Fantasy Football: What we Learned Week 2

MIAMI GARDENS, FL – DECEMBER 11: Kenyan Drake #32 of the Miami Dolphins carries the ball in the third quarter against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium on December 11, 2017 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) Fantasy Football

We had all kinds of crazy action this week in the NFL and with another Fantasy Football week in the books, it’s time to figure out how to make your team better!

Week 2 was all sorts of crazy but the one good thing is we seemingly escaped a lot of major injuries. Any week that happens, it’s a pretty good week. There’s a lot of Fantasy Football takeaways from what we saw but just remember that snap data isn’t generally available at the time of this writing. I try to note where I really want to see the snaps before judging, but there are spots where things could change after some different information comes out. For now, let’s dive into what we do know.

AFC East – Fantasy Football Week 2

New England Patriots – Loss vs Jacksonville Jaguars, 31-20 

I’m hesitant to take much from this game. It was against a tough defense and the Jags were determined to prove they can beat the Patriots. The only real takeaway was the backfield might be more confusing. Assuming Rex Burkhead didn’t suffer an injury, he appears to be in a split with James White and Sony Michel. White did his work in the passing game but Michel had more carries than Burkhead in his NFL debut. I want to see what happens when the Pats aren’t getting beat up through most of the game but I’m not sure I’m comfortable starting anyone but maybe White in PPR. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski are the same dominant fantasy players we all know and love. It was a tough day at the office against a talented and motivated opponent. I’m very interested to see how the coverage metrics shake out for Gronk and if Jaguar corner Jalen Ramsey was on him a lot or not.

New York Jets – Loss vs Miami Dolphins, 20-12

The Sam Darnold hype train didn’t quite keep up the same steam as it had last week but Darnold wasn’t a total disaster for fantasy. He did still throw for over 300 yards and a touchdown, it was just the two interceptions that held him back. He’s going to be a fine streamer some weeks this year, especially in DFS. Quincy Enunwa retained a pretty large share of the targets with 11 of 41, while no other player had more than eight. The surprising part of that was the eight targets went to Terrelle Pryor who actually played the role of a field stretcher with a 14.5 aDOT. That was at least four yards higher than any other receiver that saw more than four targets and Robby Anderson finished fourth on the team in targets and third in aDOT. If those trends continue, it’s hard to project much fantasy value for him. Isaiah Crowell seems like the main running back as far as carries go but neither he nor Bilal Powell got much going in this game. It’s best not to treat anyone in the offense as more than a flex for right now.

Miami Dolphins – Win vs New York Jets, 20-12 

I’d be lying if I said I knew what to make of this Miami offense right now. Ryan Tannehill didn’t exceed 170 yards passing and no receiver saw more than five targets. Dead last among those receivers is their best one in Kenny Stills, who only saw three and a 6.7 aDOT. Really Miami? You have to try to get Stills deep; that’s the strength of his game. Then we get to the running game. Kenyan Drake was clipping off 4.8 yards a carry and he received 11 carries. Meanwhile, Frank Gore hit 2.8 yards per carry and got nine carries. Drake got 15 touches for 70 yards and a touchdown and Gore got 10 for 44 yards. This isn’t really that hard. Drake is talented and just needs to stop splitting the backfield to that rate. If there’s 25 touches, 18-20 need to go to Drake every single week. The Jets defense certainly isn’t a bad unit, but this wasn’t the most comforting effort for Miami for fantasy. The problem is they’re 2-0 and they don’t care about your fantasy team.

Buffalo Bills – Loss vs Los Angeles Chargers, 31-20 

There’s really nothing to say here. This offense is so dreadful, they’ve managed to neutralize LeSean McCoy. He managed to spring a 27 yard run and then gained 12 yards on eight additional carries. The passing game still doesn’t have a reliable vertical element, even with the arm strength of Josh Allen. The fantasy stat line doesn’t look awful for him but there’s basically no spot where I’d want to start him, even for garbage time points. Unfortunately, Buffalo is a wasteland and there’s no redeeming factor to this offense at this point.

