Time to gear up for some possible contributors to Week 3.
Boy fantasy can be maddening. Last week we told you to pick up George Kittle, then he took the backseat to Garrett Celek for a touchdown. A more quiet game may have you itching to drop him immediately, but one bad game is no reason to get rid of him, Kittle will get his this season and even his game Sunday was better than Travis Kelce’s Week 1 outing.
Regardless, we are onto Week 3 with some possible pickups and additions to our fool’s gold list Percentage owned numbers are based on Yahoo! leagues.
Pick-ups
Matt Breida
% Owned: 61
Week 2 stats: 11 carries, 128 yards; 3 receptions, 22 yards
Last week we said to hold off on using a waiver claim on Matt Breida due to the unpredictability of his single game. If you could predict his performance against the Detroit Lions, you are either a terrible liar or have much better things to do than read this. Alfred Morris again got a marginal increase in touches over Breida at 14, but Breida is beginning to show a bit more dynamic play.
11 touches is enough for me to put him in at a flex play. I’m not saying I’m 100 percent confident he’ll win me my week, but I at least know he won’t stink up the place. If Breida continues the momentum, those touches should increase. If you are desperate for a running back, Breida is a good person to use your first waiver claim on. Don’t expect him to get the lion’s share of carries against the Chiefs, but better to invest now, even if he’s on your bench. Phillip Lindsay may be the guy everyone reaches for, but Breida could be a sneaky pick.
Pick up or don’t pick up: Pick him up
Robbie Gould
% Owned: 61
Week 2 stats: three field goals, longest: 45 yards
Week 2 was a horrible week for kickers, so expect that waiver wire to be full of claims for the position. There is nothing short of shocking on the fact Gould still isn’t in a larger portion of Yahoo! leagues. Unlike Daniel Carlson, Zane Gonzalez, and others, Gould drained anything put in front of him, and got plenty of work as well.
Gould is the pick up of the week because unlike Matt Breida, half of your league may be looking for kickers after a handful of them couldn’t even kick an extra point (I will be joining this camp as Chris Boswell is dead to me). Owners winging it will see the points Gould hauled in and no doubt put their trigger finger on him first due to the stats alone. We said get him last week, don’t waste another week on a sure thing.
Of course if you listened to us and picked him up last week, you don’t have this problem now, do you?
Pick up or don’t pick up: Given the performance of kickers, you may have to burn an early waiver claim, but if you want a dependable kicker, pick him up. Now. He’s not going to be available like this forever.
Fool’s gold
Pierre Garçon
% Owned: 76
Week 2 stats: 4 Catches, 57 yards.
Why would we put Garçon as fool’s gold? Well, he hasn’t done much in two games besides block for 40 yards and notch just over three quarters of a bill in yardage. Unfortunately, one of those stats (yards) matters, the other does not (at least the leagues we’re interested in). Unless you reached for him in the second round, we’re not sure what you were expecting. The Lions secondary is not as bad as you may think and the 49ers receivers were blanketed in coverage all afternoon.
The 49ers will go play the Kansas City Chiefs, and while it’s a good guess KC gets the win, it’s also a good guess Garçon will get plenty of action. The Chiefs secondary is not the Lions secondary and its managed to allow both the Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers score points despite the Chiefs’ dominance in those games. The 49ers offense is not either of those (not even close), but expect some touchdowns to be had. Garçon shouldn’t be under consideration to be dropped, he should be considered for a flex play in all formats, especially since the 49ers will most likely play from behind (READ: catchs If Marquise Goodwin doesn’t suit up, that’s even more targets for Garçon and (and Kittle).
Drop or don’t drop: Too soon to move onto other wide receivers. Don’t drop him.
About the Author: Insidethe49
