The purpose of fantasy football is to further entertain yourself on Sundays and also to win your league, because there’s usually some sort of prize waiting at the end of the season for the winner for motivation. I may be in the minority, but every time a fantasy draft rolls around, I find myself keeping a close eye on the top players from my favorite team (in my case, the New York Jets). It’s a great feeling when you’re watching a game and James Brown or Curt Menefee launch in with a GAME BREAK and tell you that your flex guy just caught a touchdown. But it’s even better when you’re watching your team AND someone you have on your fantasy team scores a TD. Double the satisfaction.
But this year? I couldn’t do it. As badly as I wanted to reach a little bit to take a Jet, there just wasn’t anybody worth the stretch. Sure, this year’s Gang Green does have a few viable fantasy options, but they do not have a bevy of guys that excite you from a fantasy standpoint (this is a weird phrase if you just read from after the comma). There are probably five Jets (four players, and their defense) that should be anywhere near anybody’s fantasy team at the current moment - assuming most leagues are 10-12 team leagues that start the usual one quarterback, two running backs, two/three wide receivers, a flex, a tight end, a defense and a kicker).
Jets’ Defense/Special Teams – Start: The Jets have owned Ryan Fitzpatrick. He’s winless in his last four starts against Rex Ryan’s defense with an average quarterback rating of 70.4. The Jets’ defense is absolutely a Top 5 unit in the NFL as we enter the season. At home, against Fitzpatrick, I’m starting the Jets’ Defense and Special Teams if I have it.
Santonio Holmes – Sit: I would wait until we see what this Jets’ offense looks like in real life (the preseason was bad but they hid stuff like they were holding confidential military information) before I decide what to do with Holmes. The NFL is such a passing league – except for the Jets – that there are enough productive receivers around that should produce. I think Holmes could end up having a good season and be a sure fantasy starter, but I think it’s worth the wait.
Dustin Keller – Sit: Outside of Holmes, Keller is the only other pass catcher on the team that is a known quantity. Tony Sparano has generally used tight ends effectively in the red zone, but again, we just don’t know how much the Jets are actually going to throw the ball. If Tim Tebow comes into the game in the red zone, that might take touchdown opportunities away form someone like Keller. Additionally, there are a lot of good tight ends in the league right now, so in most leagues it’s not hard to have one who is consistently better than Keller.
Shonn Greene – Start: He is not a top-level back and has tons to prove, but he should be a decent RB2 or flex play on Sunday. In case you haven’t heard the Jets are goin’ back to the ol’ Ground and Pound (kill me now), and Greene figures to be a big part of that. He wasn’t great in the preseason, but given the Bills’ pass rush, the Jets will definitely lean heavily on Greene on Sunday.
Nick Folk – Start: Most people probably don’t have Folk on their fantasy team, but the Jets could be a field goal machine many weeks this year. Worth a shot.