AFC North Fantasy Football Week 2

Pittsburgh Steelers – Loss to Kansas City Chiefs, 42-37 

Perhaps the biggest fantasy let down this week compared to expectations was Antonio Brown. Nine receptions for 67 isn’t chump change, but he saw 17 targets and was expected to have one of his biggest games of the season(myself included in that camp). He also might be injured or was just being a diva; that remains to be seen. James Conner did enough to be usable but he was banged up through a lot of the game. The Steelers also got boat raced early so they abandoned the run by the second quarter. The people who paid up for JuJu Smith-Schuster are pretty excited right now as he has been utterly dominant this year. As long as the Steelers continue to be a high-powered offense and Brown gets the bulk of the coverage, Smith-Shcuster is a firm high-end WR2. Jesse James randomly pops up for these massive games of five receptions and 135 yards but I wouldn’t buy a lot into that. He wasn’t a primary read on many of the plays today. With Conner potentially not 100 percent and no sign of Le’Veon Bell, it’s on the right arm of Ben Roethlisberger for now.

Cincinnati Bengals – Win vs Baltimore Ravens, 34-23 

Well, the Bengals offense had a very eventful game week. First and foremost, Joe Mixon is going to be sidelined for at least a couple of weeks due to having arthroscopic knee surgery after this game. Gio Bernard is a top 25 back until he returns and we’ll see how low/highly owned he is tomorrow in the waiver column. The second takeaway is A.J. Green is a fully grown man and might be one of the more under appreciated receivers of the past few years. He found the end zone three times in this one(also known as the same amount of TD’s Julio Jones had in 2017) and the Cincinnati offense looks a whole lot better than it did last year. Andy Dalton is a competent quarterback when he has enough talent around him and the potential emergence of Tyler Boyd could help this offense in a big way. If John Ross isn’t ready to contribute, Boyd could be a great fantasy option moving forward in flex range. Tyler Eifert has yet to really show up and he’s player that I want to se how much he was on the field in this one. The Bengals should be able to make it through the loss of Mixon without much of a speed bump.

Cleveland Browns – Loss vs New Orleans Saints, 21-18

With all the drama surrounding Josh Gordon, the game was almost secondary until the Browns were leading the Saints in New Orleans at the half. Unfortunately for Cleveland, they didn’t win yet again in heart-wrenching fashion. From the fantasy lens, it did seem like the Browns offense could have used his presence since they sputtered through most of the game. A week after using Jarvis Landry as a downfield option, his aDOT dropped to 10.7 this week. Now, that’s still better than in Miami but it’s not the 13.9 aDOT form Week 1 and his targets got cut in half. Antonio Calloway will be a priority add for me to stash on my bench, but not to trust as a starter quite yet.

He could wind up being the number two in the pass game because David Njoku hasn’t got it going yet. The targets have been there but now the production needs to start showing up. Tyrod Taylor didn’t have one of his better games for fantasy but this passing game still has talent to take advantage of. Carlos Hyde averaged under three yards a carry and Duke Johnson only managed five touches. That seems weird on the face of it and I really want to see the snap counts from this one. The last bit of news here is the Browns defense might be a fantasy option at points this year. They’ve held Pittsburgh and New Orleans to 21 points in consecutive weeks. You can blame the weather last week. This week was in the dome vs the Saints. They could be an up and coming unit.

Baltimore Ravens – Loss vs Cincinnati Bengals, 34-23

He’ll also make an appearance tomorrow but it’s time to get fully on board with John Brown. The man known as “Smoke” just missed 100 yard game in this one but scored a touchdown and his 10 targets could have turned into a blowup game. He had a 22.1 aDOT and he’s looking healthy again, which is great to see. The backfield looks like a bit of a time share at this point. Buck Allen and Alex Collins had an 11-14 touch split this week and Allen saw more targets and red zone work. I’m not terribly sure why since he averaged 1.9 yards a carry and 7.2 yard per reception while Collins was at 3.9 yards per carry and a massive 18.3 per reception. Obviously the reception number isn’t sustainable but one of these backs was producing at a solid clip and one of the wasn’t. I still prefer Collins but it’s silly to ignore Allen if you need a running back in your lineup for this upcoming week.

