Labor Day weekend is finally here! Unfortunately for some that means the end of summer. For sports fans, it means college football is upon us. The NFL takes a back seat for one week as the collegiate game gets its time in the spotlight. What a weekend it is going to be. Saturday may be one of the best slates of games for an opening weekend we have ever seen. Monumental matchups get this season started on the right foot, so lets jump right in and highlight what you need to be watching this weekend.

Friday (9/2)

Kansas State vs. #9 Stanford (9:00 PM, Fox Sports 1)

Christian McCaffery is worth the price of admission for this one folks. Last year’s Heisman runner-up dazzled last season en route to setting a new NCAA record for all-purpose yards. That record was previously held by Barry Sanders, just so you get an idea of how impressive that is. Last we saw McCaffery he sliced and diced his way through the Iowa defense, winning the Rose Bowl MVP. He tallied 279 all-purpose yards and a touchdown as the Cardinal trounced the Hawkeyes 45-16. Tonight’s game will be a nice preview of a potentially electric season by the Stanford star running back.

Saturday (9/3)

Wall-to-wall college football all day, everyone has their own teams and allegiances. Obviously I’m not going to tell you to not watch your team in favor of one of the games I think will steal the weekend. Here are some of the games to keep an eye on though.

#3 Oklahoma vs. #15 Houston (12:00 PM, ABC)

Wasting no time on Saturday, we get our first top-25 matchup of the season. The Sooners are the favorite in the Big 12 with national championship aspirations while the Cougars looked to shock the college football landscape. Oklahoma is a double-digit favorite but don’t rule anything out in a road game this early in the season.

#16 UCLA vs. Texas A&M (3:30 PM, CBS)

This matchup features a potential future #1 NFL draft pick in UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen. He leads the Bruins into extremely hostile territory against the Aggies. UCLA is a dark horse national title contender, and we’ll get a good first look at what this team is made of in Rosen’s sophomore year. This will be the best of the 3:30 PM games (yes, I know Leonard Fournette and LSU play Wisconsin, but that’ll be a blowout) so keep an eye on this scoreboard if you’re watching your hometown team.

#1 Alabama vs. #20 USC (8:00 PM, ABC)

The defending national champions open up the season in Arlington, Texas once again this season. Alabama faces a much better opponent this year in the Trojans. USC is one of the most talented teams in the country and could give the Crimson Tide a bit of a run. However, this is Alabama we are talking about. Nick Saban has said he will play both of his quarterbacks in this game, which is a risky strategy but Saban pulled it off last season against Wisconsin. I’m not going to ring the alarm for an upset alert here although I actually don’t think Alabama covers the 11.5 point spread (for you gamblers out there). Sunday (9/4)

#10 Notre Dame vs. Texas (7:30 PM, ABC)

This game has a little bit of everything. Notre Dame is a national title contender with two dark horse Heisman candidates at quarterback. Both are playing in this game in one of the toughest places to play in the country. On the other side is Texas, with head coach Charlie Strong squarely on the hot seat and in serious need of showing improvement. The Longhorns were one of the most inexperienced teams last season and return a ton of starters while the Fighting Irish are replacing key players on offense. While I wasn’t willing to put Alabama on upset alert, I will put Notre Dame on notice here. This is a potential upset waiting to happen.

Monday (9/5)

#11 Ole Miss vs. #4 Florida St. (8:00 PM, ABC)

A long weekend demands another day for the Weekend Viewer Guide. Luckily we are getting served up one hell of a Labor Day clash. Florida State is a favorite to win the national title, and Ole Miss is far from a cupcake. This virtual top-10 matchup (okay top-11 put who’s counting) will be the perfect way to end one of the best opening weekends in recent memory.

 

Everyone have a fun and safe holiday weekend! I’ll working on Monday to get ahead of the NFL season preview in an effort to finish before the season kicks off on Thursday. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon Page on Facebook.

 

 

Well it’s been another busy week with the end of the summer and football fast approaching. I’m playing a little bit of catch up today so this will be the first of a couple posts today. The other day I looked at the best fantasy offenses. Today I will be looking at the “limited” offenses that you should avoid if you don’t get the main source of production. I’ll finish up with a couple more breakout players you should keep your eye on late in your draft.

