2026 NFL Preseason Recap and Fantasy Football Notes: Week 2

**** NOTES FOR EVERY GAME WILL BE UP AS SOON AS I WATCH THEM **** Follow me @walterfootball for updates.



2026 Preseason Notes: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3
2026 Fantasy Football Stock Pages: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3




Titans 19, Seahawks 16

Drew Lock and the Seahawks' backup offense on the opening drive of the game. Seattle went down the field and scored rather easily despite sitting all of its starters against Tennessee's first-string defense. If that wasn't bad enough, Seattle's fourth-string running back, Jacardia Wright, scored a 69-yard rushing touchdown on the ensuing drive. Seattle's backups scored 13 points in the blink of an eye against Tennessee's beleaguered starting defense.

Things didn't go much better for Tennessee's starting offense. Battling Seattle's backups, the Titans' first-string offense was on the field for three drives, and it scored a grand total of three points. The first possession concluded in a field goal, although Cam Ward threw a poor pass downfield that wasn't anywhere close to his target. The second possession came to an end when Tyjae Spears was stuffed on a fourth down. It's unclear why Spears was handling the short-yardage situation. Tony Pollard would have been the better option there, but perhaps the Titans were experimenting because this game didn't count.

On the third drive, Ward appeared to make a great play. He rolled out of the pocket because he was pressured by Seattle's backup edge rushers. He then threw way late across his body over the middle of the field. It seemed like the sort of play in which a quarterback would be intercepted, but Ward was able to find Gunnar Helm for a deep gain. Unfortunately for the Titans, the play didn't count because Helm was only able to get one foot in bounds.

This was a truly embarrassing performance by the Titans, who clearly look like one of the worst teams in the league. Both their first-string offense and defense were manhandled by Seattle's backups.

Here were Ward's targets:

Elic Ayomanor: 2
Daniel Bellinger: 1
Gunnar Helm: 2
Tony Pollard: 1
Calvin Ridley: 1
Wan'Dale Robinson: 2
Tyjae Spears: 3
Carnell Tate: 2

There was some sketchy quarterback play late in this game. Will Levis couldn't complete half of his passes, and his four completions went for just 15 yards. He did have some nice scrambles, however.

Jalen Milroe, meanwhile, threw an interception where he didn't see a defender. He then threw a second pick after that.

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Bengals 27, Bears 9

This game was not nearly as worthless as many of the others we saw on Saturday because Caleb Williams and his starting receivers - save for the injured Luther Burden - were on the field for one drive. Williams took his team into the red zone, but it wasn't a great performance overall.

Williams began well when he rolled left and found Rome Odunze for a nice gain while evading a pass rusher. However, Williams had a bad sequence in the red zone. He threw a pass way behind and high toward Colston Loveland, which should have gone for a touchdown. He then fired way too high for Odunze, so Chicago had to settle for a field goal.

Williams was one of the least-accurate quarterbacks in the NFL last year, and this drive, albeit being a small sample size, was not a good indication that things will improve this year in that regard.

Here were Williams' targets:

Roschon Johnson: 1
Colston Loveland: 3
Rome Odunze: 2

The Bengals did not play any of their starters. Josh Johnson was effective in the first half, leading the team down the field for several scoring opportunities. Johnson was able to get the ball to Colbie Young, Cincinnati's fourth-round rookie receiver, who was a focal point of the offense in the first half.

At one point, Johnson targeted Young on four consecutive passes. Young failed to make a reception along the sideline, but Johnson went back to him in a similar circumstance on the next play, and Young was able to snag a great reception for a gain of 18 yards.

Young is battling Andrei Iosivas to be Cincinnati's third receiver, but given that Iosivas wasn't playing in this game, it appears as though Young is well behind the veteran.

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Cowboys 34, Cardinals 13

This was yet another worthless preseason game, as both the Cowboys and Cardinals rested their starters. Joe Milton played the entire first half for the Cowboys, and he was actually quite good.

Milton began on a down note, missing his target on a fourth down, but after that, he stepped up in the pocket to avoid pressure and found a running back for a touchdown. He then heaved a long bomb to Jonathan Mingo.

