2022 Fantasy Football Target Report: Will Gerald Everett Gain Targets in Week 3 Given Keenan Allen's Injury?

Targets are paramount when it comes to evaluating pass-catchers for fantasy football. There are no receiving yards, no receiving touchdowns, and no receptions without a target.

We want the players on our rosters in fantasy football who will earn these targets because targets are the most important thing to look at when trying to separate one pass-catcher from another on a base level. Sure, the player that earned 160 targets may be a better fantasy option than the player who earned 110, but that doesn’t take into account the offenses these players are in, the target share percentages on their particular team, how deep down the field these targets were earned, and so on.

Each week, we’ll take a weekly team-by-team look into these target earners and separate the wheat from the chaff. 

Week 2 helps us start to separate one-off performances and get into REAL trends. Before we get into the target report, let's dive into a legend of terms we'll be referencing.

NFL Week 2 Target Report

Arizona Cardinals

One of the first things Andrew Cooper said to me on Monday morning on air on the Front Yard Fantasy Morning Show was my recommendation about not buying Greg Dortch.

Dortch is what he is: a perfectly capable NFL player who is filling a role for an injured player in a fast-paced offense. He still ran a route on almost 80% of routes at a short 5.3-yard aDOT and score a touchdown. As long as Rondale Moore remains out, Dortch is perfectly viable. I’ll repeat what I said last week: this usage bodes well once Moore returns to the lineup.

After 61% of routes last week, Zach Ertz ran a full-time share of routes (92%) and snaps (84%) en route to a TE5 finish this week.

Week 2 Arizona Cardinals Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Marquise Brown, Ertz)
• Conner’s ankle injury could create a murky timeshare with Darrel Williams and Eno Benjamin. Williams looks like a two-down grinder with the path to goal-line work, while Benjamin seems destined for a passing role. Chop up one role Conner had the stranglehold on when healthy and it makes it tough to choose one of the running backs that will replace him if Conner can’t go in Week 3.
• Hold Dortch (as long as Moore isn’t in the lineup) because the slot/short-aDOT role should be solid for fantasy purposes. If Moore returns in Week 3, bench Dortch and cut him after this week if you have the roster space.

Atlanta Falcons

First, let’s check in on the fantasy managers who drafted Kyle Pitts:

Yeah, I get it.

However, Pitts had six games of 35 receiving yards or less and still ended up with 1,000 yards — and he did that at AGE 21. What were you doing at 21? Not that. I wasn’t either. That’s impressive.

In Week 2, Pitts still ran an elite routes share and blocked less than he did in Week 1. At least we’re trending in the correct way…

The fact that the Falcons' offense had a range of outcomes where they were just awful had to be known by the people drafting him. I know I did. The one thing is that for much of 2021, Pitts didn’t have anybody to play off of. They might have that now in 2022 with Drake London.

London paced the Falcons with a 48% (!) target share, 12 targets, and a banner day at the office. He just might have that “dawg” in him. It’s only going to help this offense moving forward as Pitts and London should have a hefty percentage of the targets in this offense to themselves.

As for the rest of the pass-catchers? You’re never rostering them. Nobody ran anything more than a 50% routes share, so these are all part-timers you can ignore.

Week 2 Atlanta Falcons Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (London and Pitts)
• Cordarrelle Patterson backslid into a three-way committee that’s honestly a bit gross considering the offensive ecosystem. Avery Williams is involved, and now Tyler Allgeier is involved in this committee with the injury to Damien Williams. Every little bit of time where Patterson is off the field counts against him. Start Patterson as a high-end flex option, and if Allgeier is available and you have the room, he’s a nice mid-to-late season stash.

Baltimore Ravens

The two things you can count on most weeks: Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman dominating targets (62% in Week 2), routes per dropback, and fantasy scoring out of this passing game. Week 2 was no exception as both had more than 100 yards receiving and a touchdown.

Despite the ridiculous game script that saw the Ravens blow a 35-14 lead, nobody else really got involved from a fantasy standpoint outside of a fringe tight end Isaiah Likely, who could get a bit more run if Devin Duvernay can’t get out of concussion protocol. Likely’s routes were chopped in half from Week 1 to Week 2’s 26% per dropback but on a per-route basis, he earned five targets on just EIGHT routes.

