I thought wide receivers were so much more reliable than runners so you were much better off grabbing wideouts early in the draft? Yes, crap-ton of injuries at the running back position have gone down, but let’s look at the wideout spot for a second. Antonio Brown underperformed in Week 2. ODB dropped a touchdown pass in Week 2. A.J. Green didn’t get to 40-yards in Week 2. Allen Robinson has no scores and 126 yards in two games. Dez Bryant has 110 yards in two games. Keenan Allen’s season is over. Brandon Marshall has 133 yards and no scores in two games and is dealing with a knee issue. Those guys were all top-10 wideout options this season.

Giovani Bernard caught five balls for 60 yards in the 4th quarter to given him nine grabs, on 11 targets, for 100 yards and a score. Meanwhile Jeremy Hill has averaged 2.65 YPC through two games. Note the offensive line isn’t doing much as the duo ran for 41 yards after contact in Week 2, more than their actual total rushing yard total in Week 2 (39 yards).

Antonio Brown failed to catch five balls for 50 yards for the first time since 2013 with Ben Roethlisberger under center. For more tidbits like this check out Jeff Mans’ Weekly Recaps piece.

Kirk Cousins isn’t very good. Honestly, watching him play Sunday really reminded me of everything that is wrong with Colin Kaepernick. Cousins stared down receivers frequently and he simply fails to see the entire field, something particularly noticeable on a pick he threw and another near pick as both times players covering other pass catching options simply broke off their coverage and just read Cousins eyes. The numbers are palatable with Cousins (364 yards, one score, one pick), but he’s does not look good, at all including in the red zone where he threw two picks while going 5-for-17. Now there are rumors his teammates doubt him.

Isaiah Crowell has outtouched Duke Johnson 33 to 13 through two weeks. Crowell has produced 148 yards compared to 56 for Johnson. Of course, take away the 85 yard TD run from Crowell he’s gained just 110 yards on 29 carries or 3.79 yards per carry.

Mike Evans caught his third score last season in Week 11. He has three touchdowns in two games this season. He caught just six of 16 passes in Week 2 as Jameis Winston was horribly inaccurate. At least Evans got his.

Coby Fleener didn’t show up, yet again. He saw eight targets, tied for the Saints lead in Week 2, but he only hauled in two passes as he also dropped a pass right in his hands. That’s three grabs for 32 yards this season. You can move on from Fleener in many setups if you can’t afford to roster two tight ends while waiting for Fleener to find his footing with the Saints.

Four backs have 50 carries through two weeks: DeAngelo Williams, Lamar Miller, Matt Forte and LeGarrette Blount. Last season no runner had 50 carries in the first two games.

Devonta Freeman had a nice total of 93 yards on 17 carries in Week 2. However, he didn’t see a single target in the passing game. Zero. However, don’t overlook just how effective Freeman was on the ground. Also note that he still had 36 snaps, six more than Coleman. Don’t overlook #2. Freeman had 17 touches in Week 2, Coleman 14. Coleman is coming hard, but Freeman isn’t a total loser. Really, it’s your fault if you drafted Freeman at the top of the draft. I warned, repeatedly, that folks were grossly overrating Freeman at the draft table. He’s still a totally usable piece though.

Some audio thoughts on Todd Gurley.

Jesse James scored in Week 3 to get the folks exited. However, not that he was atrocious as a blocker as the man who lined up against him stopped seven runs in Week 2. He’s not going to remain on the field if his blocking prowess is akin to the strength of a piece of toilet paper after it’s been hanging off a tree branch overnight.

Chris Johnson carried the ball 16 times to 12 for David Johnson. Don’t worry about it at all if you own David, doesn’t matter. Chris game in after the Cardinals built up a 30-point lead. It’s still David’s backfield. There is no committee.

Why did I get repeated questions about starting Jarvis Landry in Week 2? I just don’t get it. The fastest player to 200 career receptions, Landry caught 9-of-10 passes in Week 2.

Jordy Nelson scored again. He also didn’t look great and seemed to have trouble creating separation. He continues to be the top red zone threat of the Packers though.

Josh Norman had three balls thrown at him by the Cowboys. None were completed in Week 2. He broke up two passes and also forced a fumble.

Carson Palmer doesn’t look right. Just my feeling after watching the two regular season games.

Dennis Pitta caught nine balls for 102 yards in Week 2. As long as he’s healthy, Joe Flacco will find him. Can’t trust Pitta to stay healthy, and note that nine of his 11 targets in Week 2 were within nine yards of the line of scrimmage.

Dak Prescott has thrown 75 passes his first two starts. That’s an all-time record surpassing the total of 72 thrown by Warren Moon in 1984.

Aaron Rodgers completed 23 percent of his passes when he was under pressure in Week 2. He looked awful.

Matt Ryan threw a pick in the end zone and continues to make mistakes.

Sterling Shepard caught all eight of his targets for 117 yards in Week 2 as he beat five different defenders. He’s looked really good through two weeks. Really good.

The Giants gave Shane Vereen 40 snaps, Rashad Jennings 34 and Orleans Darkwa five in Week 2. Huh. Well, we learned Monday why as reports surfaced that after the game Sunday Jennings left wrist and thumb were heavily wrapped.

Tyrell Williams is still the wideout I want in San Diego ahead of Travis Benjamin. In this respect both Jeff Mans and I agree, even if Benjamin looks like a breakout star after his huge Week 2 effort (6-115-2).

Russell Wilson didn’t look right against the Rams and the offense struggled. Wilson lost his streak of 17-straight games with a touchdown pass and right now I don’t know if I’m more nervous about the ankle issue of Wilson or the terrible offensive line play of the Seahawks through two weeks? The longest streak in football now belongs to Blaine Gabbert. At least that is what ESPN says.

I said that T.J. Yeldon stunk in Week 1 as all he did was fall forward a bunch of times as he lived off a massive workload. He got all those touches in Week 2 yet again, including eight grabs. You did notice that he caught eight balls for 10 yards, right? Again, I’m just not a fan of the talent.

 

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).