Sit/Start Week 2: Reviewing All the Fantasy Relevant Players In Every Single Game

Colts at Titans

 

Game Info

Kickoff: Sunday, September 15th at 1:00 pm EST

Location: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN

Betting Odds: TEN -3, 45 Total via Oddsshark

Network: CBS

Sleeper Spotlight: Deon Cain

 

Indianapolis Colts

 

Quarterback: 

• Jacoby Brissett (sit, low-end QB2)

 

Brissett had a solid showing in his first start, stepping in for now-retired quarterback Andrew Luck. He was fifth in the league in completion percentage at 77.8% as the Colts dialed up a lot of quick, short-passes for him (fifth lowest intended air yards, and third-lowest time to throw). Brissett only took two sacks against stud pass rushers Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. Compared to his 2017 season, where he started 15 games and was sacked a league-leading 52 times(3.46 per start), this is a good start. Coming into this week, Brissett faces the Titans defense, which caused Browns QB Baker Mayfield a lot of trouble this past week with five sacks, three interceptions, and a safety. The Colts have a significantly better offensive line than the Browns do so Brissett should have a fairly clean pocket to work with this week. This doesn’t set up as a ceiling game for Brissett. The game has a modest total of 45, and the Colts are playing on the road.

 

Running Backs:

• Marlon Mack (start, strong RB2)

• Nyheim Hines (sit, bench-stash)

 

If you just followed Mack up until halftime, you would have thought he was on his way to a horrible game. He had eight carries for 21 yards at half time but ended his day with 25 carries, 175 yards, 1 touchdown. The Titans defensive line didn’t do anything special in stopping the Browns running game, and the Colts do have one of the better offensive lines in the league (opening holes for Mack). What limits Macks upside is his lack of a receiving game role. He was not targeted in last weeks’ game and ceded that role to Hines who had four catches and four rush attempts himself. It will be concerning for Mack if the Colts continue to play in negative game scripts. For this week, in what should be a competitive matchup, he should be confidently played as a higher-end RB2.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

• T.Y. Hilton (start, Low WR2)

• Parris Campbell (sit, end of bench/wire)

• Deon Cain (sit, wait and see)

• Devin Funchess (injured, cut)

• Jack Doyle (sit, wire)

• Eric Ebron (sit, wire)

 

We should feel comfortable in starting Hilton from now on as solid WR2/3 depending on matchups. Hilton posted 8 receptions, 87 yards, and 2 touchdowns on the Chargers and their stud corners. The Titans don’t have the talent that the Chargers do at cornerback to shutdown Hilton, but Hilton has largely struggled the last couple years against these Titans. His last four lines have been (away), (A)2/61/0, 9/155/2, (A)1/19/0,2/15/0. I would probably start Hilton if I have him but wouldn’t expect a ceiling game out of him. Campbell had a disappointing one target last week, but his outlook improves with Funchess, and his five targets from last week, hitting the IR. Cain stands to benefit as well from Funchess’s absence (stepping in on three-receiver sets) and will look to build on his two reception, 35 yards performance from a week ago. Both Campbell and Cain are more wait and see options and probably shouldn’t be owned in most leagues. Doyle and Ebron had two and three targets respectively and can’t be started in leagues while both are healthy. 

 

Tennessee Titans

 

Quarterback:

• Marcus Mariota (sit, Low-end QB2)

 

Mariota had a decent showing last week finishing 10th at the quarterback position in fantasy points, buoyed by a three-touchdown performance. It also came with the sixth-lowest average intended air yards. Mariota held on to the ball long, with the highest time-to-throw at 3.06 seconds, contributing to four sacks taken. Mariota comes into this week facing a Colts defense that got shredded by Phillip Rivers,73.5 completion percentage, 333 yards and 3 touchdowns in week one. Mariota, like Rivers, is playing behind a poor offensive line and would do well to try and emulate the Chargers’ quick high-percentage, short-passing scheme. Mariota didn’t play a full game against the Colts last year but in 2017 he totaled 490 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in the two matchups. The Titans did have a top-five play-action rate in week one under new OC Arthur Smith, which could be the wrinkle Mariota needs to put up more consistent numbers. He is still not startable in standard leagues for me as of yet, but I am interested to see if he can keep up the good performances.

 

Running Backs:

• Derrick Henry (start, strong RB2)

• Dion Lewis (sit, bench stash)

 

The Colts got demolished by the Chargers running backs last week with 21 carries, 125 yards, 1 touchdown on the ground and 7 receptions, 100 yards, 2 touchdowns receiving. This is a nice spot for Henry who finished last week as the number three running back in PPR. He doesn’t play much in the passing game, which limits his upside most weeks but should have room to run the ball. Henry played well against these Colts last year, running for 139 yards and 5.56 yards per carry. Henry was fortunate to bust a long one on his only catch last week, going for 75 yards and a touchdown. Lewis played 41% of the running back snaps last week but only had six touches to Henry’s 20. He will need a pass-oriented game flow to occur for him to return any value.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends:

• Corey Davis (Sit, WR3/4)

• Adam Humphries(Sit, wire)

• A.J. Brown (sit, WR4/5, keep an eye on)

• Tajae Sharpe (sit, wire)

• Delanie Walker (Start, Low TE1/High TE2)

 

Walker is the one to play out of this group as he had the most targets on the team (six) and is the preferred option in the red zone with two touchdowns there last week. The Colts historically play a zone-defense, giving up shorter passes instead of big-plays down the field, good news for tight ends and slot receivers. The Colts gave up the most yards to tight ends in 2018 and gave up 64 yards to Chargers’ tight ends last week. Davis played the most snaps out of the receiving corps last week (73.8%) but failed to catch any of his three targets. I could see Davis getting a couple of easy looks fed to him early to ‘squeak the wheel’ but he can’t be trusted in lineups right now. Sharpe played the second-most receiver snaps (49.2%) but didn’t catch either of his two targets and is easy to leave off your teams. Humphries played only 36% of the snaps and had one target. He should be on waiver wires after garnering some preseason hype. The rookie Brown is interesting; he popped for a couple of big plays last week and ended with three receptions and 100 yards. The problem is he played only 42% of the snaps and until that number goes up, he can’t be a viable fantasy option. 

–Kevin Taylor (@ktbeast918)