Start of the Week: George Pickens (WR, PIT)
The Ravens were getting toasted in the passing game going into last week’s Thursday night matchup against the Bengals, but Ja’Marr Chase’s 55-point performance only widened the gap even further between Baltimore and the next-best matchup for wide receivers in fantasy football.
Jon Harbaugh’s defense is allowing the most pass attempts, yards, and touchdowns per game, as well as the most receiving yards, touchdowns, fantasy points, and 20+ yard receptions per game. Pickens also happens to be riding a three-game hot streak with Russell Wilson under center, posting a 27% target share and 18.0 PPR points per game in that span.
The Ravens and Steelers are also tied for the highest total of the week at 48.5, indicating that there will most likely be points in this one. Pickens is the clear No. 1 in the Steelers offense, and with the Ravens being very stout against the run, we should be seeing plenty of Russell Wilson dropbacks in this one.
Start: Courtland Sutton (WR, DEN)
Sutton and Calvin Ridley are almost the same receiver, except Sutton enjoys much better, more calculated quarterback play from standout rookie Bo Nix. And like Ridley, he’s riding a hot streak of his own after coming out the gate cold: his 32% target share and 20.1 PPR points per game dwarf his 22% target share and 8.7 PPR points per game from Weeks 1-7.
He draws a very favorable matchup this week against the Falcons, who are allowing the 4th-most touchdowns and 5th-most receptions to WRs on the year. They’re also allowing the 7th-most fantasy points overall and the 3rd-most fantasy points to wide receivers on the left side over the past four games where Courtland Sutton runs the majority of his routes.
Sutton’s floor is still down in the WR3 realm, but his production over the past three games has been perfectly sustainable. And with next to no target competition around him, Sutton should continue to be Nix’s safety valve against the Falcons. He’s a solid WR2 with upside this week to be a low WR1.
Start: Jakobi Meyers (WR, LV)
Since Week 3, Jakobi Meyers is averaging a 30% target share and 15.6 PPR points per game. That’s on an offense also featuring Brock Bowers and some horrific QB play from a platoon of signal callers.
Meyers has been doing this his entire career, and he’s capitalizing on his status as the top receiver in Las Vegas. Minshew is the lesser of two evils under center between him and Desmond Ridder and should be able to prop up Jakobi Meyers even in a less-than-ideal matchup against the Dolphins.
Despite being a tough matchup on paper, Miami has loosened up a bit over the past four weeks, going from 26th to 11th in fantasy points per game allowed to WRs. Miami is also favored in this game by a touchdown, which likely means another day of high-volume passing offense wire-to-wire for Antonio Pierce’s crew.
Meyers fits in as a fringe WR2 with high-end WR2 upside given his propensity for earning targets and a matchup that promotes moving the ball through the air much more than on the ground.