Buffalo Bills fantasy football preview, Week 4: LeSean McCoy is back

The Buffalo Bills were left for dead after two weeks, having been outscored 78-23 in losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers. Then, they traveled west and destroyed the Minnesota Vikings, winning 27-6 in a tremendously important road game.

With such wild inconsistency, predicting which Bills are fantasy football-worthy is incredibly difficult. Last week, we projected solid days for quarterback Josh Allen and running back Chris Ivory, which turned out to be right. In the weeks before, however, we were hoping for strong days from the likes of wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin (nope) and running back LeSean McCoy (still nope), but we were ultimately let down.

With the Bills traveling to the not-yet frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers this week, Bills fans are feeling far more optimistic than they were a week ago. Which players are worth starting in fantasy football this week? I suppose that depends on just how confident you are.

QB Josh Allen

After watching last weekend’s masterful performance from the rookie, I’m all-in. Allen scored 27.74 points last week, good for fifth among quarterbacks in the week. Yahoo! has Allen projected to score 15.19 points this week, placing him at QB27. He’s only projected to outscore fellow rookies Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold, as well as San Francisco 49ers starter C.J. Beathard. Allen has surpassed his projection in each of his two pro starts, and while he might not have the same kind of production running the football that he did last week (10 carries, 39 yards, 2 touchdowns), the potential for extra points via the run makes him a good bet to surpass his projection yet again. If he can combine another solid rushing game with some hits in the deep game (as opposed to the near-misses he’s seen on long passes in the last two games), Allen will provide surplus value for those who have him on their fantasy roster.

RB LeSean McCoy

McCoy is off to an incredibly slow start, though some of that has to do with the rib-cartilage injury he suffered during Buffalo’s loss to the Chargers. After rushing for 110 yards in the 2017 season opener, McCoy endured a similar swoon, rushing 67 times for 169 yards over Buffalo’s next four games. Once the offensive line found its footing, however, McCoy was able to rally and finish the year with 1,138 yards on the ground. He has to start turning his year around somewhere, and against a Green Bay defense that allows 124.3 yards per game on the ground and 4.7 yards per attempt, it’s the perfect time to do it. While he may not play as many snaps as he would if were completely healthy, expect McCoy to be effective on Sunday.

Bills D/ST

This is a weird hunch, but I think Buffalo is going to be able to stop the Packers from running the ball, and I also think that they’ll be able to pressure superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is nursing a knee injury. As a result, the Bills could end up with a few sacks on the afternoon. If Tre’Davious White is able to smother the Packers’ top wideout, Davante Adams, then the stop unit could be in for another solid day.