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
2026 Fantasy Football Stock Pages: Week 1




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.

Follow me @walterfootball for updates.


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 - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 8/19 (Walt)



2026 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts:



2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 PPR - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Half-PPR - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 2-QB - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Touchdown League - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Custom - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football: Dynasty Rankings - 8/19 (Walt)

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2026 Fantasy Football Stock Report: OTAs, Training Camp - 8/19 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Values - 8/18 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Sleepers - 8/17 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Busts - 8/17 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Preseason Games - 8/16 (Walt)
2026 Fantasy Football Round-by-Round Strategy Guide - 8/5 (Walt)






Fantasy Football Rankings - Aug. 19


2027 NFL Mock Draft - June 16


NFL Picks - Feb. 9


NFL Power Rankings - Jan. 26