Fabiano’s Fantasy Focus: Week 3, Volume II

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Every week during the season NFL Network and NFL.com Senior Fantasy Analyst Michael Fabiano joins Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat to share his insight on building and developing your fantasy team for success.

Here are some hi-lights from our most recent conversation (September 19th) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer.

Does Evan Engram hold quite a bit of fantasy value right now with the Giants? “He’s on the field a lot. He’s getting targeted. He’s getting targeted in the red zone so fantasy owners are going to be finding themselves picking up fantasy players at that position that maybe they didn’t think they would be when the pre-season hit. That’s sort of the tight end position is right now. It’s really lost a lot of its’ fantasy luster.”

Are we all in on Alex Smith after two games? “Well, I’m sure the Chiefs are. The Smith family is [laughing]. He’s been in the league a long time and sort of is what he is. He’s never finished better than 10th in fantasy points among quarterbacks during his time in Kansas City and the Chiefs added Patrick Mahomes because he was going to be the future of that franchise and he will be the future of that franchise. But Alex Smith is a guy who is playing to prove something, playing to earn a job in 2018 somewhere else. We’ll see. But averaging 23.5 fantasy points a game, I just don’t see that’s something that he can continue throughout the course of the season. He’s a matchup-based quarterback which is sort of what he’s always been.”

Better play this weekend: Kirk Cousins or Carson Wentz? “Cousins has been dreadful this season. The Redskins’ offense really, outside of Chris Thompson, has not really done much. I’m going Wentz against the Giants. Their defensive backfield is banged up. They did not look good against the Cowboys and Dak Prescott, either. So, I’m going Wentz. He’s hot right now and he’s at home. If you look, historically, when the Giants go to Philadelphia, the result is not good.”

What do you think about Dez Bryant on MNF this week against the Cardinals? “Dez, he didn’t have a bad game last week. He did score a touchdown on Aqib Talib. The week before he wasn’t so good. This week he could see some Patrick Peterson. I still say, at worst, he’s a wide receiver two.”

How about Alshon Jeffery? “If Janoris Jenkins is out again, that’s huge for the Eagles’ pass attack. But, regardless, I would still say that Alshon is a wide receiver two/flex. If the Giants’ defensive backfield is 100% intact, that will make the match up more difficult.”

Can only start one: Shady McCoy or Derrick Henry? “Is that a question that you never thought you’d hear? I’m still going McCoy. The matchup is not great against the Broncos but I typically want to wait a couple more weeks before I don a new running back the number one fantasy running back on a team. They are playing the Seahawks which is a tough matchup.”

Is Chris Carson worth a roster spot? “It’s funny because, when we went into the pre-season, it was a three-headed monster with Eddie Lacy, Thomas Rawls and C.J. Prosise. Eddie Lacy was a healthy scratch last week and you know I’ve been talking about him as a bust for months. Rawls apparently gets the starting job but it’s Chris Carson who gets the most snaps and most touches so he’s certainly rosterable. He needs to be on rosters in all leagues at this point. Do I believe the hype? I don’t know if he’s going to be the next Marshawn Lynch but he’s clearly getting enough touches where he could be in the flex starter conversation.”

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