B/R Quick Pick Challenge: Patriots’ Wes Welker, Other Top Starters in Week 2
The Quick Pick Challenge on Bleacher Report is a great way for fantasy players of all types to come together and prove their fantasy prowess.
For the grand total of FREE, anyone can enter the Quick Pick Challenge and have a chance at winning the Grand Prize of two tickets to this year’s Super Bowl!
Miss a week? No problem–you’re still eligible to win the weekly prize which is a jersey of your choice.
But as I’ve recommended this contest to friends and some family members, I’ve heard quite a few people saying, “I don’t understand the rules” or “I don’t know enough about fantasy football.”
I’m here to help, friends.
Let’s start with the rules. Each week, players will choose a lineup that includes one of the following:
- Quarterback
- Running Back
- Wide Receiver
- Tight End
- A Team That Will Win Their Game
The catch is that players only get to choose the player once throughout the season—so picking the right matchup for each player is of significant importance.
The NFL is a somewhat of a crapshoot from week-to-week, but understanding matchups and opportunities is an area that can be used to help make informed decisions throughout the Quick Picks Contest here at Bleacher Report.
One major thing to keep in mind with this contest is that the perceived top players may not be the best players to put in your lineup early in the year.
Because we only get to use them once throughout the season, players should consider that there may be better opportunities for the top players as the season goes along.
Although strictly copying my picks will likely not lead you to win this contest, these picks may be a good guideline for visitors who might be wondering what to do at a position or two.
PLAY: Mike Vick, QB, Philadelphia Eagles (at Detroit Lions)
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A week after Philadelphia Eagles “quarterback-of-the-future” Kevin Kolb went down with a concussion against the Packers, backup quarterback Mike Vick took over and looked like the Mike Vick we all remember from before his suspension.
Passing for 175 yards and a touchdown while rushing for an additional 103 yards in essentially one half of football, Mike Vick finished as the third highest-scoring quarterback in Week 1.
In Week 2, a full return-to-glory is in order for the speedy Vick.
With the Eagles headed on the road to face a Detroit defense that allowed Jay Cutler to pass for 372 yards, Vick is a good bet to have another huge fantasy game.
The Lions are going in the right direction as a team, but their defense still has a lot of work to do—and a healthy, motivated Mike Vick is a defensive coordinator’s worst nightmare.
Other Good Options:
Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis Colts (vs. New York Giants)
Philip Rivers, QB, San Diego Chargers (vs. Jacksonville Jaguars)
Derek Anderson, QB, Arizona Cardinals (at Atlanta Falcons)
AVOID: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers (vs. Buffalo Bills)
2 of 10
This is one of the “boldest” predictions that I will make all season, but Aaron Rodgers is not a great fantasy play this week.
That’s right, Aaron Rodgers, the top-scoring fantasy quarterback in 2009, is not a great play in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills are an absolutely awful team that may be picking first overall in the 2011 NFL Draft, but we have to look deeper into what the problem is—and it’s not the pass defense.
In 2009, the best pass defense in the league was the New York Jets. The second best? That’s right—the Buffalo Bills. The Bills were horrible against the run (ranked 30th), but they allowed just 14 passing touchdowns on the year and an average of only passing 184.2 yards per game.
With Ryan Grant out, the Packers will certainly be relying more on Aaron Rodgers, but they also need to get new starting RB Brandon Jackson on-track.
Look for the Packers to take the lead early and lean on Jackson and the running game throughout the second half, leading to mediocre fantasy numbers from Rodgers.
PLAY: Steven Jackson, RB, St. Louis Rams (at Cleveland Browns)
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It’s hard not to feel bad for Rams running back Steven Jackson. Perhaps the most talented and complete back in the entire league, Jackson is stuck in St. Louis—a team which has been awful throughout almost his entire career—and he’s too proud to leave.
If he was on a better team, Jackson would almost assuredly be a top-three pick annually in fantasy football draft.
But we have to take what we can get with Jackson, as the situation doesn’t look like it’s going to be changing any time soon.
This is one of the times when Jackson needs to be in your lineup.
With Seneca Wallace at quarterback, the Browns’ offense just isn’t good enough to pull far enough ahead of St. Louis that they will need to rely on Sam Bradford and the passing game.
As such, Steven Jackson should get a lot of touches against a mediocre Browns defense which ranked 28th against the run in 2008, allowing an average of 144.6 yards per game.
The key with the Quick Pick Challenge on Bleacher Report is to make use of the best players in their best opportunities—and it doesn’t get any better than this for Jackson.
Other Good Options:
Jamaal Charles, RB, Kansas City Chiefs (at Cleveland Browns)
Darren McFadden, RB, Oakland Raiders (vs. St. Louis Rams)
Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, New York Giants (at Indianapolis Colts)
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AVOID: Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee Titans (vs. Pittsburgh Steelers)
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I know, I know. Aaron Rodgers AND Chris Johnson?
It’s not that I don’t like Chris Johnson—I do. I just think that there are better options this week. And in this contest, it’s all about the matchups.
The Pittsburgh Steelers ranked third in the league against the run in 2009, allowing just 89.9 yards per game, and allowed just seven rushing touchdowns on the year.
The last time these teams matched up in week one of 2009, Johnson had just 68 yards of offense and failed to reach the end zone.
In the matchup before that, in week 16 of the 2008 season, Johnson had just 70 total yards, though he did score once.
Johnson is a fantasy monster and will very likely finish among the top players on the year, but we only get one chance to use him this season.
