Cody Carpentier has been playing Fantasy Football since the age of 12 and working in the Fantasy and NFL Draft space since 2019.Outside of doing Shows and Rankings for Sportstopia, you can find Cody atRosterWatch.com where he travels throughout the year, attending events such as the NFL Combine, NFL Draft, Pro Days, and NFL training camps to gain that next-level edge that everyone desires. Outside of work, Cody enjoys barbequing and smoking meats, as well as competing in powerlifting competitions.
Cody Carpentier ranks the WRs for Week 2
After an eventful Week 1 from the Dolphins and Chargers, I am most intrigued to continue to watch the super-nova that is Miami’s Tyreek Hill. His ability to get in and out of breaks in routes, which I don’t understand due to his lack of crisp route running, can only be explained as a “bend” in the route.
General route-running savants take aggressive cuts at the top of a route, whereas Hill just bends them, or cuts them short. But his sheer speed and explosion in those “bends” allows him to create upwards of six yards of separation on short inside slant routes.
If Hill and Tua Tagovailoa stay healthy, there is a near 100% chance that Hill surpasses his preseason goal of 2,000 receiving yards.
Cody's Rankings for Week 2:
My favorite sleeper is the Texans’ Tank Dell. He was a sweetheart at the 2023 Reeces Senior Bowl, skating across the field with ease and separation. In Week 1, he and Noah Brown tied for third on the Texans with four catches each.
With Brown now on the IR, the door is open for Dell. Throughout training camp, analysts with boots on the ground in Houston called him “unguardable” and “the best” receiver on the team, while quarterback C.J. Stroud said he was his “favorite” target.
Cody Carpentier ranks the RBs for Week 2
Let’s do it again – McCaffrey, McCaffrey, McCaffrey. if Christian McCaffrey is healthy, it will be difficult to assume anything less than a weekly top three finish in fantasy points on the 49ers. This is what we said for Week 1 -- a week of tough predictions, and McCaffrey was one of five running backs we projected to finish in the Top 10, who did.
Two rookie RBs finished in the top 10 in fantasy points after Week 1 – the Falcons’ Bijan Robinson (RB7) and former college teammate Roschon Johnson (RB8).
Cody's Rankings for Week 2:
The majority of Johnson’s work came in the fourth quarter while Chicago was clawing to come back against Green Bay, but Johnson made play after play in the passing and running game. Expect to see his role grow in coming weeks as Chicago struggles to score points in a miserable NFC North.
Cody Carpentier ranks fantasy QBs for Week 2
Jalen Hurts disappointed in Week 1 for fantasy managers, who expect a top-5 finish week in and week out. Hurts finished as the QB19 after completing 66% of his passes for only 170 yards and running nine times for an abysmal 37 yards.
In Week 2, Hurts plays on Thursday night against the Minnesota Vikings, a team that in Week 1 couldn’t slow down Baker Mayfield and the new look Buccaneers. Mayfield had two passing touchdowns and nearly a 100 QB Rating.
In 2022, Hurts and the Eagles defeated Minnesota 24-7 in Week 2. He finished with 333 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He and the Eagles should continue that success in their 2023 home opener.
Last week, people looked past the flaws on Geno Smith’s 2022 stat sheet -- the dip in completion percentage down the 63% over the last five games and winning just two of five.
Cody's Rankings for Week 2:
We told you to be careful, because “The Rams are coming to play football on Sunday in Seattle.” Los Angeles not only came to play, but they walked the dog as well, outsourcing Seattle 23-0 in the second half and walking away with a big divisional win.
Continue to start Anthony Richardson with confidence if you drafted him as your QB1. Despite a loss to the Jaguars in Week 1, Richardson showed extreme promise with a whopping 37 pass attempts, of which he completed 65%. Richardson threw the ball more than 37 times, just three times while at Florida.
Cody Carpentier gives you the top plays at wide receiver for Week 1
No position needs less said about it in fantasy football than the upper echelon of wide receivers. Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase and Tyreek Hill all open the season in historical smash situations.
