Fantasy Week 2 Start Em' Sit Em'

Story by Yinzer Crazy Fantasy Expert Luke Ranalli

New week, new injuries, new format.

Last week was a pretty rough start for some, and a comeback for others. I am not totally sold on Saquon Barkley yet, but he did make me eat my words so I'll give it to him. I feel like the rest of my sit em's were pretty solid, now let's see if I can pick some pretty solid starts for this week's rendition.

Start Em'

QB - Baker Mayfield - With a few injuries and a few bad performances, QB this week could be anyone's guess. In one of my leagues I have Joe Burrow and Baker, and this week I am strongly considering starting Baker, here's why. First off, Baker is playing the Giants who rank 22nd in defense right now and during the first half of their victory over the Titans, they were looking every bit of that rank. If it wasn't for the sputtering of the Titans offense in the second half it could have been a blowout. Baker is poised for a comeback with something to prove and a salty taste in his mouth from the loss to his former team. Once Baker starts getting in the groove he should be twice as good as he was in Cleveland. This game against the Giants should be a good start for him to get back on his feet.

RB - Darrell Henderson Jr. - Some of you might be saying "no shit" to this pick but there is a reason to air on the side of caution. If you checked twitter or any social media during last Thursdays NFL debut, there was more than a few fantasy owners pissed about the lack of Cam Akers on the field. With a handful of carries and no points I feel like spite alone is going to have a lot of people running to Henderson. There has been a lot of talk with Akers and head coach Sean McVay over the past week about the use of Akers and there is some potential for Akers to get back in the game, but even if he does, I see no reason for Henderson's production to take that big of a hit. This week the Rams are playing a tight run defense in the Falcons who rank second against. If Akers can't get his groove back, Henderson may be the new lead back for the rest of the season.

WR - Jaylen Waddle - Last week the Dolphins topped the Pats 20-7 but it wasn't exactly due to the offense. I feel like I made a good call putting Tua Tagovailoa in my sit em's last week and I still feel like he might need some time before he can start in most leagues. While he didn't have any interceptions, his one TD pass kept his points fairly mediocre, but the beneficiary to that pass was Waddle and I am liking what I'm seeing. I feel like with the lack of big production from Tua thus far, and the overshadowing of Tyreek Hill getting most of the looks (Tyreek had 12 targets compared to Waddles 8), has kept him in a flex position or benched for better options. This week I think Tua has a better game and this offense starts looking to the air early and often. Baltimore is ranked 24th against the pass and I would bet most of their efforts are going to go against stopping Hill, this should be the week that Miami shows what this offense is capable of and Waddle should be a big part of that.

TE - Tyler Higbee - While Higbee was targeted 11 times in the opener against the Bills, he did not make much of what was given. With the speculation around Matthew Stafford's offseason surgery and his ability to get the ball down the field, I was assuming there was going to be a lot less passing in the opener. With the addition of Allen Robinson and the ever productive Cooper Kupp, Stafford has a lot of mouths to feed, this week Higbee should be one of them. The Rams are taking on the Falcons this week who rank 29th against tight ends, this should allow Higbee to gain some attention from Stafford in key drives down field. Higbee can be a boom or bust week to week, but this week is setting him up to have a potential feast.

Sit Em' 

QB - Jalen Hurts - I actually have some faith in Hurts this year, his first game started out well in a close victory over the Lions which came down to the wire. The thing I didn't like about Hurts though was he had no TD's through the air, and without his lone rushing TD and 90 yards with his feet, Hurts would have been looking at a mere 243 yard game through the air. This week, Hurts is taking on the number one defense against QB's in the Minnesota Vikings. Last week we saw Aaron Rodgers get sacked 4 times and only put up 7 points on offense. There were definitely miscues with Green Bay's offense, and I know Rodgers is still thinking about the dropped ball by Christian Watson. Even still, the Vikings held the packers to one score. Unless Hurts can start being more productive through the air, I think this week could prove less than lucrative for him.

RB - Alvin Kamara - There has been a fall from grace for Kamara as of late, last year being one of his lowest producing seasons in yards and TD's. This season did not start with a bang either, unless you count the blow he took to the ribs. The latest news on Kamara at the time of writing this is that he has been out of practice for maintenance reasons. Kamara should get the start barring any additional difficulties, but even still, I don't have much faith. I know Kamara went early in most leagues and sitting your first or second round RB in week two sounds ridiculous, but considering he is banged up and playing against a Tampa Bay defense ranked 4th against the run, I would consider Kamara a flex option at best.

WR - Ceedee Lamb - Biggest and most obvious factor here, Dak Prescott. Cooper Rush will be stepping in for the injured Dak and that gives me no reason to believe that this Dallas offense is going to flourish this week unless Ezekiel Elliott shows up again. Lamb didn't start the season out great regardless of his now injured QB, with 11 targets Lamb only caught two of those for 29 yards. His poor performance left a sour taste in a lot of fantasy owners mouths when Dak was in, don't expect that to change with Rush leading this team. Lamb will be back to form at some point this season, he is a superstar, but he will not be doing that against the Cincinnati defense whose ranked 4th against the air game.

TE - Noah Fant - I liked watching Fant last week against the Broncos, it was an interesting game and I thought Fant could have been better if he had more opportunity, but there weren't many. Catching three of his four targets, Fant was only able to put up 16 yards. With no score and such a low volume of targets it's hard to get on board with him, or anyone in this Seahawks offense just yet. Geno Smith looked pretty good and they ended up with the win because of some bone headed mistakes by Denver, but all in all the Seahawks are pretty hard to nail down right now. This week Fant and the Seahawks face the 49ers who rank 1st against TE's, making it for an even tougher time for Fant. If he can somehow get the looks his way, I think Fant will end up being a great tight end this season, but first this Seahawks offense needs to prove itself, and Geno Smith needs to keep up the production.