ChiCitySports Fantasy Review: Week 2 Fantasy Football Rankings

No need to panic after one week…unless you are a David Johnson owner.

A brutal week for teams that held the coveted first overall pick in their drafts as the Arizona Cardinals running back is expected to miss 2-3 months with a wrist injury. Johnson’s injury wasn’t the only one that disrupted teams through the first week of play as Allen Robinson and Kevin White both hit the IR with season ending injuries, while oft-injured Danny Woodhead found himself on the trainer’s table early during Sunday’s game versus the Bengals (is anyone really surprised by that last one?).

Heading into Week 2 there are plenty of shakers and movers making their way up the weekly rankings after big debuts specifically by rookie running backs during kickoff weekend. We’ll let the rankings speak for themselves so let’s dive right into it!

Quarterback

 

Week 1 provided an interesting slate of games, followed up by an interesting group of box scores as names we are all used to hearing atop the rankings didn’t perform as expected. All of that should change come this week as Brady has a juicy matchup with a New Orleans secondary that just got butchered by Sam Bradford.

No further explanation needed.

Past the top tier, don’t bet against Big Ben at home where he is significantly better than on the road despite facing a tough Minnesota defense. Eyes will be on Stafford, Smith and Wentz to see if they can duplicate success they found last week — Wentz facing the hardest test of the three.

We said Jared Goff could be a sneaky play last week (and we were right), so now it’s time to see if Sean McVay’s new offense really is benefiting the second year Ram.

Rank	Name	Team	Opp
1	Tom Brady	NE	at NO
2	Aaron Rodgers	GB	at ATL
3	Drew Brees	NO	vs. NE
4	Matt Ryan	ATL	vs. GB
5	Derek Carr	OAK	vs. NYJ
6	Russell Wilson	SEA	vs. SF
7	Cam Newton	CAR	vs. BUF
8	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	vs. MIN
9	Jameis Winston	TB	vs. CHI
10	Philip Rivers	LAC	vs. MIA
11	Kirk Cousins	WAS	at LAR
12	Marcus Mariota	TEN	at JAC
13	Matthew Stafford	DET	at NYG
14	Alex Smith	KC	vs. PHI
15	Carson Wentz	PHI	at KC
16	Sam Bradford	MIN	at PIT
17	Carson Palmer	ARI	at IND
18	Tyrod Taylor	BUF	at CAR
19	Eli Manning	NYG	vs. DET
20	Dak Prescott	DAL	at DEN
21	Jay Cutler	MIA	at LAC
22	Joe Flacco	BAL	vs. CLE
23	Andy Dalton	CIN	vs. HOU
24	Trevor Siemian	DEN	vs. DAL
25	Jared Goff	LAR	vs. WAS

 

Running Back

As we mentioned earlier, the loss of David Johnson for 2-3 months is huge. Time will tell how the Cardinals’ backfield pans out in the weeks ahead, but Kerwynn Williams enters Week 2 in the middle of the pack.

The elites face some difficult matchups this week as all but three of the top ten face a defense in the top half of the league in stopping the run. The biggest leap in all of football comes from Kareem Hunt after he broke on to the scene following a historic debut against New England last Thursday. He was a sleeper prior to Spencer Ware’s season ending injury and with the spotlight shining, Hunt could easily be a top 5 back this year.

Tarik Cohen also makes a leap in Week 2 and gets an additional push thanks to Kevin White’s injury. Duke Johnson is also an intriguing name this week as he played 76% of snaps last week against Pittsburgh, yet only finished with two catches. Don’t expect the same output from the Cleveland Brown this week.

