Fabiano’s Fantasy Focus: Week 3, Volume I

Whether you’re a first timer or an experienced fantasy football veteran, NFL.com has the league for you. Set up your FREE and customizable league on NFL.com today!

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 21st) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer.

I’m pretty sure I already know your answer…but advice moving forward with Adrian Peterson? “Peterson out now (per reports) 2-3 months. Totally droppable in all leagues.”

With Ameer Abdullah shelved is Matthew Stafford going to throw it even more now in Detroit? “You would think so. The Lions have done that, anyways. [Theo] Riddick had a great game in Week 1. He’s a great pass-catching running back. He had a great season as a pass-catcher last year and his value is clearly on the rise. I’d say he’s in the RB2/flex category at this point if for no other reason but volume. The Lions have thrown it a lot in the past and they will continue to throw it a lot which is good news for people who have Matthew Stafford and Marvin Jones and Eric Ebron and Golden Tate who’s had a slow start to the season.”

Is it crazy to consider trading Todd Gurley considering the Rams’ offensive woes? “It will [get better]. It’s sort of been the perfect storm. The first week, boy, the offensive line was dreadful. The second week offensive line wasn’t as dreadful but still wasn’t very good…Gurley has got to be big-time involved in this offense going forward. There is a stretch where the match-ups are much better. If you are looking to move Todd Gurley, to me that is a hasty move and a move you should not make. In fact, I would rather buy low on Todd Gurley right now because this kid is a ridiculously talented player and there are going to be some games where he is single-handed going to help you win. We’ve just had a bad start to the season. You draft this guy in the first round and only give him two weeks of rope? He deserves much more than that.”

Is Melvin Gordon a Top 10 back right now? “He’s been really good. I liked him to rebound from last season but I wasn’t expecting a huge breakout like he’s having right now. Everything is sort of lined up of him being a Top 10 fantasy running back. He’s already been in the end zone three times. Danny Woodhead is out. They did sign Dexter McCluster who will come in to fill that Woodhead role but he’s not going to be Woodhead, that’s clear. Gordon has a great match up this week against Indianapolis. He’s basically a must-start. So he is turning into, at least early in the season, one of the best draft bargains in fantasy football. Based on what he sees in terms of volume for the rest of the year, it would be hard for me to sit here and tell you Gordon is going to be the guy you won’t have in your lineup, at the very least as a flex starter if things go bad in 2016.”

Is it time to panic on Russell Wilson? “Russell did this last year to us, remember? He had that slow start the first half of the season and then he turned it around. Right now he’s got the ankle [injury], the offensive line isn’t very good. It’s almost like a carbon copy of what happened in the beginning of 2015. If you have a Matthew Stafford this week. If you have an Eli Manning, if you have a Matt Ryan, if you have a Phillip Rivers, I’m benching Russell Wilson this week. With that being said you need to make sure you have a legitimate replacement at quarterback before you go out there and bench a guy who’s as valuable and productive (for the most part) as Wilson. But it’s been a bad start to the season, there’s no question about it.

For more, click here.

 

 

 

.