Week 2 Fantasy Football Risers and Fallers

Thankfully, offensive football rebounded after a terrible Week 1. Plenty of teams that were underwhelming to start the season had a strong showing in Week 2, while some teams (looking at you Chicago Bears) continued to be bad.

Regardless, each week provides us with more information to analyze. The fantasy managers who can sift through the noise and find trends that stick will have a great chance to end the season as their league champion. Below, you’ll find a list of risers and fallers throughout the first two weeks of the NFL season.

Risers Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Baker Mayfield was considered a punchline heading into the season. Plenty of bad throws from training camp circulated social media, and many wondered if he would even win the starting job for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Well, Mayfield did win the starting job. And he’s done a good job with it so far. Mayfield is completing 69.1% of his passes for 490 yards and three touchdowns through his first two games in Tampa Bay. Yes, those matchups were both against poor passing defenses in the Chicago Bears ( 30th in pass defense DVOA ) and the Minnesota Vikings ( 14th in pass defense DVOA ), but he is still putting up solid stats.

Mayfield will have a more difficult matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3 but is still in one of the weakest defensive conferences in the NFL. He’s outperformed expectations to start the 2023 season and should be on the radar as a streaming quarterback as we creep closer to bye weeks.

Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams Last week, we all witnessed Cam Akers turn 22 caries into 29 yards. This week, we got news that Akers had once again fallen out of favor with the coaching staff in Los Angeles and would be inactive for Week 2 and placed on the trade block. That puts second-year running back Kyren Williams as the primary running back in the Rams offense.

Williams had a solid performance in his first game as the team’s unquestioned starting running back, carrying the ball 14 times for 52 yards and a rushing touchdown while adding six receptions for 48 yards and a receiving touchdown. None of the team’s other running backs touched the football, unexpectedly making Williams one of the NFL’s few “bellcow” running backs.

Things won’t be easy for Williams behind one of the league’s worst offensive lines, but he should get plenty of volume, and he showed his touchdown upside against a tough 49ers defense in Week 2. If he somehow remained on waivers after Week 1, he should be scooped up in all formats. He’s got a weekly RB2 upside going forward.

Nico Collins/Tank Dell, WR, Houston Texans Both Nico Collins and Tank Dell flashed in a Week 2 loss against a bad Colts secondary. Collins continued to assert himself as one of the third-year receivers emerging as a WR1, catching 7-of-9 targets for 146 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Tank Dell took advantage of Noah Brown ’s injury to catch seven of his 10 targets for 72 yards and a touchdown. Dell finished second on the team in routes run, finishing ahead of Collins in his first game as a receiver in the main rotation.

Collins has been a pleasant surprise for fantasy managers who used a mid-to-late-round pick on Houston’s ambiguous passing offense. Through two weeks, the veteran wide receiver has the fifth-most receiving yards (226), ranking behind Justin Jefferson , Puka Nacua , Mike Evans and Tyreek Hill . However, both he and Dell are appealing, especially with Houston being content with letting rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud (91 pass attempts) air it out behind a patchwork offensive line.

Both players are startable on a team that will be forced into negative game scripts, given their ability to command the bulk of the targets.

Christian Kirk , WR, Jacksonville Jaguars Last week, Christian Kirk found himself on the “fallers” list due to a reduced snap share against a bad Colts secondary. It only seems like fair play that he ends up on the “risers” list after showing that he will still command targets in the Jaguars passing attack.

Kirk led all Jacksonville receivers in routes run (43) against the Kansas City Chiefs. After seeing just three targets in Week 1, Kirk led the team in targets (14) in Week 2. He turned those 14 targets into 11 receptions for 110 yards. The slot receiver still primarily played in three wide receiver sets, which Jacksonville played much more in Week 2 thanks to a matchup against the defending Super Bowl champions.

All said, Kirk will be inconsistent throughout the year, especially if he isn’t playing over Zay Jones in two wide receiver sets. However, this proves that Jacksonville is completely willing to shift its playstyle to match its opponent. Knowing the games that Jacksonville will be forced into shootouts will give fantasy managers the ability to stream Kirk and take advantage of his rapport with Trevor Lawrence and his ability to win in the slot.

Brandon Johnson , WR, Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a disappointing 0-2 after losing two very winnable matchups against the Los Angeles Raiders and Washington Commanders. However, one player has quietly emerged in a consistent role within their passing attack.

Former UDFA Brandon Johnson is functioning as Denver’s WR3 so far this season, playing well ahead of 2023 second-round pick Marvin Mims . In Week 1, Johnson was third among Denver’s wide receivers in snaps (32) and routes run (21). He turned that opportunity into just two receptions on three targets for 31 yards.

In Week 2, Johnson was once again third among the wide receiver group in routes run (21), operating behind Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy . He still had three targets, but this time turned them into two receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns, including a huge Hail Mary reception at the end of regulation.

Mims will get most of the press thanks to his explosive performance (two receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown), but he ran just five routes. Until the team decides Mims is ready to step into a bigger role, Johnson will be on the field in three wide receiver sets. Given how much attention Sutton and Jeudy command, he should continue to see steady targets when he’s on the field.