Devonta Smith and A.J. Brown, one of just two duos to both finish as top-10 fantasy receivers, have an interesting matchup in Week 1 against an underwhelming Patriots defensive backfield. Rookie Christian Gonzalez likely will track Smith, while head coach Bill Belichick utilizes a bracket-concept on Brown, due to his defensive strength at safety.
New England is known for taking away the opposing teams “best weapon,” but for Philadelphia, is that the dynamic duo at receiver or the legs of Jalen Hurts?
My favorite sleeper WR out of the gate was also my favorite sleeper WR in fantasy drafts. Michael Thomas played three games in 2022 with 22 targets, 16 receptions and 171 yards.
He finished as WR8 and WR18 over the first two weeks. Now that he’s the 'second option' in New Orleans, the 30-year-old star has a new quarterback and a chip the size of a flying saucer on his shoulder.
Don't miss the rest of Cody's Week 1 Positional Rankings:
Quarterback Rankings
Running Back Rankings
Tight End, Kicker, Def/ST Rankings
Cody Carpentier ranks all the QBs for Week 1
The NFL season is upon us, with great drama and optimism for all (most) teams with aspirations of a run to Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas.
Prolific young passers Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts inked new deals over the offseason to ensure their teams are in the championship race for the next half decade. While the Arizona Cardinals parted ways with veteran Colt McCoy in favor 5th-round draft pick Clayton Rune, the Indianapolis Colts are starting rookie Anthony Richardson over Gardner Minshew. Richardson will be Indy's eighth different starting quarterback since 2019.
The offseason of turmoil for running backs began with Miles Sanders receiving the biggest deal of the summer, a 4-year $25 million dollar contract with the Carolina Panthers. In six months, only five running back have received contract extensions. Three were for replacement level players, and the main two were only one-year extensions for Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs.
The market for 24- and 25-year-old backs is not what it was three seasons ago, when Todd Gurley and Ezekiel Elliott received mega-deals.
In the wide receiver world, DeAndre Hopkins escaped Phoenix for greener pastures in Nashville to play with Derrick Henry and the Titans. My favorite offseason move belongs to Calvin Ridley.
Although the trade was made in November 2022, Ridley wasn’t allowed on campus until the spring. Ridley hasn’t played in an NFL game since October of 2021, but in just five games that season he totaled 52 targets in Atlanta.
A position once overlooked may now be the staple, when looking at tight ends in 2023. Dalton Kincaid and Kyle Pitts are the only two tight ends since 2020 to be drafted in Round 1. Both are prolific pass-catchers with comparisons to a lot of wide receivers.
Darren Waller was traded to the New York Giants in March while being regarded as the “top receiving option”, while 26-year-old stud T.J. Hockenson inked a record-setting deal -- $16.5 million per season. That deal would make him the 16th highest paid wide receiver by annual salary.
Don't miss the rest of Cody's Week 1 Positional Rankings:
Running Back Rankings
Wide Receiver Rankings
Tight End, Kicker, Def/ST Rankings
Rank-QB-Team-Opponent
In three of the last four seasons, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have gotten off to very fast starts, most notably in 2019, when the Ravens went to Miami and put a 59-10 walking on the Dolphins. This ignited the storm that was Jackson’s MVP season. In 2022, Jackson and the Ravens started strong against the AFC East with Jackson totaling 12 touchdowns over the first three games of the season.
Russell Wilson is coming off of the worst year of his 10-year career, seeing efficiency drops in all categories, including completion percentage that has dropped almost nine points over the last two seasons. Wilson was consistently an undrafted option in fantasy football over the summer, and rightly so after losing Tim Patrick, KJ Hamler and most recently Jerry Jeudy in the receiving room.
The positive is new head coach Sean Payton, offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and recently healthy rookie receiver, Marvin Mims. Mims brings back a dynamic to Wilson’s repertoire that only Tyler Lockett had, while being on the field with overlooked veteran Courtland Sutton.
Denver’s team total is projected as a middling 23.5 in Week 1, but Las Vegas continues to neglect putting high-end resources into the back end of their defense, and giving Lombardi and Payton an entire off-season to plan is something to bet on.