AFC South – Fantasy Football Week 2

Houston Texans – Loss vs Tennessee Titans, 20-17 

If you’re not a Texan fan and don’t care about the results in real life, you’re likely pretty happy with the fantasy players. The defense let you down, especially since they played Blaine Gabbert. However, the main pieces of the offense did exactly what you were hoping for. Both DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller went over 100 yards and found the found the end zone once a piece. They also ate up 20 of Deshuan Watson’s 32 pass attempts so it’s business as usual for the Houston offense. Watson had himself a really nice bounce back fantasy day with over 300 passing yards and 44 rushing yards on top of that. Lamar Miller is always going to be start worthy in the back-end RB2- flex range but this offense is relatively easy to project. Watson and Hopkins are weekly top 10 options, Fuller should be played every week when he’s healthy because of the vertical tendencies of the offense. Most of the scoring is going to funnel through these three-four players every single week.

Tennessee Titans – Win vs Houston Texans, 20-17 

Derrick Henry and safety Kevin Byard both threw a pass today so that should tell you how much confidence the coaching staff had in the offense. Backup Blaine Gabbert was only able to muster 117 yards of passing and it would appear that the 50/50 split in the backfield we all feared might be a little closer to fruition. Last week, Henry got half the touches of Dion Lewis. This week, it finished 18-15 in favor of Henry after he complained in the press. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions here since Marcus Mariota didn’t play so I’m not going to crush Corey Davis for laying an egg again. For all the noise Jonnu Smith drew this week, he didn’t see one single target. On top of all these issues, Dane Cruikshank led the Titans with 66 yards receiving on a fake punt. Mariota needs to get back to the lineup to try to revive any fantasy value. The concern there is Mariota hasn’t looked like he’s all that good so far this season either. Davis needs to work his way back into your fantasy lineup and guessing between the backs looks like just that, a guess.

Jacksonville Jaguars – Win vs New England Patriots, 31-20

How about Blake “The Snake” Bortles?? Full credit to the Fantasy Footballers for that reference(I got a snake, mang) but Bortles was flat-out awesome in real life and fantasy on Sunday. As a matter of fact, take a quick break from the article and go ahead and hit the RT button here. You know you want to –

Bortles checks in as the QB4 on ESPN heading into Monday Night Football, and the only three players ahead of him threw for over 400 yards each. For whatever reason, the Jaguars offense opens up in a major way without Leonard Fournette.

Don’t get in my mentions telling me how awesome Fournette is. I didn’t make the stat, I just point it out. Bortles was let off his normal leash and rewarded the Jags and fantasy owners. Heck, even the interception wasn’t his fault. I don’t expect this from Bortles often, but it’s something to note for anytime Fournette is out. Corey Grant was more involved in this game and likely will be sharing with T.J Yeldon when he’s called upon. Both Keelan Cole and Dede Westbrook had big games and the Jaguars are talented from top to bottom. I still prefer Cole from the season long perspective in the WR3- Flex range. We’ll see if Fournette is back next week but if he’s not, all aboard the Bortles Express.

Indianpolis Colts – Win vs Washington Redskins, 21-9 

It was sort of a mixed bag from Indy and Andrew Luck. He only threw 31 times but didn’t cross 200 yards and threw two picks. It’s not a surprise that he’s not fully in sync yet with how much time he missed and he ranks last in average intended air yards after two weeks. I still think he’s capable of throwing downfield but it would be nice to see it sooner than later. Defenses can tee off on the short routes right now. No receiver was anything special but T.Y. Hilton did come through with 7/83/1 so his owners are quite happy. The backfield is a total mess right now and I want no part of it at the moment. Jordan Wilkins, Marlon Mack and Nyheim Hines are all involved to some extent and it’s going to be difficult to figure out which one to play every week. If you need a tight end, Eric Ebron is fine but he’s not going to score a touchdown every game and he trails Jack Doyle in snaps, routes and targets. That’s not a recipe for sustained success. Patience will pay off with this passing game because Luck will come around and unlock the ceiling for it soon.