Right before halftime, Milton was able to move away from pressure and find a receiver for a long gain. The wideout took the ball inside the 5-yard line, and Milton ended up rushing for a touchdown right after that.

NFL Preseason Announcers: Let's pour one out for Ron Wolfley, who is no longer one of the broadcasters for the Cardinals. Wolfley used to say the craziest things on Arizona preseason telecasts, but he's no longer in the booth for some reason.

Instead, the Cardinals have some sideline reporter lady who said she was interviewing "Dewey Weaver."

I've been covering the NFL for 27 years, and I've never heard of anyone named Dewey Weaver before. She actually meant Andrew Wingard. I have no idea how she confused Andrew Wingard with Dewey Weaver.

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Patriots 24, Eagles 21

This was a worthless game where no starters played. Even top backups like Tank Bigsby sat. It was a battle between Andy Dalton and Tommy DeVito, with the latter being a far better passer. DeVito launched a deep touchdown to Kyle Williams in the second quarter.

Dalton, conversely, struggled to complete basic throws. He airmailed some passes and was nearly intercepted on three occasions. In fact, he was actually picked once, but a roughing-the-passer penalty negated the interception.

It's unclear why the Eagles continue to play Dalton over the superior Tanner McKee. Predictably, McKee was far better in this game. Dalton should not be in the NFL any longer.

NFL Preseason Announcers: This was a frustrating broadcast to listen to because I couldn't hear any of the Patriots announcers. For some reason, the microphones weren't working properly, and the crowd noise was drowning out whatever they were saying.

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Buccaneers 16, Chiefs 15

The Buccaneers' "starters" played in this game, and I'm putting the word "starters" in quotes because while Baker Mayfield, Bucky Irving, and some of the offensive linemen were playing, the top three receivers and some other offensive linemen were sidelined.

Mayfield played for a couple of drives, but all he did was throw short passes because the coaching staff didn't want to put him in a poor situation with the diminished blocking.

Here were Mayfield's targets:

Ted Hurst: 1
Kameron Johnson: 1
David Sills: 2

Tampa Bay's running back rotation interested me more than anything in this game. The Buccaneers began the evening with three consecutive Bucky Irving runs, and Irving looked very good on those plays. The announcers mentioned that Irving added 10 pounds of muscle this offseason, and it showed.

Following the three runs, we didn't see Irving again. Instead, Kenneth Gainwell entered the game. It's clear that Gainwell is behind Irving on the depth chart. Gainwell will play on third downs and in the two-minute drill, but Irving should handle everything else.

Sean Tucker, by the way, played into the fourth quarter, so he won't be much of a factor unless there's an injury.

The Buccaneers trailed for most of this evening, but were able to mount a comeback with the help of rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels. The undrafted rookie looked good. He made a nice throw downfield right away and then had a terrific scramble. He followed that up by throwing a bullet into a tight window for a touchdown. Daniels made some nice plays, but he had several issues with the quarterback-center exchange. It wouldn't surprise me if he's named the QB2 instead of Jake Browning, who had to be checked for a concussion in this game.

The Chiefs also played their starters, but we obviously did not see Patrick Mahomes because he's currently rehabilitating from an ACL tear. Justin Fields played with the starters for two drives and then was on the field with the backups for most of the first half. The Chiefs produced very little versus Tampa Bay's improved defense.

There's been some hype surrounding rookie receiver Cyrus Allen. We saw some good in this game when he made a third-down catch, although he didn't go anywhere. He caught the pass from Fields on an early drive, so he was playing with the starters.

The downside is that Allen was playing very late into the third quarter.

Another Chiefs rookie, Garrett Nussmeier, had a solid debut last week but wasn't as good in this contest. He threw an interception into heavy traffic, which was tipped and then picked off. Nussmeier didn't do very much else positively.

Harrison Butker drilled a 69-yard field goal in this game just prior to halftime. What's crazy is that he cleared it easily by five or six yards. Hilariously, Butker missed an extra point later in the contest.

