Fantasy Sits/Starts: Covering one player for every team in Week 2
Patriots vs. Saints: Start Chris Hogan, who’s up against a New Orleans secondary that was gashed for 7.9 YPA last season (and 10.8 to Sam Bradford in Week 1) and should see more action in a game with an over/under of 56 points with Danny Amendola likely to be out. Hogan is a top-25 wide receiver on my board this week.
Start Ted Ginn in what projects to surely be a shootout, and the Pats’ defense was unimpressive last week. With Willie Snead still suspended, look for Ginn to haul in at least one bomb Sunday.
Titans vs. Jaguars: Sit Eric Decker, who got eight yards on 10 targets during his Tennessee debut and looks to be fourth in the Titans’ passing pecking order with Corey Davis immediately looking like a future star. The Jags allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers last season and 2.4 YPA in Week 1.
Start Marqise Lee, who’s suddenly Jacksonville’s No. 1 wideout with Allen Robinson out for the year and facing a Titans secondary that yielded the third-most fantasy points to WRs last year.
[Enter the $150K Baller football contest. $10 to play and $15K to 1st place]
Browns vs. Ravens: Sit Duke Johnson, as he didn’t see a single carry in Week 1 and faces a tough Baltimore front seven.
Start Terrance West, as he should be given a heavy workload with the Ravens eight-point favorites at home against a Browns defense that ceded the second-most fantasy points to running backs in 2016. I have West as a top-15 back in Week 2.
Bills vs. Panthers: Start Charles Clay, who saw nine targets last week and is going to remain busy with Sammy Watkins gone, starting WRs Jordan Matthews and Zay Jones new to the team and in a game script likely to call for plenty of passes as touchdown underdogs on the road. Carolina allowed the second-most fantasy points to tight ends in 2016.
Start Kelvin Benjamin with confidence, as while he’s coming off a disappointing season debut with just one catch for 25 yards in a favorable matchup, he remains the team’s dominant red-zone option and should still be treated as a top-15 WR in Week 2.
Cardinals vs. Colts: Start Carson Palmer. It’s possible he’s done, but Indy made Jared Goff look terrific last week, and with no David Johnson, Arizona’s offense is going to have to rely far heavier on Palmer.
Sit Frank Gore, who’s a 34-year-old running back missing Andrew Luck facing an Arizona defense that allowed the fewest fantasy points to running backs last year.
Eagles vs. Chiefs: Start Alshon Jeffrey, who’s coming off an extremely disappointing debut with the Eagles (when he was mostly shadowed by Josh Norman) and hasn’t reached 825 receiving yards since 2014. But he’s healthy now, the Chiefs are missing Eric Berry, and he should see double-digit targets Sunday.
Start Alex Smith, who won’t have a better game all season than he did Week 1 but is at home as 5.5-point favorites in a game with a total of 47.5. The Eagles have a strong defense, but Andy Reid once again gets extra time to prepare.
Vikings vs. Steelers: Sit Adam Thielen, who secured 9-of-10 targets for 157 yards in Week 1 and impressed while doing so. But that was in the best matchup possible, and he’s now up against a Steelers defense that allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to WRs last year while traveling on a short week.
Start Le’Veon Bell. Of course no one is benching Bell, but my point here is to load up on him in DFS despite his extremely high price tag and coming off such a horrible Week 1 and facing a tough defense (and talk about him not being used the same in “empty sets”). Load up on Bell this week, as he’s going to have a huge bounce back game.
Bears vs. Buccaneers: Start Tarik Cohen. I remain a fan of Jordan Howard, but he had the most drops among running backs last season, and the Bears’ game script suggests they will be playing mostly from behind Sunday. In Week 1 Cohen finished #2 in Juke Rate, #4 in evaded tackles, #3 in fantasy points per opportunity and #1 in yards created per touch. That’s pretty good.
Start Jacquizz Rodgers, who averaged 23.4 touches during his five starts last year, and the Bucs are touchdown favorites. Rodgers is a top-20 RB on my board this week.
Dolphins vs. Chargers: Start Jay Cutler, who should have to be throwing plenty playing from behind against a Chargers offense likely to put up a bunch of points Sunday and with Jay Ajayi a bit of a wild card dealing with knee issues yet again.
Start Tyrell Williams, who didn’t have a big Week 1, but that was against the league’s best secondary, and he saw seven targets. The Dolphins yielded the fifth-most fantasy points to wide receivers last season.
[Now’s the time to sign up for Fantasy Basketball! Join for free]
Jets vs. Raiders: Sit all Jets, including Bilal Powell. The Raiders don’t have the strongest defense, but New York has so few weapons on offense and are 13.5-point underdogs traveling across the country.
Start Jared Cook, who ran the third-most routes for Oakland last week, secured all five of his targets and faces a Jets defense that’s allowed 11 touchdowns to tight ends over their last 16 games.
Washington vs. Rams: Sit Rob Kelley, who’s reliant on a goal-line score (and didn’t see a single red-zone carry in Week 1) and faces a tough Rams front seven that allowed just 3.9 YPC last year and will be getting Aaron Donald back.
Sit Todd Gurley, who got 2.1 YPC at home against a soft Colts defense during a game in which the Rams scored 46 points. And this wasn’t just because of him getting stuffed on obvious run plays up big in the second half, as Gurley got 0.8 YPC (!) on “base fronts” in Week 1. Washington did allow the fifth-most fantasy points to RBs last year, so maybe a “sit” recommendation is too harsh, but at least keep your expectations in check, and try to sell him if he has another decent game.
Cowboys vs. Broncos: Sit Dez Bryant, who has by far the most brutal WR schedule to start the year. After being shadowed by Janoris Jenkins, Bryant is now up against a Denver secondary that allowed an NFL-low seven TDs to wide receivers and 5,300 fewer yards to the next lowest against the position last season.
Start C.J. Anderson, who saw 20 carries in Week 1 and should continue to dominate the touches in Denver’s backfield while healthy. He’s a top-20 RB on my board this week. And it’s crazy the Broncos are underdogs at home this week.
49ers vs. Seahawks: Sit Carlos Hyde, as the 49ers are going to be playing from behind early and often and face a Seattle defense that allowed an NFL-low 3.4 YPC last season.
Start Seattle’s defense. This seems obvious, but I mean load up on full exposure in DFS here, as coming off a loss and returning home against this Niners team, it’s going to be a bloodbath. The Seahawks held the Packers scoreless in Lambeau over the first half last week.
Packers vs. Falcons: Start every player involved in the Green Bay/Atlanta game, which projects to be a huge shootout with a total of 54.5 points. I have two running backs in my top-7, four WRs in my top-30 and two tight ends in my top-11. You get the point. The sleeper here is Taylor Gabriel. And be very aggressive with Ty Montgomery at his price in DFS.
Lions vs. Giants: Sit Matthew Stafford, who’s the No. 2 quarterback after Week 1 but now facing a Giants defense that allowed the second fewest fantasy points to passers last season and on the road.
Sit Paul Perkins, as the Giants can’t run block, he can’t break tackles, and the Lions defend the rush far better than the pass (Detroit yielded the second-fewest TDs on the ground last year).
Fantasy Football advice on Yahoo Sports
