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IDP Start em, Sit em – Week 1 (2022 Fantasy Football) – FantasyPros

Published

2 years ago

September 9, 2022

Thursday Night Football was a joy. The Buffalo Bills defense had a coming out party on the national stage as the number one ranked defense from 2021 showed just how dominant they can be when they add one of the best pass rushers of our generation. The fact that Tre’Davious White did not play should strike fear into every team without an exceptional offensive line. Von Miller racked up two sacks in his Bills debut while the defense as a whole had a whopping seven, the most ever allowed in the Sean McVay era (it looks like they will miss Andrew Whitworth. Bobby Wagner had five solos and a sack in his debut for the Rams, assuaging any fears anyone may have had about his move to an odd front. We will take a look at five players fantasy managers should do their best to plug into their lineups and five others, who are better left on benches for the opening week of the season. Let’s dig in.

Start em

C.J. Gardner-Johnson (S – PHI)
CJGJ is a talented, fiery competitor who was always a better prospect as a safety than as a full-time slot corner. Yes, he will still log a bunch of snaps in the slot but will now get to use his full range of talents more often by lining up in the box and around defensive line. The Eagles defense is suddenly studded, and CJGJ will be a major part of it. He should be a near every snap player who sees his fantasy value explode with the position change. He gets a team he is familiar with in Week 1 in Atlanta and is expected to shine brightly for the City of Brotherly Love. Atlanta allowed the eighth most fantasy points to the safety position in 2021, putting CJGJ on the DB1 periphery for the plus matchup against Kyle Pitts and the Falcons.

Keanu Neal (S – TB)
Keanu Neal is moving back to a full-time safety role now that he is with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Former backup Mike Edwards is currently listed as the starter but Keanu Neal being added to the team and immediately moved back to safety, was a direct response to losing starter Jordan Whitehead to free agency. Neal should log the bulk of the snaps in a revenge game versus his former team and should supplant the rookie as the official starter within a couple of weeks. Edwards has talent, but you don’t add Neal and move him back to safety if you don’t intend to play him in a heavy box role like they did with Whitehead. Logan Ryan is expected to be sidelined for Week 1, so there should be more than enough opportunity for both Neal and Edwards to rack up some tackles. The two are expected to share the field in nickel looks. Neal is a DB2 option with DB1 upside whenever he sees regular snaps, and for Week 1, it looks like he will. Start him where needed.

Jaelan Phillips (DE – MIA)
Phillips should have a big game against a Patriots offense that is struggling to move the ball in the passing game. He will be a DL2 most weeks but gets the bump to DL1 territory thanks to the plus matchup. Phillips is still looking for his first sack against New England and reported struggles could help him get home. He should be more of a full-time player this season and is strong against the run, which is important against a team that will try to run whenever possible in Week 1. The extra opportunities the run game should afford him buoys his floor enough to make him a strong DL2 option with DL1 upside against New England. Start him where possible.

Randy Gregory (DE/LB – DEN)
Randy Gregory is primed for a big game against a Seattle Seahawks team that was forced to insert Geno Smith under center. He will be a mid-tier DL2 most weeks but will be a high-end option when he gets plus matchups like this. Seattle has made some improvements to their offensive line (finally) but is going to have major problems contending with Bradley Chubb, Randy Gregory, Nick Bonitto, and Baron Browning. The stand up role will be new for Gregory in the NFL but is one he should have success with. He has been practicing this week and is expected to play, so for those in leagues where he is floating on the wire due to concerns over his Week 1 status, now is the time to make the add. Start him with confidence as an upside DL2 option.

David Long (LB – TEN)
David Long was excellent when healthy last season, grading out as the LB22 in fantasy points per game. He was the LB66 overall due to playing in just 10 games but was impressive enough to allow the Titans to move on from both Jayon Brown and Rashaan Evans, both of whom were starters in 2021. As mentioned in our waiver wire column earlier this week, Long averaged 4.6 solo tackles per game, a number that extrapolated over a full season would put him at 78 solos (which would have been more than Shaquille Leonard last season). Start him everywhere.

Sit em

Dante Fowler (DE – DAL)
Fowler should be left on fantasy benches, even as a DL3 until we see what the snap rotation looks like opposite DeMarcus Lawrence. Fowler has the name and past production, but there are some other intriguing names competing for snaps that could leave Fowler as more of a part-time player than one with a full-time role. Also competing for snaps on the edge will be superstar Micah Parsons, who will continue to be given opportunities to rush the passer off the edge, rookie Sam Williams, Tarell Basham, and the man listed as the starter ahead of Fowler in Dorance Armstrong. The hope is that Fowler (or possibly Williams) supplants Armstrong as the starter eventually, but for now, Fowler needs to be left on benches, even in deeper leagues.

