Week 2 Fantasy Football Rankings

Week 1 was full of highs and lows in terms of fantasy break-outs and busts. From the impressive performance of Brandin Cooks to the match-up killing output of Dez Bryant. I hope everyone was able to get a win this past week and is coming out 1-0. If you did not get a win and are looking for redemption in week 2 then you have definitely come to the right place. If you did get a win and want to keep crushing the competition then please read on. Below I have highlighted my top plays at each position for week 2. For the purpose of this column, I have ignored the fantasy blow up that we witnessed on Thursday. Therefore, you will not find Matt Forte, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Eric Decker, or any of the many other fantasy studs that had career nights just two days ago.

Quarterbacks
  1. Eli Manning, NYG QB vs. NO
  2. Drew Brees, NO QB vs. NYG
  3. Cam Newton, CAR QB vs. SF
  4. Carson Palmer, ARI QB vs. TB
  5. Ben Roethlisberger, PIT QB vs. CIN
  6. Aaron Rogers, GB QB vs. MIN
  7. Matthew Stafford, DET QB vs. TEN
  8. Andy Dalton, CIN QB vs. PIT
  9. Blake Bortles, JAC QB vs. SD
  10. Derek Carr, OAK QB vs. ATL
  11. Russell Wilson, SEA QB vs. LA
  12. Joe Flacco, BAL QB vs. CLE
  13. Marcus Mariota TEN QB vs. DET
  14. Andrew Luck, IND QB vs. DEN
  15. Matt Ryan, ATL QB vs. OAK

I expect another shootout for the Saints Drew Brees against Eli Manning and the Giants this week as we had seen against the Raiders in week 1. Both Brees and Manning have elite options at the WR position in Cooks and Beckham Jr. and are facing each others highly questionable secondary’s. I expect both Brees and Manning to have great games and both to be in the top 2 at the QB position.

Marcus Mariota will have a rebound game against the Detroit Lions in week 2. The Lions are coming off of week 1 where they gave up 385 passing yards and 4 TD’s to Andrew Luck and the Colts. I know we are talking about Andrew Luck vs. Marcus Mariota here, but i do think that Mariota’s added rushing ability will help to provide fantasy owners that needed bonus to help win this week.

Running Backs
  1. C.J. Anderson, DEN RB vs. IND
  2. DeAngelo Williams vs. CIN
  3. David Johnson, ARI RB vs. TB
  4. Ezekiel Elliott, DAL RB at WAS
  5. Lamar Miller, HOU RB vs. KC
  6. Adrian Peterson, MIN RB vs. GB
  7. Spencer Ware, KC RB at HOU
  8. Mark Ingram, NO RB at NYG
  9. Rashad Jennings, NYG RB vs. NO
  10. DeMarco Murray, TEN RB at DET
  11. Latavius Murray, OAK RB vs. ATL
  12. Todd Gurley, LA RB vs. SEA
  13. Ryan Mathews, PHI RB at CHI
  14. Carlos Hyde, SF RB at CAR
  15. Doug Martin, TB RB at ARI

Both C.J. Anderson and DeAngelo Williams had MONSTER games in week 1 of the NFL/Fantasy season. I expect both will continue to roll in their very run oriented offenses regardless of match-up. I expect Anderson to get at least 23 touches and gain 125 yards on the ground with 2 touchdowns while Williams will receive approximately the same amount of carries with one less touchdown. It is worthy to note that Anderson has the better match-up against the weak Colts defense.

Ezekiel Elliott underwhelmed in his regular season debut, but I expect the Cowboys to continue feeding their first round draft pick against the Redskins who were torn apart by DeAngelo Williams on Monday night. I project at least 15 fantasy points from Elliott in a .5 PPR for week 2.

