Every single week of the preseason players are making the most of their opportunities and catching the attention of their coaches and fantasy analysts alike. At the same time, other players are getting hurt and making mistakes that can jeopardize their playing time and fantasy relevance.

Week two of the preseason was certainly not without it’s ups and downs. The most devastating blow of the week was of course the torn ACL suffered by Green Bay WR Jordy Nelson. Jordy has been amongst the fantasy elites for three of the past four seasons combining his great size and receiving abilities with the excellent passing skills of Aaron Rodgers.

I won’t focus on that injury because that’s already been covered by RotoBaller writer Evan Okulanis here. No worries, there is plenty more to break down following the latest slate of games!

 

Fantasy Football Stock Rising

QB Jimmy Garoppolo - New England Patriots

Following a lackluster first preseason game in which Garoppolo struggled to move the ball downfield and was under constant pressure (he was sacked 7 times!), there was a lot of worry in New England that if Brady is indeed suspended the offense will be a mess. It was a completely different story this time around. Garoppolo was 28 of 33 passing (84.8%!) with no sacks throwing for 269 yards.

It was honestly night and day from his previous appearance. Sure he was mostly against second and third stringers, but the same can be said about the offense around him as well. He had success with Brandon Gibson, Chris Harper and Jonathan Krause. If you have so much as heard of the last two, you are in the minority for sure. The Patriots were down 21-0 as the first half was winding down and with the pocket collapsing around him, Garoppolo managed to escape a sack and threw a 25 yard touchdown to Chris Harper. He made it look easy.

At this point it is unclear whether the Patriots will actually need Garoppolo but if they do I don’t think it will mean a horrible or even mediocre offense for New England. Seeing Garoppolo make good decisions and hit backup receivers with ease, I think he can certainly approach QB1 numbers with targets like Gronk and Edelman. If we get clarity on the situation before your draft and Garoppolo is indeed starting some games, he’s not a bad late QB pick at all.

 

RB Dion Lewis - New England Patriots

In the latest weekly saga of ‘Who will be the third down back for the Patriots?’ Dion Lewis has thrown his name into the ring. Lewis was drafted by the Eagles in 2011 and was briefly the backup to LeSean McCoy before Bryce Brown came along. He has since bounced around the league but now has a real chance to make an impact in New England. He caught all five of his targets and also ran for a touchdown, but that’s not why he made this list. His stock is rising because he was playing with the first team offense. Not just early on with Jimmy Garoppolo but with Tom Brady as well. He was one of just two completions by Brady. Through the first drive of the third quarter, James White had played just three snaps while Lewis was doing most of the third down work.

At this point it looks more likely that the third down role may be as unpredictable as the first and second down running back has been for the past few years. Each week a new leader seems to appear (Bolden, then White, now Dion Lewis). I wouldn’t be surprised if Travaris Cadet returns next week and starts at this point. I’m probably avoiding the situation entirely but I’ll be keeping an eye out for more clarity. For now, Dion Lewis is yet another name thrown into the hat.

 

Mixed Stock Values

WR Corey ‘Philly’ Brown - Carolina Panthers

Corey Brown (who went by his nickname Philly last year, but apparently wishes to go by Corey now) had his moments last year as the Panthers tried to find a clear WR2 after Kelvin Benjamin. He had a few decent games but was mostly unremarkable as an undrafted free agent. He makes for a nice complement to the bigger, slower Benjamin and Devin Funchess, and had the most yards per catch of any Panthers receiver last year.

Now of course, Kelvin Benjamin is done for the year and Devin Funchess sat out with a minor hamstring injury. Cam Newton attempted ten passes and Brown was the only WR to receive multiple targets. On the downside, he didn’t catch any but it’s worth noting he was playing ahead of Jarrett Boykin while Jerricho Cotchery received zero targets. However, he also dropped a deep pass in the end zone so that didn't help him.

Jarrett Boykin and the 33 year old version of Jerricho Cotchery are both much slower than Brown and speedster Ted Ginn has struggled to make an impact at receiver during his career. Even as the WR2 for the Panthers, Brown would only be a deep sleeper behind Funchess and Greg Olsen. As the WR3 over the final six games last year, he averaged 40 yards per game, getting some action as a rusher as well. That continued this past week when he got a nine yard rush to go with his three targets. Should he snag the WR2 role he could land in the 800-900 yard range assuming the occasional run continues to be a part of his game. He racked up a surprising 107 rush yards last season, 4th most among wide receivers. In deeper leagues, he’s worth a look.

 

WR Allen Robinson - Jacksonville Jaguars

I really like Allen Robinson this year, especially if Bortles takes a step forward, and I think he will. The preseason game against the Giants was a mixed bag however. On one hand Robinson was targeted seven times in Bortles 16 pass attempts, the most on the Jags. The two other wide receivers in with Bortles received just three targets each (Allen Hurns and Rashad Greene). Robinson managed 64 yards on those seven targets including a nice 36 yard reception which was mostly Robinson outrunning the defense after the catch.

It wasn’t all good though, Robinson only caught three of his targets and Pro Football Focus credits him with dropping two additional passes. That led to PFF giving him a negative grade in the passing game. Overall I’m not very concerned because Robinson had just one drop in the regular season last year while having the highest catch rate of all Jaguars receivers. I’d focus on the number of targets here. While Julius Thomas and Marqise Lee did miss this game, I think it confirms what many fantasy analysts speculated, that Robinson is going to get a lot of targets in that offense this season. Robinson’s ADP has certainly risen over the past couple of months but he remains a good value, especially in PPR leagues. Hopefully Robinson cuts down on the drops for the rest of the preseason but I’m not too concerned either way.

 

Fantasy Football Stock Down

WR Brandon Coleman - New Orleans Saints

For the second straight week, Brandon Coleman was talked up and received a decent amount of buzz, and for the second straight week Coleman put up a zero. For a guy that I’ve seen a lot of talk about over, I find it a bit troubling that he hasn’t managed a catch this preseason combined with the fact that he never made the field in a regular season game last year. (He spent the season on the Saints practice squad)

On the bright side, the lone target to Coleman in this last game was in the end zone but it was broken up by Devin McCourty. Despite the breakup that is a promising sign because Coleman’s size (6’6”) makes him an intriguing red zone threat in a good offense. Still for a guy with zero career catches I really need to see some preseason success before I can really buy into him. Keep an eye on him and see if he can finally change that next week.

 

QB Robert Griffin III - Washington Redskins

This game did not go well for RGIII. He was under constant pressure during his four drives against the Lions. This resulted in three sacks and two fumbles. The final sack put RGIII out of the game with a concussion. The entire passing game looked like a mess and it is yet another injury for RGIII.

Despite some talented receivers and upside as a rusher, I just can’t imagine drafting Griffin this year. I’ll let him be someone else’s problem until he inevitably ends up on the sideline with an injury. Griffin is seemingly okay and is expected to play in the third preseason game, but I’m ready to move on from any hope I may have had for him. He struggles with awareness in the pocket and the Redskins don’t want him to be very mobile following his several injuries. He is a guy that had so much potential coming out of college but if he ever delivers on that potential again I doubt it is with the Redskins. It’s worth noting that for all the offensive line woes the Redskins have had, Colt McCoy and Kirk Cousins have been sacked once total on 43 dropbacks. Let Griffin be someone else’s headache and take a chance on a guy like Kaepernick, Dalton or Palmer if you are drafting a QB that late.

 

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