NFL Preseason Announcers: It was cool to see Jon Gruden on TV again. Gruden was one of two color analysts in this game, along with Ronde Barber. This was an odd broadcast, however, because the Buccaneers didn't have a play-by-play announcer, with Chris Myers missing this game for unknown reasons. Still, Gruden and Barber made it work.

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Rams 34, Saints 0

This was yet another game in which neither team played its starters. The only takeaway from this game is how Ty Simpson performed for the Rams in the second half.

Unfortunately for those who wanted to tune in to see Simpson play, they didn't get to see much action from him. The Saints held the ball for what seemed like an eternity in the third quarter, and the Rams were way ahead, so they didn't have to throw that much in the fourth quarter.

However, Simpson made some positive plays once again. On one drive, he was able to buy time in the pocket to find his target for about 10 yards. He then delivered a perfect pass to his receiver for 20 yards along the sideline. It wasn't all perfect, as Simpson missed an easy throw on the ensuing possession.

The only Saints player worth mentioning is Bryce Lance, a fourth-round rookie who has a chance to contribute this year in the wake of Jordyn Tyson's injury. Lance made a nice catch to bail out a poor throw from Zach Wilson.

Lance, however, was flagged for holding on one play, which wiped out a decent gain from Devin Neal.

NFL Preseason Announcers: The hot Asian girl from the Facebook movie was in the broadcasting booth during the third quarter. Granted, we didn't hear much from her because she was only there for a little bit, but in brief action, she proved to be a colossal upgrade over Mina Kimes.

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Giants 26, Dolphins 3

Neither the Giants nor the Dolphins played their starters in this game. This contest was rather irrelevant, although we had a look at how the Giants view their running backs in the wake of the Najee Harris signing.

Both Devin Singletary and Tyrone Tracy Jr. saw significant action in the first half. Singletary played over Tracy, who nearly got Jaxson Dart killed last week on a blown pass-protection pickup. Tracy continued to ruin his outlook with the Giants when he lost a fumble in the red zone in this game. Singletary, conversely, scored a touchdown.

With Harris resting along with the other starters, it's clear that Singletary and Tracy are the third and fourth running backs on the team, respectively. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Tracy is traded or cut.

It's worth noting that Odell Beckham Jr. and Darius Slayton played in this game. Given that all of the important Giants players sat, this indicates that neither Beckham nor Slayton will factor much into the offense.

It's also definitely worth noting that Malachi Fields didn't play, which means that he should have a huge role on the team this year.

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Bills 31, Browns 7

The Browns decided to continue their quarterback competition in the second preseason game, but in typical Browns fashion, they didn't have any of their starters on the field along with the quarterbacks. Buffalo also sat its starters.

Shedeur Sanders had first crack at the battle, and he played the entire first half. He began 8-of-8, and it's not like he was just throwing checkdowns. He completed some impressive strikes during these first eight passes. However, Sanders' afternoon ended on a down note, as he fired an interception on a deflected pass when his throw was behind his target in the red zone.

Still, it was a good day overall for Sanders, especially considering that Deshaun Watson really struggled in the second half. Watson played four drives. The first possession was nondescript. The second one was when the boos started raining down on him. The crowd was disgruntled with a short toss of his, and then they booed harder when he heaved the ball into the ground when his arm was hit.

Watson's third drive began better when he made a good throw to Malachi Corley over the middle of the field, but then he tossed an interception into double coverage. Watson was booed once again when he fired behind his target on a fourth-and-6. That was his final throw of the afternoon.

Cleveland fans were not happy about seeing Watson. I'm not sure if they were shocked, given that he played into the fourth quarter, but everything he did drew disgruntled groans from the crowd. Rookie receiver Denzel Boston was not pleased with this, as he looked at the crowd with disgust as they were booing Watson off the field.

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Ravens 13, Vikings 3

The starters for both the Ravens and Vikings sat in this game, so there really isn't much to say about it. However, we can delve into J.J. McCarthy's performance. McCarthy played the first half and had some mixed results.

