Start
Brock Purdy (QB) – San Francisco 49ers
@ Los Angeles Rams
Purdy is the first quarterback in NFL history to win his first 6 games and throw for more than 2 touchdowns in each contest – meaning it might be time that we start to believe in his fantasy value. He’s surrounded by some of the best receiving weapons in the NFL in an offense that’s built around Purdy getting the ball out quickly and safely. To date he’s only thrown 4 interceptions over his 199 career pass attempts. With most of the top quarterbacks in fantasy already off to disappointing starts, throwing Purdy in for a week in an offensive matchup against the Rams is a strong play.
Jared Goff (QB) – Detroit Lions
Vs Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks defense in week 1 didn’t look good, allowing Matthew Stafford to turn back the clock and tear them apart for 334 yards. Pete Carroll will likely have the defense in much better shape in week 2, but Goff and the Lions offense will still pile up the points. Amon-Ra St. Brown is a PPR machine, and Jahmyr Gibbs looks like he’s going to be a serious receiving threat out of the backfield. Given the time and space that Goff is likely to have against Seattle, he’s in line for a monster performance.
Zay Flowers (WR) – Baltimore Ravens
@ CIncinnati Bengals
The Ravens offense has a new look, and while it didn’t look great last week, there was a noticeable change in concept. They’re finally running a modern offense – they only had 150 offensive snaps all of last season in 3 receiver sets, but had 40 in week 1 alone. Zay Flowers led the entire NFL in designed play percentage, and just from watching the game, he’s clearly the best receiver on the team. The Bengals offense will rebound from a horrendous week 1, and force the Ravens offense to continue to play aggressive, and Flowers will be a major benefactor of this.
Nico Collins (WR) – Houston Texans
Vs Indianapolis Colts
24 year old Nico Collins looks to be the WR1 in Houston this year and could be primed for a breakout week 2 performance against a weak Indianapolis secondary. Collins was targeted 11 times in week 1, and while he only hauled in 6 catches, that was more on C.J. Stound adapting to the speed of the NFL regular season. Stroud looked composed in the pocket, and while he certainly made some rookie mistakes, he wasn’t a fish out of water. If Collins can snag a few more of those catches and improve on his 80 receiving yards from week 1 like I think he’s capable of doing, he could easily finish as a top 24 WR in week 2.
Zach Moss (RB) – Indianapolis Colts
@ Houston Texans
While I don’t fully believe that Zach Moss has the talent to be a top running back in the NFL, he returns from injury for the Colts as a clear workhorse back. Rookie Evan Hull is out with a knee injury, and Deon Jackson had a horrendous week 1 performance, rushing 13 times for 14 yards with 2 fumbles. Rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson actually looked capable as a passer which will help open up the running lanes for Moss this week. The Colts offensive line has the talent to have a bounce back season after an awful 2022 campaign, and Moss might be a major benefactor as long as he holds down the lead role.
Tyler Allgeier (RB) – Atlanta Falcons
Vs Green Bay Packers
Allgeier will be a thorn in the side of Bijan Robinson owners all season. He finished week 1 with 15 rushes for 75 yards, and more importantly punched in 2 touchdowns for the Falcons. Atlanta clearly has no interest in the passing game. While Bijan will still provide fantasy owners with weekly value, Allgeier has a role and will likely be a weekly starter in fantasy. Cordarelle Patterson does return from injury this week which may eventually eat into Allgeier’s touches around the goal line, but he’ll likely be eased into things for at least this week, leaving Allgeier to continue to take the majority of the high value touches.
Hunter Henry (TE) – New England Patriots
Vs Miami Dolphins
Choosing last week’s #1 fantasy tight end as a must start this week seems like a cop out, but Henry is still only owned in just 53% of leagues after his 5 receptions, 56 yard and 1 touchdown showing in week 1. The tight end position was a wasteland in week 1, and although Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews look to be in line to suit up for week 2, that could be in more limited roles than we’re used to. The Patriots offense moved the ball fairly well after getting down early against the Eagles in a rainy week 1 matchup, and they’ll have to push the offense again to try and keep up with the explosive Dolphins in week 2. Henry looks like Mac Jones’ red zone go-to option, and should have an ever bigger week 2 performance.
Sit
Dak Prescott (QB) – Dallas Cowboys
Vs New York Jets
While the Jets offense looks to be in disarray with the injury to Aaron Rodgers, their defense was a key factor as to why they won their week 1 matchup against the Bills. Josh Allen turned the ball over 4 times, and the opportunistic New York defense will likely cause the same kind of havoc for Prescott in week 2. The Cowboys have one of the best defenses in the league, so this game isn’t likely to be a high scoring affair. Look for both teams to try and rely on their incredibly talented running backs and protect their quarterbacks on Sunday.
