Are These Players LEEEEGIT? (Week 2)

Harrison Zuckerberg is a Fantasy Football Fellowship coach and contributor. This is his weekly blog where he asks the question, is he LEEEEGIT and provides insights following Week 1.  (Harrison pronounced legit as leegit one time on the podcast, and it stuck!)

As a Fantasy Manager, you may have these players on your roster or you may be trying to figure out if they are worth acquiring on the Waiver Wire.

Derek Carr

Derek Carr lit up the Panthers in Week 1, and many fantasy managers wondered if the Saints are that good or if the Panthers are really that bad. Both of these statements ended up being true, as Carr and the new-look Saints offense manhandled the Cowboys in Dallas, proving that they are LEGIT. The Saints have a tough schedule over the next few weeks, but Carr should be a fringe QB1 for the rest of the season.

Mike Gesicki

I mentioned last week that the Chiefs made a concerted effort to stop the Ravens' biggest passing threat, Mark Andrews, which caused backup tight end Isaiah Likely to be more involved. Well, they did the same thing this week to the Bengals, shutting down Ja'Marr Chase and allowing Mike Gesicki to have a great game. Gesicki is a talented player, and the Bengals should turn it around, but I think once Tee Higgins comes back from injury, Gesicki will be too low on the pecking order and NOT LEGIT for the rest of the season.

Braelon Allen

Rookie running back Braelon Allen made the most of his opportunities on Sunday, scoring 20 fantasy points on just 9 touches. He also became the youngest player in NFL history to score a touchdown at just 20 years old (he ran for over 1,200 yards as a 17-year-old freshman at Wisconsin). Allen is extremely talented but only played on 20 snaps and is clearly the backup behind Breece Hall. He is worth stashing in case of a Hall injury, but NOT a LEGIT fantasy starter yet.

Samaje Perine / Carson Steele / Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Isaiah Pacheco’s injury is devastating for fantasy managers, as it looked like, for the first time in a few seasons, the Chiefs were going to have a true bell-cow running back. With Pacheco likely out for 6 weeks, the Chiefs will most likely use a rotation to supplement his production. I truly don't believe that any one of these RBs will be “the guy,” and it will be a true committee. Steele will most likely play the goal-line and short-yardage role, while Perine and Edwards-Helaire (once he returns from IR in Week 5) will split passing work. Just by being in the Chiefs’ offense, all three of these RBs will have scoring opportunities and should be picked up in fantasy.

Bucky Irving

Bucky Irving has looked fantastic when coming in for occasional drives during the first two weeks of the season. Despite being a fantasy darling due to volume, Rachaad White was one of the most inefficient running backs in the league last year and has an abysmal 2 yards per carry to start the year. There is a chance that, as the season goes on, the coaching staff won't be able to ignore that Bucky Irving might be a better player than White and give him the starting job. He is LEGIT and should be on fantasy benches.

Cam Akers

Cam Akers refuses to go away; he may be the biggest fantasy mirage ever. Whether it is due to injury, being surprisingly benched, or traded, he has found ways to disappoint on his hype. But he is now in Houston as the backup to Joe Mixon, who left Sunday Night Football with an ankle injury. This offense creates great fantasy opportunities for running backs. We saw how good Devin Singletary was down the stretch last season after taking over for Damien Pierce. Akers is worth picking up in case Mixon is out this week.

Quentin Johnston

I know Quentin Johnston was a 1st-round pick last year. I know that he just caught 2 touchdown passes last week. Maybe it is just my SMU vs. TCU bias, but watching Johnston, he doesn't pass the eye test as the alpha receiver he was drafted to be, and I believe he is still the #3 target on the Chargers behind Ladd McConkey and Joshua Palmer, despite his big week. He is NOT LEGIT until he has more consistent production in the passing game besides touchdowns.