Eric Sorenson
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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 18th) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer.
What is your take on the Josh Gordon trade to New England? “You have to like the fact that he’s going to be catching passes from arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history. Now, are there question marks? Yeah. He’s got to keep his head on straight. I don’t know what’s going on with his hamstring injury or if there was ever even a hamstring injury. I’m not sure. But, this is arguably the best and most talented wide receiver that Tom Brady has had to throw to since Randy Moss. We all remember what happened when Randy Moss and Tom Brady got together. I’m not suggesting that Josh Gordon is going to have 20 touchdowns but this is a very good position for Josh Gordon to have landed from a fantasy perspective. Now Brad, it’s up to him. If he can walk the straight and narrow and play by the rules and not cause drama, he can have a very successful rest of the season.”
I drafted David Johnson early…so now what do I do? “You can’t trade him because his value is low. It’s one of those situations where you have to keep playing him and hope things turn around. I had a little bit of a rant on the podcast Monday where I just don’t understand what the Cardinals are doing. Their offense is terrible right now. It’s one of the worst offenses in the entire league. David Johnson is averaging only 14 touches a game. Two years ago he was averaging 23. He has 11 targets this year. He caught 80 balls two years ago. I’m not sure what the Cardinals are doing. Hopefully [offensive coordinator] Mike McCoy gets some things turned around.”
What about Antonio Brown and his latest antics in Pittsburgh? “Play him. The, ‘trade me’ Twitter situation is nothing. He’ll continue to produce. Had nine catches last week. Was expecting more yardage but he’s still the best wide receiver in fantasy football and he’s got the Bucs this week!”
Is the LeSean McCoy we’re seeing, the LeSean McCoy we’re going to get in 2018? “LeSean McCoy is one of the bigger disappointments and it was kind of projected to be that way. Now he’s got the damaged rib cartilage and he’s got the Vikings this week. If he’s active this week, do you play him? I say no even if you drafted him in the second or third round.”
Would you consider Larry Fitzgerald a bust at this point—two weeks into the season? “I’m not going to put Larry Fitzgerald in this category just yet. He got banged up last week but you haven’t seen what you were expecting after the first couple of weeks. Had a decent PPR game in Week One. Week Two, not so much.”
With all the offense now in the NFL, what’s the best fantasy advice when it comes to defenses? “Play the match-ups. Kurt Warner even said that. He tweeted that out last week. You’re seeing all of these offenses putting up these ridiculous numbers because, in part, the NFL is stacking the deck against defenders. But the Bears’ defense looks nasty good, especially with Khalil Mack. I mean, good gracious, what were the Raiders thinking? They looked really good. The Rams defense looks awesome. If you’re looking for a streaming defense, anyone that’s playing the Bills or the Cardinals to be quite honest.”
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