The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key New York Jets players heading into their matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to help you craft a winning lineup.
Justin Fields, QB
Justin Fields was put into concussion protocol after exiting Week 2’s blowout loss to the Bills late, and his status is cloudy at best.
If he’s active, he has top-10 potential in a game that could go up and down, but it’s wise to plan for a replacement and pivot should all tests come back clear before kickoff.
RELATED: Jets QB Depth Chart: Who Will Start for New York With Justin Fields Out in Week 3?
Tyrod Taylor is the next man up for the Jets, but not for you. The best rushing days are behind the 36-year-old, and with a career completion percentage under 62%, he doesn’t have many paths to success, even if you aren’t buying the Bucs as a tough matchup.
Rest up, Mr. Fields. We will be using you heavily against the Dolphins and Cowboys in the coming weeks.
Braelon Allen, RB
Entering the season, we were worried that the Jets would view Braelon Allen and Breece Hall as two very similar backs, thus leading to a full-blown committee and headaches for all involved.
The good news is that they’ve made it clear, for at least two weeks, that they believe one is superior to the other.
The bad news is that, if you’re reading this section, your guy is on the wrong side of things.
Allen has just eight touches (all carries) through two weeks, and even with Fields’ status cloudy, the path to double-digit touches isn’t clear, never mind the run-stuffing ability of this Tampa Bay defense.
Allen is a fine hold at this point because he’s an injury away from being awfully interesting, but he’s going to need that injury to matter, something that wasn’t clear entering the season.
Breece Hall, RB
Breece Hall came storming out of the gates in Week 1’s loss to the Steelers (145 yards on 21 touches), but running room was a little tough to come by (10 carries for 29 yards against the Bills).
Hall’s true value will be somewhere between those two performances, though I do worry that we are looking closer to the latter than the former with New York a seven-point underdog.
The Fields situation looms, and if the dual-threat QB sits as expected, Hall will fall a bit in my rankings. Tyrod Taylor holds a similar skill set to Fields, but the backup is now 36 years of age and wouldn’t open up the same running lanes.
It would appear that the threat of Braelon Allen isn’t something we need to sweat right now, and with this role in hand, Hall won’t fall outside of my top 20 at the position this week.
Garrett Wilson, WR
If I told you a week ago that Garrett Wilson would score nine PPR points, you would have been underwhelmed, and that would have been the right emotion.
If I told you a week ago that the Jets would complete 10 passes over four quarters against the Bills, you would have been thrilled to know that Wilson managed nine PPR points.
He’s a great player, but we don’t play in a points-per-ounce-of-talent league.
Fields was never going to sustain what he did in Week 1 against the Steelers, but he’s nowhere near this bad either. Wilson is a player whose range of outcomes is wide every week, and I’m not sure that the matchup is overly predictive of what sort of day it will be.
On paper, I like this matchup. The Bucs’ defense can be had, and having one fewer day to prepare should only help. That said, Fields’ inconsistencies through the air can never be ignored, and if Baker Mayfield turns this into a shootout, Tampa Bay could be putting pressure on a weak spot for this offense.
Considering that, Wilson is a low-end WR2 for me, who is a good bet to reach double figures on Sunday, but unlikely to swing your matchup with a 20+ point performance.
Through two weeks, you’ve experienced the whole Wilson experience. Buckle up for another 15 weeks of it.
