WTF Was That Guy: Week 2

Ok, I won’t be digging quite as deeply this week for my WTF guys. But still – with all the RBs who went down in week two, there were a bunch of less than well-known guys racking up stats.

Here we go:

Buy – Jordan Howard, Chicago:

When Chicago was looking for an offensive spark on Monday night against Philadelphia, the rookie from Indiana got his first touches. He averaged more than seven yards per carry.

He’s not going to take over the main gig permanently just yet. He might just be in for a handful of carries in the short-term, as he learns pass protection, etc. But he just has far more explosiveness to his game than Jeremy Langford, who looked better to me last year in a complementary role than he does this year as the head of an RBBC.

Howard – week two

If you have room on your roster to buy-and-stash Howard, I think he’s a guy who could pay dividends down the road. I’ve added him in a re-draft league and already had him on a dynasty roster.

Sell – Fozzy Whittaker – Carolina

Whittaker is not new to the scene. He’s in his fourth year in the league and he’s seen a few carries here and there in the past. But he hit the top of waiver wire claim territory this week after Jonathan Stewart and about half of the rest of the league’s running backs got hurt in week two.

That’s perhaps understandable, what with a 100 yard game to his credit (though he did lose a fumble). The problem going forward? Mike Tolbert and Cameron Artis-Payne, among others.

Whittaker – week two

Tolbert will likely keep getting short yardage and goal-line carries. While Payne will see his first game action of the season in the upcoming game. Stewart is always a threat to get hurt and Whittaker is probably not the worst guy you could find. But he’s going to be part of a three-headed monster – not including the carries QB Cam Newton keeps for himself – and not necessarily the main beneficiary of the available work.

Bonus: Melvin Gordon – San Diego (Yes, again)

Last week I urged caution on Gordon. He was still getting fewer than one-half the snaps as Danny Woodhead. But when the latter’s leg snapped, so did, tepidly, my unwillingness to buy in on Gordon.

He does look better this year. And the Chargers were scouring the free agency wires to find guys to serve as his backup. That means he’s going to get a real, honest opportunity to seize the job. I don’t have him on redraft rosters, but this week I have used him in three daily fantasy league lineups and the Crush Charch Challenge.

Don’t let me down, Badger.

One of my credos in fantasy football is you have to be flexible and willing to zag when others zig. That holds true primarily in drafts. But in this case, it’s true with Gordon, who, during re-drafts this year, I claimed I wouldn’t take with a pick in the 17^th round of a 16 round draft.