Thursday fantasy open thread: Which Lions-Falcons player will outperform their projections?

Last week’s upset of the Arizona Cardinals was a reminder from the Detroit Lions that nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems. Crazy things can happen any given week, which is a scary thought heading into the fantasy semifinals. Add in the challenges of COVID, and fantasy managers are wondering if there is anything to cling on to.

While the Atlanta Falcons seem to offer a few good options, the Detroit defense has been decent when it wants to. The playoffs mean the best players should be started, though, so trust the ones who have stepped up the most down the stretch. Reminder: the below scoring includes 6-point touchdowns and 0.5 PPR.

Today’s Question of the Day is:

Which Lions-Falcons player will outperform their projections?

• D’Andre Swift (12.6 pts): 46 rush yd, 3.9 rec, 31 rec yd, 0.5 TD
• Amon-Ra St. Brown (10.6 pts): 5.7 rec, 59 rec yd, 0.3 TD
• Cordarrelle Patterson (15.0 pts): 59 rush yd, 3.1 rec, 34 rec yd, 0.7 TD
• Kyle Pitts (10.5 pts): 4.6 rec, 64 rec yd, 0.3 TD

My answer: Patterson came out of nowhere and vaulted himself into the RB1 range, and of course he will be started this weekend. Managers that can deploy him this week have been boosted by him all season. The case for Pitts is a little more interesting. The well-regarded rookie has just about lived up to expectations as TE6, but was probably not the best use of draft capital. Still, that means that most managers do not have a better option at the position.

It took a few months, but it looks like the Lions finally have a go-to option at receiver, and St. Brown is an interesting flex play in the semifinals. Starting the rookie is a bit of a risk, but not nearly as risky as it is to roll with Swift coming back from injury. After missing three weeks, the running back returned to practice, but this is a precarious fantasy situation to throw him into. Hard to see him putting up RB1 numbers, but if healthy, he could be a solid RB2.

Your turn.