Fantasy Football Start or Sit, Week 2

As is always the case, there are some really tough decisions to be made for Week 2 in Fantasy Football and we’re here to walk you through some choices!

Last week was pretty decent to us, as we had some moderate hits pretty much everywhere. We took a couple punches to the chin with the calls of sitting Adrian Peterson and Russell Wilson and starting David Njoku, but overall the first week should have made a lot more right decisions than wrong ones and that’s what we’re after. I know Kenny Stills owners were happy and just a spoiler- we see him again today. Trying to analyze fantasy football is pursuing 100 percent accuracy while knowing it will never happen. With that being said, let’s shoot for an even better Week 2!

Quarterback Starts

Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers – vs Detroit Lions 

Maybe this is a little obvious, but if you played Jimmy G last week, you clearly got left in the cold as he finished as the QB22 on the week, barely ahead of Ben Roethlisberger and his 5 turnovers. If you saw the Lions play defense at home against a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start, you have to be licking your chops for Garoppolo this week. Even though the Jets only attempted 21 passes and yet the Lions allowed three plays of 20+ yards and 1 play of 40+ while allowing a passer rating of 116.8. Even if Marquise Goodwin misses this game, the 49ers have Dante Bettis that they played a ton of snaps and employed as a deep threat with 115 targeted air yards. Both Pierre Garcon and George Kittle exceeded 115 air yards on their targets as well, meaning the 49ers are throwing it deep so far. Garoppolo is going to be a nice starting option this week and there is serious upside.

Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears – vs Seattle Seahawks

I don’t believe Trubisky will make my top 12 this week at quarterback so this is likely more of a two quarterback league start, but Trubisky looks to be in line for a good game. Seattle’s days of a top flight defense sure seem to be in the rear view mirror as they gave up gobs of yardage to the Denver offense this past week. Only the Saints, Buccaneers and Chiefs gave up more yardage through the air and the only reason the Seattle defense didn’t get crushed was they managed to pick off Case Keenum three times. Trubisky had his share of issues on the road at Green Bay last year but it’s hard to fault him for withering in front of the awesomeness that was the Aaron Rodgers Comeback Special on Sunday night. It’s important to remember that was the first game for Trubisky and coach Matt Nagy together and the signs are pointing up. Jordan Howard and the running game are going to make life easier for Trubisky.  Don’t let the aura of Seattle scare you off in this matchup.

Also Consider – Case Keenum, Denver Broncos – vs Oakland Raiders, Tyrod Taylor, Cleveland Browns – at New Orleans Saints, Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions – at San Francisco 49ers

Quarterback Sits

Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams – vs Arizona Cardinals 

It’s not exactly the best thing to take rankings for gospel at this point in the season since there is only one game. However, there was a significant split for Goff last year depending on what type of passing defense he was facing. When he faced a passing defense that was outside the top 16 in 2017, he averaged 2.75 touchdowns, 312.5 yards, 11 yards per attempt and 29.4 points. When the defense was inside the top 16, he plummeted to 1.55 touchdowns, 229.9 yards, 6.9 yards per attempt and 18.9 points. That is a drastic difference and Arizona is barely inside the top 16. That looks a little worse than it should because they gave up 70 yards to Adrian Peterson on passing plays. The Cardinals didn’t look great on defense at all but they gave up the most rushing yards in the league in Week 1. The Rams could take that weakness and make this a Todd Gurley game. Between the splits that Goff has shown and Gurley being one of the best running backs in football in a sweet matchup, I’ll find someone other than Goff this week.

Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons – vs Carolina Panthers 

It seems like forever ago, but Matt Ryan was completely awful in the opening game of the season in Philly. Granted, the Eagles have a pretty good defense and harassed him all night long. Still, finishing under 50 percent completion was a bad look and there were a ton of throws that he couldn’t place well. There were even a couple that looked like he didn’t have the arm strength necessary to make the throw. Carolina is going to get coached by Julio Jones because he’s just that good but the rest of the weapons are dependent on Ryan. Only two teams allowed fewer passing yards than the Panthers did this past week and they only allowed one play over 20 yards. Some of that is the Dallas pop-gun offense but I want to see Ryan perform a little better before I trust him again.

