Fake Teams fantasy football mailbag: Start Alex Collins or Christian McCaffrey?

Welcome to the Fake Teams’ fantasy football mailbag. Get ready for an excellent week of questions as we got a bunch of matchup questions and even some Star Wars inquiries.

If you want to send in your questions for next week’s mailbag, here are the ways to join:

• tweet @petemrogers or @Faketeams using #FTFFmailbag
• email at ftffmailbag@gmail.com
• leave your question in the comments!

Onto the mailbag:

Q: Should I start McCaffery or Alex Collins in a standard league?
— Wyatt M.

This is a real good question as there’s no clear favorite purely based on matchup. McCaffrey and the Panthers are facing off against the Falcons (12th best run defense, 7th best at limiting fantasy points per RORD) while Collins and the Ravens are against the Titans (10th best run defense, 13th best at limiting fantasy points).

If I had to make a pick—which I do or else this would just be a worthless response—I’d go with McCaffrey. The Panthers just traded away their best receiver and clearly did it for a reason. They claim it was to get more speed on the field (whatever that means) and coaches everywhere on that team have been hinting that there’s more to come from McCaffrey. I just think the Panthers are going to roll out a new gameplan Sunday against the Falcons and it’s going to be Christian focused. We’ll see, but that’s where I’m putting my money.

Q: my trade for A Cooper paid off but face a new problem: Benjamin, Cooper, S Shepard, Ginn Jr, and Richardson. Start 3
— @TheRealYeagg

Right off the bat, start Sterling Shepard. He’s healthy and outside of Evan Engram, he’s the only receiver on the Giants, so he’s going to get his. I also think you gotta start Ted Ginn who’s been the most explosive option in the Saints’ passing attack the last three weeks and is facing off against a Buccaneers’ team ranked 29th against the pass (per ROPED Index) and giving up the 3rd most points to opposing wide receivers.

So the third spot comes down to Benjamin, Cooper and Richardson.

Clark and I discussed this on the podcast this week, but I kinda think the Bills are going to try and get Benjamin some red zone looks against the Jets. I’m thinking just a couple of fades and let him use his size to go and make a play. He’s performance is entirely touchdown dependent but I think he’ll get a score tonight. On the otherside, Cooper faces a baaaaad Dolphins’ pass defense but do you trust Cooper to put something together this week?

My starting lineups, ranked:

1. Shepard, Ginn, Cooper
2. Shepard, Ginn, Benjamin
3. Cooper, Shepard, Richardson

Take your pick.

Q: Who’s fantasy value was helped most at the trade deadline: Kelvin Benjamin or Jay Ajayi?
— Sarah P.

Excellent question.

Short answer: Kelvin Benjamin. I’ll be curious to see if Jay Ajayi can get things back on track and it certainly helps that he’ll be playing in a better offense with a better offensive line, but the Eagles have made it clear that they’re keeping Blount involved and they don’t need to rush Ajayi into the gameplan. Meanwhile, the Bills don’t have wide receivers to pass to so you can bet Benjamin will be playing as soon as he’s able (likely tonight).

If you want a long answer/a more in-depth take on the fantasy impact of the deadline, listen into Thursday’s podcast:

Q: On a scale from Attack of the Clones to A New Hope, how excited are you for The Last Jedi?
— Kevin W.

OOOOOHHHHH interesting you put Attack of the Clones as your worst movie. I’d go with Revenge of the Sith as it was the first movie ever to make Darth Vader and James Earl Jones seem dorky. Blarg.

My level of excitement is through the roof. I’d currently put it just above The Force Awakens but ever so slightly below Empire Strikes Back. The Force Awakens was amazing and has set me up with the loftiest of expectations for The Last Jedi, which, as any good trailer should do, I’m buying 100%.

I mean, watch that and tell me you’re not totally 100% freaking out watching Luke step into the Millennium Falcon again. C’mon son.

Q: Is it time to give up on Terrelle Pryor?
— Cameron E.

You’re killing me for making me answer this (hence why I put it at the bottom of the mailbag) but yes, it’s time to give up on Terrelle Pryor. He’s only scored double digit fantasy points once this season and Washington seems to be actively keeping him off the field. Not exactly what you want to be seeing out of your starting wide receiver. There was hope for a revival at the trade deadline if he’d gotten shipped off to a wide receiver needy team but since he’s still trapped in Washington, the hypetrain has officially crashed and burned.

Have fantasy football questions? You can email them into FTFFmailbag@gmail.com or tweet them at @petemrogers or @faketeams using the hashtag #FTFFmailbag.