Fantasy Football: The Things I Learned – Week 2, 2017

By Chet Gresham – @ChetGresham
Follow @walterfootball for updates.

Below, check out my fantasy-centered recaps of key players from this week’s contests. For instance, did a player come back to earth after an aberrant breakout, or were they simply affected by something like game flow?

Ravens 24, Browns 10
Rashard Higgins came out of this game with some fantasy prospects after seeing a team-high 11 targets and catching seven of them for 95 yards. He saw a lot of work after Corey Coleman went down with an injury to his hand, which initial reports believe could be broken. If Coleman’s hand is broken and Kenny Britt looks as if he’s not a fan of playing football, which it does, then Higgins should stay near the top of the Browns’ target list.

DeShone Kizer had to leave this game for a couple quarters due to a migraine. He then came back and threw a couple more interceptions to give him three, including a lost fumble. He is talented, but probably should have been left to recover from his migraine; this was not a game he’ll look back fondly on.

Javorius Allen took a big fantasy step forward this week, as he out-snapped Terrance West 43-to-16 and accumulated 101 yards and a touchdown on 19 touches to West’s 45 yards and a touchdown on 10 touches. Allen was trending up in training camp, so this isn’t a crazy turn of events. Coach Harbaugh might say it’s a committee still, but Allen is clearly the lead back, even if he loses goal-line touches.

Ben Watson showed up for this game, catching all eight of his targets for 91 yards. This offense loves its tight ends, but they are consistently hurt. As long as Watson is healthy, he’s worth a pickup. Especially for those who just lost Greg Olsen for the season.

Panthers 9, Bills 3
This was an ugly game to say the least, but the teams still accumulated fantasy points for some reason. The Bills have been rotten on the road, and the Panthers’ defense is truly good, so there’s not much good news to garner here other than that Buffalo can be thoroughly dominated by an opposing defense.

That domination shined brightest when LeSean McCoy tried to do anything. He rushed 12 times for nine yards and made six receptions for 34 yards. There was absolutely no room for him to run, and even in space after receptions, he was quickly corralled. McCoy may not be the unstoppable force we want him to be, but he’s still the focus of this offense. Unfortunately, the Bills head to Denver to take on the team that just held Ezekiel Elliott to eight yards on nine carries.

This was a win for the Panthers, but not much else good came from it. Cam Newton was again very inaccurate, and Greg Olsen broke his foot. Those two are the core of this offense.

With Olsen out, we should see more of Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess. Both had decent games considering the score. Ed Dickson will be Carolina’s new tight end, but he just doesn’t have the upside to be consistent in fantasy.

Jonathan Stewart continues to see more rushing attempts than Christian McCaffrey, which is what we thought would happen, while McCaffrey continues to be the main receiving back. Both have upside depending on game flow. Just think of what McCaffrey might be able to do against the Saints’ defense next week!

Cardinals 16, Colts 13
Carson Palmer remains not good, but the Colts’ defense was good to his stats overall, as he threw for 332 yards, one touchdown and one interception; his 53 percent completion rate against the Colts’ inept defense is just gross. Palmer should remain a decent streamer in great matchups, but I won’t be relying on him if I can help it.

J.J. Nelson was the star in this game, as he caught 5-of-7 targets for 120 yards and a touchdown, plus just missed another touchdown. Larry Fitzgerald saw the brunt of the secondary’s coverage, which left Nelson and Jaron Brown singled up on the outside, but Nelson outperformed Brown despite seeing four fewer targets. Nelson’s an add in most leagues for me.

Jacoby Brissett drew the start for the inept Scott Tolzien, and despite the outcome, Brissett was good enough to pull a win out of this game. He has the athleticism and ability, but he’s still raw and is only an upgrade on Tolzien instead of a fantasy asset moving forward.

Jack Doyle was the “star” of the Indianapolis offense this week, catching all eight of his targets for 79 yards, which can get it done in PPR leagues. Until Andrew Luck returns, Doyle might be the only player worth his salt.

Titans 37, Jaguars 16
Blake Bortles remains awful, but did put up some garbage-time points this week, connecting with Allen Hurns for a touchdown and throwing for 223 yards after only recording 41 passing yards in the first half.

Leonard Fournette managed a garbage-time 1-yard touchdown run, but saw a smaller workload after the Titans pulled away in the second half. It’s more than clear that Fournette will get plenty of work when the score is close. He was lucky to get that one-yard look in garbage time.

Allen Hurns and Marqise Lee were the main targets and put together some decent garbage-y stats, but again, this offense will run through Fournette if the score is close, as the team wants badly to hide Bortles in a bushel basket.

