Booms and Busts - Fantasy Football Starts and Sits for Week 2 Lineups (2024)

Week 1 is in the books. Hopefully, your season got off to a good start with a victory and your first round of waivers went well. But it’s time to turn the page and start planning for Week 2.

We had a good start to the season here last week. Rashid Shaheed and Aaron Jones were some good boom calls with WR13 and RB9 finishes, respectively. Dak Prescott was one of our bust picks, and he finished as the QB22 last week. There was one big miss on Deebo Samuel Sr. as he finished as the WR12 following a strong performance Monday night. No Christian McCaffrey altered the landscape a bit, but these are the breaks of the game. The fantasy season doesn’t stop for whining, so we keep marching forward.

Make sure you’re following RotoBaller on X and check out RotoBaller.com for all your fantasy football needs. Let’s get into our Boom/Busts picks for Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season.

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Week 2 Booms

Malik Nabers - WR, New York Giants at Washington Commanders

Nabers had a relatively quiet debut a week ago. He finished with a 5-66 line on seven targets and was the WR32 for the week. Not exactly what gamers were hoping for when they drafted the talented rookie.

Fear not, though, as a matchup with the Washington Commanders secondary is on tap for Sunday. Washington struggled mightily defensively last year as it finished dead last in defensive pass DVOA. It doesn’t look like things have changed too much as the Commanders finished Week 1 31st in defensive pass DVOA and DVOA against wide receivers.

Daniel Jones at quarterback is always less than ideal. However, Washington’s defensive front failed to generate pressure last week. This should allow Jones plenty of time to consistently find Nabers throughout the day.

First-career catch for Malik Nabers!

And it moves the chains for the @Giatns ➡️

📺: #MINvsNYG on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/Jvu4Dgpnqd

— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2024

This is a 10/10 matchup for the rookie. We could see a monster performance if we can get the right game script. Fantasy gamers can confidently fire him up as we expect play-caller Brian Daboll to call Nabers' name early and often in a dream matchup.

James Conner - RB, Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams

The Cardinals RB1 had a tough time gaining traction on the ground against Buffalo. He only mustered 50 yards on 16 carries to go along with a score on the ground. Conner gets a home date with the Rams this week, and we should see a better day on the ground. Los Angeles gave up 163 rushing yards to the Lions in Week 1 and ranked 31st in defensive rush DVOA.

Arizona is favored in the game as Los Angeles suffered numerous injuries to its offensive line and also lost stud receiver Puka Nacua to a knee injury. Even though the Rams have dominated this rivalry recently, they could have trouble on Sunday.

This sets up well for the Cardinals to control the game and have success running the football. It’s been their bread and butter with Drew Petzing as play-caller. They could find themselves with an early lead and take control of the game with their ground attack.

Both would be great for Conner’s outlook. Start him in all leagues.

Najee Harris - RB, Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos

While Harris didn’t have a very productive fantasy day against the Falcons in Week 1, he was Pittsburgh’s RB1. He received 21 of 28 possible running back touches and now gets a date against a Denver Broncos run defense that has struggled for over a year now.

Denver allowed 146 rushing yards to the Seattle Seahawks last week, and we can expect Pittsburgh to rely heavily on Harris and the ground game in this matchup.

The Steelers defense also has the pleasure of going up against rookie quarterback Bo Nix. As a result, it’s a good bet Pittsburgh will be playing with a lead for most of this game. That means there will be plenty of rushing opportunities for Harris. He's a solid RB2 or flex play this week and could pop for a big game.

Brock Bowers - TE, Las Vegas Raiders at Baltimore Ravens

Bowers comes off a Week 1 outing that saw him lead the Raiders in targets and receptions. He only played 68% of offensive snaps, but checked in with a very strong 28% targets per route run (TPRR), per Fantasy Points Data Suite. So while the playing time is less than ideal, he was a huge part of the game plan and Las Vegas made an effort to get him the ball when he was on the field.

Baltimore’s defense is no easy task, but it did struggle against tight ends vs. Kansas City and finished Week 1 30th in DVOA against tight ends.

Las Vegas is nearly double-digit underdogs in this game, so we can expect to see plenty of passing output from Gardner Minshew II and the offense. It’s also likely that Baltimore will want to focus its coverage on superstar receiver Davante Adams. That could mean we see a big game from Bowers even against this stout Ravens unit.

Week 2 Busts

Calvin Ridley - WR, Tennessee Titans vs. New York Jets

Ridley was a disappointment for gamers in Week 1 after a WR52 finish. Unfortunately, things don’t get much easier in Week 2. With the New York Jets coming to town, that means Ridley will be matched up against All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner.

This is a terrible matchup for Ridley as he struggled when going up against high-end corners last year. Some of that was due to an overall lack of creativity in Jacksonville’s offense. While Titans head coach Brian Callahan vowed to get Ridley easier looks off the line of scrimmage by using motion etc., we did not see a lot of that in Week 1.

Lowest pre-snap motion rate on pass plays in Week 1:

12% - Browns
21% - Broncos
23% - Panthers
28% - Bengals
29% - Titans
33% - Colts
34% - Cardinals
35% - Commanders

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) September 9, 2024

This a nightmare matchup for the Titans pass-catcher. Gamers should avoid him at all costs this week if possible.

D’Andre Swift - RB, Chicago Bears at Houston Texans

Swift struggled last week against Tennessee’s defensive front. He gets another tough draw against a Texans defense that limited Jonathan Taylor to 48 rushing yards in Week 1.

Houston did only finish 21st in defensive rush DVOA last week, but most of that can be attributed to the Colts' dual-threat quarterback, Anthony Richardson. Chicago rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is talented, but he doesn’t have the same rushing prowess as Richardson, so Houston will not have to worry about that factor in this game.

That means Swift and the ground game could be facing an uphill battle. Factor in Swift only saw one target last week in a game where Chicago mostly trailed, and it’s hard to see a path to fantasy relevance. If you’ve got better options at running back, pivot to them and leave Swift on your bench.

Kyle Pitts - TE, Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles

It was a good start to the season for the Falcons' much-maligned tight end. He caught a rare touchdown and finished as the TE3. Things get tougher on Monday night against an Eagles defense that finished Week 1 second in DVOA against tight ends.

Tough matchup aside, we need to take a minute and address the elephant in the room regarding Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins. He is not 100% following his Achilles injury last year. Atlanta only lined him under center once, ran mostly pistol/shotgun formation, and did not attempt a single play-action pass.

Play-caller Zac Robinson is a Sean McVay disciple and comes from a system that incorporates play-action passing as well rollouts/bootlegs to get the quarterback on the move for easy completions. The fact that we saw none of that in Week 1 is a major red flag on Cousins and this offense moving forward.

We don’t know if/how this changes for Week 2. We can guess that they take a hard look at some point during the year and make appropriate adjustments.

One thing that feels certain, though: Given Cousins’ well-documented struggles in prime-time games, a "Monday Night Football" matchup in Philadelphia does not seem like the time he and this offense get on track.

If you've got a good tight-end option behind Pitts, then you should consider sitting him. If not, you may have to hold your nose and pray for the best.

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