September 14, 2017

Surprise waiver wire options for Week 2 of the 2017 fantasy football season. Dennis Clausen determines whether these sudden sleepers are too good to be true.

Now that Week 1 is over, it is time where we race towards waiver wires across the fantasy realm to claim the latest fantasy stud on the market. I mean we’ve all been there, we have a garbage week, we are angry, we search the net, read articles, crunch the numbers and hope and pray that our waiver request is honored so that we can get back on track. We then set our lineup with our new acquisition and eagerly await the coming week waiting to unveil our latest weapon.

The next thing you know, said player gets you one point and you are left as disappointed as the kid who didn’t get “Tickle Me Elmo” for Christmas (I know, I just dated myself there). In any event, we are here to put things back into perspective and examine whether this week's news regarding the studs of the waiver wire is actually "fake news" or if there is some authenticity to their performances.

Here are some waiver wire darlings that took us by surprise in Week 1. Let's get started!

Fake Fantasy News or Real Deal Value?

Cooper Kupp - WR, LA Rams

Cooper Kupp had a fantastic debut against the Indianapolis Colts, bringing in four receptions and accumulating 76 receiving yards. Oh yeah, he also scored a touchdown. Not too bad for a first game, right? So now that he has week one under his belt, where does he stand moving forward? To give you a little history, Kupp had a tremendous college football career, playing four seasons (not counting his red shirt year) with Eastern Washington University. During that time, he racked up a career total of 73 touchdowns and 6,464 yards on 428 receptions. Obviously, with numbers such as this, the talent is there.

He doesn’t have much in terms of long term competition in Los Angeles as well, as he will be fighting for looks with historically injured wide receiver Sammy Watkins as well as his Watkins' former Buffalo teammate Robert Woods, who didn’t do much as a Bill either. Tavon Austin is also there, but that ship has sailed a long time ago, especially from a fantasy stanpoint. His six targets on the day tied him with running back Todd Gurley, which isn't bad company to be in. Opponents on the horizon aren’t looking to bad either, as the Rams will host the Redskins in week two. Washington wasn’t very impressive during the opening week of the season, giving up 154 yards, 10 receptions and a score to the Philadelphia wide receivers (not counting tight end Zach Ertz). They then travel to San Francisco and square off with the 49ers, who looked as miserable Sunday as they did last year.

Verdict:

Things get a little tougher after that and he will have his bad days, but in any event, the news that Kupp will be a stud is "not fake news."

Tarik Cohen - RB, Chicago Bears

Chicago was hurting coming into the week one matchup with the Atlanta Falcons. With the loss of number one ride receiver Cameron Meredith, da’ Bears offensive hopes were basically in the hands of running back Jordan Howard. There was also wide receiver Kevin White, the team’s first round pick in 2015, who emerged to take Meredith's place as the number one and as a result, was a sought after fantasy target to boot. However, things went horribly wrong for him once again, suffering a fractured shoulder blade that sent him packing. So what the hell were they going to do now? Can they trust Kendall Wright, the former Tennessee Titan? Not really. How about tight end Dion Sims? Ha! How about Zack Miller? He still plays? The answer to the questions came in the form of rookie running back Tarik Cohen, who had a great outing on Sunday, finishing the day with five rushes for 66 yards as well as eight receptions for 47 yards and a score.

With play like this, of course his name would be considered one of the most desired names in fantasy football, especially when it comes to the waiver wire. However, the Bears are daunted with one of the roughest upcoming schedules for the foreseeable future. With upcoming games against Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, Cohen has hands full against two teams who handled themselves very well against running backs last season. In addition, Chicago will then square off against Green Bay, Minnesota, Baltimore and Carolina before they finally get a chance to see a crappy defense, with that crappy defense being New Orleans in week eight.

Verdict:

So now that we know what we know, is the news of Cohen being an adequate fantasy option for real? Unfortunately not and we can chalk up any news claiming him to be the real deal as simply "fake news."

Javorius Allen - RB, Baltimore Ravens

With Danny Woodhead down with yet another injury, the Ravens are forced to look for other options. Enter Javorius "Buck" Allen who took over for Woodhead on Sunday after the PPR stud-muffin went down with a hamstring injury that will keep him on the shelf for up to six weeks. Allen was efficient, running the ball 21 times for 71 yards. With a performance like that, many fantasy owners are left clamoring with the same enthusiasm that I exhibit when dinner is ready on Thanksgiving. So when I saw the name Javorius Allen mentioned in several articles, I thought to myself “haven’t I seen this name before?” Yes, yes I have.

A few years ago, Allen was also considered a hot waiver wire “must add” after running back Justin Forsett broke his arm and missed the rest of the 2015 season. So how did he do? I will give you some numbers and let you be the judge. The first number is five, the average number of receptions that he had per game after Forsett went down in week 11 with the injury. Next up, three, the same number of touchdowns that he ended scoring that season. Not convinced yet? How about 47, the number of average rushing yards per game that he had after emerging as the lead back. My argument here isn’t that Forsett is a bad player, because he is not. However, we’ve seen this story with ole' Buck before. Bu, bu, but, Dennis, he had 21 carries! Yeah, he did but Terrance West had 19 and still rushed for more yards. Allen will have his value, but mostly as a PPR back because he isn’t going to score a lot of touchdowns. Also keep in mind that he will split time with West.

Verdict:

So is this week's news that Buck will be an efficient option for real? Unfortunately not and we can call this what is it, "fake news."

Kenny Golladay - WR, Detroit Lions

What the heck happened in Detroit on Sunday? I mean, aren't the Cardinals supposed to be favorites to contend in the NFC this season? Weren't people skeptical about the chunks of money given to quarterback Matthew Stafford? And who the hell is Kenny Golladay? Nobody outside of dynasty league owners and those who watch way too much preseason NFL knew who Kenny Golladay was up until Sunday when he captured the hearts of fantasy owners in the same fashion that Justin Bieber does with 12 year old girls. So is this news about him being a stud for real? I mean, don't we go through this crap all the time during the season? Golladay was impressive nonetheless, catching four receptions on seven targets. Now the fact that he had four receptions isn't very impressive, nor is the 60 receiving yards that he had. What is impressive are the two touchdowns that he had on the day. However, let's be completely honest here, the chances of Golladay, let alone anyone else scoring two touchdowns in two consecutive games is as likely as me fitting into my high school wrestling singlet. In other words, not that good. Even the best receiver in the league, Antonio Brown didn't do it last year, or the year before that so what makes this kid any different?

We know he stood out in training camp, we know he's fast, blah, blah, blah. But can we stop this already? For those who of you who are going to tell me "But Dennis, it's the Arizona Cardinals!" I get it but keep this in mind, the Cardinals gave up the eighth-most fantasy points to wide receivers last season and it doesn't appear that they are improving, as evident by the debacle on Sunday. Their next opponent, the New York Giants, were the eighth-best in the same category. In closing, it is always possible that Golladay has another two-touchdown game but that's probably not going to happen. If your banking on PPR success, four catches ain't gonna' do it. Also keep in mind that Stafford did a fantastic job at spreading the ball around as two other Detroit players, Golden Tate and Theo Riddick both had at least seven targets, the same number that the rookie had on Sunday.

Verdict:

So in case you couldn't tell, this week's news that Golladay is a waiver wire stud is unfortunately being classified as "fake news."

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