TEXANS-SAINTS SHOULD BE A FANTASY EXPLOSION
Week 1 fantasy football rankings
Sep 5, 2019, 12:37 pm
TEXANS-SAINTS SHOULD BE A FANTASY EXPLOSION
Football season is finally here, so let's take a look at how the fantasy ranks are stacking up for Week 1. Keep in mind, these are PPR rankings, and don't forget to set your lineup for Thursday Night Football. If you have any questions feel free to hit me up on Twitter. Be sure to check out my show MoneyLine with Jerry Bo on ESPN 97.5FM. We're on every Sunday from 10-noon, and we'll talk a lot of fantasy football and NFL gambling getting you ready for kickoff every Sunday.
Photo via Saints/Facebook
1Carson Wentz PHIvsWAS
2Patrick Mahomes KC@JAX
3Deshaun Watson HOU@NO
4Drew Brees NOvsHOU
5Baker Mayfield CLEvsTEN
6Aaron Rodgers GB@CHI
7Lamar Jackson BAL@MIA
8Jameis Winston TBvsSF
9Ben Roethlisberger PIT@NE
10Tom Brady NEvsPIT
11Russell Wilson SEAvsCIN
12Matt Ryan ATL@MIN
13Jared Goff LAR@CAR
14Dak Prescott DALvsNYG
15Cam Newton CARvsLAR
16Mitch Trubisky CHIvsGB
17Kyler Murray ARIvsDET
18Matthew Stafford DET@ARI
19Kirk Cousins MINvsATL
20Jimmy Garoppolo SF@TB
Photo via: Giants/Facebook
1Saquon Barkley NYG@DAL
2Alvin Kamara NOvsHOU
3Christian McCaffrey CARvsLAR
4Nick Chubb CLEvsTEN
5James Conner PIT@NE
6Dalvin Cook MINvsATL
7Le'Veon Bell NYJvsBUF
8Ezekiel Elliott DALvsNYG
9Chris Carson SEAvsCIN
10David Johnson ARIvsDET
11Todd Gurley LAR@CAR
12Mark Ingram BAL@MIA
13Leonard Fournette JAXvsKC
14Kerryon Johnson DET@ARI
15Joe Mixon CIN@SEA
16Devonta Freeman ATL@MIN
17Tevin Coleman SF@TB
18Austin Ekeler LACvsIND
19David Montgomery CHIvsGB
20Josh Jacobs OAKvsDEN
21Sony Michel NEvsPIT
22Duke Johnson HOU@NO
23Damien Williams KC@JAX
24Aaron Jones GB@CHI
25Marlon Mack IND@LAC
26Derrick Henry TEN@CLE
27James White NEvsPIT
28Phillip Lindsay DEN@OAK
29Tarik Cohen CHIvsGB
30Derrius Guice WAS@PHI
31Matt Breida SF@TB
32Kenyan Drake MIAvsBAL
33Latavius Murray NOvsHOU
34Justin Jackson LACvsIND
35Rashaad Penny SEAvsCIN
36Mile Sanders PHIvsWAS
Photo via New Orleans Saints/Facebook
1Michael Thomas NOvsHOU
2DeAndre Hopkins HOU@NO
3Davante Adams GB@CHI
4Julio Jones ATL@MIN
5Odell Beckham Jr CLEvsTEN
6JuJu Smith-Schuster PIT@NE
7Mike Evans TBvsSF
8Tyreek Hill KC@JAX
9Adam Thielen MINvsATL
10Julian Edelman NEvsPIT
11Keenan Allen LACvsIND
12Tyler Lockett SEAvsCIN
13Antonio Brown *Update: Out, inactive for Week 1.
