Luke Willson, SEA vs. Dal
Wilson caught three balls for 28 yards on four targets on Monday night while splitting reps with Cooper Helfet for the Seahawks with Zach Miller sidelined. Willson is definitely a reach by any league’s standards. However, the Cowboys have allowed the most points to TEs through the first five games even after the Texans’ tight ends combined for only 2-11-0 against them on Sunday.
Jace Amaro, NYJ vs. Den
The Jets passing attack is a dumpster fire at the moment, but Amaro has been coming on over the last few games seeing more playing time and even some downfield targets. Assuming the Broncos establish an early lead in this game, Amaro should have ample opportunity to produce regardless of whether Geno Smith or Michael Vick is at quarterback.
Clay Harbor, Jac at TEN
Harbor crashed back to Earth last week after he caught all eight of his targets the week before for 69 yards. Against the Steelers, Harbor still managed four targets and 3 catches for 22 yards, but this week he’ll get another start against a Titans defense allowing the 11th most points. With Marcedes Lewis sidelined for several more weeks, Harbor will continue to start and get a reasonable amount of targets each week as rookie Blake Bortles’ safety valve.
Defense/Special Teams
Tennessee vs. Jacksonville
No one really wants to roll with the Titans’ defense, but one has to consider the upside involved in this week’s matchup. Basically, defenses that have faced the Jaguars have all finished among the top ten each week with four of them among the top five. The Jaguars are scoring under 15 points per game with less than 280 YPG offensively while allowing 5 sacks, 2.1 turnovers and 0.5 TD returns per game. Even middle of the road defenses like Washington and Pittsburgh produced starter quality numbers against Jacksonville, so make sure you remember the Titans during waivers this week as a streaming option.
San Diego at Oakland
San Diego has been the recipient of some good scheduling and matchups so far this year and that good fortune continues this week against a Raider offense led by either Derek Carr with his high ankle sprain or even shakier options in Matt McGloin or Matt Schaub. Interim HC Tony Sparano promises to run the ball more going forward, but one has to wonder how much they’ll be able to do that with the Chargers firing on all cylinders going into this game. If the Chargers can play with a lead, then their defense have a chance to rack up the points once again after shutting out the Jets at home on Sunday. The Raiders have allowed the 12th most points to opposing defenses so far.
Washington at Arizona
There is a chance that the Cardinals could be without both Carson Palmer (nerve/shoulder) and Drew Stanton (concussion) this week. If so, rookie Logan Thomas will take the reins in what could prove to be an excellent opportunity for Washington’s defense to turn up the pressure and turn out the points for your fantasy team. Thomas was not effective at all when pressed into action against the Broncos (even though he did get a bit lucky with an 80-yard touchdown catch and run to Andre Ellington).
