Fantasy Football Redraft

Week 2 Free Agent Focus

By Alex Korff 1:09pm EDT 9/11/17

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Tarik Cohen, RB, Bears

Blind-bid recommendation:30-35%

The rookie was 1 of the most exciting players on the field Sunday, flashing his change-of-direction and burst.

He carried 5 times for 66 yards, highlighted by a 46-yarder. And he led the Bears with 12 targets, 8 catches, 47 yards and a score. Cohen totaled 13 touches, just 3 fewer than lead back Jordan Howard.

The Bears trailed for much of this game, which helped Cohen’s playing time. But the Bears figure to be trailing plenty this season. Cohen is worth owning in all leagues and might already be worth a look as a RB3 or flex in PPR leagues.

Kerwynn Williams, RB, Cardinals

Blind-bid recommendation: 15-20%

He’ll operate as Arizona’s lead back for however long David Johnson misses with his wrist injury. And it sounds like that could be a while.

Williams mustered just 10 yards on 5 carries against the Lions on Sunday, although he did pop in a 3-yard TD. After Johnson exited for good, Williams carried 3 times and was targeted once. RB Andre Ellington soaked up 3 targets.

Williams figures to lose passing-game work to Ellington going forward. It’s also worth noting that we really have no idea what Williams as lead back looks like. He has never surpassed 53 carries in a season in his NFL career, and he didn’t reach 30 in any of his first 3 Cardinals campaigns. Williams has, at least, averaged 5.4 yards per rush career.

Don’t go overboard here, even if you’re a suddenly panicking Johnson owner. The Cardinals have an excellent upcoming RB schedule, though, with the Colts, Cowboys and 49ers on tap. If Johnson will be out more than a few weeks, we’d also bet on Arizona adding a RB.

Buck Allen, RB, Ravens

Blind-bid recommendation: 12-15%

Danny Woodhead left Sunday’s game early with a hamstring injury, and then Allen went on to lead the team in carries. He took 21 handoffs to 19 for Terrance West. Allen didn’t catch a pass, but Baltimore completed only 9 throws among 17 attempts.

A Week 2 meeting with Cleveland should bring plenty more rushing volume.

Woodhead could miss a "significant amount of time" with his hamstring injury.

Chris Carson, RB, Seahawks

Blind-bid recommendation: 10-15%

The rookie was the only thing working for Seattle’s offense on Sunday. He carried 6 times for 39 yards — and caught his only target for 10 more. Eddie Lacy and C.J. Prosise combined for just 14 yards on 9 carries.

Note that Carson led Seahawks RBs with 27 snaps. Prosise played 15; Lacy just 7.

Thomas Rawls is expected back in Week 2 to make this backfield even more crowded. But Carson looks deserving of a bigger role going forward.

Kenny Golladay, WR, Lions

Blind-bid recommendation: 10-15%

Golladay played 44 of 71 snaps in the opener, according to Pro Football Focus -- compared with 68 for Marvin Jones and 63 for Golden Tate. That made him the clear #3 wideout ahead of T.J. Jones, who played just 19 snaps.

And Golladay made a major impact

He caught 4 balls for 69 yards and 2 scores. The 2nd TD was a beautiful diving grab on a 45-yard bomb from QB Matthew Stafford. His 7 targets tied for 2nd on the team with Theo Riddick and behind only Golden Tate.

Golladay’s playing time and volume will only grow if he continues playing like this.

Paul Richardson, WR, Seahawks

Blind-bid recommendation: 10-12%

He’s clearly ahead of Tyler Lockett on the depth chart right now. Richardson’s 7 targets in Sunday’s opener were 4 more than Lockett and actually tied for the team lead. He also played 41 snaps vs. Lockett’s 26. That put Richardson just 2 behind Doug Baldwin’s position lead.

He finished with a mediocre 4-59 line, but QB Russell Wilson totaled just 158 yards on a rough day for the offense. Better times lie ahead – likely starting next week at home against San Francisco.

Nelson Agholor, WR, Eagles

Blind-bid recommendation: 8-10%

Agholor began his bounce-back bid with a 58-yard catch-and-run TD on the Eagles’ 1st possession in Sunday’s win at Washington. He went on to catch 6 total balls for 86 yards, both 2^nd behind only Zach Ertz among Eagles.

We’re certainly not anointing Agholor a weekly starter – especially as WR Alshon Jeffery clearly had his hands full with Washington CB Josh Norman. But Philly looks like it’ll be a pass-leaning offense this season. We’d also bet that this won’t be the last time Agholor presents starter-level fantasy production.

Week 2 at Kansas City could be interesting, with Jeffery likely set to see a lot of Chiefs CB Marcus Peters.

Kendall Wright, WR, Bears

Blind-bid recommendation: 5-8%

He tallied just 3 catches on 4 targets for 34 yards in Sunday’s opener. But Kevin White’s injury could leave Wright as the top WR in Chicago. Markus Wheaton is still recovering from a finger injury. Deonte Thompson and Josh Bellamy lead the rest of the WR corps.

Note, though, that Wright (39) was out-snapped by both White (47) and Thompson (46) on Sunday. Chicago seems to view him only as a slot receiver. We'll see if the White injury changes that.

