Stars of Week 2
QB: Tom Brady, NE: 38-59, 466 yards, 3 TDs
RB: Matt Jones, WAS: 19 carries, 123 yards, 2 TDs
WR: Larry Fitzgerald, ARZ: 8 catches, 112 yards, 3 TDs
TE: Rob Gronkowski, NE: 7 catches, 113 yards, 1 TD
The Brady-Gronk connection goes back-to-back on the weekly stars list, and I’m willing to bet $1 that it won’t be the last time this season that the duo makes the honor roll together. The Patriots took the vaunted Buffalo Bills’ defense to the shed this past Sunday in what amounted to a statement performance. The Patriots look like a solid bet to land in the Super Bowl once again.
This week’s top WR is a blast from the recent past, as Larry Fitzgerald showed the NFL world on Sunday that he’s still a force to be reckoned with. We’ll take a closer look at Fitzgerald below. As for WR performances, honorable mention to Antonio Brown with his 195 yards and a TD against the 49ers. TDs drive fantasy football though, so Fitzgerald captures the WR star of the week over Brown.
Now shifting to our biggest surprise, Redskins’ backup Matt Jones was the top RB this week. Savvy fantasy owners have had Jones’ name on their watch list, if not their roster, and Jones made the Rams’ defensive line look like a turnstile. With the exception of very deep leagues, it’s unlikely that Jones was in the starting lineup of teams this week. Will that change going forward? We’ll also take a closer look at Jones in the section below.
Week 2 Takeaways – A Closer Look
Each week we take a closer look at a handful of performances and sort out what such performances mean going forward.
Derek Carr, QB – OAK: 30-46, 351 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
Analysis: After the shellacking the Raiders took at the hands of the Bengals in week 1, it was fair to wonder whether the Raiders would fail to take the step forward that everyone has been expecting. Well, the Raiders’ performance in Week 2 against the Ravens should quell such fears. Derek Carr looked fantastic on Sunday, spreading the ball around to several targets, including prized rookie Amari Cooper and 49ers refugee Michael Crabtree. Carr also displayed resiliency in the final, game winning drive, throwing a touchdown pass with seconds left on the clock. For fantasy purposes, Carr should be viewed as an ascending QB2 for this season, filling in for bye weeks and spot starting in deeper leagues. Carr’s arrow points up.
Matt Jones, RB – WAS: 19 carries, 123 yards, 2 TDs
Analysis: As mentioned above, Matt Jones opened eyes with his performance against the Rams. Jones technically serves as the backup to Alfred Morris, but the situation in reality constitutes a 1A and 1B pairing. The carries were doled out 25 to 6 in favor of Morris in week 1, but this week’s distribution had Jones with 19 carries and 18 carries for Morris. Look for the more even distribution to become the norm, with Jones potentially wrestling away a larger portion as the season progresses. The Redskins love Jones’ talent, and likely view him as the lead back for 2016. At the moment, Jones sits on the flex line, but he has a shot to become an RB2 if he can somehow edge Morris out – with an even higher ceiling if Morris sits any games due to injury or otherwise. In the event that Jones remains available in your league, grab him now.
Giovani Bernard, RB – CIN: 20 carries, 123 yards, 0 TDs
Jeremy Hill, RB – CIN: 10 carries, 39 yards, 0 TDs, 2 FL
Analysis: We saw a top 10 RB get benched on Sunday, which dearly cost Jeremy Hill owners in their matchups this week – and added a nice, unexpected bonus for those who started Gio Bernard. So should Hill’s owners be nervous? No…unless the fumbling continues. The Bengals’ coaches have come out in support of Hill, already mentioning that Hill will start next week’s game against Baltimore. Now if Hill puts the ball on the ground on a recurring basis, then it will be time to panic. But you can’t manage your team in fear, so start Hill with confidence moving forward. For Bernard’s owners, note that he will revert back to his 3rd down role, so Bernard continues as a low-end flex going forward.
Travis Benjamin, WR – CLE: 3 catches, 115 yards, 2 TDs, Punt return TD
Analysis: Travis Benjamin exploded on Sunday against the Titans, finding the end zone three times, including once with an electric punt return. Benjamin also showed good chemistry with Johnny Manziel. So with this performance, Benjamin must be a top priority waiver wire pickup, correct? Well, not exactly. At the very least, we need to see more before we can trust Benjamin on a week to week basis. Note that Benjamin was only targeted 4 times on Sunday, so weekly consistency will be a concern. In other words, you’re looking at a boom-bust situation. If you want to make a speculative add with Benjamin, that’s fine. He should not be viewed as anything higher than a WR4/WR5 straddler at this time, though, so just keep expectations in check.
Allen Robinson, WR – JAX: 6 catches, 155 yards, 2 TDs
Analysis: If you read my draft guide, you saw that Allen Robinson was one of my biggest man-crushes for this season, and Robinson showed exactly why on Sunday against the Dolphins. Robinson established himself as the Jags’ best WR last season, only to have his year cut short by injury. Now healthy, Robinson is picking up right where he left off as the fulcrum of the Jags’ passing game. If there were any questions about Robinson’s status among the team’s receiving corps, such questions were answered. Robinson was targeted 12 times by Bortles, with the rest of the team collectively targeted 17 times. Robinson should be viewed as a WR2 and should be in all starting lineups.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR – ARZ: 8 catches, 112 yards, 3 TDs
Analysis: The future hall of famer had been deemed by most of the fantasy community to have lost a step due to father time. His performance last year certainly pointed to this. Could we be witnessing a mini revival of the dominant Fitz? Depends what you consider a revival, but it’s fair to be buying his stock somewhere in between prime level Fitz and 2014 Fitz. With Carson Palmer on fire to open the season and the Cardinals offense humming along, it’s fair to expect Fitzgerald to continue his increased value from last year. In addition to the three TDs, he led the team with 9 targets on Sunday, and with Michael Floyd banished to invisibility, expect Fitzgerald to threaten 1,200 yards and 10 TDs by the time the season’s done. He’s straddling the WR2/WR3 line and should by and large be in starting lineups going forward.
Rapid Fire Pickups
Each week we’ll throw out potential free agent pickups from each position for deeper leagues, in each case 1) someone who has NOT been referenced above, and 2) a player available in most leagues.
QB: Alex Smith, KC
RB: David Johnson, ARZ (mentioned him last week - emphasizing again)
RB: Joseph Randle, DAL
WR: Donte Moncrief, IND
WR: Doug Baldwin, SEA
TE: Anthony Fasano, TEN
- Week 3 positional rankings will be posted on Wednesday.