The Weekly Angle || Week 2

I’m excited to announce that I’ve joined the team over at AngleRanks.com! I’m really grateful and excited to be a part of what is going on over there, and I can’t encourage you enough to use the site to create your own tiered rankings and to see how the experts, myself included, are ranking players each week.

Week 2 is wrapped up and we saw a strong regression to the mean in scoring across the league. Week 1 was historic for total points and touchdowns scored league wide, but the drop off was felt everywhere in Week 2. At halftime of the one o’clock games, there were only seven total touchdowns across the league, and across 16 games only five hit the over.

Despite the lower scoring week, we still had some respectable fantasy performances from a handful of players.

One Takeaway from Every Game

Bills vs. Lions TNF — 41-31 Bills Victory

• This game was pure fantasy gold. Of all the fantasy-relevant players, only Jameson Williams and DJ Moore put up stinkers. Josh Allen continued to be a fantasy superstar, putting up a nuclear fantasy performance. James Cook showed out as well, finding his way to the endzone on his way to a 135 yard rushing day. DJ Moore suffered a shoulder injury and his status will need to be monitored heading into Week 2. Dalton Kincaid is in year four of his career and the breakout is officially happening. I’m incredibly high on his rest-of-season outlook and am looking to acquire him everywhere I can.
• Gibbs, Amon-Ra, LaPorta, and Goff all showed out thanks to a game script that forced them to keep up with the high-powered Bills offense. Jameson Williams put up another bad performance, totaling only 33 yards in a game where Jared Goff threw for 327 yards, and the panic alarm may be starting to sound. I’d argue this is exactly what we should expect from him based on his history. He has the potential to put up 30+ points any given week, but you’re also running the risk of a sub-10 performance just as often.

Patriots vs. Steelers — 20-3 Patriots Victory

• The Patriots bounced back from a bad Week 1 and got a victory at home, but Drake Maye is flat out bad. Second-year RB TreVeyon Henderson showed out and earned the bulk of the workload after a first-half fumble from Rhamondre Stevenson. The win was largely a product of a dominant Patriots defense.
• The Steelers are horrible. After two weeks they have the second worst EPA in the league, ahead of only the Cooper Rush and Jack Strand-led Falcons. There is not a single player on this team who should be considered a reliable fantasy starter each week.

Panthers vs. Falcons — 34-3 Panthers Victory

• Two dominant fantasy performances in a row from Bryce Young. He looks like a solid weekly fantasy QB right now and this Panthers offense is very high quality. RB Jonathan Brooks suffered a groin injury that led to Chuba Hubbard handling all the rushing work and scoring a TD. WRs Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker led the team in targets with 10 and 9 respectively, and continue to solidify themselves as reliable weekly starters. TE Darren Waller caught three passes for 33 yards and two touchdowns.
• The Falcons were horrendous. Bijan Robinson barely escaped a fantasy dud thanks to some efficient running, but you can’t trust anyone else on this offense until we see what QB Michael Penix Jr. can do when he returns Thursday night in Week 3.

Saints vs. Ravens — 24-17 Saints Victory

• The Saints pulled off the upset in Baltimore. Tyler Shough is looking like a late-round gem at QB and is currently leading the NFL in passing yards through two weeks. Chris Olave is performing at an elite level on the field and for fantasy managers. Alvin Kamara returned to the lineup and immediately led the team in carries and receptions out of the backfield, creating massive question marks around Travis Etienne’s rest-of-season outlook.
• The Ravens struggled mightily due to a lack of receiving weapons. They had a decent first half thanks to dominant running from Derrick Henry, but for some reason only ran him five times in the second half. I’m not reading too much into this for the Ravens. As the WR room gets healthy, I think this offense will be fine.

Vikings vs. Bears — 9-3 Vikings Victory

• Did we just witness the greatest overreaction to a minor injury in NFL history? Fantasy managers watched in terror as Caleb Williams collapsed due to a seemingly horrific non-contact injury, only for it to later be revealed as a potential grade-one hamstring strain, with a chance of returning as early as Monday night. This game was disgusting overall. Bad weather and a defensive masterclass from the Vikings and Brian Flores led to just one fantasy-relevant performance from D’Andre Swift. The temptation is to overreact and sound every alarm for the Bears pass catchers, and I understand it. Through two weeks it has been rough, but I’m willing to throw this game away and wait one to two more weeks before making any big moves.
• Again, just a terrible weather game that backup QB Carson Wentz couldn’t do enough to overcome. Throw it away and don’t overreact.  Aaron Jones was the only Viking able to get anything going for fantasy, totaling 105 yards on the ground.  He will be a must start as long as Jordan Mason is out.