Fallers Dameon Pierce , RB, Houston Texans On one hand, Dameon Pierce has continued to dominate the touches out of the backfield for the Houston Texans, carrying the ball 26 times in the first two weeks of the season. Unfortunately, that workload has led to minimal production behind a porous offensive line that was missing four projected starters in Week 2.

Pierce is averaging just 2.3 yards per carry in 2023 and has just two receptions for 13 yards in two losses. It is far too early to label him a bust, but through two games he is looking like the definition of a dead-zone running back; a back who doesn’t get enough work in the receiving department to make up for his empty volume in the backfield.

Pierce is a player fantasy managers should hold, especially since this offense will improve once the offensive line starts to get healthy (only left guard Kenyon Green will miss the entire season). However, fantasy managers who drafted Pierce are faced with the sobering reality that he is hard to put in the starting lineup on a team that will be forced into negative game scripts consistently throughout the NFL season.

AJ Dillon , RB, Green Bay Packers AJ Dillon had a prime opportunity to show that his inefficiency in the backfield during the 2022 season was a fluke. The Packers came into their Week 2 matchup missing Aaron Jones after a Week 1 hamstring injury, giving Dillon command of the backfield behind a strong offensive line.

Unfortunately, Dillon didn’t do much to convince us that 2023 would be a new season. The veteran running back carried the ball 15 times for a very inefficient 55 yards in a loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Dillon also had just one reception for eight yards in the game.

The running back is still firmly entrenched in a timeshare behind a solid offensive line, but this was his best opportunity to show Green Bay he could handle a greater role in the backfield so the team could situationally deploy Jones to take advantage of his explosiveness. Dillon failed that test and will likely continue to work behind Jones when he’s healthy, eating the early-down, between-the-20’s touches.

He isn’t a drop yet, but a few more weeks of inefficiency in the backfield will make him difficult to trust this season.

Michael Gallup , WR, Dallas Cowboys Like Dillon, Michael Gallup found himself in an excellent position to take on a greater role in the Cowboys offense after Brandin Cooks was ruled out against the New York Jets thanks to a knee injury. Gallup did not capitalize on that opportunity in a blowout win.

Gallup ran 32 routes in Week 2 against the Jets, finishing third in the receiver pecking order behind CeeDee Lamb and second-year wide receiver Jalen Tolbert . Gallup earned just two targets, catching one pass for three yards. Nine different Cowboys caught a pass against the Jets, but the only one who had fewer yards than Gallup was rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker (who caught his only target for a touchdown).

There were reasons to be optimistic about Gallup’s role in a high-volume passing attack a year removed from his ACL injury. Unfortunately, he has yet to make good on that optimism and could be safely dropped if your league has more consistent options on the waiver wire.

Quentin Johnston , WR, Los Angeles Chargers It is easy to get caught up in rookie fever during fantasy drafts, especially when one of the best passing attacks spends a first-round pick on a rookie wide receiver. Fantasy managers have been spoiled by excellent rookie performances in recent history, but plenty of players take time to emerge. One player who seems to fit that description is Los Angeles Chargers rookie receiver Quentin Johnston .

Johnston played just 10 snaps in Week 2’s loss against the Tennessee Titans, catching one of his two targets for just seven yards. Johnston is playing well behind the team’s starting three receivers ( Keenan Allen , Mike Williams , Joshua Palmer ) and was on the field less than 2023 fourth-round pick and college teammate Derius Davis .

The silver lining for Johnston is the fact that both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams have struggled to stay healthy in their careers, so a greater role in the offense is never that far out of reach. However, as long as the team’s top three receivers are healthy, Johnston will remain an afterthought in the receiver rotation.

Kyle Pitts , TE, Atlanta Falcons There was hope that Kyle Pitts would bounce back in 2023 after a disappointing second-year campaign that ended with a knee injury. Through two weeks, it seems that Pitts’ role in the Atlanta passing attack will continue to be frustrating.

Pitts followed up a decent showing against the Panthers in Week 1 (two receptions on three targets for 44 yards) with a dud against the Green Bay Packers, catching just two of five targets for 15 yards. In the ultimate twist of the knife, fantasy managers got to witness Pitts getting less work in the passing attack than Mack Hollins (three receptions for 60 yards) and fellow tight end Jonnu Smith (four receptions for 47 yards).

The tight end position has been underwhelming as a whole to start the 2023 season, so we have a while before we consider jettisoning Pitts to the waiver wire to pick up a different option. He still possesses elite athleticism and moves all over the formation, which should theoretically result in more opportunities to catch the ball. Unfortunately, that isn’t as appealing in a low-volume passing offense that has another young receiver who commands targets.

Pitts just isn’t seeing the role we all envisioned for him ahead of his rookie season, and it remains to be seen if his 1,000-yard rookie campaign will be the high point of his rookie contract. He’s a hold, but it is going to be difficult to start him every week.

Week 2 Fantasy Football Risers and Fallers

Risers

Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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