Week 2 Baltimore Ravens Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Andrews and Bateman)
• Likely could be a tight end option if you’re in need, roster Cole Kmet, or roster Dalton Schultz.
• Kenyan Drake, Mike Davis, and Justice Hill combined for 14 carries, 28 yards, and 2.8 fantasy points. Just no. Stop this charade. #SaveUsJKDobbins 

Buffalo Bills

The Bills didn’t have Gabe Davis available for Monday Night in Week 2, but did they really need him when they had Stefon Diggs there to completely destroy worlds?

Diggs single-handedly shifted surefire Week 2 wins from fantasy managers into losses and losses into wins with his 12-148 and THREE touchdowns on 14 targets. 44% of the air yards and 36% of the targets will definitely do that. If I had to pick one offense to score in any given scenario you put in front of me, the Bills would be my pick every time. We’ve got 2020 Diggs back in our good graces and the fact that he was taken at the end of the first round is such a boon for later picks in fantasy drafts.

Besides Diggs, nobody really showed out to any extent that forced us to take notice, though Jake Kumerow pretty much took over Davis’ split end role one-for-one with 81% routes.

Route shares were skewed because the Bills took off their big-time skill position players.

Week 2 Buffalo Bills Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Diggs and Davis when healthy)
• Dawson Knox has run 66% and 57% of routes the last two weeks, has seven targets and a combined 5-46 line so far. He’s making it really hard to start him weekly.
• Devin Singletary should get a bump here to a low-end RB2, as per PFF’s Nathan Jahnke, Singletary was at a 65% snap share before coming off the field when the Bills put backup quarterback Case Keenum in.
• James Cook racked up a lot of his carries in garbage time, so there is nothing to see here as far as a shakeup in the pecking order for the Bills running backs. Hold Cook on your bench.

Carolina Panthers

It might be time to start a “Is Matt Rhule Fired Yet?” countdown. Somehow, Christian McCaffrey is only running 67% of the pass routes in this offense, which could and should get anybody fired. We haven’t seen the best of McCaffrey yet and I’m not sure we will under this bonehead regime.

Our sweet price D.J. Moore did score a touchdown on 100% route participation but only earned six targets — as did Robbie Anderson on 94% routes.

This offense is weird and unexciting, which starts with Rhule needing to put players in the best positions to make plays. That’s not happening. Simply put: it’s very hard to buy into this offense but because you bought into the main pieces here at premium prices, you’ve gotta stay the course.
 

Week 2 Carolina Panthers Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (McCaffrey, Moore)
• Anderson is a solid enough flex who should have some intermittent boom weeks.

Chicago Bears

*sad trombone*

If there’s any sound effect to encapsulate the first two weeks when it comes to the Bears’ pass-catchers, it’s that.

If you’d like me to put it into a single word? Dreadful.

We talk about players running routes on a percentage of dropbacks, and typically that’s a great thing, so seeing Darnell Mooney (94% routes) and Cole Kmet (88%) with great utilization doesn’t mean a damn thing if the team isn’t passing the ball. The Bears have the lowest percentage of pass plays in the NFL at a paltry 34.02%.

You cannot be starting any Chicago Bears right now that aren’t named David Montgomery (who shall henceforth be known as “liquid concrete”.

Week 2 Chicago Bears Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start Montgomery; the Bears are running at the highest clip of run plays in the NFL and Monty is a borderline RB1 right now.
• Mooney and Kmet are toxic to your starting lineup right now. It’s not like you can trade either of them because everybody in your leagues knows how terrible the Bears are. You’re either stuck with them or dropping them if you roster them. I wouldn’t drop Mooney yet, but I won’t fight you if you want to drop Kmet so you can have a fantasy point at the tight end position if you started him the last two weeks.

Cincinnati Bengals

When the Bengals signed Alex Cappa, La’el Collins and Ted Karras to deals in the offseason to shore up their offensive line, the problem wasn’t supposed to get WORSE.

It has.

Through two games, Joe Burrow has been sacked 13 times so far. Not great, Bob.

Besides that, it was typical utilization for the Bengals' offense. Condensed route shares at the top, sprinkled some Hayden Hurst and target crumbs for Joe Mixon and the rest.

Tee Higgins scored the lone touchdown and returned as his dynamic self with a 6-71 day with 98% of routes. Ja’Marr Chase with 100% route participation disappointed a bit here with only 5-54 after cooking the Steelers in Week 1.

