ADD
Charles Clay– MIA TE (1% ownership per CBS)
Clay has filled in admirably in the absence of Dustin Keller (out for the season), snagging 10 (five in each game) of 13 targets for 163 yards so far through the air. On Sunday he even added a short yardage rushing touchdown, showcasing his versatility.
The Dolphins have used him as their swiss army knife throughout the first two weeks. Clay is a running/receiving/blocking hybrid in the same ilk of Oakland Raider Marcel Reece. Coming out of Tulsa, Clay rushed for 911 yards on 179 carries while adding ten scores on the ground. He also snatched 189 career receptions in college.
With the Dolphins lacking any true red zone presence at the wide receiver position, a reason why many loved the prospects of Keller coming into the season, he could have sneaky good value the rest of the way.
Eddie Royal – SD WR (17%)
It’s hard to ignore a player with five receiving touchdowns in two weeks. Although you can anticipate major touchdown regression to take hold in the near future (he’s already matched his career high from 2008), Royal still remains a solid buy in PPR formats going forward.
With Mike McCoy installing a more possession type of passing attack, Royal has already seen the most targets out of all San Diego wide receiving options with 14 through the first two weeks. Royal also has a 91 reception season under his belt playing in a similar style offense in that same 2008 season.
With the Chargers suffering another injury at wide receiver to Malcom Floyd, Royal could be used even more in the short-term as a favorite of Philip Rivers. Don’t expect the spikes to keep coming, but an increase of receptions is definitely feasible.
Andre Ellington – ARI RB (12%)
Ellington appears to emerging as the backup running back out in Arizona. Last week he played the most snaps (21) behind Rashard Mendenhall on his way to rushing four times for 20 yards and catching two passes for 42 yards, including a 31 yard touchdown. The Cardinals offensive line and their divisional opponents may not provide Ellington a ton of rushing value if Mendenhall were to go down, he is already a better pass catcher and has the speed to be a change of pace runner and take over third down responsibilities.
SCUBA GEAR
Jason Snelling– ATL RB (1%)
Snelling has always been a top Fantasy Points Per Route Run (FPPRR) producer, posting a career mark of .40 with no seasons under the baseline score.
When Steven Jackson left the game with a thigh injury on Sunday, it was Snelling who was more effective out of the Atlanta backfield over Jacquizz Rodgers. Snelling totaled 60 yards on four receptions and two carries with a touchdown as Rogers floundered his way to 45 total yards on 15 touches.
In our initial FPPRR report, we highlighted that Snelling would be the add if Jackson was to ever miss time with an injury. He has two top 24 PPR seasons on his resume over his career and has never had fewer than 25 receptions in a season. He has the trust of the Falcons staff as evidence by his constant use throughout the years in a part-time role. Pay attention to the Jackson situation and let other owners pick up the overvalued commodity that is Rogers.
Austin Pettis – STL WR (1%)
Amidst all of the ambiguity of the Rams receiving offense, Pettis has been the second most targeted receiver in each of the first two weeks. His 17 targets are only two behind Tavon Austin’s 19 and he’s caught 11 of those for 94 yards and a score.
With Sam Bradford dropping back with this much volume, Pettis is a guy to watch in reception leagues. The Rams have thrown the ball on a staggering 68 percent of plays so far this season. Although the fell far behind this past week in Atlanta where Bradford attempted 55 passes, that number was still at 58 percent week one (38 attempts). If The Rams running game never gains traction, the short passing game could be a fruitful one for all intermediate St. Louis receivers.
DON’T GO CHASING WATERFALLS
James Starks – Week two: 20 carries, 132 yards, one touchdown, four receptions, 36 yards.
We’ve all done this dance before with Starks. He’s enamored us before with his attachment to the pinball like offense in Green Bay. Taking over for Eddie Lacy, who suffered a concussion on his first carry, Starks posted the first Packer 100-yard rushing game since 2010 when Brandon Jackson (ironically, vs Washington).
It was only Starks’ fourth game with surpassing 70 rushing yards over his career and only the fourth time he’s ever topped 15 attempts in a game. Chalk this up to the Washington defense (who has allowed 402 rushing yards over two games) and don’t bank on a repeat performance going forward. Even if Lacy is held out for precautionary reasons, this week the Packers face the Bengals then head into their bye week.
Brandon Jacobs – four carries, seven yards, one touchdown
In the Giants’ never ending effort to drive David Wilson owners to check into the insane asylum, they brought in Jacobs mid last week. He actually played 14 snaps to Wilson’s 24 in the game, but looked entirely like the Brandon Jacobs we seen last year in his minimal playing with San Francisco.
With absolutely no pass catching value to be had, he’s not worth owning unless you think he will assume a Jerome Bettis like goal line role. Even then, you’d be hard pressed to ever put him into your starting lineup in a catch league. Stay away from the New York backup situation entirely unless someone takes over a large snap count.
TAKE OUT THE TRASH
*Highly owned players who are completely safe to drop
Mark Ingram (85% ownership) – 17 carries for 31 yards though two games and failed on consecutive goal line carries. Drop him immediately if you own him.
Fred Davis (62% ) – For the second consecutive week Davis was out targeted by Jordan Reed and only played 16 snaps versus the Packers.
Ronnie Hillman (69 %) – Hillman has just seven touches compared to Knowshon Moreno’s 28 and Montee Ball’s 22 though the first two weeks. He’s participated on only 17 of the offensive snaps this season.
Vincent Brown (72 %) – Ignore the first week touchdown as Brown has averaged just 6.5 yards per catch on only six receptions.
Ryan Broyles (41 %) – Inactive for each of the Lions first two games. Even if he returns, he will have an uphill battle for snaps and targets with Detroit incorporating their backs so much into the aerial attack.
*Stats used were provided from ProFootballFocus, Pro-Football-Reference, CBSSportsline.com, NFLData.com, NFL.com, ESPN