Beginning with the good news, McCarthy completed a 50-yard bomb to rookie receiver Tai Felton, who was able to make a great adjustment and come up with the deep catch. This was probably more indicative of Felton's upside rather than McCarthy's, given how inconsistent McCarthy is.

Unfortunately for McCarthy, he had a number of poor throws in this game. He missed some routine passes, including one where he had an open receiver in the end zone but airmailed the ball over his head.

Ja'Kobi Lane played in this game. He caught one of two targets thrown his way. After Lane has impressed so much, I'm a little discouraged that he played in this game, but then again, De'Zhaun Stribling played for the 49ers in their second preseason game, so maybe I'm reading a little bit too much into it. Lane caught one of his two targets for nine yards.

Given Rashod Bateman's off-the-field problems, there's a better chance that Lane is now the No. 2 receiver across from Zay Flowers.

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Falcons 34, Colts 6

There's not much to say about several games that occurred on Saturday, including this one. Both teams sat their starters, and barely any notable players took the field. One exception is Zachariah Branch, who caught a 15-yard pass from Cooper Rush along the sideline. The Falcons then tried to get him the ball in space, but he was tackled right away. Branch is a late-round fantasy sleeper with high upside.

Otherwise, there were no takeaways from this game. At one point, the entire Atlanta sideline rushed the field because former Colts running back Tyler Goodson scored a touchdown. Apparently, this was a big thing for the Falcons, but I don't see the relevance.

Another noteworthy thing is that Anthony Richardson played behind Riley Leonard. Neither quarterback was very good in this game. If you look at the box score, it'll say that Richardson was just 3-of-9, but he incurred several drops.

Richardson had two impressive runs where he broke free from potential sacks and was able to pick up positive yardage on the ground.

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Lions 17, Redskins 13

The Redskins played their starters in this game, but before you get too excited, take a look at what they did on their only drive of the game: First down was a handoff to rookie running back Kaytron Allen. Second down was a sack in which Detroit's defensive line completely overwhelmed Washington's blocking unit. And third down was a short dump-off to Allen.

That was it. That's all we saw from the Washington starters. Sam Hartman took over after that and tossed nothing but checkdowns.

Here were Daniels' targets:

Kaytron Allen: 1

And yes, Kaytron Allen was the starting running back for the Redskins. However, don't get too excited about this either. Allen played into the second half, while Jacory Croskey-Merritt was resting.

The Lions, meanwhile, sat all of their starters. Once again, Isaac TeSlaa played with the backups, so we shouldn't expect much from him this season.

Joshua Dobbs started in this game, and he was blasted on the first drive for a strip-sack fumble, which was recovered by the Redskins for a touchdown. Dobbs then threw a horrible pick-six in which he heaved the ball across his body late over the middle of the field.

Antonio Williams was everyone's favorite sleeper receiver before the Redskins signed Stefon Diggs. Williams made a great catch in this game, hauling in a 21-yard pass over a defender on a dart from Athan Kaliakmanis.

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Packers 33, Broncos 13

Both teams played their starters in this game, though the Broncos' starters were on the field for two possessions, as opposed to the Packers' starters, who were on the field for one possession.

Bo Nix engineered a great touchdown drive on one of his two possessions. He made a great 30-yard throw to Jaylen Waddle and then followed that up with a perfect pass to RJ Harvey on a wheel route for a touchdown, going against Green Bay's starting defense.

Here were Nix's targets:

Pat Bryant: 1
Jonah Coleman: 1
R.J. Harvey: 2
Lil'Jordan Humphrey: 1
Courtland Sutton: 2
Adam Trautman: 1
Jaylen Waddle: 1

Jaylen Waddle made his first great play for the Broncos in this game, catching a pass for 30 yards. Waddle will be able to make exceptional plays, but it's hard to justify his ADP, given that there are so many players Bo Nix could utilize. On just two drives, Nix threw to seven different players in this game.

Don't pronounce R.J. Harvey dead just yet. With J.K. Dobbins sidelined, Harvey started, and he caught a terrific wheel route for a touchdown. Harvey is going to be used as a receiver out of the backfield, though his carries could decrease because he's not a very good runner.