Week 2 Cincinnati Bengals Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Chase, Higgins, Mixon)
• Only one NFL team (Rams) runs more 11 personnel (3 WR, 1 RB, 1 TE) than the Bengals do, so Tyler Boyd will always see 85-95% of routes when healthy. Targets are a different story as the clear third in the pecking order and on some occasions, fourth. That makes Boyd nothing more than a low-to-mid tier flex play and a contingent play in case something happens to either Chase or Higgins.

Cleveland Browns

Amari Cooper going off for 9-101-1 on 10 targets was a nice sight for his season-long prospects, but that’s probably him bumping his head on the fantasy ceiling repeatedly because asking for him to bust through that with further production on top of that requires the Browns to pass more.

That’s likely not happening.

Because of that, I cannot recommend anybody else in this passing game. A week after Donovan Peoples-Jones earned 11 targets, DPJ earned one catchless target in Week 2.

The Cleveland Browns, everyone.

Week 2 Cleveland Browns Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your stud and RB1 that I’ve always been in on, Nick Chubb.
• I don’t know if I can say Cooper is a “stud,” but Cooper should be in your lineups for the most part as a high-end WR3.
• That’s about it. Kareem Hunt works as a low-end RB2/flex as long as he’s not ceding routes to Chubb, which he did from 68% in Week 1 to 38% in Week 2. Hunt should be fine most weeks in your lineups as the Browns are unlikely to have many weeks where they’re destroying teams.

Dallas Cowboys

This game was a defensive statement game for the Cowboys rather than an offensive one, considering they were starting Cooper Rush at quarterback in place of Dak Prescott. 

In the eternal battle of Ezekiel Elliott vs. Tony Pollard, Pollard won out with very strong efficiency and big play ability despite seeing less snaps and routes than Elliott. It was awesome to see Pollard take a long run and then stay in to get the touchdown plunge for his hard work. More like that, please.

Rush wasn’t terrible honestly; he was looking for his guys like CeeDee Lamb (7-75 on 11 targets, 97% routes) and Noah Brown (5-91 on five targets, 94%) and centered around those two and Pollard. Dalton Schultz left the game with a PCL sprain and could miss Week 3 which could condense the offense further if Michael Gallup doesn’t make his return this week, which he may.

I was a bit worried about what Rush in at quarterback would do for Lamb if it would just make him a highly targeted yet inefficient player like what’s going on with Diontae Johnson in Pittsburgh, or if Rush could actually carry a fantasy option. So far, it’s the latter, but Brown is coming along for the ride too which is great until Gallup returns.

Week 2 Dallas Cowboys Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your stud (Lamb).
• Brown has some high-end flex appeal as long as Gallup doesn’t return. If Gallup is back, Brown is just a dart throw flex while Gallup assumes a low-end WR3 designation in fantasy provided he jumps right into a solid route share.

Denver Broncos

Watching Nathaniel Hackett manage this team through two weeks could be considered a National Lampoon spoof of actual, competent head coaching in professional football.

Even the announcers are going in on Hackett and the Broncos; it was hilarious.

That said, the only thing that worked in Week 2 was Courtland Sutton, who dominated utilization on every front for the Broncos as Jerry Jeudy left the game with a shoulder injury. Sutton (94% routes, 50% air yards) earned 11 targets and put up an 11-122 line while taking a ton of deep targets from Russell Wilson, who has looked as out of sorts as Hackett has this season. They do say how a team runs is a reflection of the coach.

Hackett said he would play the hot hand at running back and at least for this week, Javonte Williams looks like a star almost every time he carries the ball.

He won the carry split from Melvin Gordon 15-10 and we should hopefully see more of that instead of a 50/50 split because that craters both in fantasy.

Week 2 Denver Broncos Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Sutton, J. Williams)
• Jeudy may be out for a week or two so keep tabs as he left with a chest injury that was originally reported as a rib injury.
• Albert Okwuegbunam had two catchless targets as his routes dropped from 73% to 63%. He’s a guy that could stand to benefit if Jeudy misses some time, but I’m not very confident in that considering he didn’t do much in Week 2 when Jeudy was out.
   

Detroit Lions

I’d like the use this public forum to admit something that’s deeply personal and at the same time, devastating to my brand. A true “come to Jesus” moment.

Look, Amon-Ra St. Brown might be pretty good here. I don’t know if he’s going to be “2021 Cooper Kupp” good or anything, but he put on a star-making performance for the second week in a row. He’s right up there with the Stefon Diggs, Cooper Kupps, and Tyreek Hills of the world in the rarefied air as the current WR4 through two weeks. He’s earning targets, he’s getting open, he’s doing everything you want an elite receiver to do. In his last eight games going back to last season, he’s been on a 1,846-yard pace per Underdog’s Hayden Winks. That’s maniacal. 

