Welcome to the first edition of this season’s fantasy football mailbag column! Each week, I’ll take to Twitter for questions to help you prepare for either your season-long leagues or DFS lineups. If you have a question for next week’s column, reach out to me @rotomikebarner. Without further ado, here are the questions for this week, one of which is answered by a special guest.
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Fantasy Football Mailbag Column: Week 2
Would you start Cooper Kupp or Parris Campbell at flex this week in a PPR league? – @stevenwang25
Here are two players who produced very different results in Week 1. Kupp had a quiet performance against the Cowboys, catching four of five targets for 40 yards. Meanwhile, Campbell was much more involved for the Colts against the Jaguars, catching six of nine targets for 71 yards.
As good as Campbell looked last week, I’m not ready yet to start him over a more reliable option like Kupp. Although he didn’t receive a ton of targets, Kupp was still on the field for 84.9 percent of the Rams’ offensive snaps last week, which ranked second on the team among skill players behind only tight end Tyler Higbee. There is some risk that he could be covered at times by star cornerback Darius Slay, but I think he spends most of his time shadowing Robert Woods, which could leave Kupp with plenty of targets.
Start Evan Engram or Dallas Goedert? – @jmvelez08
I’m faced with this exact same decision in one of my leagues and I’m rolling with Goedert. The Eagles just don’t have much talent at wide receiver, especially if Alshon Jeffery (foot) is forced to sit out again. With teams focusing more on trying to slow down Zach Ertz, Goedert could be busy like he was in Week 1 when he caught eight of nine targets for 101 yards and a touchdown against Washington. Engram, on the other hand, has far more talent around him, including wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton to go along with Saquon Barkley catching passes out of the backfield.
Should I start Jonnu Smith or Hayden Hurst at TE? – @StevieB615
Hurst was buried behind Mark Andrews while with the Ravens, but he’s now the clear top tight end for the Falcons. That resulted in him playing 78.5 percent of their offensive snaps in Week 1. However, he wasn’t overly busy, turning his five targets into three catches for 38 yards. I prefer Smith this week because he doesn’t have nearly the latent around him at wide receiver that Hurst has, especially with A.J. Brown (knee) out against the Jaguars. Smith also has a slightly better matchup considering the Jaguars were torched for 357 passing yards in Week 1.
Start T.Y. Hilton or Paris Campbell? – @GMandrella
Again, I’m not ready yet to start Campbell over more well-established options. Hilton didn’t have as good of a final line as Campbell did last week, but he still received nine targets and his final numbers would have been better if not for a couple of costly drops. If he rectifies that issue this week, a 100-yard performance could be in the cards.
Which team is your favorite contrarian stack in DFS this week? – @DaglesBagels
For this question, let’s go to the DFS-legend himself, Alex Baker, for the answer.
I like Teddy Bridgewater versus the Bucs this week. Their defense is going to lead to a lot of positive gamescripts. Tampa’s strength is rushing defense, which could lead to even more Bridgewater attempts. Christian McCaffrey and DJ Moore are great options to get a large share of Bridgewater’s production. – Alex
I’m in a half-point PPR league and was offered Michael Thomas for Cooper Kupp and Melvin Gordon. Would you make that trade? – @mattridings
This is a great question that required more context. Matt advised me that he also has Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon, J.K. Dobbins and Nyheim Hines as his running backs and Davante Adams, Chris Godwin, Terry McLaurin, Dionte Johnson and Jamison Crowder at wide receiver.
I like the idea of trying to buy low on Thomas and have him at full force during the second half of the season and in the fantasy playoffs. Still, having to give up Kupp and Gordon is very much a high risk/high reward move. I’d feel better about acquiring Thomas if we knew that he would sit out until his injury improved instead of trying to play through it and possibly making things worse. If you want to play it safe and go week-to-week with your excellent depth, I wouldn’t make the move. If you don’t mind the risk, I’d pull the trigger and hope to enter the fantasy playoffs with a stellar quartet of Cook, Mixon, Adams and Thomas at full strength. That would be an awfully difficult team to beat.
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