Welcome to the Danny Dimes Era in New York. You really have to feel good for the suffering New York fans who have had to sit there and witness Eli Manning win a pair of Super Bowls, Aaron Judge being perhaps the best player in baseball not named Mike Trout and having to settle for Kaapo Kakko. Of course, any time you point this out to a New York fan, they're all like, "Yeah, but the New York Knicks." And then I'll respond by saying that, "Hey, Shake Shack is pretty great" and then we will bump fist and forget what we were talking about in the first place.
Which I actually just did. Oh right, that's Daniel Jones.
I'll be perfectly honest with you, I thought it was kind of a stretch to take Jones with the sixth overall pick. But I'm a Bears fan and, well, you know where I'm going with this. Sometimes, though, you need to pick your guy and roll with it. And for one week that looked like an excellent selection. And even this week, the Giants brass should again look like geniuses because this is a great matchup for Dimes. I mean Jones. (For the record, I love the Danny Dimes nickname. Don't let Peter Schrager try to talk you out of this.) Washington has allowed every quarterback they have played this year to throw three touchdown passes. Mitch should have had four. Well, he should have handed the ball off to David Montgomery, but I'm veering from the point. Start Jones this week. I'd start him over Tom Brady this week. Don't @ me.
I also love Sterling Shepard, who checks in this week as the WR13 on the season. He had nine targets in his first game with Jones. Washington has allowed the most fantasy points to receivers this year. Slot receivers are getting about 21.23 points per game against the Redskins. Love this matchup.
And for the record. I know a lot of you missed on Wayne Gallman this week. That stuff happens. But I would like to point out that you should probably add Jon Hilliman to your team if you have the space. They brought in three curtain-jerkers to audition for the backup role, but instead promoted Hilliman. He's an undrafted rookie out of Rutgers. But hey, Philip Lindsay was an undrafted rookie last year, too. So don't start him. But if you have a spot burning a hole in your roster, at least give him a week to try out. If it doesn't work, cut him.
Here are eight more sleepers for you to keep an eye on this week:
Jacoby Brissett, QB, Indianpolis Colts
He's currently the QB16 on the season, despite the fact he's had at least two touchdown passes in every game this season. His yardage totals through the first couple of weeks weren't great. But he did get over 300 yards last week, his third of his career. The Raiders have allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this year. And they've played Joe Flacco, so imagine what a good quarterback can do. Sorry Joe, I had to.
Josh Jacobs, RB, Oakland Raiders
I'll go with the Raiders running back here. He's been a little off so far after his huge debut against the Broncos on Monday Night Football. But I like the matchup this week against the Colts who have allowed 142 scrimmage yards to running backs this year. But the thing that really got me was Jon Gruden telling everyone that he needs to get Jacobs involved as a receiver out of the backfield.
Justin Jackson, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
It's not always as smart decision to be all, "Hey, this team is going to be killing the Dolphins, so look for the backup running back to get into the mix like Tony Pollard did last week." I mean, this is the Los Angeles Chargers we're talking about. If there was one team in the NFL that you would think could end up losing to the Dolphins this year, let's be honest, that seems like a Chargers thing to do. Not in a bad way. The Chargers are a good team. But I feel like they lead the NFL in inexplicable losses over the last decade. All that being said, the Dolphins have allowed the second-most fantasy points to running backs this year.
UPDATE: Justin Jackson has been ruled out for Sunday's Week 4 matchup against the Dolphins due to a calf injury.
Ronald Jones, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
HE'S RETURNING TO HIS COLLEGE FIELD ALERT. Yeah, I don't know what difference that makes, either. However, I will say that he played 30 percent of the snaps last week, just a hair behind Peyton Barber. You might remember that I mentioned on my podcast (The Adam Rank Podcast) that Barber could be in trouble because he has struggled in pass protection this year. And we're seeing it. Jones was great last week, so I look for him to keep that up.
Oh man, once James White was ruled out last week the Rex Alert came out and he did really well. But even so, he's played 48 percent of the snaps this season out-pacing both guys. He's also been a huge factor once FB James Devlin was injured, too, because he's been used in some two-back sets with Sony Michel. So I'm starting him all over the place where I need a running back.
I know, Terry McLaurin gets all of the love considering that he's had such an amazing start. But a lot of you probably went to bed on Monday night and missed Richardson tearing it up in the second half against the Bears. Richardson ended the game with eight receptions on nine targets for 83 yards and a touch. The Giants have allowed the second-most fantasy points to receivers this year.
Mentioned here last week. And he wasn't amazing or anything. But I'm staying in. The Saints have allowed the third-most fantasy points to receivers this year. Dak Prescott is off to an amazing start. And if he wasn;t so selfish and running in touchdowns on his own, who knows what Smith could have done.
This guy is a human being and he needs our love. Not more Dissly Dissly taunts. He doesn't play a lot of snaps. Doesn't run a lot of routes. But he has three end zone targets this year (second among tight ends). And it's inevitable for the Cardinals to give up a lot of points to tight ends. As inevitable as me almost repeating the same joke I wrote here last week when I spoke on Greg Olsen. (And I really loved that joke.)
*You want one more? Fine, I'll give you one more. *
Now I would gloat about giving you the Packers last week. But you should never do that, because I picked Anthony Miller over Taylor Gabriel, so you should never be too self-satisfied. But here goes:
Colts DST vs. Raiders
Good luck this week.
Follow Adam Rank on Twitter at @adamrank
