Week 2 is nearly in the books, and what a wild week it was! We had a quarterback throw for six touchdowns (and not score the most points in his own game), a running back rush for three touchdowns, and one of the league’s best young field generals go down to a serious ankle injury. We also saw a few big fantasy names fail to meet expectations, while two rookie wideouts went off in the stat sheets. Oh, and then there’s that suddenly confusing backfield committee situation in Los Angeles.
Those are among what I believe are the top 10 fantasy football story lines from this weekend that will no doubt affect your starting lineup decisions moving forward.
Tua Tagovailoa struts his stuff against the Ravens. I’ll definitely eat some crow on this one, as I didn’t love the matchup for Tagovailoa. Man was I wrong. The game script forced the Dolphins to throw the ball 50 times in a game Miami was down 28-7 but came back to win, 42-38. Tua finished with 469 yards, six touchdowns and 38.9 fantasy points. His success trickled down to his receivers, as Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle combined to score four touchdowns and a bananas 82.1 fantasy points.
Tua was great, but he wasn’t the best quarterback in Baltimore. It’s not often a quarterback throws for six touchdowns and isn’t the top fantasy signal-caller on the week, let alone his own game. But that was the case, as Lamar Jackson threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for another 119 yards and a fourth score. He finished with an impressive 142.6 passer rating and, far more importantly, 42.6 fantasy points. Jackson and Tua combined for an unreal 81.4 fantasy points.
Jonathan Taylor puts up a rare stinker in Jacksonville. The top running back in fantasy football, Taylor was bottled up by the Jaguars in a blowout loss to the Jags. While he did average six yards per rush, JT saw just nine carries and finished with a mere 7.3 fantasy points. It was the first time he’s been held to single digits since the third game of last season, when he scored just 8.2 points in a loss to the Titans. He has now averaged just 11.6 points in three career games played in Duval County.
Nick Chubb rushes for three touchdowns vs. the Jets. Brownie the Elf might not have been good luck for the Browns, but he was for Chubb. In a contest where the lowly Jets came from behind to win, the veteran runner tallied 113 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns in a 31-30 loss. His scores came on runs of 4, 7 and 12 yards while backfield mate Kareem Hunt was held out of the end zone. In fact, Chubb was the lead red-zone option (six touches to Hunt’s two) for the Browns in the contest.
The 49ers and fantasy managers lose QB Trey Lance. One of the most popular breakout candidates heading into the season, Lance suffered a terrible-looking ankle injury in the first half against Seattle. He was carted off the field with his left leg in an air cast. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the injury will require surgery and will cost Lance the rest of the season. That leaves veteran Jimmy Garoppolo to lead the offense once again. He’ll be a huge add for fans in super flex and two-quarterback leagues, while Lance is another unfortunate victim of the brutal sport of pro football.
Amon-Ra St. Brown heading for elite fantasy status. St. Brown has been a star for fantasy fans to start the season, scoring 20.4 points in Week 1 and following it up with 39.4 in a win over the Commanders. He has now scored 20-plus points in six of his last seven games dating back to his rookie season, during which time he’s put up an average of 26.4 points. How good is that? Last season during his historic season in the stat sheets, Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp averaged 25.9 fantasy points.
Tom Brady suddenly looks like a 45-year-old quarterback. Brady threw for just 190 yards with one touchdown in an ugly win over the Saints. His 9.4 fantasy points was just slightly worse than the 10.4 points he scored in Week 1. Doing the math from those two contests, Brady has averaged 9.9 points. He was held to fewer than 10 fantasy points just once all last season. His lack of production has a lot of fantasy managers wondering if Father Time (or his public off-the-field issues with wife Gisele Bündchen) is affecting him. Brady will look to rebound vs. the Packers next week.
Christian Kirk is looking a lot like an alpha wide receiver. Many heads turned when the Jaguars gave Kirk a monster free-agent contract, but he’s been worth it and then some after two weeks. After catching six passes (12 targets) for 117 yards in the opener, Kirk finished this week with six catches, 78 yards and two scores in a win over the Colts. He should now be seen as a high-end No. 2 fantasy wideout.
Drake London looks good for the Falcons once again. The 2022 rookie class didn’t seem to have a Justin Jefferson- or Ja’Marr Chase-level wideout, but London has shown some real potential in a small sample size. He had eight catches for 86 yards and scored a touchdown against the Rams, totaling an impressive 24.6 fantasy points. He is also the first rookie wide receiver since Stefon Diggs in 2015 to have at least five catches and 70 yards in each of his first two NFL contests.
Cam Akers starts, leads the Rams backfield in touches. The Los Angeles Rams backfield looked like Darrell Henderson’s after Week 1, but that was not the case against Atlanta. In what was a surprise for fantasy managers, Akers started and out-touched him 17-10. Henderson did have a better yards per rush average and found the end zone, but this now looks like what could be a headache-inducing backfield committee moving forward. It’s anyone’s guess who’ll be the best back at this point.
Notes
- James Robinson, not Travis Etienne, is the top fantasy running back for the Jaguars. He saw a 40.3% touch share against the Colts, rushed for a 37-yard touchdown and scored 15.8 fantasy points. So much for that Achilles tendon surgery! Etienne has now scored just 16.8 combined points in two contests.
- Garrett Wilson busted out in his second NFL game, posting eight catches on a team-high 14 targets for 102 yards, two touchdowns and 30 fantasy points in a win over the Browns. Wilson is rostered in just 20% of Yahoo! leagues, so he will no doubt be one of the most added players in fantasy land for Week 3.
- James Conner suffered an injured ankle in an overtime win over the Raiders, limiting him to nine touches and 7.1 fantasy points. Eno Benjamin and Darrel Williams shared the workload in his absence and would form a backfield committee if Conner were unable to play against the Rams in Week 3. Stay tuned.
- Curtis Samuel followed up his eight-catch, 19.2-point performance in Week 1 with seven catches and 22.9 points in a loss to the Lions. He’s now scored a touchdown in each of his first two games and should be added in all leagues (if he wasn’t already). The same goes for Jahan Doston (three touchdowns).
- Texans coach Lovie Smith went back to Dameon Pierce as his lead back, as the rookie saw 16 touches in a loss to the Broncos. By comparison, veteran Rex Burkhead had just two touches after receiving 19 a week ago. This is by no means set in stone, but it’s good news for those who invested in Pierce.
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Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on Sports Illustrated and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. Click here to read all his articles here on SI Fantasy. You can follow Michael on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram for your late-breaking fantasy news and the best analysis in the business!
