Fantasy Football Player Notes

This is a backfield that no one can tell you how it'll shake out with 100 percent certainty. The Packers drafted Dillon with a second-round pick, so that means they'll use him, right? Looking back over the last seven years, there have been 17 running backs drafted in the second round. Only four of them saw fewer than 123 touches and finished outside the top 46 running backs. So yeah, he likely matters. The Vikings allowed just the 12th-fewest points to running backs last year, but not because they were dominant or anything. The 4.39 yards per carry they allowed was the 11th-most in football, and they lost their best presence up the middle of the field in Linval Joseph. He recorded 19 run stops last year, while the runner-up Shamar Stephen totaled 10 of them. They snagged Michael Pierce in free agency to help fill the void, but he opted out for the season, leaving them to start Jaleel Johnson alongside Stephen. You should know that even with Joseph, Jones tagged this unit for 270 yards and three touchdowns on the ground alone last year in the two games they played. He did total 46 carries between the two games, a number he's unlikely to get to with Dillon on the roster, but it's clear LaFleur's scheme works against a then-more-talented Vikings unit, so playing him as a borderline RB1 this week makes sense. I'd probably fade him in cash considering there still is risk attached, but in tournaments, he's a go.

As someone who's averaged 11.0 targets per game the last two years, you're starting Adams every week. You don't need me to tell you that. But if you're playing DFS, you'll want to know this... The Vikings will be starting three new cornerbacks this year. Former first-round pick Mike Hughes has been elevated to the No. 1 cornerback on the depth chart. He's never been asked to shadow No. 1 receivers, as that was typically Xavier Rhodes' job, but it's likely his job this week. Despite not covering the top receivers over the last two years, Hughes has allowed a 99.0 QB Rating in his coverage, including five touchdowns on 93 targets. The reason I'm assuming it's his job to cover Adams is due to the fact that the Vikings may have two rookies filling the other starting slots, and you don't want a rookie in his first NFL game getting schooled by Adams. The average WR2 performance last year was 14.5 PPR points. The Vikings allowed 19 such performances, which was tied with the Lions for the most in the NFL. We know why they moved on from their veteran quarterbacks, but this young unit will not be able to contain Adams. He's a cash and tournament option this week.

It seems all but certain that it's Davante Adams and Lazard on the field in 2WR sets for the Packers, which obviously offers some value, especially when facing a team like the Vikings who allowed 25 receivers to post at least 11.2 PPR points last year, which was the average amount of points required to finish as a WR3 in 2019. Lazard was on the field in a full-time role when they played in Week 16 last year where he caught 5-of-9 targets for 45 yards. The Vikings are going to have an all-new cornerback unit in 2020, which will feature Mike Hughes (who's likely to see Adams the most), Holton Hill, along with rookies Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler. With no preseason action, they'll be walking into the fire in Week 1. It's hard enough for rookie cornerbacks to start day one, let alone make a difference. Knowing the Packers are not allowing their media staff to disclose who's been running with the first-team offense, we can't start Lazard with 100 percent confidence, but he does have a plus matchup, making him an upside WR4/5 this week.

Scantling's received some praise coming out of camp, but we'll have to wait and see what his role in the offense actually looks like before we plug him into our fantasy football lineups.

Dillon should see 5-8 carries in this game, which isn't enough to have standalone fantasy value, but it's enough to eat into Aaron Jones' workload. Dillon should be left on your bench in deep leagues or even on your waiver wire in smaller leagues.

He is someone who should take a big step forward during his sophomore season, though starting out on the COVID list didn't help build rapport with Aaron Rodgers or move him up the depth chart, as he was listed as the No. 3 tight end on their first one. Sternberger was a possession-style tight end while at Texas A&M and has a good set of hands on him, so we could see him succeed as a streamer throughout the year. There are a few issues, though. One - we don't know for certain if he'll be in an every-down role immediately. He's never played more than 36 snaps in an NFL game. And two - the Vikings were the best in the league at slowing down tight ends in 2019. They actually ranked No. 8 against them, but that's due to the volume. They allowed just 1.32 PPR points per target to tight ends, while no other team in the league allowed less than 1.50 PPR points per target. Despite playing against Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz, Darren Waller, Austin Hooper, Evan Engram, and Noah Fant, they allowed just one touchdown on 128 targets. Let's wait to see Sternberger in an every-down role and getting targeted before trusting him. As of now, Marcedes Lewis and Robert Tonyan are ahead of him in the pecking order.