Everything went right for Geno Smith during the first 12 weeks in 2022. He had a 72% completion percentage, better than a 3:1 touchdown-interception ratio and won seven games. But the back end of the season saw Geno return to the mean. He lost three of five games, dropped nine points in completion percentage and threw only eight touchdowns against five interceptions.
In Week 1, the Seahawks are seen as the fourth biggest favorite at some sportsbooks, but Rams coach Sean McVay and QB Matthew Stafford have had four months to plan for this one divisional matchup with Seattle, and Aaron Donald is healthy.
Cody Carpentier discusses the top fantasy plays at RB for Week 1
McCaffrey, McCaffrey, McCaffrey. If Christian McCaffrey is healthy it’s going to be difficult to assume anything less than a weekly top three finish in fantasy points on the 49ers.
All reports from the 49ers' training camp lead us to believe that head coach Kyle Shanahan & co. are being cognizant of McCaffrey's injury history, and want to use him more in the passing game while utilizing Elijah Mitchell and Tyrion Davis-Price between the tackles to keep the 27-year-old McCaffrey healthy.
Rookie phenoms ofton garner lots of attention from the get-go, however the Bijan Robinson ranking in Week 1 may cause some to go into neurogenic shock. Robinson is one of just five running backs to be drafted in the top 10 over the last 10 seasons.
Those four notable debuts:
The oldest starting RB in Week 1, Raheem Mostert, clocked a run of 23.09 mph in 2022, second only to teammate Tyreek Hill. Mostert has played on 75%+ snaps just once in his career, and it came in Week 15 against the Buffalo Bills last season.
Mostert finished as the RB13 with 156 total yards that week. With Jeff Wilson on the short-term IR and rookie De’Von Achane not quite 100 percent, Mostert will dominate the backfield role in Miami in a mega-shootout with the Chargers.
Don't miss the rest of Cody's Week 1 Positional Rankings:
Quarterback Rankings
Wide Receiver Rankings
Tight End, Kicker, Def/ST Rankings
Never fade the Big Dawg, except during the first month of the season. Derrick Henry is a larger-than-life fan favorite with superpowers for extremities. He will play an underrated Saints defense, while notoriously being a slow starter to the NFL season.
Henry has averaged 3.94 yards per carry over his career in September vs. 4.45 in October, and 5.13 in November.
Rank-Running Back-Team-Opponent
1. Saquon Barkley NYG DAL
2. Austin Ekeler LAC MIA
3. Christian McCaffrey SF @PIT
4. Travis Etienne JAX @IND
5. J.K. Dobbins BAL HOU
6. Joe Mixon CIN @CLE
7. Tony Pollard DAL @NYG
8. Nick Chubb CLE CIN
9. Raheem Mostert MIA @LAC
10. Jahmyr Gibbs DET @KC
11. Josh Jacobs LV @DEN
12. Miles Sanders CAR @ATL
13. Alexander Mattison MIN TB
14. Bijan Robinson ATL CAR
15. Jamaal Williams NO TEN
16. Brian Robinson WSH ARI
17. Aaron Jones GB @CHI
18. Najee Harris PIT SF
19. Rachaad White TB @MIN
20. Kenneth Walker SEA LAR
21. Derrick Henry TEN @NO
22. James Cook BUF @NYJ
23. Antonio Gibson WSH ARI
24. Rhamondre Stevenson NE PHI
25. Khalil Herbert CHI GB
26. D'Andre Swift PHI @NE
27. James Conner ARI @WSH
28. Dameon Pierce HOU @BAL
29. David Montgomery DET @KC
30. A.J. Dillon GB @CHI
31. Isiah Pacheco KC DET
32. Samaje Perine DEN LV
33. Cam Akers LAR @SEA
34. Tyler Allgeier ATL CAR
35. Michael Carter NYJ BUF
36. Kenneth Gainwell PHI @NE
37. Evan Hull IND JAX
38. Tyjae Spears TEN @NO
39. Rashaad Penny PHI @NE
40. Dalvin Cook NYJ BUF
41. Roschon Johnson CHI GB
42. Zack Moss IND JAX
43. Zach Charbonnet SEA LAR
44. Javonte Williams DEN LV
45. Devon Achane MIA @LAC
46. Ezekiel Elliott NE PHI
47. Breece Hall NYJ BUF
48. Justice Hill BAL HOU
