Eric Sorenson
Every summer leading into and throughout the NFL season, Sports Illustrated and SI.com Senior Fantasy Analyst Michael Fabiano joins Sports360AZ.com to share his insight on building and developing your fantasy team for success.
Here are some highlights from our most recent conversation (September 8th) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer.
Are there any quarterbacks in Week One which have favorable matchups? “I really like Carson Wentz this week against the Washington Football Team. He’s had five-straight games where he’s scored over 18 fantasy points against them. Went over 20 fantasy points in both games against them last year so even without guys like Alshon Jeffrey and Jalen Reagor, I think he’s a very good start.”
How about Wentz’s top target – DeSean Jackson? “He tends to dominate against teams he used to play for. It’s a weird trend but look it up, he tends to do very well against his former team so, I like him in that matchup, as well.”
Any tight ends which are jumping out to you? “I like Tyler Higby against my beloved Cowboys. I love the Dallas Cowboys but the Cowboys were brutal against tight ends last year. They gave up a league-high 104 catches and over 63 yards per game, as well as the most points to tight ends. So he’s a very, very good play.”
Joshua Kelley really impressed in Chargers’ camp. Do you see him getting many touches this season? “I hope so because he’s one of my favorite late-round rookie sleepers. I really do because there are enough touches for him to make an impact. We know Austin Ekeler is the guy but he’s probably going to get 16-18 touches per game. That means you’ve probably got about 1215 touches out there with Melvin Gordon no longer in the mix. If Kelley can win that top backup spot ahead of Justin Jackson and behind Austin Ekeler, suddenly he is going to be in the mix to maybe see 10-12 touches per game. Time will tell. I don’t know that I would start him this week but it will be interesting to see what his role is in LA’s offense against the Cincinnati Bengals.”
How do you feel about DeVante Parker this week? “DeVante Parker may be hard to avoid this week but I would certain be careful of the matchup. Now, last year in Week 17 he dominated Stephon Gilmore. He had over 24 fantasy points against him so I’m guessing Gilmore may want to exact a little bit of revenge and also last year, overall, the Patriots gave up just 15.4 fantasy points per game to receivers who were lined up up wide and Parker had a lot of his success without Preston Williams – who is expected to be back.”
What’s your fantasy read on Austin Hooper? “I’m fading Austin Hooper. Baltimore’s defense was really tough on tight ends last year. They only gave up three touchdowns. The fewest at that position so Hooper is someone I would be leery about. If I’m starting him, I’m not expecting much and I’m guessing most people have enough depth at the tight end position where they can afford to sit Austin Hooper this week.”
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