Online Betting Sports – Expert Picks, News and Betting Predictions: Here’s our NFL Preseason Week 2 Takeaways.
Preseason NFL Week 2 Takeaways
NFL Week 2 of the preseason has passed, and while we don’t know a ton about each team, some of these teams are showing us what they plan on doing in the regular season. Whether you are trying to place a futures bet or draft your fantasy team, correctly projecting playing time and usage for players is a huge deal. Some teams and situations got clearer over the weekend, and some may have gotten a little murkier. Sorting out what is real will give you a big leg up by week 1.
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Playing Time Drama
Myles Gaskin was a huge topic of conversation in the fantasy football world because of his Week 1 usage. Gaskin was assumed to be the clear leader in Miami, with Malcolm Brown and Salvon Ahmed behind him playing in certain situations or when Brown needs a breather. Last week, this appeared to be false when Malcolm Brown saw a huge share of 1st team snaps, especially on third down. The only thing Gaskin owners could hope for was competent coaching, and it seems like that emerged in Miami.
While Brown did get a lot of snaps, he was horrible last week, and he just is nowhere near as talked as Gaskin as a runner. Brown is the kind of player that doesn’t screw up, so the coaches love him, but when the rubber meets the road, and you need to win football games, he is not the guy you want out there. Gaskin went back to being a featured back, playing 11 of 12 snaps on the first drive, getting 8 touches, and eventually scoring both a rushing and receiving touchdown in the game.
I would expect that we see Gaskins get a bump in ADP, and I would expect him to see similar usage in week one on the first drive. I think the hope is that you get 75% of snaps for Gaskin when healthy.
Najee Harris is “The Guy”
We all knew that drafting Najee Harris was a sign that the Steelers thought that their offense was missing a true workhorse, Le’Veon Bell’s presence since he left and that they would be willing to take an RB in the first round to replace him. Najee Harris was a workhorse at Alabama and had all of the skills to do it at the next level. Really, the only thing he lacks for his size is pure breakaway speed.
Najee has played 45 of 51 “first-team reps” in their first 3 preseason games. While these reps aren’t with the entire first team, I’d expect this rate to maybe even increase when he is healthy, setting Najee Harris up to be a top 3 RB in the NFL in terms of volume. While the Steeler offensive line play isn’t great, this raw touch volume makes Najee a player I want to leave with in my drafts.
Rookie QB Play
Trevor Lawrence has yet to play this week, but another week of this fascinating rookie class gives us more to talk about. Mac Jones is still learning but looks very solid in the pocket and throwing the ball downfield on occasion. Zach Wilson appears to be in the best current situation, but we will have to see how that pans out. I think that Wilson looks very comfortable in the game and in the pocket, but I’d say he’s had the best protection and the most open targets of the 5 rookie QBs, so I think we’ll know more when NFL week 1 rolls around.
Trey Lance and Justin Fields continue to make their coaches have to lie to the media and pretend like their veteran low-end starter is clearly better than the rookie. Lance is clearly not all the way there yet as a pocket passer, missing a few guys on his own team and on the other team. I also hope he runs more in the regular season, as it will increase his overall effectiveness.
Fields looks incredibly comfortable running the ball for Chuck gains and standing in there after big shots due to his poor offensive line play. Fields’ stat line looks eh, but he was carrying his team for every yard they could muster, and you could argue that there were 4 or 5 plays where Fields should’ve gotten better help from his receivers. Whenever these 2 play, the opposing DC is gonna get a lot less sleep than he would’ve if the veteran played.
