An important aspect of fantasy football is getting ahead of the curve in player values. We've listed and highlighted some players who show a change in value and lets you know what to do with them in Week 2's "Three Up, Three Down" article.
Three Up
There have been plenty of loud Tua Tagovailoa critics over the years. But posting a ludicrous 55.66 fantasy points in his first two weeks in a new offense has promptly quieted them. His 469-yard, six-touchdown performance in Sunday’s come-from-behind victory was by far the best outing we’ve ever seen from him. Even Tagovailoa’s staunchest supporters propped him up this offseason by talking about a can’t-fail offense led by Mike McDaniels. But this has been far from a dink-and-dunk and yards-after-the-catch system. Tagovailoa’s average depth of target comes in at 8.0, pretty average for a starting quarterback. But 12 percent of his attempts have gone 20-plus yards downfield this year. According to PFF, Tom Brady is the only quarterback with a higher rate of deep passes and a better grade. Tagovailoa’s 3:1 TD:INT ratio ties as the league-best alongside Lamar Jackson. Justin Herbert is the only quarterback to throw for more than two deep pass attempts and boast a higher completion percentage. Until further notice, Tagovailoa is a fantasy football QB1.
All offseason, we heard about how Aaron Jones would be the Packers’ primary weapon, and that came to fruition in Week 2. Although his 3-target performance through the air was nothing to write home about, he took his 20 carries for a team-high 132 yards and a touchdown. A.J. Dillon is a great player. Even though he saw more carries (18), he wasn’t nearly as efficient with them. Jones, despite his small stature, is tough to bring down. Eighty-five of his 132 rushing yards came after contact on Sunday night. On the year, DAndre Swift and Miles Sanders are the only running backs with more yards after contact per attempt than Jones. Saquon Barkley is the only back with more runs of 15-plus yards. About to turn 28, there are certainly some concerns about how much Jones has left in the tank. But going forward, he can be relied on as a weekly RB1. Regardless of how the touches are split between Jones and Dillon, Jones’ efficiency should provide a high floor in fantasy.