AFC West – Fantasy Football Week 2

Kansas City Chiefs – Win vs Pittsburgh Steelers, 42-37 

So Patrick Mahomes is apparently the best fantasy quarterback since prime Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. My goodness is this kid on fire. He set the NFL record for the most touchdown passes in the first two weeks of the season and there’s no sign of him slowing down. The trio of Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and Sammy Watkins is lethal and the coaching of Andy Reid has this offense clicking at an incredible level. Hill repeated his production with a 5/90/1 line but it could have been much more. He had scorched the Steelers secondary and Mahomes got sacked on the play. Watkins showed some signs of life and possibly the only fantasy negative so far is Kareem Hunt has taken a backseat to this point, as far as production goes. He still made good on a passing touchdown this week. Mahomes was so incredibly efficient that nobody even racked up a big target total. With how good the second year quarterback looks, they might not need a ton to be productive every week. The best part about the Chiefs offense is the defense looks dreadful so this is a recipe for fantasy goodness all year long.

Los Angeles Chargers – Win vs Buffalo Bills, 31-20 

Melvin Gordon had one of the odder days on Sunday. Fantasy owners definitely won’t complain because he rolled up three touchdowns but he also only had 66 total yards and did very little on the ground against one of the worst rush defenses in football. He left hurt in the fourth quarter but Austin Ekeler stepped up on his touches as well. Ekeler rolled up 98 scrimmage yards on just 14 touches. Gordon is in absolutely no danger of losing his job but Ekeler is an important piece of this offense. He’s in the discussion to start every single week, especially if you snagged him last week and are a team that went heavy on wide receiver in the draft. Keenan Allen was quiet but I’d be willing to bet that’s chalked up to Tre’Davious White. We’ll see when some of the route metrics come out during the week. Mike Williams didn’t draw near the targets I was thinking today but he did score his first NFL touchdown. It doesn’t help when you only throw 27 passes and you’re no better than third in line for targets.

Oakland Raiders – Loss vs Denver Broncos, 20-19 

I said it on the podcast and I’ll say it again here – I don’t like you Amari Cooper. You frustrate me to no end and you might be one of the more tilting talented players in football. Derek Carr isn’t too far behind on my hate list right now because I don’t understand how they just had the game they had. Carr only threw three(!) incompletions all day and Cooper rattled off 10 catches for 100+ yards after getting dominated last week by the Rams. Perhaps the Rams defense is that good because they’ve only given up 13 points through two games but I have a felling that the Raiders offense is just going to be this type of roller coaster all year. I have no regrets sitting Cooper this week because I know the process was right given the matchup. I don’t have him virtually anywhere but if I did, I wouldn’t have played him either. Cooper is probably going to have to be in your lineup moving forward, knowing full well he’s going to wreck your team at least a couple more times. Marshawn Lynch is likely more of a flex than the RB2 that I loved in the preseason. The good news is Doug Martin seems to be clearly second fiddle. Until next week when Jon Gruden trolls us all and gives him 20 carries.

Denver Broncos – Win vs Oakland Raiders, 20-19 

In the running for one of the bigger disappointments has to be Case Keenum. Look, he might not be the best quarterback ever but it really looked like he had this Denver offense cooking. He did get some very poor touchdown luck but the offense still struggled in this game over all. Demaryius Thomas somehow saw 11 targets and turned that into 5 receptions for 18 yards. That was with an 11.5 aDOT so I’m not sure what to make of that one other than just the wrong side of variance. The bigger story might be in the backfield because undrafted rookie Phillip Lindsay looks like he’s here to stay.

I started to buy the Royce Freeman hype late in draft season but this is looking like a big mistake. Freeman is at least getting some red zone work so he has a role, but Phillip Lindsay needs to be 100 percent owned moving forward. Most leagues have missed their chance and I’ll take my loss at not making him a priority last week. I didn’t think he had staying power but he’s the lead dog right now, deservedly so. The only good thing you can take from this one is the Broncos were trailing through basically the entire game. If they view Freeman as the two down banger between the tackles, he couldn’t have a worse game script. Still, this is scary to say the least right now.

NFC East – Fantasy Football Week 2

Philadelphia Eagles – Loss vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-21 

The bad news is the Eagles lost but the good news is there seems to be a solid chance that they get Carson Wentz back for this upcoming week. The backfield continues to confound by the box score but Jay Ajayi not only was in and out of this game with an injury, the Eagles were down in this one immediately. That’s not the best way to keep Ajayi involved so it’s still going to be a little volatile week to week. Nelson Agholor and Zach Ertz dominated the targets with 25 between them on 48 pass attempts. This offense is always going to be easy to predict who’s going to get the looks until Wentz is back in this lineup. Whatever pieces of the offense you have, hold tight.

