Are These Players LEEEEGIT? (Week 3)

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.

Sam Darnold

Sam Darnold leading the NFL in passing touchdowns and an MVP frontrunner? Darnold led the Vikings to a 3-0 start this week with a 4-touchdown performance. While others may be skeptical, I am here to say that Sam Darnold is LEGIT. Darnold has always gotten a bad rap due to his failures with the Jets and Panthers, but ask yourself, when was the last time someone succeeded on either of those teams? Darnold is now, for the first time in his career, in a positive situation, led by one of the best offensive coaches in the league and surrounded by incredible weapons. We have seen plenty of QB "busts" turn their careers around in new situations. Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, and Geno Smith are recent examples, and I believe that Darnold is the next one on the list.

Emmanuel Wilson

Since Jordan Love’s injury, the Packers have been extremely run-heavy, and Josh Jacobs has been a huge benefactor. But this weekend, backup running back Emmanuel Wilson also had an increased role due to the new offensive game plan. Wilson had 12 carries, scored a touchdown, and finished with 16 fantasy points. However, he is NOT LEGIT for the rest of the fantasy season. With Love's imminent return, the Packers should go back to a more balanced passing attack and won't need to give Jacobs as many breathers. In addition, if Marshawn Lloyd returns from injury, Wilson will be moved back to RB3 on the depth chart and will most likely return to solely a special teams contributor.

Tre Tucker

Despite the Raiders getting blown out by the Panthers, Tre Tucker had an exceptional game, finishing with over 20 fantasy points. However, he is NOT LEGIT for the rest of the season. Tucker is still the WR3 and 4th target, if you include Bowers, in a bad Raiders offense. I believe his performance was a result of garbage-time stat padding, and he should not be expected to be a consistent contributor moving forward.

Darnell Mooney

Mooney has put up back-to-back solid fantasy performances, scoring over 14 points in the last two weeks. Although he hasn’t been as flashy as some other waiver wire players, he is LEGIT. The Falcons' offensive coordinator comes over from the Rams, who have always had a relevant WR2 in fantasy. For example, Puka Nacua, Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks, and Odell Beckham have all put up great numbers behind Cooper Kupp. Kirk Cousins has also consistently supported great WR2s like Adam Thielen and Jordan Addison. This offense is certainly capable of getting Mooney the ball, and I believe he has the talent to take advantage. People are quick to forget that in Mooney’s second season, he had over 1,000 yards on the Bears before the team switched to Justin Fields and became one of the most run-heavy teams in the NFL. With teams keying in on London and Bijan, it is not surprising that Mooney has been able to take advantage of single coverage in the Falcons’ pass-heavy attack.

Cole Kmet

Kmet put up a monster performance in Week 3 and was the top target for Caleb Williams' first 300-yard passing game. However, Williams still looked very shaky, and I think he has a long way to go before he can consistently support elite fantasy receiving options. In addition, when Keenan Allen returns, Kmet’s target share will likely take a hit and return to its levels from the first two games, where he scored only 8 total fantasy points. We may see a few more monster games from Kmet in the future, but he is too boom or bust in this offense and is NOT LEGIT for fantasy.