Derrick Henry exploded in the second half of this game, ending with 92 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. He is no doubt the better running back at this point between DeMarco Murray and himself. Murray is still good, but age is creeping on him and initial reports suggest he might have tweaked his hamstring, which was an injury that kept him out of practices this summer. They will undoubtedly continue to split time, but Henry should see an uptick in work after today, especially if Murray is hurt.

Corey Davis also hurt his hamstring in this game, but his injury quickly took him out of the game and sounds like it could keep him out a few games. We’ll learn more, but for now I’d expect Rishard Matthews, Eric Decker and Delanie Walker to see a few more looks while he is out.

Chiefs 27, Eagles 20
Carson Wentz has put together two strong fantasy games to start the season, this week completing 25-of-46 passes for 333 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, plus adding 55 yards on four rushing attempts. The Eagles are going to throw the ball a ton as long as Darren Sproles is their best running back, so keep riding Wentz based on volume alone.

LeGarrette Blount did not touch the ball this week. There were only 13 rushes for the Eagles, with 10 going to Sproles and three to Wendell Smallwood, so there wasn’t much there as it was, but this is a development that I doubt we’ll see Blount come back from.

Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz did most of the damage in the receiving game, with both seeing double-digit targets. They should remain the favorite fantasy plays in this offense. Nelson Agholor, who had a great Week 1, ended up with one reception, which also happened to be a touchdown. That’s good news for those who grabbed him off waivers and started him this week, but the bad news is that he caught one pass on three targets, despite Wentz throwing the ball 46 times.
Kareem Hunt continued his assault on NFL defenses this week, scoring two more touchdowns and totaling 109 yards. A good Andy Reid running back is usually a fantasy star, and that continues with Hunt. I mentioned last week selling high on him if you could find a taker for a top-three player, but hey, just enjoy the ride.

Alex Smith played well, but we knew his Week 1 outburst against the Patriots wasn’t going to become a consistent result. His efficient 21-of-28 passing for 251 yards and a touchdown, along with 21 yards rushing, are right in his wheelhouse, and with Tyreek Hill and Hunt to go along with Travis Kelce, Smith’s upside is higher than it has been in Kansas City.

Patriots 36, Saints 20
New Orleans’ defense is so awful that Drew Brees and company will likely be in comeback mode in a majority of games, which was the case this week against New England. Brees was able to throw for 356 yards and two touchdowns versus the Patriots. On the road against tough defenses, we may have some Brees duds, but for the most part, he’s going to put up yardage at the very least, and there will be touchdowns thrown in for fun.

The Saints’ backfield remains a full-blown committee, with Mark Ingram seeing eight rushing attempts and five targets, Adrian Peterson eight rushes, and Alvin Kamara one rush and seven targets. None were able to score or put up many yards, which happens to be the opposite of what you want in fantasy. Kamara might end up having the most upside as this team will be trailing and throwing the ball a lot.

Tom Brady threw three touchdowns in the first half, which was amazingly the most he’s ever thrown in the first half, on his way to quite the “get back on track” game. Brady completed 30-of-39 passes for 447 yards and three touchdowns, and showed that maybe he doesn’t suck.

Mike Gillislee saw the bulk of the rushing attempts with the lead, rushing 18 times for 69 yards and a touchdown. It appears that he’ll remain the lead/goal-line back, but game script will guide his usage. Amazingly, seven players ran the ball for the Patriots in this game – if you count Tom Brady.

Rob Gronkowski, Rex Burkhead and Phillip Dorsett all were injured in this game, which helped James White see eight targets, which he caught all eight of for 85 yards. We’ll need to see the extent of these injuries, but White continues to prove himself as a solid player each play, which will keep him on the field for Bill Belichick.

Steelers 26, Vikings 9
Sam Bradford’s reign of terror on NFL defenses ended pretty quickly, as he couldn’t go in this game with a knee injury. There is no real news on this injury, but it’s expected that Bradford will be back next week, which the team sorely needs, as Case Keenum isn’t going to be able to support the strong offensive players in Minnesota, especially against good defenses.

The Steelers still don’t look like the offense they can be, but they also played a tough Minnesota defense this week. Le’Veon Bell touched the ball 31 times for 91 yards, which shows just how well the Vikings’ front plays. The workload was there, and Bell looked ready to bust a long run here and there, but it just wasn’t to be this week. He’ll come around sooner than later.