Cooper Kupp, WR, Rams

Blind-bid recommendation: 5-8%

He racked up 4 receptions for 76 yards and a score in Sunday’s opener against the Colts. That’s likely the easiest matchup he’ll face all year. But the strong regular-season debut follows an impressive August.

Kupp has developed an instant rapport with QB Jared Goff, putting him on at least the spot-start radar in PPR leagues.

Austin Hooper, TE, Falcons

Blind-bid recommendation: 8-10%

Was his 2-128-1 line in Sunday’s opener a bit fluky? Sure. And the fact that Hooper saw just 2 targets is certainly a concern. But he also displayed the talent that had us so excited about him heading into the season, stiff-arming a Bears defender and out-racing the rest of the defense for an 88-yard TD. He’ll be an upside spot-starter all season.

Charles Clay, TE, Bills

Blind-bid recommendation: 5-8%

He posted a 4-53-1 line in the opener. More importantly, Clay saw a team-high 9 targets, including an end-zone look that slipped through his hands for an INT (but should have produced another TD).

Big volume should continue with the Bills working in new WRs Jordan Matthews and Zay Jones.

Jared Cook, TE, Raiders

Blind-bid recommendation: 3-5%

WRs Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree soaked up 20 of Oakland’s 32 targets on Sunday. But Cook stood 3rd in line with 5 looks. He hauled in all of them for 56 yards.

Looking like the clear #3 option in a strong passing game, Cook is a viable spot starter going forward. And now’s the time to take a shot, before a Week 2 matchup with the Jets.

Ravens D/ST

Blind-bid recommendation: 5-8%

They’ll be tougher to land on your waiver wire after racking up 5 sacks and 5 takeaways in Sunday’s win over the Bengals. But the Ravens are worth pursuing fairly aggressively. This is a talented defense that gets the Browns and Jaguars the next 2 weeks. And the Ravens finished Sunday owned in just 13.1% of leagues on ESPN.com.

Deep League Options:

Alex Smith, QB, Chiefs

Blind-bid recommendation: 5-8%

Thursday night was Smith’s biggest fantasy outing since 2013 — and will likely be his biggest of this season. But we heard talk all summer of a more aggressive Smith, and we certainly saw that in the big win over the Patriots. He’s at least worth stashing as a potential spot-starter in deeper fantasy leagues.

Deshaun Watson, QB, Texans

Blind-bid recommendation: 3-5%

Tom Savage lasted just 1 half as Houston’s starter. He was yanked at halftime after throwing for just 62 yards and losing a sack-fumble that Jacksonville returned for a TD.

Watson completed just 12 of 23 passes for 102 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT over the final 30 minutes. But he added 16 yards on the ground and sparked the offense a bit. The rookie’s rushing ability will make him at least a 2-QB league option if he’s named the starter going forward.

Samaje Perine, RB, Washington

Blind-bid recommendation: 5-8%

Rob Kelley and the running game went nowhere in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles. Kelley gained just 30 yards on 10 carries, with a long run of 6. If he doesn’t rebound over the next couple of games, we could soon see the rookie get a shot.

Andre Ellington, RB, Cardinals

Blind-bid recommendation: 5-8%

He figures to see an uptick in targets for however long David Johnson is out. After Johnson exited Sunday's game in Detroit, Ellington out-targeted Kerwynn Williams 3-1. (Williams carried 3 times to Ellington's 0.)

He's worth grabbing in deeper PPR leagues. Remember that Ellington caught 85 balls and averaged 9.0 yards per catch over his first 2 NFL seasons.

Marlon Mack, RB, Colts

Blind-bid recommendation: 4-6%

The majority of his 10 carries came in 2nd-half garbage time. But Mack also flashed his big-play ability with a 21-yard catch-and-run earlier in the game. The rookie’s role could grow throughout the season.

Danny Amendola, WR, Patriots

Blind-bid recommendation: 8-10%

Amendola would have appeared much higher in this article had he not suffered a concussion in Thursday night’s opener. It’s the 3rd concussion of his career, so he might be looking at an extended absence.

If your bench is deep enough to stash him, though, Amendola could help down the road. He was busy before exiting in the 3rd quarter, hauling in 6 of 7 targets for 100 yards.

Marqise Lee, WR, Jaguars

Blind-bid recommendation: 3-5%

He’s worth adding in deep leagues as the best bet in Jacksonville’s WR corps for however long Allen Robinson is out. But Lee’s goose egg on 4 targets in Week 1 is a reminder of his scary-low floor. He’s a spot-start option at best.

Allen Hurns, by the way, caught 3 of 4 targets for 42 yards vs. Houston.

Marquise Goodwin, WR, 49ers

Blind-bid recommendation: 3-5%

He posted just a 3-21 line in his Niners debut. But his 6 targets tied for 2nd on the team. And he was targeted deep a few times, including a drop that went right through his arms.

Goodwin is going to make at least a handful of big plays this season and might be useful in deeper leagues when the byes start to hit.

Jesse James, TE, Steelers

Blind-bid recommendation: 2-3%

James will get lost in plenty of games among a deep Steelers offense. That’s why he sits in the “deep” section here. But he also flashed his upside in this high-scoring attack on Sunday with a pair of TDs. James finished 2nd on the team in both targets (8) and catches (6). We’ll see whether/how much TE Vance McDonald’s role grows after he arrived late in the preseason.