14Brandin Cooks LAR@CAR
15Stefon Diggs MINvsATL
16Kenny Golladay DET@ARI
17Robert Woods LAR@CAR
18Chris Godwin TBvsSF
19Cooper Kupp LAR@CAR
20Tyler Boyd CIN@SEA
21Dede Westbrook JAXvsKC
22Josh Gordon NEvsPIT
23Amari Cooper DALvsNYG
24D.J. Moore CARvsLAR
25Emmanuel Sanders DEN@OAK
26Will Fuller HOU@NO
27Calvin Ridley ATL@MIN
28T.Y. Hilton IND@LAC
29Sterling Shepard NYG@DAL
30Mike Williams LACvsIND
31Marvin Jones DET@ARI
32Curtis Samuel CARvsLAR
33Allen Robinson CHIvsGB
34Robby Anderson NYJvsBUF
35Alshon Jeffery PHIvsWAS
36Jarvis Landry CLEvsTEN
37DeSean Jackson PHIvsWAS
38Larry Fitzgerald ARIvsDET
39Michael Gallup DALvsNYG
40Marquise Goodwin SF@TB
1Travis Kelce KC@JAX
2George Kittle SF@TB
3Zach Ertz PHIvsWAS
4Evan Engram NYG@DAL
5OJ Howard TBvsSF
6Hunter Henry LACvsIND
7Jared Cook NOvsHOU
8Vance McDonald PIT@NE
9Delanie Walker TEN@CLE
10Austin Hooper ATL@MIN
11Greg Olsen CARvsLAR
12T.J. Hockenson DET@ARI
13David Njoku CLEvsTEN
14Mark Andrews BAL@MIA
15Darren Waller OAKvsDEN
Photo via: Cowboys/Facebook
1 Ravens @MIA
2 Eagles WAS
3 Seahawks CIN
4 Cowboys NYG
5 Browns TEN
6 Broncos @OAK
7 Bills @NYJ
8 Bears GB
9 Chargers IND
10 Rams @CAR
11 Jets BUF
12 Vikings ATL
13 Saints HOU
14 Chiefs @JAX
15 Lions @ARI
1Justin Tucker BAL@MIA
2Greg Zuerlein LAR@CAR
3Wil Lutz NOvsHOU
4Stephen Gostkowski NEvsPIT
5Michael Badgley LACvsIND
6Ka'imi Fairbairn HOU@NO
7Jake Elliott PHIvsWAS
8Brett Maher DALvsNYG
9Jason Myers SEAvsCIN
10Matt Prater DET@ARI
11Dan Bailey MINvsATL
12Harrison Butker KC@JAX
13Mason Crosby GB@CHI
14Robbie Gould SF@TB
15Matt Bryant ATL@MIN
All-Star balloting opened up this week for what used to be known as the Midsummer Classic in Major League Baseball. I guess some still refer to it as such but the All-Star Game has been largely a bore for many years, though the honor of being selected on merit remains a big one. As always, fans can vote at all positions except pitcher. The fan balloting has resulted in mostly good selections for years now, though pretty much all teams still do silly marketing stuff trying to drum up support for their players. The Astros’ part in that silliness is their campaign to make it the “All-’Stros” game on the American League squad in Atlanta next month. It’s one thing to be supportive of your team, it’s another to be flat out ridiculous if voting right now for Yainer Diaz, Christian Walker, Yordan Alvarez, Mauricio Dubon, or Cam Smith. The Astros tried to game the system in submitting Jose Altuve as a second baseman where the competition is weaker than it is in the outfield, but given Altuve has played only about 25 percent of the games at second base this season he should not be an All-Star second baseman selectee for what would be the tenth time in his career.
Isaac Paredes’s recent freefall notwithstanding, he has a legitimate case as a backup third baseman, especially with Alex Bregman likely missing more than a month of games due to his quad injury. Jake Meyers is having a fine season but is obviously not an All-Star-worthy outfielder unless he is sensational for the rest of June. That leaves Jeremy Peña, who is simply the best shortstop in the big leagues so far this season. To be clear, no team in baseball (including the Astros) would rather have Peña going forward than the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr., but we’re talking about the here and now. There are another 100 games to be played, but Peña not only is about a lock to deserve his first All-Star nod, but he is in contention to put in the books the greatest season ever by an Astro shortstop.
Over his first three seasons, Peña was a consistently mediocre offensive player. His highest batting average was .266, best on-base percentage .324, top slugging percentage .426. He is blowing away all those numbers thus far in 2025. While unlikely to come close to reaching his preseason goal of 50 stolen bases, Peña is swiping bags at the best success rate of his career. Add in Peña’s stellar defense and that he has played in every Astros’ game so far this season, and Peña has been irrefutably one of the 10 best and most valuable players in the American League. You could certainly argue as high as top three.
If Peña's productivity holds up for the rest of the season there are only three other seasons posted by Astro shortstops that are in the same league as what would be Peña’s 2025. Carlos Correa has two of them. Lack of durability may be the biggest reason Correa is not tracking to be a Hall of Famer. In only two seasons as an Astro did Correa play in more than 136 games. He was fabulous in each of them. 2021 was his peak campaign, playing in 148 games while compiling an .850 OPS, winning a Gold Glove, and finishing fifth in AL MVP voting. Correa’s Baseball-Reference wins above replacement number for 2021 was 7.3. Peña is at 3.6 with nearly 20 games still left before the midway point of the schedule.
For the other great Astro shortstop season you have to go back to 1983. Dickie Thon turned 25 years old in June of ‘83. He put up a .798 OPS, which gains in stature given Thon played his home games in the Astrodome when the Dome was at its most pitching-friendly. Thon won the Silver Slugger Award as the best offensive shortstop in the National League, and played superior defense. His Baseball-Reference WAR number was 7.4. He finished seventh for NL MVP playing for an 85-77 Astros’ squad that finished third in the NL West. Dickie Thon looked like an emerging superstar. Then, in the fifth game of the 1984 season, a fastball from Mets’ pitcher Mike Torrez hit Thon in the left eye, fracturing his orbital bone. Thon missed the rest of the ‘84 season. While Thon played in nine more big league seasons, his vision never fully recovered and he was never the same player. It’s one of the biggest “What if...” questions in Astros’ history.
Arms race
Players and the Commissioner’s Office pick the All-Star pitching staffs. Unless he suddenly starts getting lit up regularly, Hunter Brown can pack a bag for Georgia. Framber Valdez wouldn’t make it now but has surged into contention. Josh Hader’s first half is going vastly better than last year’s, so he is in line for a reliever spot.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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