Are These Players LEEEEGIT? (Week 1)

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.

Isaiah Likely

We have been asking if Isaiah Likely is LEGIT at least once a season since he entered the league. Likely has a few monster games every year for the Ravens as their backup tight end but has never been able to produce consistently due to being behind Mark Andrews on the depth chart. However, all of that changed in Week 1 when Likely caught 9 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown (he was a shoe size away from having 2 TDs), while Mark Andrews finished the game with 0 catches. However, I am here to throw some cold water on Likely’s performance and say that he is NOT LEGIT for the 2024 fantasy season if Andrews is healthy. If you watched the game, the Chiefs made a very aggressive effort to shut down Andrews, bracketing and double-teaming him with linebackers and safeties on almost every play. The Chiefs were willing to let anyone but Andrews beat them, a strategy they have implemented in the past, as Andrews has only averaged 22 receiving yards per game in his career against Kansas City. In response, the Ravens ran more designed QB runs and looked towards Likely as a playmaker in the passing game to take advantage of the defense keying in on Andrews. The bottom line: Do not put Likely as your top waiver priority, and do not start him next week hoping for a repeat performance because you will be very disappointed when he catches 2 passes for 22 yards and Andrews bounces back as the #1 target for Lamar.

J.K. Dobbins

J.K. Dobbins seems to have emerged as the starter in the Chargers' backfield, rushing for 135 yards and a touchdown. He looked healthy, explosive, and like the J.K. Dobbins we thought could be a fantasy star three years ago before injuries derailed his career. As long as Dobbins is healthy, he is LEGIT, should be rostered in every league, and is a weekly flex consideration. Just don't be too disappointed if he is on the IR again by Week 6.

Alexander Mattison

A few weeks ago, I mentioned on the Fantasy Football Fellowship podcast that often, with a new head coaching staff, veteran free-agent additions beat out young incumbents for starting running back jobs. I specifically mentioned Alexander Mattison possibly getting more opportunities than Zamir White. Surprise, surprise: Mattison out-snapped White 36 to 23 and scored a touchdown in the Raiders' Week 1 matchup against the Chargers. However, due to the fact that the Raiders' offense does not project to be very good this season, and the backfield appears to be a committee, Mattison is NOT LEGIT. He will be more fantasy-relevant going forward than most people expected, but he is still not worthy to be in your lineup.

Alec Pierce

Alec Pierce showed off an incredible deep-ball connection with Anthony Richardson as he caught three passes for 125 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. However, Alec Pierce is NOT LEGIT for the rest of the season. Throughout his career, Pierce has been the definition of boom or bust and is extremely dependent on the deep ball. In fact, there has only been one game in his career in which he had more than four receptions, and in his 34 career games, he has 20 in which he finished with under 30 yards receiving. If Pierce doesn’t catch a deep touchdown, he is not going to have a good fantasy game. In addition, second-year wide receiver Josh Downs should be returning from injury soon, which will only take more opportunities away from Pierce.

Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson

Both Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson had decent games for the Rams after Puka Nacua went down with an injury. With the news that Nacua will be placed on IR and miss at least four weeks, both of these receivers should see an increase in volume in the passing game. However, Demarcus Robinson is LEGIT and the receiver you want out of the two. Robinson out-snapped Johnson and had more consistent production, as most of Johnson's receiving yards came off just one play.