“Shore Thing Sleepers” isn’t your average fantasy football start/sit Week 2 article. Instead, our analyst duo of Seth Woolcock and Nate Polvogt highlight lower-valued players that can provide starting-caliber production for a specific week. These are usually players near the end of your bench or even on the waiver wire/free agency. You can catch an additional sleeper pick live at the end of our weekly in-season Friday podcast episode.
Rostership percentages are based on ESPN Points Per Reception (PPR) redraft fantasy football leagues.
Start/Sit Week 2 Consideration: Shore Thing Sleepers
Devin Duvernay (WR, Baltimore Ravens) | 14.9 Percent
Despite a great Week 1 performance, Baltimore pass catcher Devin Duvernay is still criminally under-rostered. Currently, he is sitting on waivers in 84.9 percent of leagues. Baltimore does figure to be a very low-volume passing offense similar to their 2020 campaign. That season, with a healthy Lamar Jackson at quarterback, they ran the ball on 55 percent of offensive snaps. However, there is still value in the team’s third receiving option. For the Ravens, it appears to be Durvenay behind tight end Mark Andrews and wide receiver Rashod Bateman.
That third receiving option for Jackson is even more valuable when they get mid-range scoring opportunities. We don’t know how Week 2 will pan out in classic sleeper fashion. But, it stands to reason that Durvenay would again get those opportunities after succeeding last week. In Week 1, he was on the field for 52 of 53 possible snaps against the Jets.
This is a dart throw but a measured one. Duvernay’s likely available in your league right now, and he could not only pay off in Week 2 but down the road if he continues to impress. – Polvogt
Zay Jones (WR, Jacksonville Jaguars) | 7.5 Percent
The Jacksonville Jaguars look to make it eight straight years that they defeat the division rival Indianapolis Colts at home. To do that, Trevor Lawrence will need to improve upon his 24/42 Week 1 performance that resulted in 274 passing yards, one TD and one INT in a loss to Washington. Look for him to once again heavily target Christian Kirk and, to a lesser degree, Zay Jones.
Jones flashed in Week 1, his first as a Jaguar, with six receptions for 65 yards on nine targets. Not only is Jones’ Week 1 23.7 percent target share attractive, but he also saw three rez zone targets, good for the second most in the NFL.
If the seventh-year man was anything in Week 1, it was efficient, sporting a 100 percent true catch rate (total receptions divided by catchable targets). I expect this efficiency to continue and for Jones to possibly cash in on a red zone target, considering that the Colts allowed Davis Mills to have a clean 240-yard, two-TD Week 1 showing. – Woolcock
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