Rasheem Green (DL – HOU)
Rasheem Green has received a lot of IDP hype this offseason, and it is not unwarranted based on his 2021 play. However, what role he plays now that he is with the Houston Texans is in question. Green played the bulk of his snaps on the right side for the Seahawks but now may be blocked by the likes of Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison. Jonathan Greenard is locked into a high snap role, and Addison and Hughes are capable vets. For what it’s worth, the Texans have listed Hughes as the starter opposite Greenard, with Addison as Hughes’ backup and Green behind Greenard. All of this is to say that without a defined role and with snap count uncertainty, the defensive end (who appears on more Yahoo rosters than DL1s like Brian Burns and Montez Sweat) should be left on fantasy benches until further notice.

Divine Deablo (LB/S – LV)
Deablo is set to play more of a full-time linebacker role this season and has been practicing with the position. Deablo played most of his snaps in the box or on special teams last season, but there was some hope with the Raiders not picking up Jonathan Abram’s fifth-year option that Deablo would increase his weekly snap count by seeing more time at safety. That is not the case. The Raiders will be starting Denzel Perryman in the middle, and after adding Jayon Brown this offseason, there is some well-founded concern about how many snaps Deablo will see in nickel looks. Brown did not sign the contract of a star but was a locked-in starter for the Tennessee Titans’ formidable defense for the past few seasons. It is okay to maintain hopes that Deablo scratches the surface of his true potential this season, but for Week 1, fantasy managers should plug in another option and evaluate the Raiders usage of the talented second-year man.

Isaiah Simmons (LB/S – ARI)
Simmons is transitioning to the STAR role in the Cardinals defense, a role that calls for him to play more of a hybrid linebacker/safety role, similar to what we saw from Jalen Ramsey most of last season and what Derwin James plays. This means that instead of soaking up tackles as a traditional middle linebacker that he will be tasked with heavy coverage snaps on Travis Kelce. He will also likely see snaps as a pass rusher sprinkled in throughout the game. Simmons has the talent to flourish in this role as it is more akin to how he was used in college (and what helped make him a top-10 pick in the first place). Full-time off-ball linebacker never made much sense for a talent like Simmons. His role last season was closer to what got him drafted out of Clemson. With that said, Simmons is expected to see his weekly tackle upside take a hit and is now more of an LB2 option than an LB1. He will be an elite DB option if granted eligibility this season, but a wait-and-see approach is recommended for those who have designs on him being their LB1.

For those who want to know a little more, here is what Vance Joseph had to say about the STAR role

““A ‘star’ linebacker is a guy that plays a little linebacker, a little safety, a little dime,” Joseph said. “In this scheme it can be a lot of places. … They are ‘star’ players. Big, fast guys who can cover, play halves (half-field safety coverage) and blitz.”

T.J. Edwards (LB – PHI)
Edwards is set to open the season as the starting middle linebacker but is expected to cede snaps to rookie Nakobe Dean. It remains to be seen whether Dean will take more snaps from Edwards or Kyzir White, but with Shaun Bradley also in the mix to see snaps in the middle on Sunday, Edwards falls from potential LB2 consideration to more of an LB4. Dean, who many have high hopes for, also needs to be left on benches as he did not earn a starting role this offseason.

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If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup, based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – that allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team, and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.

Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his profile and follow him @FantasyContext.

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NHL roundup: Hurricanes beat Flyers 6-4 for seventh straight win

Published

16 hours ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Martin Necas scored a go-ahead goal with 29 seconds left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4 on Tuesday night.

It was the seventh straight win for the Hurricanes, who also got goals from Jack Roslovic, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

Necas typically saves his game-winners for overtime, with nine in his career, but he was able to take care of business in regulation with his team-best seventh goal of the season.

Travis Konecny scored two goals and had two assists for the Flyers. Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia.

Aleksei Kolosov made 28 saves for the Flyers, who trailed 2-1, 3-1 and 4-3 but kept coming back. Carolina’s Pyotr Kochetkov struggled in net allowing four goals on just 16 shots.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

—

SABRES 5 SENATORS 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram and Tage Thompson scored 16 seconds apart to open the third period, and Buffalo snapped a three-game skid with a win over Ottawa.

Byram scored twice, JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.

Ridly Greig converted his own rebound in cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 with 7:31 left in the second period. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in dropping to 1-4 in his past five starts.

Buffalo went up 3-1 on Byram’s second goal 21 seconds into the third period. The defenceman’s shot from inside the blue line sneaked through Ullmark, with the puck rolling down the goalie’s pad, dropping into the crease and trickling across the line. Thompson scored when he crashed the net, was knocked over by defender Jake Sanderson and was lying in the crease when Alex Tuch’s shot went in off his shoulder.

—

MAPLE LEAFS 4 BRUINS 0

TORONTO (AP) — Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season in Toronto’s 4-0 victory over Boston.

Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists as Toronto connected three times on the power play. William Nylander and Matthew Knies added a goal and an assist each. Mitch Marner had two assists of his own. Steven Lorentz rounded out the scoring into the empty net.

The Leafs played without captain Auston Matthews, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Jeremy Swayman made 23 stops for Boston, which was coming off consecutive weekend shutouts of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken.

Toronto’s porous 31st-ranked power play scored for the second time in as many games at 8:44 of the second period when Rielly fired through a screen. Nylander banked in his team-leading 10th goal of the season on another man advantage 1:14 later for a 2-0 lead.

