20 Sep The Week in Review: Week 2
The Week in Review: Week 2
Another Sunday full of pizza, beer, and football is in the books. Although I had to watch my Jets get absolutely crushed, Week 2 did not disappoint. That is the greatest part about fantasy football, your hometown team can get annihilated, but you can still walk away a winner. In this article, I will highlight all of the things I liked and disliked from Sunday’s slate of games.
Things I liked in Week 2 (there was a whole lot):
It would be disrespectful to start this section without bringing up Cooper Kupp. He was beyond amazing today connecting with Matthew Stafford for 163 yards on 9 receptions for 2 TDs. He has looked virtually unstoppable so far this year and his chemistry with his new QB is off the charts.
Were you one of the many to doubt Derrick Henry after Week 1? Even prior to the season, people were searching for any possible reason to fade the star RB. In Sunday’s shootout with the Seahawks, Henry rushed the ball a whopping 35 times; totaling 182 yards and 3 TDs. Doubt him at your own risk, the man is as elite as they come.
Christian McCaffrey might be the biggest cheat code in sports. Every time I watch the guy play I find myself questioning, “Is there anything this guy cannot do?” He followed up his Week 1 splash with another big game, rushing for 72 yards and a TD. He added 6 catches for 65 yards in the receiving game as well.
What a statement game for Courtland Sutton. 364 days from his horrific ACL injury, the stud WR had 8 catches for 153 yards. After losing Jerry Jeudy to an ankle injury, this is the type of game you like to see from Sutton.
Brandin Cooks had himself a day. Those who chose to draft him have received an absolute steal over the first two weeks of the season. Tyrod Taylor has already been ruled out for TNF so it will be interesting to see if Cooks can continue to impress with Davis Mills under center.
I really liked what I saw from Michael Pittman. He is a player I was projecting to have a sophomore-season breakout and was honestly disappointed after Week 1. He hauled in 9 catches for 123 yards on 12 targets. A full on breakout might very well be in progress.
Mike Davis? Wayne Gallman? Holy smokes, Batman it’s Cordarrelle Patterson! He is about to be everyone’s hot waiver-wire addition. His talent has never been in question, he has just never been in a situation to consistently produce high-quality fantasy production. It seems very possible that Atlanta might be the perfect home for the journeyman.
Rondale Moore has superstar potential. Christian Kirk was the talk of the town after Week 1, but I think Rondale is the WR you want on this team not named, “DeAndre Hopkins”. The speedy rookie caught 7 passes for 114 yards and a TD. He is shifty with the ball in his hands and looks to be the perfect match for Kyler Murray.
Hard not to mention Kyler’s performance today as well. He threw for 400 yards with 4 TDs and added 31 yards and a rushing TD on the ground. He has a legitimate shot to finish as the #1 QB overall in fantasy football this season.
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This might just be the year Mike Williams fully breaks out. He has been on fire to start the season and looks like a focal point of this offense. He has received over 10 targets in back-to-back games and looks to be a favorite of Herbert.
After a quiet Week 1, it is refreshing to know that Julio Jones is still Julio Jones. He is still a Top 10 talent and it was nice to see him eclipse 100 receiving yards in his new home.
K.J. Osborn is making a name for himself early on this season and I am here for it. After a solid Week 1, Osborn followed up with an even more eye-opening game. He finished with an impressive 6 catches for 91 yards and a TD. He looks to be the perfect complementary piece to Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Those two demand so much defensive attention that Osborn might just be able to keep up this level of production all season.
Things I did not like in Week 2:
We were all silently waiting for Jameis Winston to throw some picks. Winston looked lost against Carolina in this game, throwing for only 111 yards and 2 interceptions. I am not here to roast the guy but wanted to shoot down the narrative that he is capable of being a fantasy QB1.
Another glowing performance was delivered by none other than my guy, Zach Wilson. I would say this was the ugliest game I’ve watched as a Jet fan but we were just in the Adam Gase era. Better days are ahead for Wilson after throwing four head-scratching interceptions. After lighting it up in the preseason, many were comparing Zach to players like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. That was an overreaction. After this performance people are going to compare him to Nathan Peterson. That might be an even bigger overreaction. It is not fair to put this much pressure on a rookie, and it is essential to be patient.
This one might sound a little weird. After Tom Brady lit up the field yet again for 5 TDs, I found myself a bit concerned about this offense from a fantasy standpoint. It is not a lack of production. I expect the production to always be there. I just fear that it may be very difficult to predict which player will be left out from all the fun on a week-to-week basis. Last week, it was Mike Evans, this week we saw it happen to Antonio Brown. All I am saying is you might be left holding the bag if you pick the odd man out. If you have Tom Brady as your QB1 you can enjoy all of the benefits.
I have been very open speaking on my doubts about the 49ers backfield. It just did not sound like Kyle Shanahan to give all the work to one guy. Elijah Mitchell, Trey Sermon and JaMycal Hasty all got banged up in this game. This backfield seems very unpredictable and I want very little to do with it.
The same can be said for the Ravens RB room. I do give Ty’son Williams the edge on the rest of the pack though. He has shown flashes of greatness. This whole offense makes me a bit nervous.
It is time to be concerned about Pittsburgh’s offense. This marks back-to-back weeks of extremely underwhelming production. Big Ben Roethlisberger looks slow and does not have enough time to operate behind that horrid O-Line. I have begun to reduce my expectations for the team’s pass catchers and no longer view Ben as a safe streaming option. It was nice to see Najee Harris flash a bit of brilliance in this game though. That stiff arm was nasty.
It is also time to question Clyde Edwards-Helaire being a fantasy RB1. He is an undersized back who does not get all of the goal line opportunities. This would not be problematic if he was more involved in the passing game. The problem is, Kansas City’s offense is so loaded that CEH often gets lost in the madness. His cringe-worthy fumble to lose the game did not help his cause.
What a strange game it was for Dak Prescott. It is not often that you have a terrible fantasy outing as a QB and your team still manages to win. He finished the game with 237 passing yards for 0 TDs and 1 INT. With that stated, I am not concerned at all about Dak moving forward.
It is difficult to ignore Tyler Higbee’s usage vs. Indianapolis. After commanding 23% of the target share last week, Higbee only received one target in this game. I still think that Higbee is a startable option at the position, but I would limit extreme expectations.
The NFL’s new taunting rules. Enough said.
I know – a lot to process here. Now that we are almost through 2 full weeks of the NFL season, it is about time that we can begin to sort out and form genuine opinions on players and teams. A majority of the Week 1 overreactions have been busted but some things are starting to stick. If you lost your first two weeks of the fantasy season, do not panic or lose hope. The fantasy football season is long and strenuous. It is the managers who sustain a positive outlook through adversity who end up on top. Week 3 is right around the corner and a “W” is calling your name.
A ride-or-die NY Jets fan from Northern New Jersey who is passionate about sports, music and art. He works in purchasing for a fragrance manufacturer during the day and will go the extra mile to make sure your Fantasy Football teams are always fresh.