Also Consider – Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys – vs New York Giants

Running Back Starts

Adrian Peterson/Chris Thompson, Washington Redskins – vs Indianpolis Colts 

I’m not always the biggest fan of starting two running backs on the same team but this week is an exception to that because the Indy defense had trouble containing Joe Mixon last week. He racked up 150 yards from scrimmage and both the Washington backs have their roles in this offense. The Colts gave up the 12th most points to running backs last week and both Peterson and Thompson can eat here. Peterson is clearly the hammer back as he received 29 carries. You simply can’t turn away from the volume in a great matchup. Thompson ripped off 10.5 yards per reception yet again and the Colts gave up 10.9 yards per reception to Mixon last week. Washington’s offense can use both of these backs effectively and they should both be top 30 backs this week.

Duke Johnson, Cleveland Browns – at New Orleans Saints 

If you’re not going to at least give some serious thoughts about starting Johnson this week, you’re probably not going to use him at all this year. The actual production wasn’t great last week with just 17 yards rushing on five carries and eight yards on one reception. A deeper dive makes things appear that he could be due for an uptick in production this week. He saw six targets but he played almost the same amount of snaps that Carlos Hyde did at a 41-47 split. Hyde was not a factor in the passing game with only two targets and it’s hard to envision the Saints not putting up points in this game. The Browns are going to have to keep up and Johnson has at least 500 yards receiving in each of his three seasons and averages 9.3 yards per reception. The Saints defense got destroyed last week and they will face some talented receivers, leaving space open for Johnson.

Also Consider – Alfred Morris, San Francisco 49ers – vs Detroit Lions, Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers- at Buffalo Bills(deeper leagues), Royce Freeman/Phillip Lindsay, Denver Broncos – vs Oakland Raiders

Running Back Sits

Jamaal Williams, Green Bay Packers – vs Minnesota Vikings 

Sometimes you just have to take the low hanging fruit and that’s what Williams is this week. The game script was terrible for him last week as the Packers were behind by 20 points quickly on Sunday night. That’s never going to be the best setting for Williams to rack up points but he looked mediocre even in his 15 touches. He did receive two targets but got nothing out of it. Seeing over 60 percent of the snaps is solid but the matchup is brutal. Minnesota gave up the eighth-fewest points to the running back position and if the Packers are going to win this game, it’s going to be on the right arm of Aaron Rodgers. If Rodgers is out, there is no Packer that I would want to play at all.

Marshawn Lynch, Oakland Raiders – at Denver Broncos 

I know, he was in this spot last week but I’m still not starting Lynch on the road this week either. He did at least salvage his day with a touchdown last week but he also only received 11 carries and churned out 41 yards in a game that was competitive through almost three quarters. The Raiders actually led at the half and Lynch did get seven carries, so owners might have been feeling good. Then after that he only saw four and if he hadn’t scored that touchdown, owners would have been really upset. What’s even more terrifying is Lynch only saw 36.4 percent of snaps. There’s no way I’m going to feel good about playing a touchdown dependent, low snap running back on the road in a game that I don’t think the Raiders will win.

Also Consider – Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans – vs Houston Texans, LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills – vs Los Angeles Chargers, Chris Carson, Seattle Seahawks – at Chicago Bears

Wide Receiver Starts

Kenny Stills, Miami Dolphins – at New York Jets 

It made me pretty darn happy to see Kenny Stills streaking towards the end zone on a long pass last week after spending months talking him up and telling anyone that would listen he’s a good receiver. Now, I would like to see him get more than five targets before he’s just an auto start which is why he makes the cut this week. There is still some built in volatility but the good news is Stills virtually didn’t come off the field, only missing three snaps total. He also saw a red zone target that turned into a touchdown so you’re probably not 100 percent relying on one big play and that’s it. New York won their first game walking away but did give up 300 yards passing and it could have been way worse because Detroit receiver Marvin Jones just missed on a couple deep balls. The Miami offense should be able to find a better rhythm this week since the game shouldn’t take 2,792 hours to play, and Stills should turn in a top-30 line again. Feed him the ball Adam Gase!

Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks – at Chicago Bears

Look, someone from Seattle has to catch the ball now that Doug Baldwin is sidelined for a little while with a knee injury. Brandon Marshall is clearly in the mix as well but my favorite receiver and one that I feel comfortable starting in my flex spot is Lockett. First, Lockett played almost 20 more snaps than Marshall did so the opportunity is there right off the bat. Secondary, the slot might be where a team can take advantage of the Bears defense.

