RADIO
After one week of the NFL season, we find ourselves with as many questions as we have answers. Perhaps the most prominent issue fantasy managers are coming to grips with this week is the poor passing performances across the board, where wide receivers were more like wide deceivers.
Heading into "Monday Night Football," the 33 passing touchdowns were the lowest such total we've seen to start an NFL season, basically telling 2023 to hold its beer (37 passing touchdowns in Week 1 last season). If that wasn't enough, the total yards per contest and average passing yards per team were among the lowest dating back to 2003.
Sunday afternoon passing yards leaders: pic.twitter.com/LB4u5J3jsL
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2024:
- Quarterback fantasy football rankings
- Running back fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
- Tight end fantasy football rankings
- Kicker fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Superflex fantasy football rankings
- IDP fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) September 9, 2024
With that all being said, it's time to make our best defensive back impression and display a short memory as we move past Week 1 and into Week 2 with our starts and sits at the wide receiver position.
Week 2 Starts - Fantasy Football Booms
Jameson Williams - WR, Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jared Goff only targeted two of his receivers in the Lions' season opener. Amon-Ra St. Brown had a 21% target share, and Jameson Williams earned a 32% target share against the Rams. Williams made the most of his opportunities by turning nine targets into 121 yards and a touchdown while making Tre'Davious White wish he were still in Buffalo.
Jameson Williams beat White so bad that White tried to tackle him, barely got any part of him, and just had to watch the TD unfold pic.twitter.com/RtUJXNLIlf
— Sam Monson (@SamMonsonNFL) September 9, 2024
Williams continues his breakout campaign this week with a visit from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Zyon McCollum will have his hands full trying to defend Williams, and the CB left last week's contest due to a concussion.
If McCollum can't go, the Bucs are down to their third-string corner in Tyrek Funderburk, as Bryce Hall suffered a dislocated right ankle and fractured fibula in the win against the Washington Commanders. Williams versus a third-stringer is a matchup Goff and this Lions offense will be exploiting time and time again.
Michael Pittman Jr. - WR, Indianapolis Colts at Green Bay Packers
Michael Pittman Jr. may have only registered 31 receiver yards last week from his four receptions, but he did have eight of Anthony Richardson's 19 passing attempts, giving way to some optimism here in Week 2. Those targets would end up accounting for a 42% target share.
Week 1 target share leaders per-SNF:
1. Michael Pittman, 42.1%
2. Keenan Allen, 37.9%
3. A.J. Brown, 34.5%
T4. Tyreek Hill, 33.3%
T4. Rashee Rice, 33.3%
6. CeeDee Lamb, 32.3%
7. George Pickens, 31.8%
8. Wan'Dale Robinson, 31.6%
9. Ray-Ray McCloud, 30.4%
10. Isaiah Likely, 30.0%— Daniel Kelley (@danieltkelley) September 8, 2024
If Pittman continues to see a target share greater than 30%, you must keep rolling him out for fantasy. At some point, those deep shots to Alec Pierce and Ashton Dulin can hopefully continue to open things even more for the Colts receiver, and all signs point to that happening this week.
Against the Packers, A.J. Brown finished with 22 fantasy points, thanks to a touchdown grab and 119 receiving yards. Brown managed to see 10 targets in that contest, which worked out to be a 35% target share. Pittman is in line for similar production as he looks to bounce back in Green Bay this week.
Malik Nabers - WR, New York Giants at Washington Commanders
I rarely use a player in consecutive weeks, but an exception may be made if said player is playing the Washington Commanders. In Nabers' NFL debut, he was targeted on seven occasions, hauling in six of those targets for 66 yards and averaging 13.3 yards per reception. Nabers and Wan'Dale Robinson look like the only viable options for what appears to be a terrible Giants offense.
How is Nabers a start? Nabers finished with an 18.4% target share after seeing nearly 50% of the targets in the first half, which means he will be a primary option against a Commanders secondary that allowed Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to reach paydirt last week.
Again, the Commanders allowed the second-most fantasy points to the wide receiver position last season. Even if Nabers doesn't know what's going on "back there," he will get his one way or another this week.
Ok having Malik Nabers is VERY cool pic.twitter.com/mqM5XLpPQO
— Brett Hanfling (@Brett_Hanfling) September 8, 2024
Week 2 Sits - Fantasy Football Busts
Drake London - WR, Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles
Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for Drake London after dealing with Desmond Ridder and Marcus Mariota last season, it did. Kirk Cousins looked like a shell of himself out there. Cousins couldn't even compete in a one-legged butt-kicking contest, let alone an NFL game, as he continues his recovery from an Achilles tear.
3rd-and-15. No pressure. Time to rifle this in there. Look at the follow thru. It's his right achilles that was torn. Can't even get his cleats into the turf to drive the ball.
Take a second to watch this. pic.twitter.com/r34hyOzFLv
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) September 9, 2024
London has the talent, but watching Cousins operate under center, you can see he is struggling to plant that right foot and drive the ball. There will come a point when Cousins is somewhat back to normal, but until then, you cannot start London, even during a great matchup. I don't see the Falcons making a change at quarterback, so we will need to remain patient here.
Suppose you are looking for that silver lining. Better days are ahead. T.J. Watt is an absolute game-wrecker and did so again in Week 1, and Joey Porter Jr. is an actual shutdown corner. Better matchups are coming. One piece lost in all of this was the fact that both London and Kyle Pitts had a 100% route participation rate.
Christian Kirk - WR, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cleveland Browns
Sometimes, it is easier to follow the numbers and not overthink things. On one hand, we have Christian Kirk, who, like many receivers last week, was a fantasy disappointment. Kirk caught one of four targets for 30 yards in the season opener.
Trevor Lawrence struggled in general, completing just 12-of-21 attempts for 162 yards. Now, this week, the Jaguars duo rolls into a matchup with Cleveland and faces a Browns defensive unit that held Dak Prescott to 179 passing yards and CeeDee Lamb to five receptions and 61 yards.
Last week, I talked about fading CeeDee Lamb due to this Browns defense. It's one of the few with a back end matching their front. Dallas's passing game struggled against it, and so will the Jaguars. Cleveland allowed just 25.36 fantasy points per game to opposing receivers last season, and they started 2024 where they had left off in 2023.
Jayden Reed and Christian Watson - WR, Green Bay Packers vs. Indianapolis Colts
I probably could make this the shortest write-up ever by simply saying … Malik Willis. However, I have a word target to meet, so I'll give you all more.
With Jordan Love's injury, every player on this Packers offense will take a fantasy hit over the next 2-6 weeks while Love recovers from that MCL sprain suffered in the Week 1 loss to the Eagles.
With Love at quarterback, Jayden Reed and Christian Watson likely play the role of Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins, one with a pair of grabs and the other with over 100 receiving yards against this Colts secondary. With Willis, they are more likely to look like Jay and Silent Bob.
Of the two, Reed may be the more playable option as the Packers could add a few more jet sweeps to the playbook to get the ball into his hands and hope for a repeat of one of his two touchdowns down in Brazil.
brilliantly simple jet sweep. 2x2 11 personnel with a long motion. No window dressing can see it all the way. Reed slippery as hell. And the back lays a great block pic.twitter.com/lxCEorIsRV
— Clark Dupree | the Wealth Tactician (@WealthTactician) September 7, 2024
As for Watson, I have no trust in him, and Willis is taking over this passing game. Watson missed a vast fantasy week last week and will miss what Love brings to the table. Back in 2022, Willis completed 31-of-61 passes for 276 yards over five contests. If Green Bay wants to stay competitive during Love's absence, Willis is going to need to use his legs rather than his arm.
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