Fantasy Football Recap Week 2: 18 Things You Need To Know

Remember all the way back in Week 1, otherwise known as the good old days of Sunday Night Football, when we were treated to a game with more than 70 combined points? The Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings? They just finished a game that felt like it had 70 combined field goals. But it doesn’t change the fact that offenses exploded in the afternoon games, making for some very high fantasy football scores. So we can get the taste of that ugly Sunday Night football out of our mouths ahead of the Monday Night doubleheader, let’s sort through the good, the bad, the ugly, and the injured from a wild Week 1.

Stud Players

Which players put up the best performances in Week 2?

Jared Goff and Russell Wilson both bounced back from horrific Week 1 performances to lead their teams to a combined 92 points on Sunday afternoon. Jared Goff removed any doubt that crept up last week that he could succeed without Ben Johnson as his offensive coordinator. He took that personally, as Michael Jordan would say, and dropped 52 on his former OC, including 334 passing yards and five passing touchdowns.

Russell Wilson heard the rumors that his job security was running out and decided to go into Dallas and turn back the clock. Wilson passed for an incredible 450 passing yards and three touchdowns, including multiple deep moon balls to Malik Nabers to keep the New York Giants in the game. Even though the Giants lost in overtime, the calls to start Jaxson Dart should quiet down for at least one week.

Drake Maye matched Lamar Jackson in fantasy points on Sunday and pulled off his best Lamar impression, scoring three total touchdowns: two through the air and one on the ground. Compared to Week 1, Drake Maye looked much more composed and calmer under pressure, even when the Miami Dolphins were making a strong comeback. Week 3 is a tough test against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but if he can perform well there, he will graduate to must-start status.

Will the San Francisco 49ers be just fine with Mac Jones at quarterback until Brock Purdy comes back from his toe injury? It looks like they might. Jones went into New Orleans and threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers. Now he gets to face the lackluster Arizona Cardinals defense at home.

Jonathan Taylor showed Sunday that even though Daniel Jones might have been reincarnated as a good quarterback when he moved from New York to Indianapolis, Taylor is still the engine of this offense. Taylor touched the ball 27 times for 215 total yards and a touchdown in the come-from-behind Colts win over Denver. Jones may be a threat to steal some goal-line touchdowns, but it’s clear they are still going to let Taylor get his every week.

James Cook took over when Josh Allen looked mysteriously lost in the passing game this week for the Buffalo Bills. Cook turned 22 total touches into 125 yards and two rushing touchdowns in the beat-down of the New York Jets. Cook even got a goal-line touchdown, with some reassurances that Josh Allen won’t get every one of those for this team. The Bills rushed the ball 43 times and threw just 27 times in this game, which is exactly the formula the Bills want, and the one that will make James Cook so successful.

First-round wide receivers who started off slowly in Week 1 reminded us all why we spent such a high draft pick on them. After some shaky performances last week, all of Malik Nabers, Ja’Marr Chase, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and CeeDee Lamb looked unbeatable in Week 2. Malik Nabers torched the Cowboys for nine catches, 167 yards, and two touchdowns. Chase caught 14 of 16 targets for 165 yards and a touchdown. St. Brown was all over the place for Detroit, catching nine balls for 115 yards and three touchdowns. And while Lamb may have been held out of the end zone, he still was targeted 11 times and caught nine of them for 112 yards. Patience is a virtue, my friends.

Juwan Johnson is now an every-week starter in fantasy football. Despite having Spencer Rattler as his quarterback, Johnson has 20 targets in two games and caught another five passes plus a touchdown on Sunday. This offense in New Orleans may sputter at times, but there has not been a scenario yet this season where Juwan Johnson has not been involved.

Dud Players

Which players disappointed fantasy managers the most in Week 2?

Jalen Hurts got a one-yard rushing touchdown because he is contractually obligated by the NFL to do that every week, but other than that, there was not much fantasy goodness here. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs, but Hurts had just 101 passing yards and 15 rushing yards in the entire game.

Derrick Henry didn’t show up to the latest Baltimore Ravens offensive party, where they scored 41 points at home against the Cleveland Browns. Inexplicably, Henry rushed the ball only 11 times for 23 yards and no touchdowns this week. It was a very hollow and empty 2.3 fantasy points after he went off for 29 fantasy points in Week 1. He will look to bounce back against the Lions’ rush defense on Monday Night Football in Week 3.

Are we nearing the point where Marvin Harrison, Jr. enters the Kyle Pitts zone, and we all just have to agree that he is not going to be as good as was advertised? This is now two straight weeks where the Arizona Cardinals have played an awful defense (New Orleans in Week 1, Carolina in Week 2), and Harrison has flopped both times. On Sunday, Harrison had just two catches for 27 yards. Wide receivers in this game, Michael Wilson and Brycen Tremayne, both outscored Harrison this week.

You would think that when a team scored 52 points, that would be an offensive tide that would raise all the skill players' ships. But Sam LaPorta didn’t get the memo and finished with just three catches for 26 yards. Fellow Lions’ tight end Brock Wright caught a late-game touchdown in this one. LaPorta’s fantasy managers were probably salivating at the thought of what he did before they looked at the box score and realized he barely was involved.

Thud Players

Which players can we shove off our fantasy rosters after Week 2?

Rookie running back Kaleb Johnson only played two snaps in the first half for the Pittsburgh Steelers, so that was bad enough. But then came the second half and one of the most bone-headed plays you will ever see an NFL player make. Johnson touched the ball in the end zone on a kickoff, and then just let it go by him with no effort to recover, and the Seattle special teams pounced on it for a gift touchdown. If Kaleb Johnson doesn’t touch the field in Week 3, it won’t be a surprise.

J.J. McCarthy had three total turnovers and took six sacks against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night. Whatever magic quarterback dust Kevin O’Connell sprinkled on Sam Darnold last year has yet to saturate into McCarthey yet. He still has a lot of development to go, and it’s fine to cut him for a better quarterback backup or streaming option.

Braelon Allen can be kicked to the curb after it’s now clear that preseason talks of this being a split backfield for the New York Jets were just hogwash. Breece Hall played on about 65% of snaps, and Allen actually lost out on work to Isaiah Davis. In Allen’s nine snaps on Sunday, he saw two carries and one target.

Bad Blood Players

Which players’ injuries are worth monitoring after Week 2?

Joe Burrow is the major injury news coming out of Week 2, as it has been reported that he has suffered a Grade 3 turf toe (according to Ian Rapoport) and will miss up to three months of action. This is a devastating blow to this powerful offense, although Jake Browning was able to keep them afloat this week. If Burrow’s diagnosis is confirmed, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bengals go out and pursue a player like Jameis Winston or Kirk Cousins to take the role this season.

Justin Fields left Sunday’s game with a possible concussion and did not return. With Fields’ crushing running style, he is prone to hits like this, so his status will need to be monitored as the week goes along. If Fields is unable to clear the protocol by next week, that would mean it’s Tyrod Taylor time again in the NFL.

Aaron Jones had to leave in the second half of the Sunday Night Football game with a hamstring injury. He was listed as questionable to return but did not, as the Vikings could not get an offensive rhythm going. No other details were made after the game as far as I could tell, so it will be important to check his practice and injury status this week.