News and Notes

• The hype machine is usually wrong, but it hit the jackpot Thursday night with Julius Thomas. The third-year receiver, 25, out of Portland State had only one career NFL reception before Thursday night’s opener, but he ended up collecting two touchdowns on five catches (seven targets) for 110 yards. He had catches of 23, 24 and 44 yards, so he’s definitely a big-play threat. He won’t be doing that every game, but the former basketball player is 6’5″, 250 lbs., so he possesses the body to become an elite red zone weapon. Pick him up, but don’t cut a top 10 tight end for him.
• No Denver running back stood out Thursday night. Knowshon Moreno started and saw the majority of plays while the game was still competitive, but he ran for just 28 yards on nine carries. He caught three passes for 37 yards, looking better in the receiving game than on the ground. Rookie Montee Ball didn’t do much until the game was already decided, but he ran for just 24 yards on eight carries, and Ronnie Hillman ran four times for just 15 yards. No player had a single carry go longer than nine yards. Moreno is worth a roster spot right now, and while Ball might not have much fantasy value currently I think he’ll end up having some later on in the season so if someone cuts him in your league pick him up if you have a roster spot.

• Jacoby Jones left the game in the second quarter with a knee sprain after his teammate Brynden Trawick ran into him on a punt return. Jones was replaced primarily by Marlon Brown, an undrafted receiver out of Georgia. The Ravens are pretty thin on pass catchers, so if Jones is out for any extended amount of time Brown could be worth a pickup in deeper leagues. He scored a touchdown, albeit in garbage time, and finished with four catches for 65 yards on six targets.

DraftKings running back recommendations

To begin, if you’ve never played on DraftKings before, you can get a deposit bonus by signing up. And there are a ton of good game options in the opening week. Try the Kickoff Bash, the $30,000 Play Action or the $100,000 Hail Mary.

Each Friday I’ll be here to give you some appealing options from three different tiers – the luxury choices, reasonable choices and cheap sleeper options. It shouldn’t be too hard to find appealing options from each tier, but as the season goes on we’ll have more matchup and defense data to help make better decisions.

Here are the rules for the different NFL games DraftKings offers, and I’ll go ahead and list the running back scoring settings here:

• 10 Rushing Yards = +1PT (+0.1PT per yard is awarded)
• Rushing TD = +6PTs
• 100+ Yard Rushing Game = +3PTs
• 10 Receiving Yards = +1PT (+0.1PT per yard is awarded)
• Reception = +1PT
• Receiving TD = +6PTs
• 100+ Yard Receiving Game = +3PTs
• Punt/Kickoff Return for TD = +6PTs
• Fumble Lost = -1PT
• 2 Point Conversion (Pass, Run, or Catch) = +2PTs

Luxury Choices

Steven Jackson – $7,200 – vs. New Orleans – The Saints gave up the most points per game to running backs last year, an astounding 22.4 in ESPN standard scoring. New Orleans gave up 18 total touchdowns to running backs, and the cement-legged Michael Turner scored 11 total touchdowns for the Falcons last year. The Falcons will be able to easily move the ball against the Saints, and Jackson should score at least one touchdown with 100 total yards Sunday.

Jamaal Charles – $8,600 – at Jacksonville – Charles is the second most expensive running back, but with the combination of his opponent and receiving ability he should be able to provide enough boom for the buck. Jacksonville was the third friendliest rushing defense in fantasy last year, and it gave up 19 rushing touchdowns, which was second to last in the league.

Reasonable Choices

Stevan Ridley – $6,200 – at Buffalo – The Bills gave up the second most points to running backs last year, including 21 total touchdowns. In two games against Buffalo last year Ridley had 204 yards and three touchdowns. New England will be relying on the rushing attack throughout the game, especially when it’s protecting what will probably be a big lead in the second half.

David Wilson – $5,800 – at Dallas – Wilson had a very impressive preseason; is the unquestioned No. 1 back in New York; and draws a Dallas defense that was the sixth-friendliest fantasy defense against running backs last year. Wilson finished the season strong last year and has all the skills desirable for a top 10 fantasy running back.

Cheap Choices

Daryl Richardson – $3,500 – vs. Arizona – Arizona’s defense wasn’t bad last year, but it did give up 4.3 yards a carry, which ranked 22nd. Richardson should see the majority of carries this week, as he was the Rams’ most impressive running back in the preseason and is coming off a good rookie year.

Eddie Lacy – $4,100 – vs. San Francisco – The 49ers’ rushing defense is pretty dang good; it only allowed 11.3 fantasy points a game to running backs last year. But the Packers averaged 26.5 points in two games against San Fran last year. They should be able to move the ball, and Lacy is pretty much locked in to an every-down role.