Bengals vs. Texans — 20-6 Bengals Victory

• Ja’Marr Chase shined with seven catches, 75 yards, and two touchdowns. Tee Higgins led the team in targets with 10 and had a very respectable five catches for 95 yards, but didn’t find the end zone. Outside of those two, there weren’t any great fantasy outputs thanks to a Texans defense that limited scoring opportunities.
• Dalton Schultz did his best prime Travis Kelce impression, going for 140 receiving yards on 12 catches. CJ Stroud threw the ball 55 times and piled up 353 passing yards, but the Texans still failed to score a TD. Don’t overreact to a big performance from Schultz; Nico Collins could be back next week to take back his share of the targets, and the Texans run game will likely bounce back from just 18 total rushing yards between their two RBs.  He is a solid streaming option, but don’t expect a 100 yard performance weekly.

Packers vs. Jets — 20-17 Packers Victory

• Another brutal weather game that limited fantasy upside for most players. For the Packers, Christian Watson was the only player to avoid a disappointing day thanks to a 3-yard TD.
• WR Adonai Mitchell led the Jets in targets with 12, catching six for 63 yards. He was on the field for 82% of snaps and is someone I’m keeping my eye on in the coming weeks. Garrett Wilson had five catches for 57 yards and a TD for the best fantasy performance of the game. Breece Hall was very inefficient on the ground, rushing for only 29 yards on 16 carries, but salvaged his fantasy day with five catches for 63 yards.

Browns vs. Buccaneers — 23-19 Browns Victory

• Something is horribly wrong with the Buccaneers. Baker Mayfield has been bad for fantasy through two weeks, and receivers Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin have not been able to deliver on the upside many analysts were excited about coming into the season. On the bright side, despite a modest 13-point fantasy game, Bucky Irving looks fantastic running the ball and is getting a solid portion of the receiving volume. He is one of my favorite trade targets right now.
• Dare I say it: Deshaun Watson had a good game, going 24 of 30 for 238 yards and two TDs. It’s just too bad nobody started him. The real focus for the Browns is the continued disappointments from Harold Fannin and Quinshon Judkins, and the rise of rookie WR Denzel Boston. Boston is getting me very excited for fantasy and is someone I’m willing to target heavily on waivers this week.

Eagles vs. Titans — 24-20 Eagles Victory

• Cam Ward put together a good fantasy day thanks to two rushing touchdowns, but he is the only player on the Titans with fantasy relevance from this game. My sentiments on the Titans remain the same from last week: You cannot start a single player on this team.
• DeVonta Smith had a massive performance, finishing with 10 catches, 117 yards, and two TDs. Dallas Goedert went down with an MCL sprain and is slated to miss a few weeks. The receiving volume for this team continues to consolidate, and I expect Smith to be the biggest beneficiary. He is another one of my favorite trade targets this week.

Broncos vs. Jaguars — 20-13 Broncos Victory

• RJ Harvey was out due to injury and JK Dobbins left the game with an injury of his own, which led to rookie RB Jonah Coleman stepping up. He was heavily involved in the receiving game and scored on the ground for a solid 14.8-point fantasy day. Jaylen Waddle exploded for eight catches and 138 yards, putting everyone’s fears about his usage on his new team to rest.
• The Broncos defense showed up and held a prolific offense to just 13 points. Trevor Lawrence was limited to only 189 yards, but new stud WR Parker Washington commanded 12 targets and accounted for 98 of those yards on 7 receptions.

Raiders vs. Chargers — 26-14 Raiders Victory

• Oof. It is full DEFCON 1 for the Chargers. They looked atrocious again on both sides of the ball.  There was no discipline, guys were dropping passes all over the field, and penalties mounted, killing their own drives and extending their opponent’s. Things are BAD. The only bright spot was Omarion Hampton, who rushed 23 times for 94 yards and a TD while adding two catches for 21 yards. It is also worth noting that despite how bad the Chargers look, there is a potential waiver gem in TE Oronde Gadsden. Both TE David Njoku and TE Charlie Kolar went down with injuries, leaving Gadsden as the only reliable TE on the roster.
• Kirk Cousins threw for three TDs again, and his play is only making me more eager for Brock Bowers to return. WR Tre Tucker had an awesome game with five catches for 119 yards and a deep TD. Ashton Jeanty was stuffed inside the five twice and had an inefficient day on the ground with 21 carries for 48 yards, but salvaged things with four catches for 15 yards.

