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Last year in Week 2, the Keelan Cole hype train picked up steam with a 21.1 point performance while Odell Beckham Jr. owners panicked as he finished outside the top 60 at the position. Meanwhile, Corey Clement and Bilal Powell were both top 10 running backs, tripling both Sony Michel and Marlon Mack‘s output. In fact, fantasy coaches were so upset about Mack that he was a free agent in 75% of leagues. Blake Bortles was a top-five QB and Andrew Luck appeared broken as he finished 30th then over at tight end, Jesse James scored 20 points, or 18 more than both David Njoku and Rob Gronkowski.

The point is that while everything you are about to read may seem crazy, this is a league where crazy things happen every week. I am merely trying to forecast which scenarios are possible in advance like last week when we hyped up Jamison Crowder in light of his matchup and Robby Anderson’s terrible draw.

I’ll be posting this article every Saturday, and while these are all players I feel strongly about for the week, these are not my projections by any means. Rather, a bold prediction is something that most people would say has less than 10% chance of happening, but I’ll give it two or even three times better odds. So perhaps use one of these guys in a DFS GPP or if you need help breaking a tie on a start/sit decision. By the way, here is my new weekly article called Quick Grades. It has all my start/sit recommendations in a quick-hitting format.

#1 Evan Engram is going to lead the NFL in receptions this week
Golden Tate is suspended, Sterling Shepard is out with a concussion and Cody Latimer is a game-time decision with a calf injury. What’s more, is that Tre’Davious White is among the best cornerbacks in all of football and that this Bills’ secondary allowed the fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers last year. If they are vulnerable, it’s over the middle, which the Jets showed us last week when Jamison Crowder caught 14 balls.
Final Prediction: 17 targets, 12 receptions, 108 yards, 1 TD

#2 Malcolm Brown will be held under 3 fantasy points
Todd Gurley didn’t look like himself last week, but he did still tally over 100 yards and played 68% of the snaps which is more than Alvin Kamara averages. Brown will be involved, of course, but don’t expect all of the goal-line carries to go his way seeing that Gurley has been among the best goal-line backs in recent memory. More importantly, New Orleans is tremendous against the run and Brown has little worth in the passing game.
Final Prediction: 8 carries, 26 yards

#3 Cooper Kupp will finish as a top 5 wide receiver this week
While the Saints had no problem stopping the run last year, they were dead last against the pass and that trend continued against Houston. This game between the Rams and Saints has one of the highest over/unders on the slate which means if the Rams can’t run, Jared Goff and his receivers will have a huge day. Marshon Lattimore is far and away the Rams’ best cornerback, but he won’t be anywhere near Kupp who almost exclusively lines up in the slot. Plus, let’s not forget that Kupp was the #2 fantasy receiver in the NFL before his injury last season. 
Final Prediction: 10 targets, 8 receptions, 133 yards, 2 TDs

#4 Preston Williams ends up in the top 30 receivers
The Miami Dolphins may very well go 0-16 this season and they’ve got no chance whatsoever today as 19 point underdogs to the Patriots, but that doesn’t mean they’ll never put up any fantasy points. Rather, you can expect them to pass 35+ times this weekend with the game script being what it is. With Stephon Gilmore locked onto DeVante Parker and Albert Wilson ruled out, Williams figures to see the majority of snaps and perhaps the most targets on the team. It may not count for much on this Dolphins’ offense, but Williams is an extremely talented rookie and just may find his way into the end zone for the second consecutive week.
Final Prediction:6 targets, 4 receptions, 68 yards, 1 TD

#5 Gardner Minshew will be a top 12 quarterback this weekend
Minshew did look impressive in Week 1, but let’s be real, everyone does against the Chiefs secondary. In fact, this has little to do with how polished Minshew is or anything to do with the Jags offense. Rather, it has to do with the Texans defense, which is strong versus the run and week versus the pass, and the Jags defense. Jacksonville has plenty of talent on that side of the ball, but A.J. Bouye, are out Yannick Ngakoue while Calais Campbell and Marcell Dareus have been limited in practice. If the Jags want to keep this close, they’ll need to pass a ton.
Final Prediction: 33 for 48 for 339 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT

The Other Half

#6 Corey Davis will be a top 20 wideout this week (Doesn’t draw Denzel Ward this week)
Final Prediction: 9 targets, 6 receptions, 84 yards, 1 TD

#7 Aaron Rodgers will place outside the top 20 fantasy QBs again (awful recent history vs. MIN)
Final Prediction: 22 for 31, 228 yards, 1 TD, 3 carries, 8 yards

#8 Raheem Mostert will finish top 25 among running backs (Typical Shanahan split backfield)
Final Prediction: 11 carries, 58 yards, 1 TD, 3 receptions, 15 yards

#9 Robby Anderson will finish outside the top 50 wideouts again (draws Denzel Ward this week)
Final Prediction: 6 targets, 3 receptions, 34 yards

#10 Dallas Goedert will outscore Zach Ertz this weekend (62/41 snap counts last week)
Final Prediction: Goedert (4 rec, 52 yds, 1 TD), Ertz (7 rec, 63 yds)

Thanks for reading and happy football season!

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