I am kicking off my Studs and Duds column which I will be putting out every week. I will try to have this posted on Thursday afternoons. Now, some explanation about how I will do this column. I will pick various players who I think will have a great week (studs) and players who will under-perform (duds)  from what we are expecting each week. In some cases even though a player is on this list, doesn't mean you should start lower ranked players instead of a star player because of a bad match up. I am simply meaning temper expectations. The studs on the other hand, will be players that I see having a monster week. They will be players that I believe will exceed their projections for the current week. This should be a fun article to do every week and lets hope to see more hits than misses. So lets get started!

STUDS

A theme that may be on here multiple times this year is to start the QB who will be playing against the Colts. This defense just does not look good. Last week Andy Dalton threw for 243 yards and 2 TD. There is no reason why to think Alex Smith could easily pass for 300 yards and two or three TD's. You could also see him getting some extra points on the ground. Now last week he only ran for 14 yards, but that was on 8 rushes. I can see that going up as Smith had the 6th highest rushing yards total for QB's last season. I have him currently as my QB6, but will be in my top 5 if Aaron Rodgers does not play. If you can start Alex Smith this week you won't be disappointed. 

RB- James Connor

I am expecting Le'Veon Bell to once again not play this week. I ranked Connor way too low last week and that was a mistake. I have him as my RB7 this week and would not be surprised if he finished better than that. Last week he led the league in RB touches with 36. Now I'm not saying he will get similar touches this week, but he has the opportunity for another top scoring performance. The Chiefs defense doesn't scare me and last week Melvin Gordon showed why. It was a very pass happy game so Gordon's 64 rushing yards on 15 carries doesn't worry me. He also had 9 catches for 102 yards in that game. Just insane. The Chiefs will not be able to stop Connor this week and I could see him having a better rushing day than Gordon did a week ago. I'm expecting a high scoring game and with the Steeler's having so much trust in Connor, he is in for another huge week. 

RB- Christian McCaffrey 

The injury to Greg Olsen means one thing. McCaffrey will see an uptick in usage with Olsen sidelined. Last season while Greg Olsen was injured, McCaffrey  averaged 6 catches a game. In games that Olsen was active, he averaged just 3.9 catches a game. McCaffrey had 6 catches for 45 yards last week and could see similar, if not higher numbers this week. Cam Newton will have to rely on him to keep the offense going. Last week the Falcons gave up 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns, to a backfield who is not nearly as talented as McCaffrey. The uptick in usage will propel him into the top 10 scorers this week. 

RB- Adrian Peterson

I chose this pick not only because he gets to go against the Colts defense, but because the future Hall of Famer was given 28 touches last week. He solely has the starting RB postion all to himself. He ran for 96 yards on 26 carries. Not a great yards per carry but the volume is the biggest eye opener here.  With that kind of volume, I can easily see him having another huge week. Last week Joe Mixon tore up the Colts defense with 149 total yards. The ageless wonder will continue his hot start of the year. The reason why I have him as my RB14 this week is because of Chris Thompson. I can see this game being a shootout and Chris Thompson is the clear receiving back for this team. AP's volume and the awful defense they get to face this week is why I have him as one of my Studs. 

WR- Jarvis Landry

He is a must start for me this week. I am upset I did not get enough shares of him this season. He looks like the real deal in this offense that has completely turned around from a season ago. He will be a PPR machine this year for the Browns. Last week, in terrible weather, he still managed to get 7 catches for 106 yards. He should be Tyrod Taylor's primary target all season long. He has had 100+ catches in two of the last three seasons and that was with the Dolphins. He will hit that mark once again this year. This week he is going up against the Saints defense who gave up 417 yards passing to the Buccaneers. Now I don't see that happening again, the Saints had a top defense last year. I can see them needing to throw constantly to keep up with Drew Brees and Landry should benefit. 

 WR- Tyler Lockett- I will be moving him up in my rankings when I put out my updated list tomorrow. Currently I have him as WR31 but may end up being close to the WR20 range. I think he is going to benefit the most from Doug Baldwin's injury. Lockett hasn't been the healthiest player throughout his career, but this year he looks great. Last week he had 59 yards and a touchdown against the Broncos great pass defense . This week he goes against the Bears, who gave up 142 yards and a touchdown to Randall Cobb just last week. Cobb like Lockett, is operating mostly in the slot position. I like Lockett to surprise some people this week. 

TE- George Kittle

One of my main waiver wire pickups this week is in for a huge season. He had 5 catches for 90 yards last week and it should have been a lot more. He dropped a huge TD that could have made his performance even more impressive. He is set to be Jimmy Garoppolo's primary target in a pass happy offense. This week the 49ers face a Lions defense who just got blown out by the Jets. The Jets.. Look for Kittle to have a great game this Sunday. 

DUDS

Yes I know that I have a Seahawks WR in the Studs section, but I can see a game where Lockett scores a TD, and that be the only one they score. This Bears defense just looks amazing so far this year. The addition of Kalil Mack is going to be a huge difference for this team. I'm worried about Wilson this week. The first three games last season he averaged just 152 yards a game. With the loss of Jimmy Graham and Doug Baldwin, I just don't like his opportunity to have a top 5 performance like we are used to seeing. I currently have him ranked as my QB16 and expect him to be right around there or lower this week. There are plenty of other options at QB that will have a better performance. 

RB- Derrick Henry

I thought Dion Lewis would be a factor in Henry's usage but I didn't expect what happened last week. Lewis handled 71% of the snaps while Henry only played in 29%. Henry does have big play ability and could crush this call on a single play, but I just think Lewis is the better player. I see a game where the Texans will be leading and the Titans will need to play catch-up. Lewis is the passing down back and I believe he will command most of the snaps once again. The Texans have a pretty good defense holding the Patriots RB to under 4 yards a carry last week. Derrick Henry has yet to prove he can be a lead back in this offense and I can see Lewis hurting Henry's value all season long. 

WR- Chris Hogan 

I was completely blown away by Hogans poor performance last week. He was held to one catch for 11 yards. I don't expect a blowup game from him this week. I also don't expect him to have that poorly of a game. The Jaguars defense is in my opinion, the best in the league. The last time these two teams played, Hogan was held to 2 catches for 20 yards. Now the Patriots had a few more weapons last season than they do now, I just see them attacking the Jaguars differently. I currently have him as WR21 this week, but I am planning on moving him down. Some guys that I would think about playing over him include: Tyler Lockett, Kenny Stills, and Emanuel Sanders. I would be looking elsewhere this week. 

WR- A.J. Green

This is solely a matchup call for me. I am a huge fan of this Ravens defense and think they are coming into this divisional matchup with a ton of confidence after holding the bills to 70 passing yards. In his two games against the Ravens last season he averaged 45.5 yards and 3.5 catches. Not great. Any other week he can be placed in the top 5 category for WR. This is not that week. I have Green as my WR18 this week and would not be surprised if he finished lower than that. I am still starting him in leagues this week. He is still A.J. Green and could blow up and any time. Just temper expectations for this game. 

TE- Jimmy Graham

He may be on this list a few times this season as I am not on the hype train. He was held to 2 catches for 8 yards last week. I feel even less confident if Aaron Rodgers can't play. He does have a great chance of scoring a TD any given week, but thats all your hoping for. George Kittle did just tear up the Vikings defense, but Graham as never been much of a yardage TE. He is the most effective in the Redzone. He may have a few chances to score but I'd rather have a George Kittle or David Njoku this week.