Seahawks vs. Cardinals — 31-7 Seahawks Victory

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba might be the best WR in the NFL. I was lower on him than consensus coming into the year out of fear that he couldn’t repeat a historically efficient season. Man, do I look foolish. He had nine catches for 155 yards and three TDs. Rookie RB Jadarian Price suffered a chest injury, and once he left the game,the Seahawks finally gave the entire RB workload to one guy in Emmanuel Wilson, who had 21 carries for 92 yards. It makes no sense how the Seahawks operate their RB room, but depending on the severity of Price’s injury, Wilson could be the top waiver addition of the week.
• The Seahawks defense is elite and held Jacoby Brissett to under 100 passing yards. Still, Trey McBride had a great day with eight catches for 41 yards and a TD. Marvin Harrison Jr. is officially dead for fantasy. Cut him from your rosters.

Cowboys vs. Commanders — 37-20 Cowboys Victory

• There’s the Cowboys offense we knew existed! The Week 1 worries were immediately put to bed as Dak Prescott threw for 279 yards and 4 TDs. CeeDee Lamb went for 8 catches, 153 yards, and 2 TDs. We are still waiting on a boom game from George Pickens, but I’m not panicking yet. His time will come.
• Jayden Daniels went down with a gruesome elbow injury again, and I’m willing to bet he is shut down for the year. He and the team should opt to get the surgery on his elbow that he chose not to get last year. Stefon Diggs balled out and scored twice, and Rachaad White had a solid day thanks to six catches for 40 yards.

49ers vs. Dolphins — 35-13 49ers Victory

• Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, and George Kittle led the 49ers to a dominant victory. Mike Evans left the game late with a hip injury, but I’m not worried. Reports indicated that if it had been a close game, he likely would have come back in.
• No surprise here, the Dolphins are terrible. Achane was fine enough on the ground, rushing for 74 yards and catching three passes for a serviceable fantasy performance.

Chiefs vs. Colts - 33-30 Chiefs Victory

• The Chiefs delivered a vintage fantasy performance. It was Mahomes, Kelce, and Walker who put up the big numbers, but three WRs also had respectable games despite lower target volume. Travis Kelce looks great through two weeks, appearing slimmer and more fluid while consistently finding soft spots in the defense. He is going to be a great TE play for the rest of the season. Kenneth Walker’s upside is legitimately higher than Bijan Robinson’s at this point; what a home run of a draft pick.
• Jonathan Taylor showed out with another dominant game on the ground, finishing with 24 carries for 92 yards and 2 TDs. WR Alec Pierce reinjured the ankle he was nursing throughout the offseason and is looking at an extended absence. Josh Downs had a good game and led the team in targets, receptions, and yards. If he isn’t rostered in your league, he is a must-add.

Rams vs. Giants - 28-6 Rams Victory

• Jaxson Dart went down with a knee injury early in the game, and is likely done for the season. The game was a complete loss for the Giants once Jameis Winston came in.  Temper expectations for guys like Cam Skattebo and Malik Nabers going forward; this offense is going to be rough without Dart.
• Puka Nacua was ruled out just before kickoff, which opened the door for a vintage performance from Davante Adams. The panic alarm was starting to sound after a poor Week 1, and he demolished those worries entirely with 8 catches, 195 yards, and 2 TDs. Stafford had an incredible day as well, finishing with 23 completions, 327 yards, and 4 TDs. Second-year TE Terrance Ferguson may have established himself as the lead TE for the team and had a great day too, totaling 54 yards on six catches.

Biggest Storylines to Pay Attention to This Week

• Severity of Jadarian Price’s injury
• Can Atlanta improve with Michael Penix taking over?
• Timeline for Jayden Daniels’ injury
• Broncos backfield

Final Thoughts

Last week I encouraged everyone to not overreact to performances in Week 1. Now, with two weeks of data in hand, we can start to paint a picture of what to expect moving forward, even if that picture is still incomplete. I’ve always treated Week 2 as my biggest opportunity to take shots on guys I believe in who may be cheaper than they should be, or guys who are underperforming but should ultimately be fine, and I’d encourage you to do the same. Do your research, take advantage of the incredible work my counterparts at AngleRanks.com put together, and develop your own opinions on who is still undervalued after Week 2, then go acquire them.

Some of my favorite trade targets this week are Bucky Irving, George Pickens, Parker Washington, Chuba Hubbard, and Jaylen Waddle.

Best of luck in the upcoming week, and I’ll see everyone back here next week for the next edition of the Weekly Angle.  Be sure to follow me on X @SamFFB for additional fantasy content!