It’s only a small sample size, but if the first two weeks of the NFL season are any indication, it’s going to be a very interesting year for fantasy owners. The season is on it’s way to becoming an odd game of “Not or not?” In a fortnight, we’ve seemingly seen a large amount of less-regarded names thrusting themselves into fantasy relevance and established players slip into triviality.
Week 2 was no different. Those that were suffering panic attacks over Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant (seven receptions on 12 targets for 102 yards) can now breathe a sigh of relief. On the flip side, owners of Brandin Cooks, Antonio Brown and A.J. Green, who led the way among Week 1 wideouts, are likely now wringing their hands in frustration after the trio combined for just 145 yards with zero touchdowns Sunday afternoon.
Aside from San Diego Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen, Week 1 was fairly quiet when it came to NFL injuries. That changed in a big way in Week 2, so let’s start there.
Injuries
Ameer Abdullah, Lions: The Detroit tailback banged up his foot as he finished off a 24-yard run during the second quarter. He would not return to the game, finishing with six carries for 38 yards. While bad news for Abdullah owners, who had to like what they had seen during the first two weekends, this could have positive results for Theo Riddick owners. After two touchdowns in Week 1, Riddick didn’t find the end zone this weekend, finishing with 65 yards combined rushing and receiving. One would expect his touches to see a bump if Abdullah misses time.
Arian Foster, Dolphins: The offseason acquisition for Miami exited Sunday’s contest with a groin injury. This has become the norm for Foster owners the past couple of years. At the very least, Jay Ajayi should at least share time with foster moving forward. If Foster’s injury is more serious, then Ajayi will likely get more opportunities, even if Sunday’s second half didn’t show owners much worth considering. The Dolphins were in a deep hole and forced to abandon the run in the final quarters, so Ajayi wasn’t much of a factor carrying the ball, but he did have a few receptions for 31 yards. He’s owned in 47 percent of ESPN leagues.
Jimmy Garoppolo, Patriots: The injury to the throwing shoulder of the New England quarterback was unfortunate. When he left in the second quarter, Garoppolo had already accumulated 234 passing yards and three TDs. With Tom Brady returning in Week 5 following his suspension, Garoppolo’s fantasy value was minimal going forward.
Doug Martin, Buccaneers: Martin hurt his hamstring and came out of Tampa Bay’s game against the Arizona Cardinals in the second quarter. His return was doubtful. Charles Sims stands to inherit Martin’s touches, but he’s likely owned in most leagues (66 percent ownership in ESPN leagues).
Josh McCown, Browns: In 2014, McCown signed a two-year contract with the Bucs for $10 million. McCown received that offer after taking over for an injured Jay Cutler in 2013 for the Chicago Bears, including a three-week stretch where he passed for 1,055 yards and eight touchdowns. On Sunday, it looked like McCown might be finding that same kind of groove, connecting for two early scores as Cleveland opened up a sizable lead on the Baltimore Ravens. McCown did not toss another TD, but 260 yards passing and two scores are more than respectable in fantasy football. McCown won’t be a weekly play, but he has the ability to put up points in certain matchups and because the Browns are likely to be trailing in many games this season.
Jonathan Stewart, Panthers: The Carolina running back already was nursing an ankle injury entering Week 2. That got compounded with a hamstring injury in the second quarter vs. the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. The Panthers only had two other running backs active Sunday in Fozzy Whittaker and Mike Tolbert. Whittaker is the one worth grabbing. Not only was he impressive Sunday, rushing the ball 16 times for 100 yards, he also had three receptions for 31 yards. He is owned in less than one percent of ESPN leagues.
Danny Woodhead, Chargers: San Diego lost the versatile running back in the second quarter. He was carted off the field with what appeared to be a right leg injury. The Chargers lost Allen a week ago and now potentially Woodhead too. This only bodes well for Melvin Gordon owners. The second-year tailback had two touchdowns in Week 1 and had one in the first half of Week 2. Woodhead’s absence would mean even more playing time for Gordon.
Leaders
Like Week 1, the Week 2 leader board had some familiar faces and a bunch of surprises.
Quarterbacks
Cam Newton’s numbers were partially helped by sloppy play by the Panthers that allowed the 49ers to rally within striking distance Sunday. Nevertheless, Newton led a mixed bag of QBs that made up the top 10 list Sunday. That list included Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Derek Carr, Tyrod Taylor, Garoppolo, Ryan Tannehill, Ben Roethlisberger and Blaine Gabbert. Aside from Garoppolo, the only one that is surprisingly in this group is Gabbert. He was helped by San Francisco being behind for most of the game vs. Carolina.