Granted, 14+ of those points from Cobb came on one big play but Lockett is just as capable of taking a quick pass the distance once he gets the ball. Seattle might have to use slants and quick outs with Khalil Mack menacing them from the defensive side and Lockett could be the prime target for this routes. His day in Denver may not have looked like anything special, but going against Chris Harris for a good chunk of the day tends to do that to receivers. Marshall will likely need a touchdown to make you happy while Lockett is set up to be the more productive receiver overall.

Also Consider – Josh Gordon, Cleveland Browns – at New Orleans Saints, Quincy Enunwa, New York Jets – vs Miami Dolphins, Devin Funchess, Carolina Panthers – at Atlanta Falcons

Wide Receiver Sits

Jamison Crowder, Washington Redskins – vs Indianapolis Colts 

I have a feeling this isn’t going to be a common occurrence, but I’m not that excited to start a player against the Colts defense this week. I know, it’s weird. However, what was more weird was seeing the usage for Crowder in this past game. Not only did he finish third among receivers in snap percentage, he barely made it over 60 percent. Maybe I’m overreacting to a game that Washington was handling from the word go but I don’t fully understand why he was on the field for so few plays. He was over 70 percent last season so it’s something to monitor. My bigger issue is he only saw 13.7 percent of the targets when it was 20.4 last season. I would think this is a one week outlier but the quarterback has changed and that’s definitely a factor as well. Washington has three receivers, a tight end and one of the best receiving backs in the league all vying for targets right now. I might miss on a big game from Crowder in this spot but I want to see him in-sync with Alex Smith before I start him again.

Robby Anderson, New York Jets – vs Miami Dolphins 

Some owners are going to see the touchdown and 41 yards and assume that Anderson is going to be fine to start moving forward but I’m hitting the pause button on that one. He saw one target and that’s not going to cut it every week and while Sam Darnold looked like a veteran in Detroit, they definitely weren’t making a concentrated effort to push the ball down the field even when the game was competitive. Anderson was under 60 percent of the snaps as well, but that’s a little less of a concern since the game was a blowout. I want to see Anderson play a bigger role in the offense, regardless of him finding pay dirt.

Also Consider – Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders – at Denver Broncos, Chris Hogan, New England Patriots – at Jacksonville Jaguars

Tight End Starts and Sits

If you have the luxury of rolling out a Gronk, Zach Ertz or Travis Kelce, consider yourself pretty lucky. Yes, I know Kelce was putrid last week but all the targets and usage was there. It was just a variance type of week. You better be willing to deal with it because tight end is a disaster after those three players right now. The long term injuries to Delanie Walker and Greg Olsen have already crushed the depth of a thin position, so you’re likely starting players you might not be totally confident. A player like Kyle Rudolph who only saw two targets last week is still an unquestioned starter this week. So for this portion of the article, it’s going to be a little more quick hitting style because I can’t really fault you for starting a tight end that I might normally say to sit.

Starts

Ricky Seals-Jones, Arizona Cardinals – at Los Angeles Rams 

You’re basically just hoping that quarterback Sam Bradford survives this game against a nasty defense. The good news is we saw the corners for the Rams basically for the Raiders offense to funnel targets to the tight end and that could well happen again. Arizona doesn’t look to have many receiving threats past Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson so Seals-Jones might be leaned on a lot in this game. If Jared Cook can rattle off 180 yards on nine receptions, there is hope for Seals-Jones. Hope is all some owners can ask for right now.

Ben Watson, New Orleans Saints – vs Cleveland Browns 

Are you a tight end who’s in a good offense projected to score a lot of points against Cleveland? If you answered yes to those questions, you can be in my lineup this week.

Sits

Jonnu Smith, Tennessee Titans – vs Houston Texans

This is a case of exactly what I mentioned earlier. I can’t blame someone for starting Smith and just hoping he replicates the role that Delanie Walker had in the Tennessee offense. You just have to realize that Smith is a total mystery right now. He could legitimately be anything from the next top-tier tight end to someone who’s off your roster in three weeks. He’s get a great athletic profile; we’ve just not seen enough of him in action and I’d rather take the wait and see approach if at all possible.

If there’s any players that you’re still having a tough time with, I’m always a tweet away over at @bucn4life and I can’t promise I’ll get everything right, I have a strong GIF game and I’ll always make an effort to get back to you. Let’s keep getting ready for Week 2!