Believe it or not, there ARE other Detroit Lions, but other than a bit of an inefficient day from T.J. Hockenson (81% targets, 3-26 on seven targets) and receiving touchdowns from D’Andre Swift and Josh Reynolds, the story was the growing legend of the Sun God.
 

Week 2 Detroit Lions Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (St. Brown, Swift)
• DJ Chark had four catchless targets for a nice goose egg on the stat sheet, but better days are ahead as the offensive ecosystem continues to improve with all the talent here. Chark for me is a solid flex play that should have some nice days when defensive attention starts swinging over to St. Brown’s area of the field.
• Hockenson is just fine, but fine in this case means a mid-range TE2. You spent some decent draft capital on him, so you’ve got to ride the wave. He just feels very late-stage Hunter Henry with the Chargers. I don’t think Hockenson hits any kind of ceiling with all the weapons in Detroit.

Green Bay Packers

The Packers really had no interest in passing the ball in this one, but they didn’t need to, as they were up 24-7 at halftime and traded field goals in the second half. It was all about the run game for the Packers.

Because the route distribution is going to be such a hot-button issue for the Packers for the first few weeks of the season, here’s how the main combatants besides Allen Lazard fared over the first two weeks of 2022:

Well, Watkins’ routes stayed static with the return of Lazard, but everybody else lost routes. Especially Christian Watson. Watson actually had the most creative usage in the offense of anybody here as he was used on pop passes and in motion a good amount of the first half when the game was still in question.

Lazard ran in Week 2 as the unquestioned WR1 with 90% of routes but very little in the way of target volume which has been the story of his entire career thus far. You'll surely be disappointed if you drafted him expecting double-digit targets or close to a one-for-one replacement of Davante Adams. At the very least, he saved his day to an extent with a touchdown. It’s only a matter of time before he hits the turn signal into the glue factory.

Week 2 Green Bay Packers Fantasy Takeaways:

• You can’t trust a soul in this Packers’ pass-catching group. Yes, even Lazard. By default, he’s a mid-range flex play with his utilization and running the most routes, but a three-target game like in Week 2 is probably closer to the norm than a double-digit target game would be.
• Doubs is a hold and Watson is a hold to a lesser degree than Doubs. Somebody has to emerge here, right?
• Watkins and Cobb are wholly unsexy low-end flex plays, but they’ll be targeted sporadically. 
• Add Robert Tonyan to the unsexy category, but even in a thin position like tight end, you can’t trust him weekly.

Houston Texans

I’m going to be honest; there’s really not much more that can be said about the passing game because it’s the same most weeks.

Brandin Cooks leads the team in targets and route percentage, and that’s exactly what happened in a game where the team only scored nine points. Cooks led with 10 targets and only reeled in four receptions for 54 yards on 93% routes. Nico Collins caught four of nine targets as well. Most of the time, not much efficiency comes with it because it’s Davis Mills throwing the ball. The other secondary pass-catchers are just non-factors.

A tale as old as time.

Week 2 Houston Texans Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your stud (Cooks).
• Dameon Pierce predictably ceded passing down snaps to Rex Burkhead, but Pierce was used much more in the run game, so he’s becoming a viable flex play along with Burkhead. I’m not sure there’s a path for Pierce to gain receiving work outside of a Burkhead injury and even then, the team always has Dare Ogunbowale to slot into the Burkhead role.
• Collins is a stash on your bench, but he’s a very hard click to put in your lineup.

Indianapolis Colts

Good lord, this team was bad enough with their secondary and ancillary pass-catchers WITH Michael Pittman. At least you knew Pittman was the unquestioned lord and master of all that is targets for the Colts.

Without him? It’s a flat target distribution and a toxic wasteland.

Ashton Dulin put up the only thing resembling a stat line that would be passable in fantasy and nobody started him in managed leagues. If anybody was starting a Colts wide receiver or tight end in Week 2, it was Parris Campbell, who put up a nice, fat ZERO on 86% of routes. What a dustball.

Week 2 Indianapolis Colts Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your stud (Pittman) when he’s healthy and active. Good luck trusting anybody else. Nobody else is worth it from a routes standpoint.
• As for a stash, Alec Pierce is still worth it, but I’m still hesitant about this offense as a whole. It doesn’t look like it can support more than one option.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Do you see what happens when you kick the kids out of the room and bring in the adults to right the ship?