New York Giants – Loss vs Dallas Cowboys, 20-13

I kind of want to yell and scream about Saquon Barkley getting 16 targets while Odell Beckham saw just nine, but part of that was the fact that Dallas was putting on relentless pressure all night long. Eli Manning looked pretty rough in this one and there has to be some concern about what he has left. If only the Giants had had the chance to take a franchise quarterback recently, they might have some hope for the future at the most important position in football. The skill of Barkley, Beckham, Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram should be one of the hardest offenses to guard in football but that hasn’t come close to happening yet. Oh well, they can always hit Barkley for another check down and get a few yards. It was nice to see Engram bounce back with 8/80/1 and Beckham is obviously an every week start. The trio of Barkley, Engram and Beckham are the only start-able options at this point.

Dallas Cowboys – Win vs New York Giants, 20-13

This game might have been up there as the most boring of the season. Not to short Dallas, but Ezekiel Elliott is the only starter here. If you’re in a super deep league, I guess you can look at Tavon Austin but it’s hard to get too excited about two targets and one lone carry. Three touches isn’t going to pay off very often. Dak Prescott has his share of critics but he doesn’t have one reliable receiver headed into Week 3. This team is pretty gross for fantasy.

Washington Redskins – Loss vs Indianapolis Colts, 21-9 

The Washington offense has yet to really find its groove this season. Sure, they put up points last week but that was simply because they rode Adrian Peterson to victory as he amassed 30+ touches. This week was a different story and what’s going to be interesting as the season unfolds is the lack of separation from his receivers. Per NFL’s Next Gen Stats, the only receiver who was above league average in this game was Jordan Reed, who finished behind Chris Thompson in targets. It appears that Chris Thompson might be the most attractive option in PPR leagues over the receivers. I try not to panic but I’m not sure any of the receivers are worth holding onto right now. I really thought Jamison Crowder was going to be a great fit for Smith and right now, he’s fifth on the team in targets. I can’t stick with that at this point. The passing game is going to improve with more game action, but it is funny that the Chiefs offense is absolutely scorching and has scored 80 points and the Washington offense has seemingly taken a step back. Perhaps Smith isn’t quite as good as he was last season and he had a career season. It’s something that could cap the Redskins this year.

NFC North – Fantasy Football Week 2

Green Bay Packers – Tied with Minnesota Vikings, 29-29 

You didn’t take Aaron Rodgers so early in drafts for just 281 yards and one touchdown but it’s hard to get too upset when he’s facing the Vikings defense and he’s still hurting from his knee injury last week. He’s going to be the quarterback you spent a high pick on. Regardless of the matchup, Davante Adams has entered the territory where you just don’t bench him, regardless of what the matchup is. He paid off this week with over 60 yards and a touchdown on a dozen targets, just proving how valuable he is to this Packer offense. Randall Cobb was likely the only player who disappointed but it’s to be expected in a tough matchup. Jimmy Graham owners have to be happy to see him involved a lot more this week after being invisible last week. The running game is going to be interesting. Jamaal Williams has put up two very mediocre games(in tough spots) but now Aaron Jones is back. If the Packers trust him to protect Rodgers, he could have a sizable role in a hurry. Hopefully you read the waiver wire column last week and added Jones if he was available in your league.

Minnesota Vikings  – Tied with Green Bay Packers, 29-29 

Fantasy owners had to breathe a sigh of relief when it came out after the game that start running back Dalvin Cook was just suffering from a cramp late in the game and the injury doesn’t seem serious. I don’t think Cousins will throw 48 times a lot this season but when he does, this type of game of 400+ yards and four touchdowns is possible every time. Both Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen saw 13 targets which is more what I expected after Thielen doubled up Diggs last week. Diggs is still the big play threat with a 75 yard touchdown and I will maintain that he has the highest upside in the passing game, even if he’s not as visible here and there. He lapped Thielen in aDOT by a mark of 12.2 to 8.8 in this game. Seeing Kyle Rudolph get eight targets is comforting as an owner but again, Cousins isn’t going to throw this much this often. Minnesota is still one of the best fantasy defenses around when they’re not playing Aaron Rodgers. If you have Dan Carlson as your kicker, you might want to find a new one. The Vikings might look as well after he missed three field goals.

