The Minnesota Vikings have a tough Week 2 opponent in the defending NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles. Rookie WR Jordan Addison had about as good of an NFL debut as possible. Is it too soon to anoint him an every-week fantasy starter? Or should fantasy football managers get him into lineups against the Eagles on Thursday night?
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Should I Start or Sit Jordan Addison in Fantasy This Week?
The most frustrating lineup decisions we have to make occur on Thursdays. It’s great when you get it right. But when you get it wrong, you get the pleasure of staring at those four points in your lineup for three days, wishing you had literally anyone else in that spot.
For example, last week, the first start/sit I wrote was on Skyy Moore. I said to sit him. If you didn’t take my advice for whatever reason, you had to stare at a big ole zero in your lineup for three days.
The situation with Addison is much different. For starters, it’s impossible to quantify the talent gap. Addison has already proven he can play.
In his first career game, he caught 4 of 6 passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. What was most exciting was Addison’s downfield usage. He profiles as a checkdown/underneath guy. For him to see deep targets is extremely encouraging.
Initially, my affinity for Addison was based upon a likely high-volume role near the line of scrimmage. If Week 1 wasn’t a fluke, his ceiling is that much higher.
If there is one negative for Addison, it’s that he’s still playing behind K.J. Osborn. Addison ran fewer routes last week and played fewer snaps, as he was on the field just 56% of the time.
For veteran players, I would look at this as a negative. But the Eagles Vikings Addison in the first round. There’s no reason to think this isn’t just a product of him being a rookie. If anything, the fact that he was so productive on limited playing time should be a positive.
As the season progresses, Addison should flip the script with Osborn, firmly establishing himself as the clear WR2. It may happen as soon as this week.
Fantasy Outlook for Addison vs. the Eagles
If you’ve been following my stuff for at least a couple of years, you may know my feelings toward Thursday Night Football and starting players on a short week. I don’t like it. My general philosophy is when in doubt, fade Thursday.
It goes without saying that doesn’t apply to every-week auto starts like Justin Jefferson and Jalen Hurts. But for guys like Addison, it definitely could. Given where he was drafted in fantasy, I would say a large portion of you did not take him expecting to need to start him right away. You can afford to leave him on the bench.
It’s too early in the season to glean anything from defensive stats. However, we can try and draw some conclusions from the previous week.
Last week, Mac Jones was able to move the ball pretty well against the Eagles. Specifically, he was able to eat them up underneath with Kendrick Bourne. That bodes well for Addison, especially as Darius Slay tries to lock down Jefferson.
Addison is the WR37 in our PFN Consensus Week 2 Rankings. WR36 is technically the cutoff for where you should be expected to have to start a player. So, Addison is not a must-start.
MORE: Fantasy Football’s Week 2 Burning Start/Sit Questions
At the same time, I do think Addison is only going to get better. It’s only a matter of time before he jumps T.J. Hockenson as Kirk Cousins’ second option. Even against a tough opponent, I would lean toward starting Addison.
If you have someone clearly better, of course, don’t force Addison into your lineup. Just don’t go out of your way to bench him.