Fantasy Football 2024: Crucial start/sit decisions for Week 2

Week 2 of the NFL season is here and hopefully, we've learned enough to make better decisions than last week. The good news is that offenses across the league didn't appear to find much rhythm and should start getting their act together starting in Week 2. Well, at least some should.

Week 1 wasn't the best for this start/sit article, I'll admit. The Rams/Lions game didn't become the fantasy fest through the air I'd hoped, while Tony Pollard saw much more usage than Tyjae Spears and the Broncos couldn't get anything going downfield to open up the offense for the running backs to work. The "sits" hit pretty well, as offensive numbers were bad across the board. If only you could sit more players!

Hopefully this week there will be more starts that hit. There should be, now that we've got a better lay of the NFL land.

For this article, we’ll have somewhat of an old-school start/sit format, but as you know, there are so many different types of leagues that it is tough to cater start/sit articles to every one of them. Here, I’ll look at players I like more or less than the average ranking in the fantasy industry. 

If you’d like to take my advice, it won’t be hard to transfer these thoughts into lineup decisions. To give me a baseline, I’ll use FantasyPros PPR Expert Consensus Rankings rankings as my guide. 

QBs I like more than consensus:

Matthew Stafford, Rams vs. Cardinals

Stafford didn't put up the numbers I had hoped last week against the Lions, but he still ended up QB12 on the week with 319 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception. Only Tua Tagovalioa had more passing yards on the week. And this week he faces a Cardinals pass defense devoid of talent. Josh Allen averaged over nine yards per pass attempt and if he hadn't run two in for himself, he might have added to his two passing touchdowns on the day.

Daniel Jones, Giants vs. Commanders

Yes, Jones was beyond awful against the Vikings in Week 1. The Vikings' defense, under DC Brian Flores, looks even better than last year, which is partially on Jones, but it was a tough matchup to be sure. Minnesota led the league with a 38.8% pressure rating in Week 1, while the Giants' Week 2 opponent, the Commanders, got pressure on Baker Mayfield just 14.7% of the time while blitzing at a 41 percent rate.

The Giants should be better at slowing down Washington's limited pass rush while getting a great matchup against their limited pass defense. Mayfield picked them apart last week, completing 24-of-30 passes for 289 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. We can't count on Jones giving us that line, but a couple touchdowns and some rushing yards are very much in his range of outcomes in this matchup.

QBs I like less than consensus:

Kirk Cousins, Falcons vs. Eagles

The Eagles' defense can be beaten by the pass, but from what we saw from Cousins in Week 1, I don't think we can trust him in fantasy this week. Raheem Morris and company didn't use Cousins and his healed/healing Achilles in play action at all against Pittsburgh, and play action is Cousins' bread and butter. Maybe that changes this week, but keeping him in shotgun appears to be the main plan due to his lack of mobility and that's not conducive to success.

Joe Burrow, Bengals vs. Chiefs

The Bengals looked lost in Week 1 against the Patriots, who are a plus defense, but so are the Chiefs this week. It doesn't look great for Tee Higgins to play, so Ja'Marr Chase is really the only playmaker on the offense at this point. Burrow has had success against the Chiefs in the past and I do expect him to turn things around, but I'm not going to risk it this week unless I'm forced to.

RBs I like more than consensus:

J.K. Dobbins, Chargers vs. Panthers

Dobbins is a must-start this week, which isn't exactly big news after his 139 yards and a touchdown on just 13 touches against the Raiders last week. But, the good news is that we know the Chargers will run the ball and after Dobbins outplayed Gus Edwards, he should see an uptick in work. The Panthers are reeling after a huge loss to the Saints and the loss of DL Derrick Brown only makes things worse heading into this week. There's even a possibility Edwards has some value, as the Chargers should hold a lead in this one and they could end up running the ball a ton.

Alexander Mattison, Raiders vs. Ravens

Mattison put up better numbers than Zamir White in Week 1 and could be in another position to see a big chunk of work. The Ravens are 9.5-point favorites and Mattison saw a good number of snaps as the receiving back with his team losing to the Chargers. There is no doubt this matchup is tough, but checkdowns to Mattison in the second half could quickly push his PPR numbers into acceptable range.