49. Tank Bigsby JAX @IND
50. Kyren Williams LAR @SEA
51. Jaylen Warren PIT SF
52. Rico Dowdle DAL @NYG
53. Deon Jackson IND JAX
54. Kendre Miller NO TEN
55. Ty Chandler MIN TB
56. Devin Singletary HOU @BAL
57. Gus Edwards BAL HOU
58. Elijah Mitchell SF @PIT
59. Chuba Hubbard CAR @ATL
60. Jerick McKinnon KC DET
61. Clyde Edwards-Helaire KC DET
62. Cordarrelle Patterson ATL CAR
63. Deuce Vaughn DAL @NYG
64. Joshua Kelley LAC MIA
65. Damien Harris BUF @NYJ
66. Latavius Murray BUF @NYJ
67. Sean Tucker TB @MIN
68. Jaleel McLaughlin DEN LV
69. Chase Brown CIN @CLE
70. Keaontay Ingram ARI @WSH
71. Matt Breida NYG DAL
72. Zamir White LV @DEN
73. D'Onta Foreman CHI GB
74. Jerome Ford CLE CIN
75. Chris Evans CIN @CLE
Cody Carpentier discusses the top options at tight end, kicker and defense for Week 1.
Hayden Hurst makes his return to Atlanta, where he spent two of his five seasons. As a Falcon, he played 29 games, earning just four targets per game while capturing a TE15 overall finish in points per game.
After spending two days at the Carolina training camp, it was apparent that Hurst would be the leader in targets for the Panthers. Head coach Frank Reich said "we don’t have a true No. 1 receiver" but later said “we have our guy” when discussing Hurst.
Houston has a hectic matchup in Week 1 with rookie C.J. Stroud under-center, with injuries ravaging the offensive line over the last month. The Texans will try the quick game underneath as well as the screen game out of the backfield.
Dalton Schultz, however, will not be working out of the backfield. He's a fresh face in Houston after spending five seasons in Dallas with over 2,000 receiving yards. Closing out the 2022 seasons, Schultz finished with seven top-5 finishes at TE.
Outside of Schultz, the projected leading targets are rookie Tank Dell and veteran Robert Woods.
Don't miss the rest of Cody's Week 1 Positional Rankings:
Quarterback Rankings
Running Back Rankings
Wide Receiver Rankings
Rank-Tight End-Team-Opponent
If you did not draft Justin Tucker or Daniel Carlson, you are likely still looking for a kicker to bolster your rock solid roster in Week 1. This week’s value comes from the Tampa Bay-Minnesota game.
Chase McLaughlin is a great streamer after correcting a long three-season road trip, during which he was on six teams. McLaughlin made all his extra points while hitting a career high 30 field goals at an 83% clip, while finishing as K13 in 2022.
Rank-Kicker-Team-Opponent
Defense win championships, or so they said in the 1980’s. It’s 2023, and the majority of fantasy football leagues are still playing with team defense that feature limited weekly scoring. Pure randomness takes place in fantasy matchups, from a kick return touchdown to an opposing quarterback throwing five interceptions.
We've seen it all with defensive scoring. That’s why this week the top defense is out of the ordinary. Washington was not the first defense drafted this year, nor was it the second, third or fourth. Often, those missing out on defenses, aimed there eyes on the early season schedule that the Commanders will endure.
The Commanders will be a consistent part of this article throughout the season due to their up and down schedule. In Week 1-2 they play the lowly Cardinals and Broncos, before playing Buffalo and Philadelphia.
After two tough matchups, Washington will be back in primetime against Chicago, before a juicy matchup with Atlanta. The front even of the Commanders will keep them a top streamer throughout the season. However, in Week 1, I see them as the best play on defense against Clayton Tune and the Cardinals.
Follow @CarpentierNFL on Twitter for updates
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