Jonah Coleman, on the other hand, is a strong runner. He was given the first carry on the second drive of this game. On one of his attempts, he made a terrific spin move and broke through some tackles to pick up a nice gain.

Jordan Love played one drive for the Packers. He spread the ball around very well, hitting five different receivers on his seven attempts. He ultimately led the Packers to a touchdown, hitting MarShawn Lloyd on a short toss for an 11-yard score.

Here were Love's targets:

Chris Brooks: 1
Drake Dabney: 1
Matthew Golden: 2
Marshawn Lloyd: 1
Christian Watson: 3

Christian Watson was a busy man in Green Bay's second preseason game. He saw three of Jordan Love's eight targets. He appeared to fumble after catching a pass on a slant, but the call was overturned by replay review, although it was 50-50, so it's unclear why the play was overturned. It was a horrible sequence for the Broncos. Not only was the turnover negated, but Riley Moss got hurt on the play.

Matthew Golden didn't do much last year despite being a first-round pick. However, it seems as though that will change this year. He saw two of Jordan Love's eight targets during the opening drive of this game. He caught a 19-yard pass on a fourth-and-1.

Josh Jacobs sat out this game due to a minor injury. It's noteworthy that MarShawn Lloyd started over Chris Brooks. Lloyd looked pretty decent, and there's little doubt that he's the handcuff to own over Brooks. However, the injuries can't be ignored, and it's likely that Lloyd will get hurt at some point this year.

NFL Preseason Announcers: NFL preseason announcers should begin considering the fact that a lot of non-team fans watch these games. Perhaps this interests Broncos fans, but the Denver broadcast ran a five-minute expose on why the team chose a different horse as its mascot this year. I doubt anyone outside of Denver cared. In fact, I'm not sure if people in Denver cared either.

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Panthers 34, Jaguars 17

Jacksonville's starters were nowhere to be seen in this game, while the Panthers had their starters on the field for two drives, so we'll concentrate on Carolina in this breakdown.

Bryce Young's initial drive ended with no points. In fact, the Panthers went three-and-out, as Young saw pressure on third down, causing Young's throw to go incomplete. However, he bounced back with a scoring drive on his second possession, thanks to Tetairoa McMillan drawing a pass interference penalty downfield. The drive culminated with Jonathon Brooks scoring a touchdown.

Here were Young's targets:

Jonathon Brooks: 1
Jalen Coker: 1
Tetairoa McMillan: 3
Brycen Tremayne: 1
Tommy Tremble: 1

It was nice to see Jonathon Brooks score a touchdown after all the issues he's dealt with concerning his knee over the years. However, he did not have much running room in this game, as Carolina's blocking looked very suspect against Jacksonville's backups.

This was a concern heading into the season, given that the Panthers lost a couple of offensive linemen to either injuries or departures this offseason.

The only Panthers starter to stand out in this game was Tetairoa McMillan. Last year's first-round receiver caught both of his catchable targets and drew a pass interference flag downfield on his third target.

McMillan, who previously said that he does not love football, looks to be poised for a big year, although his upside is capped by Bryce Young's mediocrity.

NFL Preseason Announcers: NFL preseason broadcasters will often mix up the names of the opposition. I first learned this when Eagles broadcaster Kevin Reilly called Maurice Jones-Drew "Maurice Drew-Jones." There have been many others who have made similar mistakes, including the announcer in the recap below in the Steelers-Jets game.

It is much rarer for a broadcasting crew to mess up one of its own player's names, but that's what we saw in this game when one of the Jacksonville announcers called Travis Hunter "Travis Henry." He said there would be an interview with Travis Henry after the commercial break, which had me confused about why the former Broncos running back would be at this game being interviewed by the sideline reporter.

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Jets 17, Steelers 0

Both teams had a majority of their starters out on the field in this game, although the Steelers were missing Aaron Rodgers and their injured receivers, so we'll focus on the Jets first.

Geno Smith had a great opening drive in this contest, going 7-of-7 and leading his team down the field for a touchdown. No word yet on whether Mina Kimes has moved him back into the top 10 of her quarterback rankings.

