Fantasy Football Player Notes

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.