Rank	Name	Team	Opp
1	Le’Veon Bell	PIT	vs. MIN
2	Melvin Gordon	LAC	vs. MIA
3	LeSean McCoy	BUF	at CAR
4	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	at DEN
5	Devonta Freeman	ATL	vs. GB
6	Kareem Hunt	KC	vs. PHI
7	Leonard Fournette	JAC	vs. TEN
8	Marshawn Lynch	OAK	vs. NYJ
9	Jay Ajayi	MIA	at LAC
10	Ty Montgomery	GB	at ATL
11	Todd Gurley	LAR	vs. WAS
12	Jordan Howard	CHI	at TB
13	Dalvin Cook	MIN	at PIT
14	DeMarco Murray	TEN	at JAC
15	Christian McCaffrey	CAR	vs. BUF
16	C.J. Anderson	DEN	vs. DAL
17	Mike Gillislee	NE	at NO
18	Lamar Miller	HOU	at CIN
19	Carlos Hyde	SF	at SEA
20	Bilal Powell	NYJ	at OAK
21	Isaiah Crowell	CLE	at BAL
22	Terrance West	BAL	vs. CLE
23	Jacquizz Rodgers	TB	vs. CHI
24	Tarik Cohen	CHI	at TB
25	Mark Ingram	NO	vs. NE
26	Tevin Coleman	ATL	vs. GB
27	Ameer Abdullah	DET	at NYG
28	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	vs. BUF
29	Robert Kelley	WAS	at LAR
30	Kerwynn Williams	ARI	at IND
31	Javorius Allen	BAL	vs. CLE
32	LeGarrette Blount	PHI	at KC
33	James White	NE	at NO
34	Darren Sproles	PHI	at KC
35	Theo Riddick	DET	at NYG
36	Frank Gore	IND	vs. ARI
37	Joe Mixon	CIN	vs. HOU
38	Paul Perkins	NYG	vs. DET
39	Duke Johnson	CLE	at BAL
40	Chris Thompson	WAS	at LAR
41	Alvin Kamara	NO	vs. NE
42	Chris Carson	SEA	vs. SF
43	Matt Forte	NYJ	at OAK
44	Adrian Peterson	NO	vs. NE
45	Thomas Rawls	SEA	vs. SF
46	Marlon Mack	IND	vs. ARI
47	Giovani Bernard	CIN	vs. HOU
48	Andre Ellington	ARI	at IND
49	C.J. Prosise	SEA	vs. SF
50	Derrick Henry	TEN	at JAC

 

Wide Receiver

 

Unlike the running backs, this week’s matchups at wide receiver for the top names provide intrigue for big weeks. Antonio Brown is going to sit at #1 for me until someone puts an end to his output. I don’t see it ending soon.

Despite the favorable matchups, a couple questions remain for Week 2 including whether Julio will see a healthy amount of targets unlike Week 1, is Odell Beckham Jr.’s ankle healthy and is Tyreek Hill finally proving his worth as a top option?

Eyes will be on Deshaun Watson Thursday night to see if he can reverse DeAndre Hopkins’ deteriorating fantasy value. Looking for deep plays? Marvin Jones, Corey Davis, and Cooper Kupp should be solid DFL plays.

Rank	Name	Team	Opp
1	Antonio Brown	PIT	vs. MIN
2	Julio Jones	ATL	vs. GB
3	Jordy Nelson	GB	at ATL
4	Mike Evans	TB	vs. CHI
5	Brandin Cooks	NE	at NO
6	Amari Cooper	OAK	vs. NYJ
7	Odell Beckham Jr.	NYG	vs. DET
8	A.J. Green	CIN	vs. HOU
9	Doug Baldwin	SEA	vs. SF
10	Michael Thomas	NO	vs. NE
11	Tyreek Hill	KC	vs. PHI
12	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	at IND
13	Michael Crabtree	OAK	vs. NYJ
14	Stefon Diggs	MIN	at PIT
15	Keenan Allen	LAC	vs. MIA
16	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	vs. DAL
17	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU	at CIN
18	Davante Adams	GB	at ATL
19	Terrelle Pryor	WAS	at LAR
20	Alshon Jeffery	PHI	at KC
21	Dez Bryant	DAL	at DEN
22	Kelvin Benjamin	CAR	vs. BUF
23	Emmanuel Sanders	DEN	vs. DAL
24	Jeremy Maclin	BAL	vs. CLE
25	Martavis Bryant	PIT	vs. MIN
26	Golden Tate	DET	at NYG
27	Sammy Watkins	LAR	vs. WAS
28	Devante Parker	MIA	at LAC
29	T.Y. Hilton	IND	vs. ARI
30	DeSean Jackson	TB	vs. CHI
31	Jarvis Landry	MIA	at LAC
32	Jamison Crowder	WAS	at LAR
33	Adam Thielen	MIN	at PIT
34	Randall Cobb	GB	at ATL
35	John Brown	ARI	at IND
36	Ted Ginn	NO	vs. NE
37	Chris Hogan	NE	at NO
38	Pierre Garcon	SF	at SEA
39	Marvin Jones	DET	at NYG
40	Corey Coleman	CLE	at BAL
41	Rishard Matthews	TEN	at JAC
42	Corey Davis	TEN	at JAC
43	Sterling Shepard	NYG	vs. DET
44	Cooper Kupp	LAR	vs. WAS
45	Mike Wallace	BAL	vs. CLE
46	Tyler Lockett	SEA	vs. SF
47	Allen Hurns	JAC	vs. TEN
48	Brandon Marshall	NYG	vs. DET
49	Jordan Matthews	BUF	at CAR
50	Kenny Golladay	DET	at NYG