Geno Smith (QB) – Seattle Seahawks
Vs Detroit Lions
Geno Smith and the Seahawks offense was overwhelmed by Aaron Donald and the pass rush of the Rams in week 1, and it won’t get any easier in week 2 against Aiden Hutchinson and the Detroit Lions. The Hawks have already lost 2 key offensive linemen in left tackle Charles Cross (toe) who has been ruled out and right tackle Abraham Lucas (knee) who was placed on the IR. The team is so desperate for help along the line that they recently signed 41 year old Jason Peters to the roster. After the signing, when asked about why he was coming back Peters said “Twenty [years in the league] sounds better than 19, don’t it? Seattle’s got a good team, man. And I feel like we can make a run in the playoffs and get to the Super Bowl, to be honest.” Asked how soon he could play, Peters said, “I mean, maybe this Sunday, maybe a couple weeks. Just got to get a feel for the pads. I haven’t had them on since January. That’s going to take some time.” He won’t be the answer at tackle anytime soon. While the Hawks will have to try and keep up with the high powered Detroit offense, Smith is in line for another disappointment of a game.
Drake London (WR) – Atlanta Falcons
VS Green Bay Packers
Until either Drake London is traded or the Falcons move on from Arthur Smith as head coach and Desmond Ridder at quarterback, London will be unplayable. He finished last week with a grand total of 1 target with 0 receptions, and matched up against Jaire Alexander this week, that final line isn’t likely to improve. The Falcons are going to run (or dump it off to their running backs) on the majority of their offensive opportunities, leaving London disappointing fantasy owners yet again this week.
Garrett Wilson (WR) – New York Jets
@ Dallas Cowboys
Wilson was likely either your late 1st or early 2nd round WR with all the hype surrounding the rapport between him and Aaron Rodgers. So benching him in week 2 is going to be devastating to your roster. With Zach Wilson stepping back in as the team’s starter, Garrett Wilson is barely playable against a strong Cowboys defense. Garrett Wilson saved his week 1 fantasy line by essentially intercepting an awful red zone throw from Zach Wilson, but with how awful the Jets offensive line looked facing off against the speedy Cowboys pass rushers, Garrett Wilson won’t have many opportunities to snag contested catches. Add in the fact that he’ll either be matched up against one of the best young corners in the league in Trevon Diggs or a wiley veteran who is still producing in Stephon Gilmore, and Garrett Wilson is in for a tough week.
Najee Harris (RB) – Pittsburgh Steelers
Vs Cleveland Browns
The Browns defense looks revitalized and Najee Harris looks to be losing control of the backfield in Pittsburgh. The Steelers were manhandled last weekend by a dominant 49ers group causing Jaylen Warren to take a large part of the offense away from Harris. And he looked way more explosive with his limited touches. Harris is already trending towards being a draft bust after going in the 1st round of the 2021 draft with a career yards per carry average of below 4. Despite the Steelers being down last week, Harris wasn’t targeted once in the passing game, and only carried the ball 6 times the whole contest. The volume will continue to decrease, and Harris has yet to prove that he’s efficient enough of a runner to make an impact in fantasy.
Cam Akers/Kyren Williams (RB) – Los Angeles Rams
Vs San Francisco
There was a lot to unpack from the Rams usage of their running backs from week 1. Williams was the clear lead back until late in the second half when the game was out of reach and the Rams just gave Akers the ball to run it out. Akers, for his part, ran the ball well and saved his fantasy week by punching in a late touchdown. This week, however, they’re in tough against what was a dominant Niners defense. The Rams will be under duress all game from an aggressive pass rush, and can still have a strong rushing performance as a team. But it’s more likely that the running backs will have an even timeshare in week 2, leading to neither of these backs being fantasy relevant.
George Kittle (TE) – San Francisco 49ers
@ Los Angeles Rams
While I’m starting to believe in the ability of Purdy as a quarterback, if week 1 is any indication, his preferred target has moved from George Kittle to Brandon Aiyuk. Kittle, who’s clearly still not fully healthy, only had 3 receptions for 19 yards and played in just 69% of the team’s offensive snaps. The Rams did a good job locking up the Seahawks tight ends in week 1. While Kittle is still an incredibly valuable piece to the Niners offense in real football, he’s becoming a more matchup dependent fantasy option.
Cut
Allen Lazard (WR) – New York Jets
Lazard was already a hard player to talk yourself into holding onto, but with the injury to his best buddy Aaron Rodgers, he has zero fantasy value anymore. Despite playing on 76% of the team’s offensive snaps, Lazard was only targeted 4 times for 2 receptions in week 1. Zach Wilson just doesn’t have the offensive talent to make Lazard even remotely fantasy relevant.
Rashaad Penny (RB) – Philadelphia Eagles
Hopefully you didn’t have Penny in your lineup for the Thursday nighter this week and can still drop him before Sunday’s games, because it clearly looks like the Eagles have no faith in him. Penny got his first carry for Philadelphia with 1 minute left in the 3rd quarter in a game where the Eagles were up, and were without Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott. Penny only got into the game because D’Andre Swift had to take himself out to take a breather after dominating the backfield touches. Penny clearly hasn’t won over the coaching staff this offseason, and although the Eagles and their offensive line look to dominate on the ground this year, Penny doesn’t seem to be a part of their future plans.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.