Here were Smith's targets:

Braelon Allen: 1
Adonai Mitchell: 2
Jeremy Ruckert: 1
Mason Taylor: 1
Garrett Wilson: 1
Jelani Woods: 1

Geno Smith's top target was not Garrett Wilson, one of the running backs, or either one of the tight ends. It wasn't Omar Cooper either. It was Adonai Mitchell, who saw two targets go his way, while the rest of Smith's receivers saw one target each.

Mitchell made a great sideline catch on one of his two targets. He didn't score a touchdown, so we don't know if he would have held on to the ball this time.

Breece Hall didn't play because of his groin injury. Braelon Allen made the start and was handling all of the running back reps for the Jets. It's clear that Allen is the handcuff you want to own for Hall.

Drew Allar had a great debut last week. He wasn't as good this week, though he had some highlights in the mix with some of his lowlights.

Allar had a terrific pass in this game where he was falling back in the pocket and launched a deep throw. He dropped it into the bucket for a 38-yard connection. Allar, however, struggled for the most part after that. He made some bad throws and held the ball too long on several occasions, taking unnecessary hits in the process.

Allar has had struggles processing information quickly, which was why he fell to the third round of the NFL Draft despite having an elite arm. On the plus side, Allar was able to bounce back on the final drive. He zipped a nice pass over the middle of the field and then fired a precise throw to the sideline. He then delivered a strike to a target for a nice gain into the red zone, but the pass was dropped.

NFL Preseason Announcers: The Steelers broadcast was a mess. The announcer called Geno Smith "Alex Smith," and he called Mason Taylor "Mason Miller." The graphics people also made sure to flash "GREAT PLAY" in bright colors whenever a huge play was made, as if the viewers didn't know that a big play had just happened.

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49ers 41, Chargers 17

Jim Harbaugh told the media that Justin Herbert and the rest of the starters were going to play one drive. He said that they would play just one possession even if they went three-and-out, which is exactly what happened.

Omarion Hampton went for a loss on the first snap. Then, Herbert's pass to Charlie Kolar was complete, but was shy of the first-down marker because Kolar stumbled. On third down, Herbert fired a pass deep downfield to Ladd McConkey, but the pass fell incomplete because the throw was way off the mark.

Here were Herbert's targets:

Charlie Kolar: 1
Ladd McConkey: 1

One major problem in this game for the Chargers was their run blocking. They couldn't open up any running lanes for the running backs, even their backups. This is something that must be fixed, and it doesn't help that Tyler Biadasz is out for the year.

Oronde Gadsden II continues to run with the backups. He was the primary tight end in the Chargers' offense last year, but that's not going to be the case if the preseason is any indication. Gadsden isn't even playing well with the reserves. He dropped a pass in this game.

The Chargers couldn't get anything going in this game. Every time they made a nice play, it was called back by a penalty. One instance of that was when Trey Lance completed a great back-shoulder throw to Keaton Mitchell, but the play was negated by an illegal formation penalty.

The Chargers had a big run from Lance in the second quarter, but stalled inside the 5-yard line and then kicked a very short field goal for some reason.

Brock Purdy started this game and played one drive. While he wasn't great - he missed an easy throw at one point by being incredibly inaccurate - he did better than the Chargers' starting offense, which went three-and-out. Purdy showed great chemistry with his rookie receiver De'Zhaun Stribling, albeit in a very small sample size.

Here were Purdy's targets:

Luke Farrell: 1
Deebo Samuel: 2
De'Zhaun Stribling: 3

49ers second-round rookie receiver De'Zhaun Stribling is one of our top fantasy sleepers. He had a great preseason debut a week ago, and he continued to perform at a high level in this game.

Stribling made a great initial catch away from his body versus a Chargers' starting cornerback. Then, he caught a ball on the next play to move the chains for a first down. After that, Stribling went to the ground to catch a pass to move the chains again. He followed that up with a nice reception over the middle of the field.

Stribling's only blemish was a dropped pass on a deep touchdown, but he has otherwise been terrific and should continue to see his ADP rise.