With defenses like Indianapolis (twice) and Kansas City still on Tennessee’s schedule, there are plenty of opportunities for us to use Johnson.
PLAY: Wes Welker, WR, New England Patriots (at New York Jets)
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Wes Welker really is an amazing story. Just months after a terrible knee tear that many thought would keep him out most of the 2010 season, Welker is back on the field and doing what he does best—catching passes and making defensive coordinators' lives miserable.
Welker caught eight passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns in the Patriots’ Week 1 pounding of the Cincinnati Bengals and looks to have not missed a step.
In Week 2, the Patriots do have a significantly tougher matchup against a Jets defense that ranked first in the league against the pass in 2009.
But since Welker joined the Patriots in 2007, he has absolutely torched the Jets:
- Week 11 of 2009—15 catches, 192 yards
- Week 2 of 2009—(missed game)
- Week 11 of 2008—7 catches, 108 yards
- Week 2 of 2008—7 catches, 72 yards
- Week 16 of 2007—3 catches, 30 yards
- Week 1 of 2007—6 catches, 61 yards, 1 touchdown
The crazy thing about this matchup is that the Revis Island might actually affect Wes Welker more than it does Randy Moss.
If the Jets continue to focus their defense around stopping Randy Moss, Wes Welker has a great chance to expand upon this impressive track record.
Other Good Options:
Miles Austin, WR, Dallas Cowboys (vs. Chicago Bears)
Roddy White, WR, Atlanta Falcons (vs. Arizona Cardinals)
Reggie Wayne, WR, Indianapolis Colts (vs. New York Giants)
AVOID: Calvin Johnson, WR, Detroit Lions (vs. Philadelphia Eagles)
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One week after a heart-breaking loss to the Chicago Bears in which it appeared Lions WR Calvin Johnson had caught a game-winning touchdown pass with just seconds left on the clock, the Lions host an Eagles team that is very determined to get into the win column.
With quarterback Matt Stafford out for at least the next few weeks, the Lions will turn to journeyman veteran quarterback Shaun Hill to lead their offense.
Hill, a former San Francisco 49er, had just 88 yards passing, threw an interception, and failed to throw a touchdown (well, at least one that counted) in Week 1.
Although he did target Johnson repeatedly, Shaun Hill is not quite the quarterback that Matt Stafford is and the Lions will likely rely more heavily on rookie running back Jahvid Best for the coming weeks.
Calvin Johnson is an absolute stud and may be the most physically talented receiver in the game, but there will be better opportunities for him this season—preferably with Matt Stafford throwing him the ball.
PLAY: Visanthe Shiancoe, TE, Minnesota Vikings (vs. Miami Dolphins)
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Week 1 was an absolute disaster for the Vikings, with one exception—tight end Visanthe Shiancoe had a great game, catching four passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Shiancoe had a breakout season in 2009 with Brett Favre at quarterback, becoming a viable every-week option at tight end, and he seemed to be the only Viking receiving option in Week 1 who had his head in the game.
With Favre using Shiancoe as a safety valve when he’s being pressured, Shiancoe is a good bet to equal or better his production from Week 1 against a Miami Dolphins’ 3-4 defense that likes to blitz.
Other Good Options:
Jermichael Finley, TE, Green Bay Packers (vs. Buffalo Bills)
Todd Heap, TE, Baltimore Ravens (at Cincinnati Bengals)
Dallas Clark, TE, Indianapolis Colts (vs. New York Giants)
AVOID: Brent Celek, TE, Philadelphia Eagles (at Detroit Lions)
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Although Mike Vick made this list as a great start at quarterback, the same can’t be said about his tight end Brent Celek.
Vick helped put Alge Crumpler on the map while he was in Atlanta so it will be assumed that Vick will be looking to Celek in Week 2, but it’s not as simple as that. In fact, Vick targeted Celek just three times while he was in.
Although that number will likely go up this week, Vick targeted DeSean Jackson 11 times, including forcing the ball to him in the end zone when he likely could have run the ball in instead.
If Vick does start to look Celek’s way more often in Week 2, we can look into starting him in the upcoming weeks—but for now, it’s not worth the risk of him throwing up a goose-egg.
PLAY: Green Bay Packers (vs. Buffalo Bills)
9 of 10
The lock of the week goes to the Green Bay Packers, who are hosting the hapless Buffalo Bills.
The Packers struggled stopping Mike Vick in Week 1, but the Bills simply don’t have that type of talent at quarterback.
With Trent Edwards behind center and a severe lack of talent at receiver, the Packers can concentrate on stopping the Bills’ rushing attack.
It won’t be long before this game gets out of hand.
Other Good Options:
Philadelphia Eagles (vs. Detroit Lions)
Dallas Cowboys (vs. Chicago Bears)
New Orleans Saints (at San Francisco 49ers)
AVOID: Houston Texans (at Washington Redskins)
10 of 10
Coming off of a huge division win over the Indianapolis Colts in week one, the Houston Texans are becoming a “sexy” pick to go 2-0 this week by beating the Washington Redskins.
What many people are forgetting is that the Redskins also had a big division win over the Dallas Cowboys—and the Redskins are at home again this week.
The Redskins will not allow the Texans to do what they did with Arian Foster to the Colts in Week 1, when Foster ran for over 200 yards.
Despite being a mediocre overall team in past seasons, the Redskins have been very good against the run in recent history.
For the Texans to win in Week 2, they will have to go into a hostile environment and get their passing game on track—Matt Schaub barely cracked 100 yards passing in Week 1.
Though I do expect the Texans to win, there are quite a few better options this week.
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