Thursday Night Fantasy Blog: Week 3

The matchup this week features one of the league’s top rushing attacks against one of the best passing attacks. The Giants are coming off a mammoth passing performance, while the Panthers are a week removed from unveiling their new ‘college-style’ running attack. This matchup features two of the league’s top quarterbacks, along with a slew of start-worthy fantasy players.

New York Giants @ Carolina

When the Giants have the ball…

• Eli Manning:Coming off a week in which Manning passed for over 500 yards, it is virtually impossible to not play him.
  • The Panthers are going to have to move Manning off of his spot with blitzes and stunts to create pressure. Their front 4 cannot get consistent pressure on their own
    • The coverage variations could cause a turnover or two, but Eli should still throw enough to have a good day

• Andre Brown: Brown looked good after taking over for Bradshaw last week, but understand his touches could be limited this week
  • Brown looked comfortable running out of the shotgun, displaying good patience and vision to carve up the Bucs run D
  • The Giants are not a heavy running team and have shown in the past they are content throwing the ball 40+ times in a game. But with Nicks out, Brown’s role could increase

• Victor Cruz: With Nicks out, Cruz is in line for a big day
  • Cruz:
    • The Panthers allow clean releases on slot receivers which will allow Cruz to find soft spots all over the field
    • Cruz will be lining up outside which should put him in isolated situations. Advantage Cruz over the Panthers’ corner back’s
    • No other fill-in WR, for Nicks, is established enough to warrant starting

• Martellus Bennett:With Nicks out, and the attention he has gotten thus far, Bennett looks like a great start this week
  • We are not sure how the Giants will use Bennett to help the loss of Nicks, but some of the targets Nicks received will come Bennett’s way
  • The amount of looks he has received in the redzone, combined with his big frame and leaping ability, make him that much more appealing
  • He has been targeted in the end zone multiple times in each of the first two games

When the Panthers have the ball…

• Cam Newton: Cam looked much more comfortable in last weeks ‘college-style’ rushing attack. The combination of passing and rushing yards make him too tough not to play.
  • The Panthers utilized multiple RBs in the backfield to create a lot of misdirection zone read plays to enhance their running game
  • The Giants pass defense plays too much soft zone coverage which has prevented them from consistently shutting down passing attacks thus far.

• Carolina RBs: If Jonathan Stewart cannot go, DeAngelo Williams will receive enough carries to be a warranted starter. However, if both players are healthy, we would proceed with caution.
  • The misdirection runs are confusing for a defense. Even with so much athleticism on the Giants DL, we still think the Panthers should be able to gash them for a few big runs.
  • The Panthers are committed to running the football, but we don’t anticipate enough carries this week to warrant starting both Stewart and Williams.

• Steve Smith/Brandon LaFell: Smith is a must start (if healthy), while LaFell could be a spot starter.
  • Smith:
    • The Giants play a lot of Cover 3 and do not consistently roll any sort of attention over to the #1 WR
• LaFell:
  • The Giants are primarily a zone coverage team which should help LaFell get open
  • LaFell has been targeted fairly in both games this season

• Greg Olsen: With the commitment to the rushing attack, as well as the emergence of LaFell, Olsen should remain on your bench this week.