The kids in this case are the Urban Meyer “regime” of 2021, and the adults are Doug Pederson’s quarterback-whispering ways to get quarterback Trevor Lawrence back on course.

It’s looking like after two weeks, Christian Kirk might be worth the hefty bag the Jaguars gave him this offseason. 6-78 with two touchdowns this week and has been running predominately out of the slot for the Jags. I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect anybody to assert themselves in this passing game this soon, but here we are with Kirk. I’d like to think it’s because of Kirk and now because of the average talent around him like Zay Jones and Marvin Jones. No matter how he’s been getting there, he’s gotten there as WR7 through two weeks.

Week 2 Jacksonville Jaguars Fantasy Takeaways:

• Kirk has been balling out the last couple of weeks and as the WR7 in full PPR right now, deserves consideration as a low-end WR2.
• It doesn’t take much these days to be a top-12 tight end in fantasy, but Evan Engram is TE12, next to such luminaries like O.J. Howard and Taysom Hill. The difference here is that Engram has run 78% and 84% of routes per dropback and in an improved offensive environment, Engram could have some staying power here among the top-12 tight ends in fantasy. We’ve seen athletic tight ends on second teams find success on their new teams, like Delanie Walker, Eric Ebron, and Jared Cook. I wouldn’t be surprised if Engram finds himself amongst that group.

Kansas City Chiefs

While the Chiefs looked like the Chiefs in Week 1, they didn’t look quite right the entire game, but perhaps that’s some growing pains that this team (and Patrick Mahomes) has to go through to find out how to best maximize their weapons in the post-Tyreek Hill era.

Last week, I commented that an increased aDOT (10.3 yards in Week 1) for JuJu Smith-Schuster could be great for him going forward. Welp… a 1.3 aDOT and a three-target, 3-10 performance set those expectations back to the last couple of years for Smith-Schuster in Pittsburgh. Perhaps I was too optimistic about the 2018 JuJu Smith-Schuster in a new locale. 

Perhaps it’s also Week 2 and there’s a lot of football to be played as well.

While this offense will be really good as it’s always been, there has to be some kind of feeling-out process that Mahomes is doing with the non-Kelce pieces of this offense. It might take a week or several. Maybe nobody asserts themselves, which would beg the question; 

Why didn’t Skyy Moore run one single route in Week 2?
 

Week 2 Kansas City Chiefs Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Kelce, Smith-Schuster.. for now.)
• Marquez Valdes-Scanting is an “All-Exercise Team” nominee for Week 2, as he ran 86% of routes and did nothing of note. He (and Mecole Hardman) are just dart-throw flex plays.
• Jerick McKinnon is still in the mix and even nabbed one of the two pass-catching touchdowns. McKinnon has run 40% of the routes per dropback this season, so I can think of way worse options to stick at the end of your bench for cheap access to the Chiefs offense as long as Clyde Edwards-Helaire (low-end RB2) is ceding routes.
• Stash Skyy Moore. It might be prayer circle time in a week or two for his viability on fantasy football rosters.

Las Vegas Raiders

A down game for Davante Adams with two receptions for 12 yards and a touchdown — it happens, but at least you didn’t come away emptyhanded if you had him.

The Raiders have been pretty condensed with targets the last two weeks, but Mack Hollins even earned eight targets on 93% of routes this week. Hollins is a clunky split end who eats up the jam from cornerbacks and he doesn’t typically earn target volume. Picking him up in fantasy is not recommended as long as Adams, Hunter Renfrow, and Darren Waller are healthy.

The Raiders didn’t really get involved much in the fourth quarter or overtime because every time I watched this game, it seemed like Kyler Murray was trying to scramble to make a play or convert a two-point conversion. This wasn’t the longest game in NFL history, but it sure seemed like it. For as long as the game went as far as running time, the Raiders only dropped back to pass 41 times compared to 52 for the Cardinals.

Week 2 Las Vegas Raiders Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Adams and Waller)
• Waller only ran routes on 61% of dropbacks, but that could be just a blip on the radar.
• Renfrow led the Raiders in targets, receptions, and receiving yards on 80% of routes but had a tough day with a couple of fumbles — losing one of them. Doesn’t change the fact he’s a quality WR3. He’s in concussion protocol so the offense could condense even further if he doesn’t suit up in Week 3.

