Fantasy Football Player Notes

For having lackluster cornerbacks on the roster last year, the Seahawks secondary did well limiting opposing wide receivers. They allowed just 1.57 PPR points per target, which ranked as the fifth-lowest mark in football. They added Quinton Dunbar this offseason, which appeared to be a bad situation, but he was cleared of his offseason issues. The duo of Shaquill Griffin and Dunbar is a potent one, and the Seahawks also traded for safety Jamal Adams to beef up the back end of their defense. The Seahawks play a lot of zone coverage and stay on their sides, so there isn't one cornerback Jones will see more than the other. Despite having to play with Matt Schaub last year, Jones lit them up for 10 catches and 152 yards last year. He was one of eight receivers who topped 100 yards against them. While the Seahawks cornerback unit is improving, their front seven isn't going to generate a whole lot of pressure, which puts even more pressure on these guys to slow down Jones. Start him as a WR1 like you typically do.

With the way Ridley lines up in the formation, he's typically on the right side about 50-60 percent of the time, which tells us he'll line up with Shaquill Griffin the most. Griffin has been their best cornerback, though there's been some inconsistency to his game. If there's one thing he consistently shuts down, it's allowing receivers to get behind him. It's likely because they play a zone-heavy scheme in Seattle, which makes it easier to keep the receiver in front of you, but it will also allow teams to complete a high percentage of their passes. Over the last two years, Griffin has allowed a 62.7 percent catch rate in his coverage. It's not the greatest matchup for Ridley, but it's also not one where he'll struggle too much if the volume is there. He was on a 131-target pace once Mohamed Sanu left the team last year, so it's possible he gets into the 7-10 target range. Let's temper blowup expectations, but he should deliver stable WR2 numbers.

As long as Gurley is active, he belongs in your starting lineup due to the offense that he plays in. While the days of Gurley receiving 20+ carries are most likely gone, he can absolutely still make contributions for fantasy football with his scoring upside in this high-powered Falcons offense. Gurley's a low-end RB1 in this matchup against the Seahawks defense.

The Falcons gave up a second-round pick for him, highlighting just how valuable he was in their eyes. The Seahawks were the second-worst team in the league when it came to defending tight ends last year, but they did something about that this offseason. They went and snagged Pro Bowl safety Jamal Adams. He saw 33 targets in coverage last year and allowed just 150 yards on them. While the scheme likely had something to do with it, the Jets (where Adams came from) were the third-best team against tight ends last year. Learning a new scheme can take time and this will be Adams' first game in a Seahawks uniform, so we might see some time to acclimate, but the same can be said for Hurst in the Falcons offense. I'm still expecting a lot of pass attempts for the Falcons in this game, so Hurst should be in the 5-8 target range, leaving him in the low-end TE1 range, though there's certainly some red tape surrounding this matchup.

Did you realize Gage saw 66 targets over the Falcons' final nine games? That's a 117-target pace over the course of a season. Sure, Calvin Ridley missed three games and Austin Hooper missed a few games, but Gage was involved and saw at least nine targets on four separate occasions. While developing the new relationship with Hayden Hurst, it's possible Gage is one of Matt Ryan's favorites over the middle of the field. We don't know for certain who will cover the slot for the Seahawks, though it appears that safety Ugo Amadi may be that guy. He played late in the season and allowed 12-of-13 slot targets to be completed for 97 yards. That's a high catch rate, but just 7.46 yards per target. Still, given the strength of the Seahawks secondary, particularly on the back end, we could see Gage get funneled five-plus targets. If you're in a PPR format and looking for a WR5-type floor, Gage can fill that role.

Davis seems locked in as the backup RB in Carolina, but that doesn't mean much for fantasy football when CMC is above you on the depth chart. Davis can be left on waiver wires in all leagues.