Wide Receivers
  1. Odell Beckham Jr., NYG WR vs. NO
  2. Julio Jones, ATL WR at OAK
  3. A.J. Green, CIN WR at PIT
  4. Antonio Brown, PIT WR vs. CIN
  5. Allen Robinson, JAC WR at SD
  6. Alshon Jeffrey, CHI WR vs. PHI
  7. Brandin Cooks, NO WR at NYG
  8. DeAndre Hopkins, HOU WR vs. KC
  9. Mike Evans, TB WR at ARI
  10. Kelvin Benjamin, CAR WR vs. SF
  11. Doug Baldwin, SEA WR at LA
  12. Amari Cooper, OAK WR vs. ATL
  13. Larry Fitzgerald, ARI WR vs. TB
  14. Jordan Matthews, PHI WR at CHI
  15. Jordy Nelson, GB WR at MIN
  16. Dez Bryant, DAL WR at WAS
  17. Jeremy Maclin, KC WR at HOU
  18. DeSean Jackson, WAS WR vs. DAL
  19. Julian Edelman, NE WR vs. MIA
  20. Demaryius Thomas, DEN WR vs. IND
  21. Jarvis Landry, MIA WR at NE
  22. Willie Snead, NO WR at NYG
  23. Randall Cobb, GB WR at MIN
  24. Marvin Jones, DET WR vs. TEN
  25. Emmanuel Sanders, DEN WR vs. IND

As mentioned in the QB section, I expect a HUGE day from Odell Beckham Jr. and the Giants offense. One of the receivers for the Giants will have a career making week in week 2 against the porous Saints secondary and I think the receiver with the best chance for that is OBJ. I project 8 receptions 125 yards and 1 TD in this week 2 match-up for OBJ.

The LA Rams were embarrassed by the SF 49ers in a Monday night match-up in week 1. The 49ers were utilizing lower tier receivers like Jeremy Kerley  and Torrey Smith to dismantle the Rams secondary. After watching that defensive break down I expect Doug Baldwin to have a WR 1 performance in week 2 against them.

Tight Ends
  1. Jordan Reed, WAS TE vs. DAL
  2. Delanie Walker, TEN TE at DET
  3. Greg Olsen, CAR TE vs. SF
  4. Travis Kelce, KC TE at HOU
  5. Gary Barnidge, CLE TE vs. BAL
  6. Antonio Gates, SD TE vs. JAC
  7. Jason Witten, DAL TE at WAS
  8. Coby Fleener, NO TE at NYG
  9. Julius Thomas, JAC TE at SD
  10. Jesse James, PIT TE vs. CIN
  11. Dwayne Allen, IND TE at DEN
  12. Eric Ebron, DET TE vs. TEN

We saw last week how thin the tight end position real is for fantasy purposes and how much Rob Gronkowski means to the position. The above rankings are under the assumption that Gronk will not suit up this Sunday night. If he can muster up the strength to play and he is active I would fit him third right under Reed and Walker strictly due to the fact that he will not be 100%.

I am really high on Delanie Walker this week. He was not targeted as much as he should have been this past week and I think that the coaching staff will realize that if they want to win games they need to keep Walker involved. It also helps that he is going up against a Detroit defense that allowed not 1…not 2… but 3 TDs to Indianapolis tight ends in week 1. Two of these TDs went to Jack Doyle and one to Dwayne Allen which I believe shows the ineptitude of the Lions D when it comes to covering the tight end position. Look for Walker to put on a show this weekend.

Gary Barnidge really let down his fantasy teams in week 1 scoring a total of ZERO points, most likely costing the majority of teams he is on a win in week 1. I do have faith and Barnidge and see a bounce back game for him this week. Barnidge gets back Josh McCown  this week at QB which will revive the top 10 finishes we used to see from him week in and week out last year. With McCown at the helm Barnidge posted 3 100 yard games and showed that he was the go to option for McCown.

Jesse James will have a breakout game this week against the Bengals who allowed 20 receptions and 171 yards to Heath Miller in two games in the regular season last year. With Heath Miller retired and Ladarius Green on the shelf I expect a top 10 TE week from James in week 2.

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