The opening slate of NFL games certainly came with some surprises. Whether you navigated troubled waters for a win or started 0-1, our Fantasy Football Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 2 will help you make the correct lineup decisions to emerge victorious this week.
Injuries also had a big impact, which makes the waiver wire doubly important.
Here are our Fantasy Football Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 2 picks.
QUARTERBACKS
Start ‘Em
Derek Carr (Las Vegas Raiders) – The Arizona Cardinals’ pass defense is non-existent this year. They allowed Patrick Mahomes to annihilate them last week on the way to the QB1 finish. Granted, Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league, however, the Cards are also very bad. With the weapons Carr now has to attack with, he should destroy this defense.Â
Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams) – Stafford should bounce back in a big way this week against the Falcons. A.J. Terrell is generally a corner to avoid, but he’ll be on Cooper Kupp and we know he’s going to get his regardless. We could see Allen Robinson bounce back as well as there is a chance Terrell at least slows Kupp down a bit. Stafford’s struggles last week were in major part due to the Bills’ defense, although, the O-line has to be better.Â
Sit ‘Em
Trey Lance (San Francisco 49ers) – It’s not time to panic yet with Lance. You can even throw out the numbers from last week because of the weather. However, he looked really bad beyond the numbers. He looked like a lost quarterback with bad mechanics and poor decision-making skills against a bad team. Justin Fields performed infinitely better than him under the same conditions. Again, don’t panic but maybe take a wait-and-see approach if you have another option.Â
Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens) – Hear me out! There is a good chance you have to start Lamar, however, you need to temper expectations. The Dolphins have the blueprint and the pieces on defense to terrorize him. Even worse, he doesn’t have the rushing attack to offset the game plan. You are going to see safeties Brandon Jones and Jevon Holland attacking off the edge and forcing Jackson to beat them with his arm and make quick decisions in the pocket. He showed last year he couldn’t do it. Hopefully, for Jackson, this coaching staff has come up with a counterpunch. If you pulled the trigger for an early QB2, especially one of the above from Start’Em, this is the week to use him.Â
RUNNING BACKS
Start ‘Em
Darrell Henderson (Las Angeles Rams) – Make no mistake Henderson is the RB1 in LA and anyone saying otherwise drafted him and is just putting on a brave face. We warned you all summer about this and told you to avoid Cam Akers and instead snag Henderson late. He out-touched Akers 18-3 last week and Akers used those three yards to put up a grand total of zero yards. Henderson should be utilized as the Rams’ RB1 until further notice.Â
Travis Etienne (Jacksonville Jaguars) – James Robinson came back and looked shockingly good last week. This has Etienne’s owners worried. However, you need to start Etienne this week against Indianapolis. Despite Robinson having more carries, Etienne out-snapped Robinson and doubled his targets. We would be talking about his huge game if not for two disasters on would-be TDs. The Colts held running backs to just 2.8 rushing yards last week but were beat up through the air against backs and tight ends. This is a positive matchup for Etienne in what should be a tight game. Surprisingly, the division rival Colts haven’t pulled out a win in Jacksonville since 2014.Â
Sit ‘Em
Ezekiel Elliott (Dallas Cowboys) – We just don’t know how this offense is going to look under Cooper Rush. Zeke could be fine, nevertheless, this could also be a disaster. Either way, the smart move may be to sit him this week and see how things play out if you have another option. He could get more carries and dump-offs because of the quarterback. He also could be game-scripted out of a blowout loss and dealing with stacked boxes. Elliott is a risky start at best.Â
Najee Harris (Pittsburgh Steelers) – Harris was dealing with a Lisfranc injury all summer. He suited up in Week 1 and re-aggravated the injury forcing him out of the game. If he decides to try to give it a go this week it is not only possible, but likely he doesn’t make it through the game healthy. The best-case scenario here is that he is ruled out. Otherwise, there will be a lot of unhappy fantasy owners watching Jaylen Warren carrying the ball on Sunday.Â