Martavis Bryant saw the fantasy points in this one, as Xavier Rhodes did a good job on Antonio Brown, holding him to five receptions for 62 yards, while Bryant caught 3-of-4 targets for 92 yards and a touchdown. Bryant was targeted deep more than once, and despite being a deep threat, he should see more opportunities than most deep threats.

Buccaneers 29, Bears 7
Mike Glennon put up some garbage-time stats, but this game was over by halftime. He threw two interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown, and then completed short passes on a defense with a 29-0 lead. Mitch Trubisky awaits his call.

Jordan Howard only saw nine rushing attempts and one target, and was seen wearing a sling after the game. He came into the game with a gimpy shoulder, so it’s possible the injury is slowing him down, but it’s more likely that he has no role when trailing as long as Tarik Cohen is healthy. Cohen didn’t do all that much either, but in PPR leagues, he was useful, catching 8-of-9 targets for 55 yards. That’s 16 receptions in two games. Trubisky might let the ball fly more often, but with so few receivers of any talent, Cohen should continue to see targets.

The Bucs’ offense didn’t need to do much in this game after getting a quick lead and then augmenting it with a pick-six. Mike Evans was the fantasy star for them, catching 7-of-9 targets for 93 yards and a touchdown. He did most of that damage in the first half and could have had a huge game if the Bears would have put up any kind of fight. Really, when you look at this offense for fantasy, you can’t gain much from this game due to them shutting things down early.

Dolphins 19, Chargers 17
Philip Rivers completed 31-of-39 passes for 331 yards and a touchdown. The one touchdown was the problem, as the Chargers moved the ball well, but had trouble in the red zone. Rivers is good and has a healthy complement of receivers, so keep firing him up.

Antonio Gates got his record-breaking touchdown, and maybe now we’re done with the old man. He was great, but he is no longer, and Hunter Henry is the man now in New San Diego. Henry caught all seven of his targets this week and totaled 80 yards compared to his zero targets last week, while Gates caught 2-of-4 targets for 11 yards and his touchdown.

Melvin Gordon couldn’t go anywhere on the ground this week, but was able to get in from the one-yard line for a touchdown and also catch seven passes for 65 yards. Rivers is a master at passing to running backs, and Gordon is seeing heavy usage, so his floor remains high even when the run game isn’t working.

Jay Cutler completed 24-of-33 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown, playing very much like he did in Chicago with Adam Gase as his offensive coordinator. With the running game working, Cutler was efficient with short passes and took a few calculated shots at the end zone. His upside is low in this offense, but he also shouldn’t kill you with awful performances.

Jarvis Landry was a PPR wizard, catching 13-of-15 passes for 78 yards. He was little more than a glorified PPR running back in this one, but hey, that works. This was a good sign for Landry, as it looked like he was going to see a reduced role after a slow second half to last season, but as long as he’s getting anything close to 15 targets, he’s going to be more than useful.

Raiders 45, Jets 20
The Jets were never in this game and will likely have trouble getting “into” any games this year against capable or even not-so-capable teams. We can look to Jermaine Kearse, who has done well for himself since moving to the Jets from Seattle, as a possible fantasy asset because he scored two touchdowns, but also saw just five targets. And if he does become the favored receiver, teams will likely be able to take him out of games and make Josh McCown throw it elsewhere if they aren’t already up by 30 points.

Derek Carr was on point against the Jets’ useless defense, completing 23-of-28 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns. He would have had a bigger day if the score wasn’t out of hand, but the three touchdowns will do.

All three of Carr’s touchdowns went to Michael Crabtree, who caught all six of his targets for 80 yards and the touchdowns. This was Crabtree’s week after Amari Cooper saw multiple red-zone targets last week, and Crabtree was able to do more with his. Of course, both are great and will continue to put up numbers, but Crabtree’s efficiency in the red zone should keep him seeing targets with touchdown potential.

Marshawn Lynch continued to run well, but the Raiders are trying to keep him fresh, and he also saw reduced snaps with such a large lead. Lynch rushed 12 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. I’d expect 15-17 touches a game, along with all goal-line looks, which is enough in this offense to be a RB2 at least.

Seahawks 12, 49ers 9
Brian Hoyer completed 15-of-27 passes for 99 yards and an interception, so you can deduce that maybe the receivers didn’t put up many fantasy points in this one. Hoyer won’t have to face the Panthers or the Seahawks each week, but he’s shown little to boost trust in his ability. C.J. Beathard will likely see some snaps at some point this season.

Carlos Hyde is healthy, and he is good. Somehow, he rushed 15 times for 124 yards and caught 3-of-6 targets for 19 yards in a game where he was the only offense for his team. Right now, he is a must-start, even on a team that hasn’t scored a touchdown.