The Bruins entered the game 8-0-0 in the regular season against their Atlantic Division rival dating back to Jan. 14, 2023.

—

FLAMES 3 CANADIENS 2 (OT)

MONTREAL (AP) — Matt Coronato scored twice as Calgary came back to defeat Montreal in overtime.

Coronato tied the game with 2:46 remaining in regulation when he cruised into the slot and went off the post and in. He then buried the winning goal seven seconds into the extra period.

Connor Zary also scored for Calgary, which won its second game in seven outings. Dustin Wolf stopped 21 shots.

Joel Armia — with a short-handed goal — and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal (4-7-2). Armia also provided an assist, while Sam Montembeault made 32 saves as the Canadiens’ losing streak extended to four games.

Zary opened the scoring with his third 4:20 into the second period when he pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired a shot past Montembeault.

Gallagher then slipped the puck between Wolf’s pads at 16:23 to level the score with his fifth of the season.

—

BLUES 3 LIGHTNING 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist scored to help St. Louis beat Tampa Bay 3-2.

Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for his 149th career win moving him past Jake Allen for second place in franchise history, just two wins behind Mike Liut’s 151.

Nick Perbix and Victor Hedman scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning who have lost three straight games.

Kyrou scored his fourth goal of the season 8:51 into the third period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Toropchenko scored his first goal of the season with 1:35 remaining in the second period to put St. Louis ahead 2-1 after Sundqvist tied the game with his first of the season 7:47 into the period.

—

ISLANDERS 4 PENGUINS 3 (SO)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a shootout and New York rallied past Pittsburgh 4-3.

New York goalie Ilya Sorokin denied Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in the shootout and finished with 32 saves. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who trailed 3-1 midway through the third period.

Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the third for New York. Horvat had two assists.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead Pittsburgh. Crosby got his 598th career goal, and Michael Bunting also scored. Rakell added two assists.

Alex Nedeljkovich stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who have lost seven of nine. They won their previous two following a six-game skid.

—

KINGS 5 WILD 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Trevor Lewis scored twice, Kevin Fiala added another on the power play and Los Angeles beat Minnesota 5-1.

Warren Foegele and Quinton Byfield also scored for Los Angeles, which was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 3-0 win in Nashville a night earlier. David Rittich made 23 saves for the Kings.

Fiala, who was traded to Los Angeles in 2022 by Minnesota for a first-round pick draft pick and defenceman Brock Faber, scored his seventh goal of the season. He now has three goals and six assists in his last seven games against the Wild.

Minnesota, which had won three in a row, opened the scoring in the second period on Zach Bogosian’s first goal of the season. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots for the Wild.

—

JETS 3 UTAH 0

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Nino Niederreiter scored twice in his 900th NHL career game and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves to help Winnipeg defeat Utah 3-0.

It was Hellebuyck’s second shutout of the season and 39th of this career.

Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets. Adam Lowry assisted on both goals by Niederreiter.

Utah ended a run of picking up points in three consecutive games (1-0-2).

Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots for Utah in its second stop on a four-game road trip.

Jets winger Kyle Connor had his franchise-record, season-opening points streak end at 12 games.

—

AVALANCHE 6 KRAKEN 3

DENVER (AP) — Arturri Lehkonen scored the go-ahead goal on a power play in his season debut and Nathan MacKinnon had five assists as Colorado beat Seattle 6-3.

Mikko Rantanen added two goals for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko and Chris Wagner also scored for Colorado.

Cale Makar had two assists but the star defenceman barely played in the second half of the game and appeared to be slowed by an apparent injury during a brief shift.

MacKinnon and Makar extended their season-opening point streaks to 13 games.

Lehkonen played for the first time since off-season shoulder surgery.

Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken.

—

CANUCKS 5 DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brock Boeser, Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and an assist apiece, and Quinn Hughes recorded his 300th career assist in Vancouver’s victory over Anaheim.

Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson also scored and Hughes had three assists for the Canucks, who have won six of eight. Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves in Vancouver’s sixth consecutive win over the Ducks.

Olen Zellweger scored a power-play goal early in the first period for Anaheim, which has lost seven of nine. Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots.

Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko took shots from teammates again after the morning skate, and he could return to practice this week. The Southern California native and 2023-24 Vezina Trophy finalist hasn’t played this season due to a knee injury incurred late last season.

—

SHARKS 2 BLUE JACKETS 1 (OT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Alex Wennberg scored 3:11 into overtime and San Jose celebrated the return of No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini with a win over Columbus.

Defenceman Jack Thompson scored his first career goal for the Sharks (4-8-2), who entered the night with the worst record in the NHL. San Jose has won four of five.

Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, missed 12 games with a hip injury he sustained in the season opener Oct. 10 — an injury first incurred during the pre-season. Celebrini didn’t score and missed a shot early in overtime.

San Jose goalie Vitek Vanacek was fantastic in net, making 49 saves.

Blue Jackets right wing Kirill Marchenko scored for the second consecutive game. Columbus (5-6-1) has lost three straight.

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

Published

2 days ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

Published

2 days ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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