Seahawks vs Panthers fantasy spotlight

The Seattle Seahawks (2-3) return home to play a big conference game vs the undefeated Carolina Panthers (4-0.) Who are the relevant fantasy players this weekend? Which star player should you avoid? Who is poised for a big game?

Seattle Seahawks

QB Russell Wilson: Russell Wilson is 4-0 vs the Carolina Panthers in his career, but that stat alone would be misleading. Russell Wilson’s best performance came in the divisional round playoffs last year vs the Panthers where he lit them on fire. The fantasy season was over by then, but it was still his best performance by far vs the same Panthers defense he is facing Sunday.

However, this Panthers defense is still no slouch despite that performance. If you have Andy Dalton as your backup to Russell Wilson, that may be the safer play after Russell Wilson put up his season low fantasy points wise vs the Bengals.

In DFS, I would stay away from Russell Wilson this week due to the caliber the Panthers defense can play despite the game being in Seattle. You can never go wrong with Tom Brady lately.

RB Marshawn Lynch: Marshawn Lynch is finally back after missing two weeks due to a lingering hamstring injury. However, does that make him a worthy play vs the Bengals? Depending on your RB depth in a season long league, it may be best to play him if bye weeks and injuries have plagued you to this point.

I still don’t 100% trust Marshawn’s health, and he has always struggled vs the Panthers as they key in on him. This is the time you want to make sure you have Thomas Rawls as Lynch’s fantasy handcuff going forward. I’d bench Marshawn again if I could afford it.

In DFS, I would stay away from Marshawn as well. I want to see him put up the numbers again, as he has been very fantasy irrelevant and real life football irrelevant after five games into the season. Look for Adrian Peterson or Dion Lewis as plays this week.

WR Doug Baldwin: Doug Baldwin is someone I’m keeping an eye on going forward as the Seahawks passing offense tries to improve. Doug is still the wide receiver Russell Wilson trusts mosts when he needs it most, and Doug Baldwin is making big plays every week even if it isn’t netting the most fantasy points.

Last week he had 3 catches for 70 yards. You could do worse than that. I wouldn’t play Baldwin this week with confidence, but considering the injuries to players like Dez Bryant and the under performance of players such as Golden Tate, considering Doug Baldwin as your final player on your roster might not be a bad idea.

In DFS, I’d play Doug Baldwin if I were trying to save money in other positions and want to sneak by here. However, it would be a very boom or bust play. He did score 7 points and 9 points the last two weeks though.

Carolina Panthers

QB Cam Newton: Cam Newton has had a decent year fantasy wise and in real life, but he’s had his struggles vs the Seahawks the four times he has played them. Wilson has to deal with a tough defense, and Cam Newton has to deal with arguably the best defense. He’s had his battles with them four times and he has yet to have an explosive game against the Seahawks.

Same as Wilson’s scenario, if you can bench Cam Newton for a QB like Andy Dalton, I would do it. The plus side to playing Cam Newton is his volume is so high since he averages 10 rushing attempts a game that his floor is pretty high even if he struggles due to the volume. Play him if you must, bench him if you can.

In DFS, I wouldn’t bother. Until Cam Newton has a lot of success vs the Seahawks, you don’t want to try to get too cute with your play at QB.

RB Jonathan Stewart: While Jonathan Stewart no longer has to split his carries with DeAngelo Williams, he still isn’t seeing that much success so far. His best fantasy performance this year was week 1 with 8.10 points.

The Seahawks run defense is very tough to run the ball against as Jeremy Hill owners found out last week. In a fantasy year where you can’t rely on Stewart to this point, this is definitely not the game you can suddenly trust Stewart to light up the Seahawks defense. If he does, so be it, but 90% of the time it’s a wasted spot on your game day roster.

In DFS, again I wouldn’t bother. The Panthers offense isn’t exactly appealing fantasy wise unless you’re Cam Newton or the next player we’re going to discuss.

TE Greg Olsen: If you’re a Greg Olsen owner, you can’t lock him in fast enough. Greg Olsen is Cam Newton’s primary target, especially after they lost Kelvin Benjamin for the entire season right before it started. Tyler Eifert had a day against the Seahawks defense putting up 21 fantasy points.

While Olsen hasn’t been as consistent as Eifert, Olsen will get fed the ball and is capable of giving the Seahawks defense fits much like a lot of the other good tight ends do. This could be a big game for Olsen, who already has a 27 fantasy point game this year.

In DFS, I would take Greg Olsen if I wasn’t looking to take Gronk and save a few dollars. Greg Olsen would appear to be poised to do what all the other good tight ends do to the Seahawks defense, and that is feast on them.

Next: Seahawks schedule now works in their favor

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