Detroit Lions – Loss vs San Francisco 49ers, 30-27 

The song remains the same in the Motor City because the only players you’re super interested in is Matthew Stafford and his three receivers. The backfield is an ineffective timeshare at the moment but I might be willing to buy super low on Kerryon Johnson. He’s the most talented back they have and you can hope that sooner or later he gets the full workload. The only issue is LeGarrette Blount remains as a touchdown vulture and Theo Riddick is the passing game specialist. Golden Tate remains the target leader through two weeks but Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones are close. The deciding factor for me is the red zone and right now, that favors Jones. You should be able to get him relatively cheap via trade and he’s still on of Stafford’s preferred targets when it matters the most. This is a less powerful version of the Rams and their three receivers. There’s value in all three players every single week.

Chicago Bears – TBD 

The Bears get to show off Khalil Mack and the new look offense on Monday Night Football tonight. I’m looking to see if Jordan Howard remains this involved int he passing game and some better results from Trey Burton this evening. Mitchell Trubisky showed some flashes last week but melted towards the end of the game. I think he and the Bears have a nice game against an iffy Seattle defense that has key injuries.

NFC South Fantasy Football Week 2

Carolina Panthers – Loss vs Atlanta Falcons, 31-24

So much for the bad track record for Cam Newton against the Falcons. He came through in a major way for fantasy owners in this game, after it looked like he might be out early. He took an egregious head shot at the end of a slide that sparked a near-brawl and got a Falcons defender ejected. It didn’t seem to bother Cam as he went over 370 total yards with 42 coming on the ground. The days Newton passes for three touchdowns is always going to be a good one and the majority of his attempts went to Christian McCaffrey and Devin Funchess. CMC was a touchdown away from a massive game, as he racked up 14 receptions and over 100 yards. We can expect a lot of targets as long as Greg Olsen is out and he wasn’t bad on the ground, averaging over 4.5 yards per carry on just eight attempts. Funchess was solid but the receiver that made the biggest impression had to be D.J. Moore. He got wide open, shook off a tackler, then outran everyone to the end zone. He only saw two targets but he made his reception count and perhaps earned himself some more playing time. Ian Thomas drew some buzz this week but he only garnered three targets in a game script that demanded passing the ball. It’s Newton, CMC, Funchess and possibly Moore in this offense.

Atlanta Falcons – Win vs Carolina Panthers, 31-24 

I guess I have to take my loss for having Matt Ryan as a sit but I still feel comfortable with why I said it and I’m still kind of shocked he had two rushing touchdowns today. Tevin Coleman owners probably wish he had shared the wealth because Coleman 125 total yards and caught all four of his targets. He always seems to produce when he gets the backfield to himself and if he keeps it up, things could get interesting when Devonta Freeman gets back from his knee injury. Julio Jones owners who expected another massive game walked away a little sad as he only caught five passes for under 70 yards. The nine targets was a little more troubling than anything else. The secondary players in the offense are interesting from this team. Both Austin Hooper and Calvin Ridley saw five targets, at least 59 yards and caught a touchdown. Ridley isn’t yet a starter but if he takes over as the number two receiver in the offense and pushes Mohamed Sanu to third, he could be a starter in some matchups. Hooper is still just 23 years old and tight ends can take longer to develop. With tight end in shambles, it’s important to pay attention to a potential breakout.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Win vs Philadelphia Eagles, 27-21

Jameis Winston might want to start getting a little nervous about his job. Ryan Fitzpatrick dropped another 400+ plays yards passing and another four touchdowns. I’m not trying to take anything away form Fitzpatrick here but what this is saying to me is their passing game could be one of the better ones in football if everyone stays healthy. Mike Evans dominated targets with 12 but finished third in yards this week. Both DeSean Jackson and O.J. Howard finished higher in yards but both had just four targets a piece. Chris Godwin continues to produce with 5/54/1 on six targets. Throw him the ball, Tampa. This passing game gets to feast on the Steelers defense that just gave up six touchdowns to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Peyton Barber is dominating the backfield with 17 touches but isn’t doing anything with it since he rushed for 22 yards on 16 carries. He seems like he’s going to need a touchdown to pay off if you start him.