Los Angeles Chargers

Mike Williams was a grown man on Thursday and had to be on a Chargers offense without Keenan Allen. With 60% of the air yards, 96% routes, and an 8-133-1 line on 10 targets, it was the good side of the coinflip after Week 1. That’s what you’ve got to expect from Williams when you roster him. There will be duds, but there will be huge weeks where he’s going to do what he can to win your fantasy matchup by himself.

With no Allen, Josh Palmer ran 98% of routes at a low aDOT and salvaged his relatively inefficient day with a fourth-quarter touchdown. 

This is the second week in a row with quality fantasy production from Gerald Everett. He’s run a consistent 68% of routes and put up at least 13 fantasy points in both weeks. The late-round dart throw is currently TE4 in PPR, and you love to see it after Everett’s two previous stops with the Rams and Seahawks where he was a part-time rotational player.

Week 2 Los Angeles Chargers Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Williams, Austin Ekeler, Everett — yeah, I said it. Ride the wave.)
• Allen will slot right back into WR2 territory once healthy, which could be in Week 3.
• When Allen is back, Palmer goes right back to bring a low-end, volatile flex option.
• The ride was fun (or something) if you had DeAndre Carter, but he’s playing the role of Palmer right now. The musical chairs will knock Carter out of the fantasy game once Allen returns.
   

Los Angeles Rams

Cooper Kupp is #good. An evergreen sentence if there ever was one.

I think the second target for the Rams will be much closer than it should be between perennial compiler Tyler Higbee and last year’s dust bunny Allen Robinson, who didn't earn much target volume in Week 2 but scored a touchdown on 97% of routes.

Higbee (to his credit) put up 14.1 fantasy points in PPR on nine targets and 7-71. Higbee has 20 targets so far in 2022 and that is just… I don’t even know. Are we going to have to promote Higbee as a TE1 going forward? In this economy?

Week 2 Los Angeles Rams Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your stud (Kupp).
• Robinson is more of a WR3 at this point and he’ll have very competent weeks but the old Allen Robinson doesn’t seem like a thing anymore which just means more week-to-week variance.
• Higbee is… a TE1. For now. He’s run 88% of routes and averages 11.5 fantasy points — good for TE7 thus far in the early going.

Miami Dolphins

There are levels to this wild Week 2 performance for the Dolphins, who wiped away a 35-14 Ravens lead to win this game. Of course, pinball NFL games like this are GREAT for fantasy.

Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill looked like absolute megastars in this one combining for 31 targets, 87% of the air yards, and both scoring over 40 fantasy points in PPR. I don’t have to tell you both were heavily involved in the offense here.

The crazy thing is how condensed the offense was with these two versus the rest of the offense as in a game where Tua Tagovailoa had 50 pass attempts, nobody else in the offense had more than four targets (Mike Gesicki).

Speaking of levels, Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds flipped their scripts here regarding their usage over the first two weeks:

Edmonds was a big disappointment in a game script like this where he could have taken advantage of the pass-heavy script in the fourth quarter. They may have paid Edmonds a lot more this offseason, but these two backs are neck and neck when it comes to fantasy value (to the dismay of those who drafted Edmonds in the single-digit rounds.

Week 2 Miami Dolphins Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Hill and Waddle)
• Despite a touchdown from Gesicki, he’s only run 43% and 61% of routes in the first two weeks, so as a clear and distant third target in this offense, he’s waiver wire fodder.
• Mostert is definitely worth a pickup as a contingent play if something happens to Edmonds, but may have picked up some standalone value too. Just need some more passing down work to the running back position as a whole (just 13% target share to Edmonds/Mostert — bottom-third in the NFL)

Minnesota Vikings

Monday Night Football needs a restraining order against the Vikings. For our sake.

The “Kirk Cousins/Primetime” narrative rings pretty true as they were thoroughly beaten by the Eagles. So much so that even Justin Jefferson couldn’t escape the cone of influence. Jefferson had an inefficient day as he caught half of his 12 targets for only 48 yards. These bad performances happen.

For Adam Thielen, that’s two bad performances in a row. He runs almost every route and has earned 11 targets thus far, but he needs to have a week he can assert himself if he wants to stay in fantasy football managers’ good graces.

Week 2 Minnesota Vikings Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Jefferson, Cook)
• Thielen is more like a mid-range WR3 now as the offense is less condensed than in years past with head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense.
• Irv Smith Jr. feels very fluky with eight targets on 60% routes as I don’t think he’ll have a path to 80% routes with the team playing Johnny Mundt playing way more snaps and running more routes than he honestly should be. But he’s familiar with O’Connell’s offense from the Rams, so he’s going to be involved — to Smith’s detriment.