Eddie Lacy was inactive for this game, while Thomas Rawls got the start, but that was quickly gobbled up by Chris Carson, who led the Seahawks with 20 carries for 93 yards and one reception for seven yards. Carson ended up playing 51 snaps to Rawls’ 16 and appears to have taken over as the lead back. With this offensive line, we can’t get overly excited about that, but at the same time, if Carson is on waivers, he is a must-add.

Jimmy Graham caught 1-of-2 targets for one yard. He’ll have better games of course, but right now, he’s toxic to your fantasy teams.

This Seattle offensive line is scary bad. Russell Wilson continues to run for his life, and he looks like he’s a bit shell-shocked, making mistakes he usually wouldn’t make, due to the constant onslaught. None of these Seattle fantasy players can be trusted right now.

Redskins 27, Rams 20
Todd Gurley was the Los Angeles offense in this one, rushing 16 times for 88 yards and a touchdown, plus catching 3-of-4 targets for 48 yards and another touchdown. He fumbled twice, losing one, but that’s not going to dampen his fantasy backers’ spirits much. His 88 yards rushing are the most he’s had since Week 14 of 2015, so it’s not like we are used to this kind of output from him, but there is no doubt that Sean McVay is making him into a fantasy asset, especially as a receiver. Gurley will be shut down on the ground at times, but if he’s getting fantasy points through the air, his floor gets much higher each week.

Rob Kelley played some of his best football in a while, rushing 12 times for 78 yards through a quarter and a half, but then went down with a rib injury. It appears he fractured a rib, but a timetable for his return is not yet known. Samaje Perine replaced him, rushing 21 times for 67 carries and should continue to be the early-down back while Kelley is out, but Chris Thompson put up big numbers in this game, scoring two touchdowns, and should see a bump in snaps as well.

Washington ran the ball 36 times and threw it just 27, which isn’t the norm for this offense. The Redskins did maintain a lead for much of the game, but it was close enough to expect Kirk Cousins to throw more than he did. We’ll have to see if they will continue this more conservative approach.

Broncos 42, Cowboys 17
The Cowboys went pass-heavy against the Broncos, and it didn’t work. Of course, the Cowboys got down early and had to pass more, but they abandoned any power running, which is a huge part of their offense. That led to Ezekiel Elliott rushing just nine times for eight yards. We knew going to the Broncos would be tough, but you aren’t beating them with the pass only.

Trevor Siemian showed well, completing 22-of-32 passes for 231 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. That makes back-to-back strong fantasy games from him, and it appears that this offense has true fantasy upside now. The Broncos have all the pieces; they just needed a quarterback to bring them together. Right now, Siemian is doing just that.

C.J. Anderson impressed all game, rushing 25 times for 118 yards and a touchdown, while also catching all three of his targets for 36 yards and another touchdown. As long as Siemian is opening up the offense, Anderson should continue to see space to work.

Emmanuel Sanders caught two touchdowns and looked great doing so, but Demaryius Thomas also looked great, but without the touchdowns. Both need to be moved up your weekly rankings, as their ceilings are much higher than they have been as long as Siemian is playing this well.

Falcons 34, Packers 23
Aaron Rodgers wasn’t at his best in the first half of this game, but in the end, his stats look like what you would expect. He had both his tackles out in this game and lost Jordy Nelson early and Randall Cobb late.

Cobb and Nelson both had to leave the game and not return. Cobb went out with a shoulder injury, and Nelson exited with a quad injury. We’ll need to learn more about the respective severities, but Geronimo Allison is the next man up, while Ty Montgomery, Davante Adams and Martellus Bennett would see a bump in targets if either veteran were to miss time.

Ty Montgomery is getting full bell-cow usage still, and it’s paying off for his fantasy investors. He only rushed 10 times for 35 yards, but one of those was a short goal-line touchdown carry. Montgomery also saw seven targets, catching six of those for 75 yards and another touchdown. His usage in a high-powered offense should continue to keep him as a fantasy stud.

The Falcons got off to a big lead, which slowed down their passing game and their fantasy numbers. Most of the fantasy points went through Devonta Freeman, who rushed 19 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns, while catching two passes for 16 more yards. Freeman’s numbers and touchdowns always seem to be better at home, and with the early lead, he was able to get plenty of work. He’s still splitting time with Tevin Coleman, but when it comes to running the ball, Freeman is the lead back, and the Falcons will likely have more leads than most teams.

For more thoughts, check out Walt’s updated NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Tuesday morning.

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