Week 2 Recap: We now have two whole games worth of evidence (minus tonight’s Bears-Seahawks matchup) to make all kinds of crazy assumptions about the rest of the 2018 NFL season. It’s not much, but it’s all we got. This is far from an all-inclusive list, but there are a few performances that caught my eye in Week 2 that could help shape the rest of your fantasy football season.
patrick mahomes is a literal god, fitzmagic wore this to the post game press conf, and a bills player retired at halftime. what a week 2 honestly. https://t.co/PQp1zaebN7
— samantha (@previtee) September 17, 2018
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
Personally, I was not very impressed with Mahomes’s four-touchdown outing in Week 1. I wanted at least five. Yesterday’s six-touchdown performance was more like it. All kidding aside, Mahomes is certainly looking like the breakout fantasy quarterback many pinned him to be (while Jimmy Garoppolo has looked the opposite). The 10 touchdowns over the first two weeks of an NFL season breaks the record previously held by Peyton Manning (2013), Drew Brees (2009) and, most impressively, Charley Johnson (1965). It’s also worth noting that Mahomes found five different receivers with his six touchdowns, including two for tight end Travis Kelce.
Kansas City #Chiefs DVOA after Week 2: No. 1 in offense, No. 1 in special teams… and No. 32 in defense.
— Aaron Schatz ? (@FO_ASchatz) September 17, 2018
Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
Vegas tried to warn us about this Chiefs-Steelers matchup, so hopefully you loaded up your DFS teams with red and yellow. Roethlisberger bounced back in a big way, completing 39 of his incredible 60 passing attempts for 452 yards and three touchdowns. Like Mahomes, he spread the wealth around, tossing TDs to Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and tight end Jesse James. The Steelers defense looks pretty atrocious, which is good news for Big Ben’s fantasy owners this season.
Austin Hooper, Falcons
Austin Hooper caught all five of his targets for 59 yards as a touchdown. It wasn’t a super-sexy performance, it may mean that Hooper could move beyond the “touchdown-dependent” label. If Hooper can keep catching the majority of his targets then he will gain the trust of Ryan even more and hopefully start to receive more targets all over the field.
Austin Ekeler, Chargers
Austin Ekeler carried the ball 11 times for 77 yards, and has Chargers fans seeing visions of two-headed-monster’s past (LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles). Ekeler added three receptions for 21 yards. He’s not going to score many touchdowns as long as Melvin Gordon is healthy, but PPR players should start taking notice.
Corey Clement, Eagles
Running back Corey Clement made the most of his opportunities in Week 2, with 30 yards on six carries and five receptions for for 55 yards. This came with Darren Sproles out and Jay Ajayi missing almost the whole first half. While Ajayi will remain the lead back and Sproles will remain in the mix, Clement showed that he deserves more snaps and is probably a good bench stash given Ajayi’s injury history.
Matt Breida, 49ers
Matt Breida totaled 159 yard, despite only touching the ball only 14 times. His 24.9 PPR fantasy points were the fourth most among backs on Sunday. Breida has earned more touches, but it’s unclear if or when he’ll get them. But he’s done enough to earn a spot in your PPR lineup, that’s for sure.
Saquon Barkley, Giants
We all knew he was talented, and some thought he could have a ton of added fantasy value as a pass-catcher. Well, he caught 14 passes for 80 yards Sunday night. This made up for just 28 rushing yards, but that had more to do with game-script than Barkley’s ability, though the way the Giants offense is ticking overall, they may be playing catch-up every game this season. Regardless, Barkley has back-to-back games of 100-plus yards from scrimmage in his first two career NFL games.
All RBs to play on at least two-thirds of their team’s snaps in Week 2 pic.twitter.com/0sYe44YOgM
— Scott Barrett (@ScottBarrettDFB) September 17, 2018
Kenny Golladay, Detroit Lions
Kenny Golladay caught six of nine targets for 89 yards and a score in a 30-27 loss against the 49ers. The touchdown was Golladay’s first since Week 14 of 2017, but he’s fast becoming a favorite target Matthew Stafford, who continued to look Golladay’s way often, especially late when the Lions were attempting their comeback. He will be working his way into fantasy lineups going forward after mostly being drafted as a WR5.
Will Fuller, Texans
He missed the team’s Week 1 loss with hamstring issues and was questionable up until game day this week, but Will Fuller was a full-go Sunday, catching eight passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. Fuller definitely has a strong rapport with Deshaun Watson and should be a decent start the rest of the season as long they both stay healthy.
Phillip Lindsay, Broncos
Phillip Lindsay rushed for 107 yards on 14 carries Sunday afternoon in Denver’s 20-19 victory over the Raiders, becoming the first undrafted player in NFL history with 100-plus scrimmage yards in each of his first two games. His 15 touches were more than Royce Freeman and Devontae Booker received combined, so he appears to be the back to own in Denver at the moment.
Derek Carr/Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders
Derek Carr reconnected with Amari Cooper in a massive way on Sunday After being held to just one catch in Week 1. Cooper hauled in 10 receptions for 116 yards on 10 targets, in a tough matchup no less. He’s always been considered the Raiders top receiver with PPR upside, but after last season he was tough to trust. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, and he should be poised for a big Week 3 against the Dolphins, who just allowed over 300 yards in the passing game. Carr, meanwhile, completed 29 of 32 passes for 288 yards and a touchdown
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buccaneers
Nobody wants to think that Ryan Fitzpatrick is really going to supplant Jameis Winston as the Buccaneers starting quarterback, and it still might be a long shot. But you can’t ignore anyone who starts the season with four touchdowns in each of the first two games (the first time a Bucs QB has done so). It’s also the way he’s done it, nailing DeSean Jackson with a 75 yard touchdown 10 seconds into the game, and later hitting O.J. Howard for another long catch-and-run, giving Tampa Bay multiple scores of 75-plus yards for the first time in team history. I’m not saying he’s here to stay, as we’ve seen Fitzmagic fizzle out before, but he’s certainly worth spot-starting at least until Winston is back.
Nelson Agholor, Eagles
Nelson Agholor caught eight of 12 targets on Sunday for 95 yards and a touchdown. He has now drawn more than 10 targets in each of the first two games. Alshon Jeffery will likely miss at least one more while Carson Wentz is expected to be back for Week 3. Agholor is making a strong case for retaining his effective tole even after Jeffery returns.
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