Mike Lockhart's Week 2 Fantasy Outlook
BOSTON (CBS) - 98.5 The Sports Hub's Mike Lockhart sits down with CBSBostonSports.com's Andrew Celani for a comprehensive fantasy football chat heading into Week 2 of the season.
Maybe you got crushed in the opening week, or maybe you didn't get the performance you were expecting out of your top players. Fantasy football, while fun and competitive, can bring out the worst in people's impatience.
It's a long season, so it's important not to sound the alarm this early.
"Don't make any rash decisions. Don't drop guys because they didn't show up one week," said Lockhart to lead the discussion. "Stick with your team for the first couple weeks. Don't trade your guys away. You can tweak your bench a little bit here and there, but don't go crazy with it."
Getting off to a good start in the fantasy season is very important, because come Week 10 you don't want to be scrambling around and struggling to make the playoffs, and be forced to make wild trades.
Certain quarterbacks are a lock to start no matter what the matchup is, but Mike Lockhart is looking at one game this weekend and sees a very favorable advantage for one signal caller in particular.
"I love Jake Locker this week. He goes back home to Tennessee and goes up against a Dallas team that just looked like they were in shambles last week. The Cowboys are not going to get better defensively. It's going to look like this all season, so I think Jake Locker is going to target all of his guys like he did against Kansas City. Look for Delanie Walker, Justin Hunter, Kendall Wright and Nate Washington to get opportunities, and Jake Locker is going to be the beneficiary of that."
Some fantasy experts were leery of LeSean McCoy's value in 2014 because of the addition of Darren Sproles to the Eagles, and in Week 1 we saw what that looked like front and center. McCoy had over 20 carries for 74 yards, and added 6 catches for 41 yards. A solid day no doubt, but it was Sproles that found the endzone.
What should McCoy owners be thinking right about now?
"This is kind of what I thought was going to happen when the season started. Sproles is going to have his role, and it's a good fit for him in this offense. He's going to have his opportunities and he's going to have his big games, but McCoy is still the guy there. He's going to get a ton of work. I wouldn't worry. [Week 1] was a better sign for Sproles owners than it was a bad sign for McCoy owners."
Continuing with the running back discussion, Lockhart really likes Terrance West this week against the Saints, especially with Ben Tate out with an injury.
"He's a young rookie, came from a very small school in Towson and he's going to get most of the carries this week for the Browns. They play a Saints team that can be run on. If you're in a pinch, I like his teammate Isaiah Crowell. I love West more than Crowell, but I do like both those guys."
The consensus top three fantasy tight ends, in no particular order, are as follows: Jimmy Graham, Julius Thomas and Rob Gronkowski. After that, there's a muddled middle of guys you can pick and choose on a week-to-week basis, sometimes with no confidence or certainty.
Lockhart gives his choice for which ends have the potential to emerge into that top echelon group in 2014.
"I think you've got to look at Zach Ertz in Philadelphia, especially in PPR. You should be starting him every week. Kyle Rudolph didn't have a great week last week and has another tough matchup this week. At the end of the season he will be a guy to accumulate a lot of touchdowns. And I think somebody that's a real sleeper, somebody to stash on your bench, is Larry Donnell of the Giants. He came out last week and looked really good. He was their only bright spot. He's got another favorable matchup this week. I would give him the spot start this week."
To close the discussion, Mike Lockhart discussed the opposite side of the football, and the strategy of starting your kicker against a stingy defense.
For Lockhart's full breakdown, visit fantasybuzz.net and listen below for the full discussion!
Mike Lockhart's Week 2 Fantasy Outlook
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