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Feast or Famine: Odell Beckham, Elijah Mitchell, Evan Engram (2021 Fantasy Football)

Feast or Famine: Odell Beckham, Elijah Mitchell, Evan Engram (2021 Fantasy Football)

With Kenyan Drake‘s demise outlined here last week, I hope people pivoted to my recommendation of Cordarrelle Patterson instead. Patterson finished as the RB9. As for my other suggestions, K.J. Osborn was a bust, but Marquise Brown was in line for a monstrous game if not for two critical drops near the end zone. But I digress. Let’s move on to see what’s ahead. Based on the Fantasy Pros consensus rankings, below are some players I think will either feast or suffer from famine this week.

For this column, I assess players with some of the most considerable variances (standard deviations) in the PPR rankings by my FantasyPros colleagues. My goal is to aid with starting lineup decisions by highlighting the week’s more polarizing players that I feel the most decisive about for season-long and DFS lineups. My focus will be on less obvious and trending players when possible.

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Feast

Odell Beckham Jr (WR – CLE)
ECR: WR28­ – STDEV 4.4

Odell Beckham had a largely successful season debut leading the team in targets (9) and receiving yards (77), plus he added ten rushing yards on an end-around. He will remain the top target in the passing game with Jarvis Landry sidelined. This week he gets a juicy matchup against arguably the league’s worst pair of starting corners in Bashaud Breeland and Patrick Peterson. Collectively, the duo has surrendered 439 yards and six scores in just three weeks of action. Oh, and did I mention that quarterback Baker Mayfield has been dropping dimes this year? Confidently fire Beckham up as a WR2 this week.

Elijah Mitchell (RB – SF)
ECR: RB42­ – STDEV 6.9

This week, the player rankers are hedging on Elijah Mitchell due to his questionable tag from his shoulder stinger. There is also some uncertainty regarding who will lead San Francisco in carries. Both Mitchell and Trey Sermon got chances to claim the backfield, but Mitchell was more effective with his opportunities. In Mitchell’s absence versus the Packers, seeing Sermon cede the first carry to fullback Kyle Juszczyk was disconcerting. It doesn’t bode well for him either that he only played 59% of the snaps despite no other proper running backs active.

Also working against Sermon is Coach Kyle Shanahan’s penchant for speedier backs à la Raheem Mostert, and Mitchell boasts the better 40-yard time. Unlike Sermon, Mitchell hasn’t spent time in Shanahan’s doghouse, either. San Francisco could play with a lead this week against a Seattle defense that surrenders a league-high 137 yards per game to runners. That means there should be plenty of points to go around, even if the 49ers elect to use a committee approach. If Mitchell does suit up, I believe he runs away with the starting job.

Famine

Ty’Son Williams (RB – BAL)
ECR: RB33­ – STDEV 6.4

Denver is the second-best team at stopping the run, making this a less than ideal spot for Ty’Son Williams. With the Broncos favored in this matchup, it could also mean a heavy dose of Latavius Murray in the passing game if the Ravens are trailing. Williams also ceded rush attempts to Murray in Week 3, possibly signaling a dreaded RBBC on the horizon.

Evan Engram (TE – NYG)
ECR: TE21­ – STDEV 3.5

It might be tempting to start Evan Engram with Giants wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton likely out with hamstring injuries. Engram wasn’t very effective in his season debut in a favorable matchup against Atlanta, however, catching only two of his six targets and losing a fumble. This week he faces the Saints, a more formidable opponent against tight ends as they are fourth in DVOA versus the position. The Giants also used a three-TE committee with Engram, Kyle Rudolph, and Kaden Smith last week. It might be wise to look for a streaming option in a better matchup.

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Beyond our daily fantasy football content, be sure to check out our Daily Fantasy Football Tools. From our Value Plays – which allows you to identify players who are projected to outperform their salaries – to our DFS Cheat Sheets – that helps you get a quick read on the day’s players – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.

Bonnie Robinson is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Bonnie, check out her profile and follow her @FantasyQueenB.

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