When I talk about a “limited” fantasy offense, I’m talking about a one-dimensional offense, or an offense where there are only one or two go-to options. That doesn’t mean these are bad offenses but these are where headaches will come from for a fantasy owner for not having the right guys. So here is the top three offenses that will have limited options this season.

(1) Minnesota Vikings

This is an archaic scheme that is run in Minnesota and a throwback to the old-school style of offense in the NFL. The only player worth any investment for fantasy purposes is Adrian Peterson. That is a bit obvious considering every season Peterson has played more than one game, he has been a top-five option in fantasy. Now there was a glimmer of hope that Stefon Diggs and Laquon Treadwell would be relevant this season. That was right up until quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a horrific non-contact injury that left him with a torn ACL and a dislocated knee.

Truthfully, this makes me a little more wary of Peterson as a top selection in fantasy drafts this season. He should still be a first rounder, but I might be a more inclined to go with Todd Gurley, David Johnson, or even Ezekiel Elliot because I believe all three may have a higher season than Peterson with Bridgewater done for the season.

(2) New England Patriots

You can call me crazy, but unless I’m getting Rob Gronkowski or Tom Brady, I don’t want to get too invested in the Patriots. That’s especially true if you don’t play PPR. This offense is loaded to the teeth with weapons for Brady to throw to outside of Gronk. The issue is this is a gameplan-oriented offense that picks on the weakness of the opposing defenses. In the past that meant having to worry about which running back would get the majority of the work. Now, I believe that touchdowns will come at a premium outside of Gronk (even his numbers could see a small regression in terms of receptions and yards). Even PPR legend Julian Edelman won’t be the slam-dunk fantasy option that he has been in the past. If you want to deal with a weekly headache, this will be the offense that causes it. You may get lucky a few times, but more often than not Bill Belicheck will have different plans in mind than helping you get a win in your fantasy matchup.

(3) Denver Broncos

If you watched the Broncos or owned one of them in fantasy last season, then you already know. Long gone are the days where this offense was setting league records left and right. Peyton Manning is enjoying retirement, and in steps former seventh-round pick Trevor Siemian at quarterback. Unfortunately for Siemian, he could be one reason why this is a “limited” fantasy offense. He is completely unproven and is being thrown in to lead the defending Super Bowl champions. There are some weapons here, which leads me to believe that receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders might be the only players worth owning. And don’t even get me started with C.J. Anderson; his inconsistency spoke volumes about his fantasy value last season.

* Avoiding the secondary, or even tertiary, players in these offense will save you a lot of trouble this fantasy season. It also furthers the point I tried to make earlier this week that just because a team is successful doesn’t mean that makes it a great fantasy offense.

Okay, so let’s quickly jump into some late-round sleepers to target late in your fantasy drafts. I’m going to try to keep this short and sweet so bear with me if I don’t give you the full book on these guys.

 

Derrick Henry, RB Tennessee Titans

The former Heisman trophy winner has looked great in the preseason, and with that his ADP is rising (I had to get him in the 10^th round in my PPR keeper draft). He is clearly the backup right now behind former rushing champion DeMarco Murray, but you can’t deny what Henry has shown so far. The Titans improved the offensive line, and want to feature both of these running backs. Henry is the guy that will provide the best rate of return between both running backs.

Tyler Boyd, WR Cincinnati Bengals

AJ Green is still the top dog in this offense, but with the loss of Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu to free agency, someone needs replace that production. Boyd looks poised to be that guy. The rookie from Pittsburgh should start in the slot and will see plenty of targets from Andy Dalton, especially with Tyler Eifert out at least the first month of the season. Unless you are in a cutthroat league, you may be able to rob Boyd late in your draft and laugh it up once he breaks out. This is a PPR stud in the making.

Jesse James, TE Pittsburgh Steelers

Big Ben’s long-time tight end Heath Miller retired in the offseason leaving a void at the position. Pittsburgh thought it had the solution when Ladarius Green signed a four-year deal in free agency. Now it looks like Green may never even see the field due to complications from concussions. Jesse James is plan-B at tight end, which may not be the worst thing in the world. James measures in at 6’7” and could be an amazing red zone target for the Steelers. Big Ben loved throwing to Miller in tough situations, and James could carve out a similar role with the opportunity the injuries to Green may afford him.

Stay tuned to Shooting the Moon for a late edition of the Weekend Viewer Guide. Send me your thoughts in the comments section or through social media. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook..