Fantasy Football Week 2 Recap
Week 2 of the NFL season is behind us, and we have a lot to recap.
The Saints are clearly the biggest surprise of the season thus far – I thought their play would be as uninspired as last season, but their offense under new offensive coordinator Clint Kubiak made easy work of the Panthers (as expected) and essentially took only one half to finish off the Dallas Cowboys in week two. Derek Carr has put points on the board for his team in 15 straight drives to start the season, and their defense looks like it can handle itself. I still have concerns for their offensive line long term, but they are smoking teams early on in the season.
Speaking of the Panthers, the biggest (non-injury) news coming from this weekend was the coaching staff deciding that they have already seen enough of 2023 first overall pick Bryce Young, sending him to the bench for week three in favor of 37 year old Andy Dalton. While I am a believer in giving young players a chance, this just is clearly not working with Young at the NFL level. There was more than one occasion in the Panthers week two blowout loss to the Chargers where Young seems to be jumping to see over the offensive line on his throws. He clearly is not ready to be a starting NFL quarterback. His size will always be a major detriment to his development, and considering he does not have above average arm strength or escapability from pressure, it is hard to see a path from Young to be more than a clipboard holder going forward.
Considering the entire opening is about the NFC South, a division I swore off to begin the season, it is probably best to move onto the fantasy recap from week 2.
Studs of the Week
Week 2 was full of big performances, with some players truly carrying their fantasy managers to victory. Here are the studs who made the biggest impact:
Quarterbacks:
- Kyler Murray – Arizona Cardinals: Murray is the first quarterback to finish with 250 plus yards passing, 50 plus yards rushing and a perfect passing rating in an NFL game. He was efficient, smart with the ball, and showed the escapability and rushing ability that has been missing from his game since suffering a major knee injury two seasons ago. If this is the Murray we get for the rest of the season, he has the opportunity to finish as the QB1 this season.
- Derek Carr – New Orleans Saints: Considering Carr only played three quarters of the game and still finished as the QB3 on the week against what is supposed to be a vaunted Cowboys defense, it is hard to keep him out of the studs section this week. Carr only completed eleven out of sixteen passes, but still threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns, adding another one yard touchdown on the ground. Considering he is still only rostered in 19% of leagues on Yahoo, he should be the first priority for those who have lost Jordan Love and Tua Tagovailoa.
Running Backs:
- Alvin Kamara – New Orleans Saints: Kamara went off against the Cowboys this past week, totaling 115 yards yards and three touchdowns on the ground and also snagged two passes for 65 yards and a score. Kamara is currently the RB1 on the season, but his week two performance was so impressive that if you remove his stats from week one, he would still be the RB3 on the season. He is putting up an absurd amount of production and looks completely rejuvenated this season.
- James Cook – Buffalo Bills: There were obvious concerns surrounding Cook entering the season – he has never taken on a full leading role for Buffalo, and he just simply has not reached the end zone enough in the first two years of his career. The Bills are clearly a rushing team now, and Cook is looking the part of a lead back. He finished week 2 with 78 yards on eleven carries and two touchdowns, adding another seventeen yards and another touchdown through the air. Considering he only had nine total touchdowns in his career prior to this season, it looks like the young explaosive back is finally being properly utilized in this offense.
Wide Receivers:
- Marvin Harrison Jr. – Arizona Cardinals : If we want to get technical about it, yes Marvin Harrison Jr. only has played one good and seven underwhelming quarters in his first two games and an NFL receiver, but that first quarter of the Cardinals was enough to have the rookie finish as the WR1 on the week with a monster 4 reception, 130 yard and two touchdown performance. He was targeted eight times in total in week 2, and while he was not needed after a first quarter blowout, it looks like he is going to be just fine in the NFL.
- Nico Collins – Houston Texans: Collins is putting away any confusion as to who is the alpha receiver in Houston. He finishes week two with ten targets, eight receptions, 135 yards receiving and one touchdown. C.J. Stroud may be best friends with Tank Dell, and Stefon Diggs does still have a lot of gas left in the tank, but Collins is the Texan receiver to own.
Tight Ends:
- Hunter Henry – New England Patriots: Brock Bowers should probably get this slot, but I have a feeling he will get featured multiple times this season. The Patriots went out of their way to feature Henry in their offense this week and he finished with eight receptions on twelve targets for 109 yards in the game. Henry has always been a hit or miss tight end, and this was one of the weeks that he truly hit in an overtime loss to the Seahawks.
Duds of the Week
Not everyone lived up to the hype in Week 2. Here are some of the biggest disappointments:
- Sam LaPorta – Detroit Lions: For the second straight week, LaPorta was just not featured in the Lions offense. In two weeks, he has only been targeted eight times, culminating in six catches for 58 yards. Jared Goff had 55 pass drop backs in the Lions week 2 loss to the Buccaneers and LaPorta only managed a measly thirteen yards. After an outstanding rookie season, concern is starting to creep up around LaPorta’s rest of season status in this offense.
- Rachaad White – Tampa Bay Buccaneers: White is off to a dismal start this season, totaling 49 yards on 25 carried through two weeks. His value last season was entirely based on getting a massive workload and being an asset in the passing game. We are already seeing Bucky Irving cutting into that workload on the ground, so White’s inefficiencies are much more prominent.
- Tyreek Hill – Miami Dolphins: Hill was generally ineffective in the Dolphins Thursday night matchup against the Bills, finishing with just three receptions on six targets for twenty four yards. Tua Tagovailoa did not play a good game and was forced to leave in the third quarter with a concussion, and now with Skylar Thompson set to start for the Dolphins for the foreseeable future, Hill’s upside might be diminished greatly this season.
Fun Fact from the Weekend
The New York Giants are the first team in NFL history to score 3 or more touchdowns, allow zero touchdowns, and still lose after their 21 – 18 defeat to the Washington Commanders. Hey, Brian Daboll – maybe make sure you have a kicker next week eh?
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: Sgt. Bradley Parrish. This file is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States.