Another 49ers rookie starred in this game. Third-round rookie running back Kaelon Black made his debut for San Francisco after missing some time with an injury. Black looked good during his two drives. He carried defenders on one play for a 9-yard gain.

With Christian McCaffrey continuing to miss practice with tightness, Black is looking better and better as a late-round sleeper who can potentially start several games this year if McCaffrey misses time.

NFL Preseason Announcers: The Chargers telecast constantly posted a small image on the bottom right of the screen with yellow words: "Bolt Up!" Given that these were yellow words, I constantly thought that there was a flag on the play. Why did they do this?

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Raiders 22, Texans 20

All eyes were on Fernando Mendoza, who played the entire first half in Las Vegas' second preseason game. While he had a fine debut last week, he has to be disappointed with this performance.

Mendoza began his evening well, firing a rocket pass to Jalen Nailor for a gain of 22 yards. However, he was then very jittery in the pocket and threw a pick-six on a telegraphed pass. After that, he heaved an inaccurate throw toward Nailor.

Mendoza, however, bounced back a bit after that. He completed mostly short passes, but then launched an 18-yard completion to Malik Benson. Unfortunately for Mendoza, Benson dropped an ensuing third-and-7 in which Mendoza lofted a perfect pass to the rookie receiver.

Mendoza led the Raiders to just three points in a half of action against Houston's backup defense. This was extremely discouraging. However, Mendoza was playing behind Las Vegas' backup offensive line and didn't have much time in the pocket.

This was the second consecutive preseason game in which rookie running back Mike Washington had a big play. This time, he burst for a gain of 33 yards and was one missed tackle away from a much longer touchdown.

Washington was given a ton of work in the first half. However, this is not a positive. Ashton Jeanty was nowhere to be seen. So, if the Raiders were planning to give Washington a comparable workload to Jeanty, they wouldn't have used him so much in this meaningless game.

Jalen Nailor caught a 22-yard pass on the first drive of this game, but his fantasy owners can't be too encouraged. Nailor played while some other Raiders skill players sat. We expected Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers to sit out, but Tre Tucker and Michael Mayer were also on the bench.

The fact that Nailor played and Tucker sat with the other starters means that Tucker is likely the No. 1 receiver in Las Vegas.

There's been a lot of hype surrounding Malik Benson. He caught an 18-yard pass in this game, but he dropped multiple receptions. This likely means that the Benson hype train is coming to an end.

C.J. Stroud played just one drive in this game. He led the team down the field, with Woody Marks scoring a touchdown. Stroud mostly dinked and dunked, and there was nothing noteworthy about his performance.

Here were Stroud's targets:

Xavier Hutchinson: 2
Woody Marks: 1
Foster Moreau: 1
Jared Wayne: 1

Woody Marks handled all the carries while playing with C.J. Stroud in Houston's second preseason game. He looked great, albeit against the Raiders' backups. He had a 20-yard touchdown where he bounced off tacklers, looking very impressive in the process.

While this sounds good, it must be noted that David Montgomery was nowhere to be seen, which means that Marks is clearly behind him. If the Texans envisioned a huge role for Marks, they wouldn't have played him. They would have sat him like they did Montgomery.

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2025 Preseason Notes: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3
2025 Fantasy Football Stock Pages: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3

More 2026 Fantasy Football Articles:
Fantasy Football Rankings

2026 Fantasy Football Rankings:
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 9/4 (Walt)



2026 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts:



2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 PPR - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Half-PPR - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 2-QB - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Touchdown League - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Custom - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football: Dynasty Rankings - 9/4 (Walt)

2026 Fantasy Football Articles:
2026 Fantasy Football Stock Report: OTAs, Training Camp - 9/4 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Round-by-Round Tiers - 9/2 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Values - 9/1 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Sleepers - 8/31 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Busts - 8/31 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Preseason Games - 8/29 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Round-by-Round Strategy Guide - 8/26 (Walt)






NFL Picks - Sept. 10


Fantasy Football Rankings - Sept. 7


2027 NFL Mock Draft - Sept. 7


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