New England Patriots

Jakobi Meyers is proving each week that he shouldn’t be going as the WR60 like he was in draft season. That just looks absurd when Meyers is running 84% of routes, 36% of air yards, and putting up 9-95 on 13 targets. The fantasy community continues to miss the star in this admittedly boring offense. 

Nelson Agholor was second on the team in targets for the second straight week and produced in a pretty big way with 110 yards and a touchdown. Otherwise, no other Patriots matter. It’s such a humdrum offense that it’s hard to get excited about anybody else.

Week 2 New England Patriots Fantasy Takeaways:

• Meyers is in high-end WR3 territory as the “bellcow” of these Patriots pass-catchers.
• Agholor is a mid-level waiver claim that will be boom or bust, where you don’t know when you can start him.
• DeVante Parker and Hunter Henry are droppable here; both have had awful starts to the season in a low-volume offense as the third and fourth targets in their offense.

New Orleans Saints

As we know with Jameis Winston, he’s not averse to just chucking the ball up for grabs and seeing who comes down with it. A good portion of the time, it’s the defense coming away with it — classic Winston.

In Week 2, Winston chucked deep balls left and right up to rookie Chris Olave when they were down and trying to come back. When all was said and done, Olave put up an astounding 334 air yards. That’s by far the most air yards I’ve seen in the two years I’ve been charting this stuff weekly.

Air yards are the intent of the offense to move the ball and how far downfield, but that number is absurd by any standard.

Besides that, Michael Thomas has three touchdowns in two games so I think we can say he’s back, like BACK back. He bumped up his routes from Week 1’s 83% to 89% this week and earned a bit more volume as well. He’s a must-start for me going forward.

After a great debut as a Saint for Jarvis Landry in Week 1, Week 2’s negative game script saw Landry not being utilized as much. This offense will live and die by Winston's arm (and bad back), and these games are part of the peaks and valleys each team has during a season, so I’m not overly concerned by a lack of involvement from Landry in Week 2.

Week 2 New Orleans Saints Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Kamara when healthy, Thomas)
• Juwan Johnson is somebody creeping further and further into starting territory. He’s running 80% and 70% of routes the last two weeks and playing out wide versus in-line tight end. He’s third or fourth in the pecking order, but if this offense passes enough, he’s viable. If he’s breathing and in uniform, he’s viable at the tight end position. The production is a bonus.

New York Giants

The Giants are just horrendous in the passing game. They’re mixing and matching just boring, replacement-level players like David Sills and Richie James and phasing out Kenny Golladay (just two snaps), so head coach Brian Daboll and company are finding their guys. 

Unfortunately, there’s only one player you could even dream of starting: Sterling Shepard. Shepard had an uptick from 64% of routes in Week 1 to 91% this week and earned 10 targets. He didn’t do much with them (6-34-0) but if you’re going to start anybody, it’s him as the clear top dog.

Week 2 New York Giants Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your stud (Barkley)
• Kadarius Toney is mixing in but still not running a full complement of routes so he’s a roster hold right now.
• Shepard profiles as a flex play, and that’s being generous.
• Kenny Golladay is an easy drop from rosters in fantasy after he played a total of two snaps.

New York Jets 

Another early game, another comeback, but this time, the Jets scored two consecutive touchdowns inside the two-minute warning to pull off a 31-30 stunner in Cleveland against the Browns.

This game was super exciting for not just that reason, but for Garrett Wilson who looked like an alpha wide receiver. Wilson ran 75% of routes (up from 56% in Week 1), took 44% of the team’s air yards, and parlayed that into an 8-102 and two touchdowns. His first touchdown was beautiful as he set up fellow rookie Martin Emerson to shade inside before cutting to the back pylon for an easy score.

Elijah Moore (92% routes) had a middling day and Corey Davis caught a long touchdown during that furious comeback. The Jets have the most pass attempts in the NFL after two weeks and that’s with Joe Flacco. Flacco has actually been pretty solid and for the second season in a row, we’re dreading (to an extent) the return of Zach Wilson because the backup quarterback has been doing well. We all remember the 2021 legend Mike White, I’m sure.
 

