A Fantasy Football All Stream Team graduate, Tajae Sharpe will vault past the 50% ownership threshold and will instead get his article this week. He is one of the hot waiver wire pickups and one that you should slot into your lineup immediately.
If you’re unfamiliar with the rookie wideout, he was famously the rookie that was put ahead of Dorial Green-Beckham on the initial depth chart. Many dismissed Sharpe’s placement as being merely a motivational tool to push DGB and Justin Hunter when they returned for preseason. Instead, Sharpe motivated the Titans to trade DGB to the Eagles and trade Justin Hunter back to the scrap heap as they released him when roster cut downs were due. He runs great routes, has great hands and has the eye of Marcus Mariota.
Last week, the Titans offense looked miserable. The exotic smash mouth we were promised all off-season was, in reality, a collection of strange and ineffective plays involving Marcus Mariota and the running backs. When Mariota was allowed actually to throw the ball, his favorite target was Tajae Sharpe. Sharpe tied for eighth among wide receivers with eleven targets this week. This puts him at a target pace with guys like Doug Baldwin, Antonio Brown and Amari Cooper. He hauled in seven of these catches for 76 yards. This is not bad for a guy who went from depth chart motivation roster fodder to the #1 receiver in a run-based offense. He likely would have gotten an end zone opportunity or two if Marcus Mariota hadn’t made two of the most startlingly bad turnovers in week one.
Now Tajae gets to take on a Lions defense that allowed a 6/64/1 line, a 4/94 line, a 4/53/1 line, a 3/35/2 line and a 6/79 line all last week. The Lions were physically incapable of shutting down the Colts receivers and tight ends, giving up useful fantasy weeks to four of the five of them and a decent one to the fifth. Sharpe will get the bulk of the action in this tilt, with Delanie Walker also seeing targets. They will both have big games, and both should be in your lineup this week.
Sharpe won’t be a one-week fill-in, either. He takes on the Raiders next week, who just finished their shootout with the Saints, then after a tougher matchup with Houston, gets the depleted Dolphins secondary, then the Browns and the broken Colts secondary. Tajae is locked in as Marcus Mariota’s #1 target, and should be locked in for your fantasy football squad as well. Sharpe is going to be in your starting lineup for a while, just go ahead and slide him in there now.