What’s up with Blake Bortles? In 2015, there were just three quarterbacks that finished with more points than Bortles. The Jacksonville QB struggled for most of Sunday, tossing two interceptions and losing a fumble. Owners who drafted him had to be wondering if he would snap out of his funk and whether they would have to contemplate benching him for someone else moving forward. It very well could be the latter, but Bortles wound up with decent numbers by throwing for the bulk of his yardage and two scores in garbage time in the Jaguars’ lopsided loss to the Chargers. That probably appeased his owners, who were just hoping for something once the fourth quarter rolled around. While he finished with decent fantasy stats, Bortles definitely has caused some concern.
Last thoughts: Another week, same takeaway: Aside from a few elite play-callers, most of the QBs behind them are going to provide the same results most weeks. Week 2 was no exception. Perhaps the biggest letdown of the weekend was Drew Brees, who was limited to 263 yards and one TD. Week 2 brought some normalcy to the top 10 list of fantasy QBs, certainly more so than running backs or receivers. A parting observation: Are defenses catching up to the high-octane offenses we’ve been seeing the past couple of years? It kinda felt like it.
Running backs
Other than Matt Forte’s strong performance for the New York Jets on Thursday night, it was a pretty ho-hum week for running backs as a whole. Isaiah Crowell led tailbacks that were in play Sunday and he was followed by LeGarrette Blount, DeAngelo Williams, Melvin Gordon, Latavius Murray, Giovani Bernard, C.J. Anderson, DeMarco Murray and David Johnson. Early on, it appeared this might be a very different group from the tailbacks that led the way in Week 1, but by the end of the afternoon, half of the group (Williams, D. Murray, Gordon, Anderson and David Johnson) were repeats from the previous week. Williams will likely keep it up because he’s arguably on the best offense in the league. But he will be giving way to Le’Veon Bell soon, and barring an injury, Williams will become moot. D. Murray is getting the job done for the Titans thus far and was efficient Sunday with 12 carries for 89 yards and seven receptions for 56 yards. Gordon is a must-start for owners at this point and that was only cemented with the injury to Woodhead.
Butterfingers: The heralded Cowboys rookie scored the first touchdown of his career in Sunday’s win over the rival Redskins, but he also coughed the ball up twice, though the second one was recovered by Dallas. The second fumble may have cost him a chance at a second score; Alfred Morris became the beneficiary and punched it in from four yards out. He’ll have to secure the ball going forward, and with the talented Morris in the wings, Dallas likely won’t hesitate to split Elliots’s carries with the former starting back.
Last thoughts: Thus far, we’re seeing pretty rudimentary stats being put up by tailbacks in fantasy. In the 2011 and 2012 seasons, we saw 15 and 14 running backs, respectively, finish with 245 carries or more. That number dropped to 11 in 2013, then nine in 2014 and just five in 2015. That’s a trend that is making a deep impact in fantasy leagues, and it seems like one that isn’t going to reverse itself any time soon.
Wide receivers
While we have some well-known names among the top 10 list in Week 2, we also have some we didn’t expect. Travis Benjamin, Kelvin Benjamin and Corey Coleman were the top three wideouts entering Sunday night. Eric Decker, Marquise Goodwin, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Wallace, Julio Jones, Danny Amendola, Greg Salas and Larry Fitzgerald rounded out the top 10 with Mike Evans close on their heels. Green Bay’s Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb suited up Sunday night along with Stefon Diggs of Minnesota. And the Bears’ Alshon Jeffery plays Monday night so this list could see some changes.
All about the Benjamins: After a tremendous rookie year in 2014, Kelvin Benjamin missed all of 2015 due to injury. With three touchdowns and 199 yards receiving in two weeks, it’s safe to say Benjamin is all the way back. His addition makes Carolina even more potent offensively and allows them to rattle off points even when they’re not at their best such as Sunday. As for Travis Benjamin, he’s the benefactor of the injuries to teammates Allen and Woodhead. While defenses will clamp down on him in the coming weeks, he’s going to be Rivers’s top target most weeks. It’s enough that he has to be a weekly consideration depending on the depth of your wideouts and certainly a flex option most weeks.
Last thoughts: The aforementioned Bryant bounced back in a big way. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott looked for Bryant extensively Sunday. That’s not going to change and if anything, Prescott and Bryant are going to get more comfortable together. … Golden Tate might be missing Calvin Johnson after all. Following back-to-back seasons in which Tate has hauled in 99 and 90 receptions, the expectation was he would continue to be a great player in PPR leagues and perhaps see an uptick in yards and touchdowns. Instead, Tate has received seven and nine targets in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively. That’s not horrible by any means, but the final results were seven receptions for 41 yards and two catches for 13 yards. While I wouldn’t advocate dropping Tate, he certainly needs to be relegated to the bench until he shows something; Marvin Jones seems to be the only wideout doing something in Detroit. … In Los Angeles, Rams wideout Kenny Britt had his second solid week in a row. He’s only owned in 8 percent of ESPN leagues so if you need some depth or have some byes coming up, he could be useful.