Week 2 New York Jets Fantasy Takeaways:

• No real studs yet emerging as “must-start” guys, but Wilson is getting there. He’s firmly in high-end WR3 with upside for much more. Moore is in that same boat as a WR3 in fantasy.
• Don’t look now, but Davis is WR20 on the season, so he’s gotta be in that low-WR3/high-end flex play bucket right now. 
• Tyler Conklin was solidly productive with nine targets on 88% targets but will be relegated to backup duty once C.J. Uzomah is back in the lineup.
• After a 10-target game for Breece Hall in Week 1, the Jets did the “logical” thing and… got Ty Johnson more involved? Come on… Hall scored a touchdown but only received one target with Michael Carter paving the way in the running back room. Hall has shown he deserves more and definitely shouldn’t be ceding work to Johnson of all people. Hopefully, Carter and Hall can meet in the middle here, but Hall looks like the typical mid-to-late season hammer for fantasy squads. Start Carter as a high-end flex and Hall as a low-end flex, but Hall is probably more of a bench stash right now.

Philadelphia Eagles

After a literal zero in the fantasy points column and failing to record a catch in Week 1, the Eagles focused in on DeVonta Smith and he delivered. Smith reeled in all seven targets for 80 yards on 100% route participation. That threat on the opposite side of A.J. Brown will make things MUCH easier for Jalen Hurts.

This condensed offensive environment that centers around Brown, Smith, and tight end Dallas Goedert will be highly fruitful for fantasy managers, but sometimes another play sneaks in, like Quez Watkins with a huge 53-yard touchdown on a busted coverage.

Brown (5-69 on eight targets) and Goedert (5-82 on six targets) didn’t light the world on fire in Week 2, but both had at least 87% route participation between the top three targets and they combined for 68% of the targets.

Week 2 Philadelphia Eagles Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Brown, Goedert, Smith… he’s borderline but I feel good about it when the Eagles are rolling)
• The backfield was less split with Miles Sanders rushing the ball 17 times but that was in an overly positive game script. In more competitive games, the backfield will be hard to discern, so while Sanders has a slight and Boston Scott, it’s still tough to trust any of them. Sanders would be a flex play at best for me with Gainwell and Scott being much MUCH deeper flex plays. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

I really hope Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is planning some sort of extraction mission for current starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky because he looks BAD. Trubisky is failing with a quality group of weapons and it’s going to get LOUD until the Steelers finally move to Kenny Pickett.

There are only a handful of players even running routes let alone earning targets in Pittsburgh. It’s very Los Angeles Rams in how it went down in Week 2. Diontae Johnson has been his normal self with earning targets (10 targets, 6-57) but it’s been an inefficient mess thanks to Trubisky. That’s evergreen for almost every pass-catcher in this offense.

Week 2 Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Johnson, Harris… for now.)
• Trubisky seems to have taken a shine to Pat Freiermuth, who has run 77% of routes the last two weeks and scored double-digit fantasy points in both weeks as well. He’s a solid start for now but it could be a bit volatile especially if there’s a quarterback change.
• George Pickens is running a starter’s share of routes but you can’t start him right now. He’s playing a deep threat role in this offense with a season-long aDOT of 21.5 yards.
• Claypool is the “big slot” in Pittsburgh and his targets are slightly more efficient as they’re short distance (5.7-yard aDOT in 2022). He’s still a borderline flex but could get an upgrade with that quarterback change (if it happens).

San Francisco 49ers

A brutal ankle injury puts Lance on the shelf for the entirety of 2022 so in comes Jimmy Garoppolo to save the day. The one thing I’ll say about Garoppolo is that it stabilizes the passing game options to where we don’t have that uncertainty of how they will be used in conjunction with Lance’s skills. Garoppolo makes it more straightforward to analyze the team.

Deebo Samuel is still being used in the run game, and that should continue as long as Elijah Mitchell remains sidelined as Deebo should work in tandem with Jeff Wilson. Deebo caught five of six targets while putting up 53 rushing yards on the ground, so the floor is always there, but it’s going to require some touchdowns if he’s seeing the “a little of this, a little of that” kind of double-dipping workload.

Week 2 San Francisco 49ers Fantasy Takeaways:

• Start your studs (Samuel and George Kittle when healthy)
• It sounds like we may get Kittle back for his 2022 debut in Week 3, so that adds another wrinkle and talent to this offense. He’s a must-start each week he plays.
• Brandon Aiyuk has been the more downfield option for San Francisco and led the 49ers in targets, receptions, receiving yards, air yards, routes and snaps. He’s not in the must-start territory, but as a high-end WR3, he’s solid.

Seattle Seahawks