Even though it’s only the second week of the NFL season, being 1-0 or 0-1 in fantasy football feels significantly different. By now, your league-mates are already making absurd predictions about whose team is the worst or best, just like the media with the NFL. As I mentioned in my last article, it’s not time to overreact or panic. It’s time to buckle down and prepare your lineup for the upcoming games.
As always, we are going to begin with the Dolphins vs. Patriots game and lay out the must starts for the matchup:
Tua Tagovailoa Tyreek Hill
Jaylen Waddle Rhamondre Stevenson
Ezekiel Elliot
Starts
When it comes to this, I will avoid mentioning the players you’re going to start week in and week out, and I will also try to be different from your typical fantasy articles, which provide lists. Let’s get into some players I think should be started in this week’s games. The Eagles backfield was already a challenging play in fantasy due to the explosive WR talent and Jalen Hurts’ running ability. In week one against the Patriots, Kenneth Gainwell carried the ball 14 times, which led the team. Gainwell has been ruled out for tonight’s matchup, so I will take a shot on D’Andre Swift here and see if he can recapture some of his big play ability from his time on the Lions. Rashad Penny was a healthy scratch in Week 1 but will likely be on the field, so that could affect Swift’s touches, but I still feel the offense will run through him.
Both running backs for the Patriots were disappointing, which was expected against an Eagles team that took an early 16-0 lead, causing the Pats to throw the ball to keep up. The RB duo will face a Dolphins defense on Sunday night that allowed Austin Ekeler and Joshua Kelley to combine for 198 yards and two touchdowns.
Until Fangio and the Dolphins can prove they can stop the run, I’m starting all running backs against them. Jordan Addison of the Vikings will likely see a lot of work tonight. Expect Darius Slay to shadow Justin Jefferson, and remember that James Bradberry is out for the game. Addison could see more targets, and the Vikings will likely need to throw the ball to keep up with the Eagles.
Sits
Falcons coach Arthur Smith made it very clear that running the ball is going to be his top priority, so for this reason, I’m benching both Drake London and Kyle Pitts this week. It’s simply too hard to trust pass catchers on a team that doesn’t pass the ball. The Falcons’ defense is always sneaky good, so if they can hold the Packers offensively, the plan will be to run the clock, and this game could end 14-10. I have all Steelers on the bench for their Monday night matchup against the Browns. This Browns defense held Joe Burrow to 82 passing yards, which led to poor production from Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins. Pickett and Pickens are not Burrow and Chase, so they will not give you anything in fantasy.
Matchups
Although it’s still early in the year, there is now an entire 60 minutes of game film for every team. This means we can start reading which defenses are good and which allow a fantasy feast for opposing offenses. For example, the Jets head to Dallas to take on the Cowboys, and both defenses are strong. Expect a low-scoring matchup for both offenses. Yes, you’ll have to start Tony Pollard, Ceedee Lamb, and Garett Wilson, but temper expectations. Expect the Giants offense to have a bounce-back game against the Cardinals, so Saquon Barkley should have a big game. The Panthers and Bills defenses both allowed big games to RBs so look for Jamal Williams of the Saints and Josh Jacobs of the Raiders to put up solid numbers as well. Keep an eye on Baker Mayfield and the Bucs going against a Bears defense that made Jordan Love look like the second coming of Aaron Rodgers in his debut. This means Mike Evans and Chris Godwin will both likely perform well.
All in all, week 2 should see some of your fantasy players get back on track and perform at the level you expected them to. Keep an eye on the trends, and we’ll see what happens when the dust settles from the upcoming games.