 

Tight End

If there’s one group of elites that underperformed, it was the tight ends in Week 1. Ugly performances from each of the top 5 at the position should not rear their ugly heads again led by Gronk facing the previously mentioned bad Saints defense.

The back-end of the TE1 group heading into the TE2 tier feels somewhat “meh” this week. That being said, if Jacoby Brissett starts for Indy on Sunday, Doyle is a sneaky play. It looks like the corpse of Antonio Gates is still haunting any young tight end that inhabits the Chargers’ roster so I’m playing keep-away on Hunter Henry until further notice.

Rank	Name	Team	Opp
1	Rob Gronkowski	NE	at NO
2	Travis Kelce	KC	vs. PHI
3	Jimmy Graham	SEA	vs. SF
4	Greg Olsen	CAR	vs. BUF
5	Jordan Reed	WAS	at LAR
6	Zach Ertz	PHI	at KC
7	Delanie Walker	TEN	at JAC
8	Kyle Rudolph	MIN	at PIT
9	Martellus Bennett	GB	at ATL
10	Coby Fleener	NO	vs. NE
11	Charles Clay	BUF	at CAR
12	Tyler Eifert	CIN	vs. HOU
13	Austin Hooper	ATL	vs. GB
14	Eric Ebron	DET	at NYG
15	Jason Witten	DAL	at DEN
16	Hunter Henry	LAC	vs. MIA
17	Jack Doyle	IND	vs. ARI
18	Cameron Brate	TB	vs. CHI
19	Jared Cook	OAK	vs. NYJ
20	Julius Thomas	MIA	at LAC
21	Antonio Gates	LAC	vs. MIA
22	Zach Miller	CHI	at TB
23	Evan Engram	NYG	vs. DET
24	George Kittle	SF	at SEA
25	Jesse James	PIT	vs. MIN

 

Defense/Special Teams

 

Chuck Pagano playing anyone not named Scott Tolzien at quarterback for his Colts is probably an immediate upgrade at the position, but until we see such a move happen, they will continue to set their opponent up for a fantastic defensive week.

Baltimore opened a lot of eyes against what many thought was an improved Cincinnati offensive attack, and they’ll find themselves with another favorable matchup in Week 2. After throwing a dump truck full of money at defensive free agents this off-season, it may be time to take Jacksonville serious, but we’ll see what they do against Mariota and the Titans.

Rank	Name	Opp
1	Arizona Cardinals	at IND
2	Seattle Seahawks	vs. SF
3	Baltimore Ravens	vs. CLE
4	Oakland Raiders	vs. NYJ
5	Houston Texans	at CIN
6	Carolina Panthers	vs. BUF
7	Denver Broncos	vs. DAL
8	Los Angeles Rams	vs. WAS
9	Cincinnati Bengals	vs. HOU
10	New York Giants	vs. DET
11	Kansas City Chiefs	vs. PHI
12	Jacksonville Jaguars	vs. TEN
13	Pittsburgh Steelers	vs. MIN
14	Tennessee Titans	at JAC
15	Minnesota Vikings	at PIT
16	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	vs. CHI
17	Los Angeles Chargers	vs. MIA
18	Dallas Cowboys	at DEN
19	Philadelphia Eagles	at KC
20	Washington Redskins	at LAR
21	Detroit Lions	at NYG
22	New England Patriots	at NO
23	Buffalo Bills	at CAR
24	Chicago Bears	at TB
25	Miami Dolphins	at LAC

(Rankings based off .5 PPR projections)

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