WIDE RECEIVERS
Start ‘Em
Christian Kirk (Jacksonville Jaguars) – Last week, Kirk looked just like he did in the preseason. He caught six of his team-high seven targets for 117 yards. He is the WR1 in a high-volume pass offense on a team who is likely to be trailing or in shootouts most weeks. Kirk is a start this week and should be a safe option moving forward.Â
Julio Jones (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) – We suggested you start Jones last week and he’s an even better start in Week 2. Jones served as the clear second option in the passing game behind Mike Evans, catching three of his five targets for 69 yards and rushing twice for 17 yards. With Chris Godwin sidelined for at least a few weeks, Jones should be considered a viable flex option.Â
Tyler Boyd (Cincinnati Bengals) – Tee Higgins is dealing with a concussion issue and missed the entire second half last week. In that game, Boyd saw seven targets, caught a TD, and played 80% of the snaps. If Higgins is to miss this week’s game I’d expect an even higher snap count this week and more targets and if Higgins doesn’t play I’d still expect him well over 70% snap count. No matter what he has PPR upside, but he’s an easy start if Higgins doesn’t make it back.Â
Sit ‘Em
Amari Cooper (Cleveland Browns) – You’re going to be able to put Cooper on this list weekly until DeShaun Watson is back. Jacoby Brissett is so bad and Donovan Peoples-Jones out-targeted him last week. Cooper was only able to muster up 17 yards on six targets. Also, as bad as the Jets are, Sauce Gardner is going to be a corner by the end of the year we are trying to avoid in fantasy. There isn’t one good reason to start Cooper.Â
Darnell Mooney (Chicago Bears) – The Bears are going to get trounced by the Packers this week. Green Bay was embarrassed by Justin Jefferson in Week 1 and will look to get better in a hurry. Jaire Alexander is going to shadow Mooney and Alexander is the better of the two players. This matchup should be avoided if you have another option.Â
DeVonta Smith (Philadelphia Eagles) – The Eagles scored 38 points last week and Jalen Hurts threw the ball 32 times against a bad secondary, and Smith caught zero passes. Of those 32 attempts, a number Hurts only reached five times last season, he only completed 18 of them and 10 were to the alpha WR1, A.J. Brown. With Brown operating as the clear-cut WR1 and Hurts subpar throwing skills, there is no chance Smith can be fantasy relevant in any kind of consistent manner. Bench him and you may even be cutting him in a few weeks.Â
TIGHT ENDS
Start ‘Em
Gerald Everett (Las Angeles Chargers) – Everett looked great last week catching three passes for 54 yards and a score. The Chargers will head to Kansas City on Thursday night without Keenan Allen and Donald Parham. We know Herbert is going to pile up numbers, we know he loves his tight ends and this game has a league-high Over/Under of 54.5 and rising. Fantasy football is a numbers game and they all add up in Everett’s favor this week.Â
Logan Thomas (Washington Commanders) – It was shocking that Thomas was active last week. It was even more surprising when he played 62% of the snaps and earned six targets. The tight end is an integral piece of the Washington offense and his activity should only increase as the season goes on. He is going to finish the season as a TE1 and is an easy start against the Lions this week.Â
Sit ‘Em
Dawson Knox (Buffalo Bills) – Last week Knox posted one catch for five yards. You are going to get games like that from Knox a lot this year. He’s going to catch one or two passes most weeks and if they aren’t in the end zone you won’t be happy. If you are just throwing a dart and hoping for a TD, he’s as good an option as any. Just don’t expect him to be anything more than that.Â
Albert Okwuegbunam (Denver Broncos) – The Broncos deployed four tight ends on Monday Night and all of them saw targets. Andrew Beck saw three targets before Albert O saw any and led the group with 52 yards. That was in a game when the wide receivers were heavily under-utilized in the first half, which I don’t expect to keep happening. The tight end situation here is scary and you might want to wait and see if he can establish himself in the offense more before plugging him in.
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