Fantasy Football: Malcom Floyd Headlines Week 2 Q&A Session

Every Thursday of the regular season, I will answer a flood of lineup-related questions from the fantasy masses, via Twitter.


Week 2 Questions

Rick Calderone (@rickcalderone)

Question: Please choose two wideouts for my standard-scoring league—DeSean Jackson, Antonio Brown, Malcolm Floyd, Brandon LaFell, Kenny Britt.

Answer: As my Top 40 wideouts list would attest, you absolutely cannot bench Floyd (22 catches, 382 yards, four TDs in last four games) against the Titans. His quarterback, Philip Rivers, has per-outing averages of 331 yards passing and 2.5 touchdowns in his last four home openers (2008-11).

For the second slot, I would have gone with Kenny Britt three weeks from now. But he deserves a game or two to get acclimated to NFL defenses, while coming off a Week 1 suspension and major knee surgery (last September).

That leaves Antonio Brown over DeSean Jackson, even though Brown will likely draw the Jets' Darrelle Revis or Antonio Cromartie on Sunday.


Fredrick Nijm (@fredricknijm)

Question: Would you trade Fred Jackson (for Rashard Mendenhall) to C.J. Spiller's owner, since I have the other Steelers running backs (Isaac Redman, Jonathan Dwyer)?

Answer: Here's an excellent example of NOT rewarding another team for your excellent drafting. By all accounts, Fred Jackson will be back in the Buffalo lineup by mid-October. And you also had the foresight to draft the two Pittsburgh rushers who weren't coming off a torn ACL from January (Mendenhall).

In my mind, your club has everything to lose and nothing to gain by accepting Owner B's baseless proposal. Ideally, trades are supposed to benefit both parties.


Pete Romero (@promeno)

Question: Do I start Maurice Jones-Drew or Willis McGahee at running back? And at receiver, start Dwayne Bowe or Demaryius Thomas?

Answer: I'm usually not an advocate of benching Dwayne Bowe, a targets-driven, reception-friendly machine who obviously struggled against the Falcons last week (three catches, 53 yards). But for Week 2, Demaryius Thomas has a better matchup, when factoring in the injury woes of Atlanta's secondary (Brent Grimes, done for the season) and that Denver is a better bet for more points than Kansas City.

There's also one intangible to consider: Thomas will be playing at the Georgia Dome...just two miles away from Georgia Tech's campus. Never underestimate the power of a 'homecoming' game.

As for the running backs, there's no rationale for benching Maurice Jones-Drew—the NFL's reigning rushing king—when Rashad Jennings (knee) is a 50-50 proposition for Sunday against the Texans. Plus, we already know that Jones-Drew (95 total yards in Week 1) is fit enough to handle a full-time workload...regardless of how he spent his summer vacation (away from Jaguars training camp).


Kaiser Soza (@MattRezaRector)

Question: In a points-per-reception league, do I start BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Marshawn Lynch or Packers receiver Randall Cobb?

Answer: Kaiser (if that's your real name), I have Lynch (vs. Dallas) and Green-Ellis (vs. Cleveland) tabbed as running back "locks" for Week 2. So, there's no reason to even consider Randall Cobb this weekend, despite his promising Week 1 output (nine catches, 77 yards).

And when choosing between Lynch (11 straight games of one TD last year) and Green-Ellis (24 TD with New England from 2010-11), there are three main factors here:

1. The Browns allowed an average of 147 rushing yards per game last year. (Advantage: Green-Ellis)
2. Seattle must run effectively to beat the Cowboys at home. (Advantage: Lynch)
3. BJGE has no injury concerns...whereas Lynch may be questionable with back spasms. (Advantage: Green-Ellis)


Sean B. (@sean_bren)

Question: Am I completely over-thinking things by starting Randall Cobb over Torrey Smith? My factors: Greg Jennings' injury and Nnamdi Asomugha covering Smith on Sunday.

Answer: Sean, I completely understand your isolated rationale for the weekend. But in early September, it still comes down to this: You didn't take Torrey Smith (50 catches, 841 yards, seven TD last year) reasonably high in standard-scoring or PPR drafts...just to sit him six days after the Ravens rolled for 44 points against the respectable Bengals.

Plus, Smith, on the whole, is a stronger deep threat and the better bet for more targets.

Obviously, if Greg Jennings sits against the Bears, Cobb's value increases within the Packers offense. But he's still the club's fourth-best receiving option (after Jordy Nelson, Jermichael Finley, James Jones) for the week...whereas Smith stands as Baltimore's go-to target among wideouts and tight ends.

Jay Clemons can be reached on Twitter, day or night, at @ATL_JayClemons.