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3 players on the verge of breaking out, Have faith!

-Kyle Pitts

After a modest week 1 there is a lot of potential for Kyle Pitts. The Falcons settled for field field goals their first two drives which set the tone for the game and led to Atlanta getting blown out. Matt Ryan finished with 164 yards, no touchdowns, and was sacked three times. Even with the poor outing for the Falcons, Pitts still finished second in targets and yards which is promising for the rookie tight end. Moving forward no one expects Matt Ryan to put up similar numbers so expect Pitts to have better statistics. Atlanta spent a high first round draft pick on Pitts therefore I would expect him to put up good numbers once Matt Ryan gets the ball rolling with the new coach.

-Saquon Barkley

The first couple weeks have not been the best for Barkley. Week 1 was a tough matchup with Denver defense which is tough to face for any team. Barkley did not have the best game but still played 50% of the snaps with a good workload of touches. Against Washington in Week 2 his game improved a little bit. Unfortunately Barkley still scored under 10 points but he did average over 4 yards a carry which shows good progress. This progress shows hope and that he is getting back in his groove. Expect Barkley to keep improving and for the giants offense to ramp up his usage.

-David Montgomery

The Rams defense is one of the best in the league and Montgomery still rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown. Just bye the eye test he looked really good and he broke a tackle from Aaron Donald! Andy Dalton clearly is not the best quarterback in the league so look for the bears to run the ball a good amount. I expect Montgomery to get a huge workload and be very productive. The bears have a mediocre offensive line but Montgomery looked like the best player on the team. He only got target in the pass game but I expect that to change when the Bears are playing a different team other than the Rams. After scoring a great 18 points against one of the best defenses in the league, expect him to breakout and be very productive this season.

Jaguars

James Robinson has a huge workload ahead of this upcoming season. When the news broke out about rookie first round running back Travis Ettine’s foot injury the landscape looks like he will miss a lot of time. This news mean that James for the majority of the season will only be losing touches to Carlos Hyde. Hyde at this point of his career is a 3rd down back at best and not the greatest receiving running back. With Travis out the majority of the running back work will go to James who had a great year last year. This news is obviously terrible and nobody want to see anyone get hurt but James Robinson’s value has skyrocketed.

Last year James was 6th in attempts with 240 and tied for 5th in yards at 1,070. For the Jaguars this year is almost like a reset year and a bright future ahead with their new quarterback Trevor Lawerence. Lawerence has a lot of upside which could provide good value to James Robinson who not only ran for 7 touchdowns but caught 3 touchdowns last year as well. Lawerence is an effective scrambler and likes throwing to his running backs. Also when any offense has an effective passing threat, defenses open up with the threat of being beat in the air. That’s great new for James because last year he proved he was effective and leaves the possibility of the Jaguars being a dual threat offense with the pass and run game.

3 most underrated Running Backs going into the season

Myles Gaskin

With a pretty low overall ADP Myles Gaskin will be a good pick for your bench late in the draft. Dolphins are try to be competitive with their current roster structure. Some analysts believe the Dolphins are just a quarterback away from winning a Super Bowl. Being able to find a viable starting running back late in the draft is key and Gaskin is also a good pass catching running back which is great for PPR leagues.

Mike Davis

Davis has found his starting job in Atlanta and proved last year when CMC went down in Carolina that he is ready for the workload. Atlanta generally does well with mixing the run with their good pass offensive. Expect Davis to get a lot of reps and a decent amount of targets in the passing game too. Last year Davis had 59 receptions which is somewhat high for a running back and is an incredible stat to gage his potential for a PPR league. With the amount of carries and his role in his team Mike Davis, has the ability to have a spectacular year in Atlanta.

Melvin Gordon

According to Draft Kings rankings he is ranked 26 overall in a PPR format. Last year he rushed for just under 1,000 yards with 9 touchdowns which was 11th best in 2020. With Phillip Lindsay gone and a pass offense led by Drew lock that has yet to find their identity expect Denver to run the ball a lot and for Melvin Gordon to have a productive year.

3 most underrated Wide Receivers going into the season

Emmanuel Sanders

Emmanuel is a 12 year veteran in the league and wants to prove he is not done yet. After leaving Denver he has found himself on a competing team each year with San Francisco and New Orleans. He has been to 3 super bowls but now he is on the Buffalo Bills a team that is close to a Super Bowl and he is a number 2 wide receiver. Sanders has a lot of upside this year in a offense that is pass heavy led by an incredible quarterback in Josh Allen. Yes, Diggs will get the majority of targets but that doesn’t mean Sanders won’t get some great looks each game.

