Listed in order they should be picked up

RB Brandon Jackson- Green Bay

Percent Owned (ESPN): 1.0%

Update: Grant to be placed on IR, needing season ending surgery. Jackson should be owned in every league. 

With Ryan Grant’s status out for the Packers week 2 game and backup James Starks on the PUP for 6 weeks, Jackson, who rushed for 63 yards on 18 carries after Grant went down week 1, will get the start week 2 against Buffalo. Jackson has been a fairly unspectacular runner his entire career, but against Buffalo’s weak ground defense he could approach 100 yards next week.

RB Peyton Hillis- Cleveland

Percent Owned (ESPN): 3.4%

The former fullback split carries evenly with Jerome Harrison rushing for 41 yards on 9 touches. He also chipped in with 4 catches for 24 yards and got most of the short yardage carries, scoring a touchdown. He should be owned in most leagues as I expect him to split with Harrison, or at least get 40% of the carries, as well as the goal line looks.

WR Mark Clayton- St. Louis

Percent Owned (ESPN): 2.3%

The former first round pick was 2010 1^st overall pick Sam Bradford’s favorite target in the Rams week 1 game catching 10 balls for 119 yards on an amazing 16 targets. Clayton is not much better than average at this stage in his career, but the Rams are really thin  at receiver and Clayton looks like the favorite for yards on this team going forward.

WR Nate Washington- Tennessee

Percent Owned (ESPN):  2.4%

Washington looks like the Titans #1 receiver right now with Kenny Britt having conditioning problems. Washington led the team in receptions and receiving yards against Oakland with 3 catches for 88 yards and should do that for most of the season. He also scored this week as well. The only issue, Tennessee doesn’t throw much so he’s not going to be a weekly 80+ yard guy, but he’s worth a fantasy roster spot nonetheless as a #1 receiver.

 

QB David Garrard- Jacksonville

Percent Owned (ESPN): 20.6%

The chronically underrated Garrard tore apart the Broncos in a week 1 win throwing for 170 yards and 3 scores with 0 picks on only 21 attempts. He should definitely be owned in most leagues as a backup.

RB Fred Taylor- New England

Percent Owned (ESPN): 20.4%

Laurence Maroney is hurt and has seemingly fallen out of favor with the coaching staff anyway so Taylor is going to be the starter from this point on. He had 77 yards on 16 touches week 1. Unfortunately he’s a New England running back which means his carries could be pretty inconsistent because Bill Belicheck hates fantasy football. Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, and even Maroney could steal carries from him, but with the way he ran last week and the way he ran in the preseason, BB would be best served to get Taylor 15+ touches every week.

WR Brandon Lloyd- Denver

Percent Owned (ESPN): 0.2%

Lloyd matched his 2009 receiving totals in one week this year with 117 yards week one against the Jaguars. He, not Jabar Gaffney, appears to have won Brandon Marshall’s old role in Denver and should be a solid source of yards going forward.

WR Mike Thomas- Jacksonville

Percent Owned (ESPN): 2.6%

Thomas was clearly the best Jacksonville receiver on the field week 1, over Mike Sims Walker, 2009 Fantasy Breakout Stud. The former 4^th round pick and accomplished college receiver caught 6 passes for 89 yards, leading the team, in a win over Denver week 1.

TE Todd Heap- Baltimore

Percent Owned (ESPN): 15.7%

Heap caught 6 balls for 72 yards in the Ravens week one game against the Jets. When healthy, he’s a very underrated solid performer at tight end and should put up TE1 numbers for you week in and week out, unless his history of injuries flares up again. He’s worth the risk if you need tight end help.He

QB Josh Freeman- Tampa Bay

Percent Owned (ESPN): 3.2%

Josh Freeman was bad last year with 18 picks in 290 attempts, but in his first game this year against Cleveland, Freeman showed himself to be a much improved quarterback going 17 for 28 for 182 yards 2 scores and a pick. He’s an interesting pickup as a high upside QB2 after all the work he put in this offseason.

TE Evan Moore- Cleveland

Percent Owned (ESPN): 0.1%

Moore was on the practice squad at this time last year, but Moore, who caught 12 passes for 158 yards in 5 games last year, picked up where he left off with 3 catches for 87 yards against Tampa Bay and could be an interesting tight end option in deep leagues going forward. He’s clearly more talented than the overpaid Ben Watson.