RBs I like less than consensus:

Chuba Hubbard, Panthers vs. Chargers

Hubbard couldn't do anything against the Saints last week and now gets what appears to be an improved Chargers defense. That makes sense, as Jim Harbaugh has turned them into a smash-mouth team where running the ball and stopping the run is key. Last week they held Zamir White to 44 rushing yards on 13 carries. The Panthers also just signed Mike Boone, which gives Hubbard, Miles Sanders and Boone all a shot at work on Sunday.

Javonte Williams, Broncos vs. Steelers

I like the Broncos running backs, but I'd also like to see Bo Nix throw the ball further downfield to free up some space for the offense. The Steelers aren't a dominant defense and can be run on, but the Broncos are splitting touches between Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin so much that I need the offense as a whole to be much better before I feel good about starting either.

WRs I like more than consensus:

Wan'Dale Robinson/Malik Nabers, Giants vs. Commanders

The Commanders were scorched by Baker Mayfield last week and even if Daniel Jones can't hit Mayfield's numbers, he should be able to get Robinson and Nabers enough targets to be useful in fantasy. Robinson had 12 targets last week which tied for the second most in the league, while the rookie Nabers was at six targets, but did catch a much higher percentage than Robinson. I do expect Nabers to see more targets this week, but Robinson in the slot is going to still get plenty of work. Both have good upside in a plus matchup.

Demarcus Robinson, Rams vs. Cardinals

Both Tyler Johnson and Robinson have good matchups here and are useful "sleepers" with Puka Nacua out, but I'm leaning into Robinson because he has proven his abillty and is the safer play. Last season he ranked 18th in separation out of 125 qualifying receivers and showed well, scoring a touchdown in each game from Week 12 to Week 15 last season. This is also a positive matchup, so I'm more than happy playing him in DFS and in redraft this week.

WRs I like less than consensus

Jayden Reed, Packers vs. Colts

Malik Willis is not good. He makes way too many mistakes and has little to no pocket presence. The team will likely look to run the ball with Josh Jacobs, which means they'll use their big offensive packages, which don't get Reed on the field. He is a playmaker, so I expect he'll get some manufactured touches, but the Colts aren't going to be too worried about Willis beating them through the air. Overall, I'll fade all the Packers receivers until Willis can show me he's gotten better or Jordan Love returns from injury.

Calvin Ridley, Titans vs. Jets

Ridley had trouble with the Bears' strong pass defense in Week 1, catching 3-of-7 targets for 50 yards. This week he'll likely see a lot of the Jets top corner Sauce Gardner and an overall great pass defense, while Titans QB Will Levis did not make good decisions in Week 1. I still like Ridley to have good upside with someone like Levis willing to give him a shot on deep balls, but this matchup is just too tough to feel good about.

TEs I like more than consensus:

Taysom Hill, Saints vs. Cowboys

Hill had okay usage in Week 1, but just didn't get in on the fun and then saw his usage go down with a big lead in the second half. But, this week the Cowboys aren't going to roll over like the Panthers did and I expect Hill to be called on in higher leverage situations. I still like his upside more than the majority of the starting tight ends in the league.

Colby Parkinson, Rams vs. Cardinals

With Puka Nacua out and the Cardinals' defense not able to put any pressure on the quarterback, I am happy to throw these secondary receivers into streaming spots. Parkinson was the no-doubt Rams tight end last week and should again see a useful amount of usage in a game the Cardinals are actually favored at some books.

TEs I like less than consensus

Juwan Johnson, Saints vs. Cowboys

Johnson found the end zone in Week 1, but was behind Foster Moreau on the depth chart, as Moreau saw more snaps and targets while also scoring a touchdown. To have any fantasy value this week he'll need to once again find the end zone and there just won't be a lot of opportunities for him.

Chigoziem Okonkwo, Titans vs. Jets

I've always been a fan of Okonkwo and seeing him catch a touchdown in Week 1 had me intrigued. Unfortunately, he had just two short targets, while his backup, Nick Vannett, also had two short targets. Okonkwo ended up with just 59% of the snaps and 6.2 percent of the targets. That's not sustainable, especially in a tough matchup with the Jets.