Tre’Quan Smith

Although people are not optimistic about the Saints offense with Jameis Winston starting, there is a lot of upside for Smith. Michael Thomas will not be starting the season due to injury so he is now the number 1 wide receiver. Yes Winston throws a lot of pics and makes bad decisions but fantasy is not about winning games its about stats and Winston generally puts up a lot of yards because he likes to throw deep. Smith will benefit from that and has the potential to have great Fantasy value.

Tyler Lockett

With DK Metcalf commanding the top receiving spot in Seattle that doesn’t mean Tyler Lockett is not a viable option. Yes most of his touchdowns last year came in half of the games but he still has a lot of upside with Russel Wilson as his quarterback. Wilson is always a top 5 or so production wise for a quarterback, so having the number 2 wide receiver in that offense will be great. Also a new offensive coordinator could boost his numbers compared to last year where their offense started to look flat towards the end of the year.

Michael Thomas

This past offseason has been tough for the Saints. Not only losing Drew Brees and Patrick Robinson to retirement but knowing Michael Thomas is going to miss time this year has be tough. Michael Thomas has been beyond productive for the Saints, its very sad to see he will miss more time especially since they are trying to rebuild their offense with a new quarterback. A lot of rumors surround Michael Thomas on how he was not complying with the team in the handling of his injury. The situation is never good when your star receiver tweets “ They tried to damage your reputation. You saved theirs by not telling your side of the story”.

Almost every team would love to see Michael Thomas on their team and are praying that either the Saints want to trade him or Thomas requests a trade. Realistically the cap hit the Saints would get if he were traded will be so large it might not be worth it. According to Yahoo Sports, Michael Thomas and the saints are working on their issues and talks have progressed somewhat in the right direction. Even though I think for the future of his career it might be better for him to get a fresh start somewhere else with a better quarterback, there is still a lot of potential for him to succeed behind the mastermind coach in Sean Payton.

Robinson, Charles “Saints Star wideout Michael Thomas are working on their issues-not a trade” yahoo sports Wed, August 11, 2021 https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-saints-and-star-wideout-michael-thomas-are-working-on-their-issues-not-a-trade-021050271.html

Rodgers & the Packers

News broke out that Aaron Rodgers will play one more year in Green Bay. Being a Packer fan this is great news and makes the Packers Super Bowl contenders along with giving Jordan Love one more year to learn from Rodgers. More news stated that Davante Adams talks about his contract have resumed which is also great news. Also after opting out because of Covid last year Devin Funchess who is a above average wide out will be returning to Green Bay this year which gives Rodgers a tall guy to go get the deep ball. Not only that but the Packers also drafted a highly respectable slot receiver in Amari Rodgers and A.J Dillion their newly drafted running back is on the verge of a breakout season after the departure of veteran running back Jay Williams at the end of last year. The Packers have one of the best offenses in the league and get a little better over the offseason on top of David Bakhtiari being healthy entering the season.

Last year the Packers should of been in the Super Bowl but lost in a heartbreaking defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This year Aaron Rodgers is looking to come in and flip the script in his last year for two reasons. First is to prove to the Packers that he can still play and to treat him with the respect he deserves to let him play GM a little. Secondly is to boost his image if he does decide to enter free agency next year. Watch out for the Packers this year because they will be coming out swinging.

Stafford Facing the Most Pressure

The Los Angles Rams before this year have been one piece away from being a Super Bowl winner and that is quarterback and it looks like they might of found it. Rams sent two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford. Stafford has put up great numbers in his career but has never been on a contending team being on the Lions for his whole career. Even after losing Cam Akers the Rams have the pieces to win a Super Bowl. They have a top 5 defensive. Paired with a large amount of weapons on offense on top of having a mastermind coach in Sean McVay.

Stafford can really enhance his legacy this year with the Rams. Last year the Rams lost to the Packers in the Divisional round of the playoffs because they only scored 18 points and passed for a total of 148 yards. The Packers had a great defense but the fact that the Rams only threw for 148 yards is a joke. Now with Stafford coming in the pressure is on him to get them over the hump. Stafford has shown over his career that he has the skillset to be an elite quarterback but this year the pressure is on for him to prove that he has what it takes to be great in the toughest moments.