New Orleans Saints – Win vs Cleveland Browns, 21-18 

If you own anyone other than Drew Brees, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara from the Saints, there’s no fantasy points here for you. As my podcast partner Adam Pfeifer pointed out on Twitter, Kamara and Thomas are up over 60 percent of the targets and touches through the first two games. That’s a massive number and while it surely won’t keep up, it helps explain why Thomas set an NFL record for most receptions through the first two games. Kamara was up over 100 scrimmage yards and Thomas scored twice, accounting for the Saints touchdowns on the day. These ratios can’t keep up which has to make the Mark Ingram owners out there happy. They need someone else to have a nice share of the offensive work and he’s two weeks away from coming back.

NFC West Fantasy Football Week 2

Arizona Cardinals – Loss vs Los Angeles Rams, 34-0 

If you took David Johnson within the first few picks in the draft like you should have, you have to be mildly panicking and I don’t blame you. It’s one thing to have a couple bad rushing games in a row. With the defense that the Rams have assembled, that’s understandable. Two targets in a game that the Cardinals trailed all day long? That’s near a fireable offense for any offensive coordinator. Johnson is the best player they have on offense and he touched the ball 14 times and it’s unfathomable why his usage has changed so much.

Sam Bradford has to share some of the blame as well because he has been abjectly terrible though two games. Were Carson Palmer and Bruce Arians this important to the offensive side of the ball in Arizona? Right now, it sure looks like it. Larry Fitzgerald put up a stinker but he was also hurt so his hammy is something we have to keep an eye on all week. Josh Rosen might not be far away in the desert.

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Los Angeles Rams – Win vs Arizona Cardinals, 34-0  

Don’t get too concerned looking at the carries for Todd Gurley. He left the game in the second half due to cramping and needless to say, there wasn’t any reason for the Rams to put him back into the game. Fortunately, he saved his mediocre yardage day with three touchdowns and chipped in with another 31 yards receiving. Jared Goff threw for a ton of yards against a solid defense, which wasn’t the case last year. He saw sharp splits when facing a good passing defense which is why I suggested him as a sit. If he and the Rams have solved that issue, everyone else had better look out.

The receiving trio of Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp are basically all starters every week. There might be some weeks that Kupp and Woods disappoint a little but you don’t want to miss those good games. Cooks has fit right in with another seven receptions and 159 yards this week. He’s playing far better than Sammy Watkins did last year and it should only continue in this offense.

Seattle Seahawks – TBD 

They get the Bears tonight in Chicago and what I’m most interested in is this offense. The defense is really in a bad way with no Bobby Wagner and the offense is going to have to step up. I want to see if Chris Carson gets a bigger share of the workload like Pete Carroll said he would and I want to see if Tyler Lockett or Brandon Marshall becomes the number one receiver with Doug Baldwin out. I’ve leaned Lockett due to the game breaking ability but Marshall does have a leg up in the red zone.

San Francisco 49ers – Win vs Detroit Lions, 30-27 

Well, those George Kittle shares in DFS paid off handsomely, huh? If I could insert the puking emoji, this is where I would do it. Many(myself included) thought Kittle was in for a big day and that would lead Jimmy Garoppolo to play well and sprinkle in some Dante Pettis for good measure. Those two players combined for six targets, three receptions and 57 yards. I particularly don’t understand the aDOT for Kittle. Last week against the Vikings it was 13.1. This week it dropped to 6.5. For a team missing Marquise Goodwin, it was a puzzling stat to see at the end of the game. Garoppolo himself was a flop with barely over 200 yards passing in a great spot and I wish I knew the answers to that one. The biggest star of the game was Matt Breida. He ripped off a total of 159 yards on 13 touches, including a 66 yard touchdown run. He has staked his claim to a large share of this backfield and Alfred Morris hasn’t paid off yet. Breida may not be the traditional back as far as a huge workload, but the electric playmaker might not need it. It’s the 49ers version of Austin Ekeler and he might see even more touches. I’m hoping Goodwin gets back for this week so we can see the offense at full strength against the Chiefs defense. If they can’t get it done there as a passing game, it’s time to worry.

Thanks for reading and stick with myself and the FantasyCPR team all week to get all the fantasy goodness you can handle! We’ll see you at the waiver wire column that comes out tomorrow!