✨The Next Fantasy STARS

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THINGS WE LEARNED IN WEEK 2 🤔📚

Justin Fields Doesn’t Look Great

Fields struggled once again in Sunday’s game, throwing two interceptions in an ugly loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Worse off, the Bears and OC Luke Getsy only called one designed run for Fields this week, which seemingly takes away Fields’ current best attribute: his ability to run in the open field.

Fields has been pretty disappointing throwing the football through two games. He misses open receivers, he doesn’t look through all of his progressions before deciding to freelance, and he’s making bad decisions. How long will the Bears put up with this from him?

D’Andre Swift Is Pretty Good!

Fantasy managers will be screaming “I told you so!” from their rooftops on this one because they’ve been calling for Swift to get a full workload for years. They finally got their wish, with Swift rushing for over 170 yards on 25 carries in Thursday night’s game against the Vikings.

Swift’s inability to stay healthy over the past couple seasons has done him in, but it feels like the Eagles have the tools to help him succeed. With the best offensive line in the NFL and additional RBs in Kenneth Gainwell, Boston Scott, and Rashaad Penny (lol) behind him, the Eagles can spell Swift when they need to.

4 PLAYERS YOU NEED TO TARGET ON WAIVERS 🎯

Every week, our Scott Engel dives deep into the waiver wire to scour players that you should be picking up to get ahead of the rest of your leaguemates. Let’s take a look at this week’s top adds:

Quarterback: C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans (23 percent rostered in CBS leagues)

The rookie will now get some free-agent consideration after a busy Week 2 in which he passed for 384 yards and two touchdowns. Stroud is third in the NFL in passing attempts with 91.

Game script will often dictate that Stroud plays from behind, and the Houston receiving group is upgraded from last season. He should at least be added as a backup in one-QB leagues.

C.J. Stroud FAAB Bid: Six percent of your available budget

Running Back: Matt Breida, New York Giants (6 percent)

The Saquon Barkley ankle injury puts Breida in an apparent position to at least start against San Francisco on Thursday. But the matchup is obviously a concern and Breida may work in a timeshare with Gary Brightwell.

The former 49er spent his first three NFL seasons with this week’s opponent, starting 18 games in 2018 and 2019. He averaged over 76 yards per game from scrimmage in 13 starts in ‘18, with five total TDs.

Breida is versatile and can make defenders miss, and the Niners did allow Kyren Williams to total 100 scrimmage yards in Week 2. The 28-year-old is worthy of flex consideration if you add him and do not roster Barkley.

Matt Breida FAAB Bid: You may have to get very aggressive on waivers if you roster Barkley, possibly 35 percent of the available budget. Bid 16 percent if you do not roster Barkley, and consider bidding a few dollars on Brightwell. Rookie Eric Gray is also on my watch list.

Wide Receiver: Josh Reynolds, WR, Detroit Lions (20 percent)

Until Jameson Williams returns and gets into optimal form, Reynolds will function as the clear No. 2 WR in a Lions passing game that is especially potent in home games. Jared Goff threw 23 of his 29 TD passes at Ford Field last season and he had three more in the 2023 home opener.

Reynolds caught two of those TD passes and he has 146 receiving yards in the first two games of the season. The 28-year-old has 13 targets in two games and is worthy of flex consideration.

Josh Reynolds FAAB Bid: 10 percent of your available budget

Tight End: Zach Ertz, Arizona Cardinals (26 percent)

After recovering from last season’s major knee injury, Ertz has resurfaced as a top option for Joshua Dobbs, who has targeted him 19 times. Ertz leads all TEs in targets after two weeks and has caught six passes in each game.

Zach Ertz FAAB Bid: 9 percent of your available budget

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OVERREACTION: The Dallas Cowboys are the best team in the NFL

Through two weeks, the Cowboys have outscored their opponents 70-10, but we have to remember they’ve played the Giants (who, despite looking good for two quarters yesterday, have looked terrible in the other six) and the Jets, who no longer have their future Hall of Fame QB in Aaron Rodgers for the reason of this season.

The Cowboys play San Francisco and the Los Angeles Chargers in two of their next four games, so that can be an early litmus test for how good they really are. Remember, good teams are SUPPOSED to beat up on bad ones.

UNDERREACTION: Joe Burrow and the Bengals are in trouble

If we’re talking about Ja’Marr Chase’s performance through two weeks (17.2 total PPR points), don’t worry. His 8.5 targets per game should mean his production will stabilize.

On the other hand, though, Burrow could be in a spot of trouble. He said after the game that he tweaked his calf again, and if this is a nagging injury that continues to bother him for the rest of the season, we could be in for a long one in a tough AFC North divisional race.

The Bengals have not looked like themselves in an 0-2 start to the season, and much of it centers around Burrow currently.

PLAYER NEWS & INJURIES TO KEEP AN EYE ON 📰👀

Anthony Richardson, QB, IND (concussion)

Richardson sustained a concussion after hitting his head on the field following his second touchdown run of the afternoon. It was an unfortunate injury, given how well he’d been playing thus far in the game.

Richardson will have to go through the concussion protocol this week in order to be cleared to play for Week 3. I expect the Colts will be okay with Gardner Minshew in the meantime as they await Richardson’s return.

Joe Burrow, QB, CIN (ankle)

Burrow said after the loss to Baltimore that he tweaked his ankle again, and this could be a recurring theme throughout the season for Cincinnati.

It will be interesting to see how the Bengals choose to play this situation with their star quarterback, given the magnitude of the contract extension he signed moments before Week 1 kicked off.

Davante Adams, WR, LVR (concussion)

Adams took a hit over the middle late in Sunday’s game against the Bills and did not return, with the announcement coming after the game concluded that he was evaluated for a concussion.

With Jakobi Meyers already going through the protocol for a hit in Week 1, this is an injury the Raiders can ill-afford to have.

EARLY LOOK AT WEEK 3 BETTING LINES 💰🎰

Each Tuesday, Sam Wagman will take a peek at the week ahead’s betting spread and total lines on our partner DraftKings, to determine which lines you should grab ahead of time.

Texans +8.5 vs. Jaguars

The Jaguars did not look at all good against the Texans in Week 2, with issues on both offense and defense. This line has already shifted down from where it opened at Jaguars -9.5, so let’s grab it at +8.5.

The Texans can create pressure, as we’ve seen from both Week 1 against the Ravens (4th with +15.8% PROE on Lamar Jackson) and Week 2. The Jaguars have had some injury issues on their OL, with Brandon Scherff chiefly among them. Anton Harrison has also been a bit of a liability, and the Texans can take advantage here.

On offense, the playcalling for Trevor Lawrence was there but the execution was not. Zay Jones and Calvin Ridley both had scoring chances derailed by missing getting both feet down, and the Texans’ CBs are a bit better than Kansas City’s.

Dolphins vs. Broncos Under 48.5

This feels like a large number for two teams that 1. only scored 24 points apiece this past week and 2. both have relied on boom/bust plays to score points so far. Russell Wilson and the Broncos had three large plays from Marvin Mims put them in position to score points on three separate drives, but apart from that Russ only had 190 passing yards and struggled to score.

On the Dolphins’ side, they live and die by the YAC potential of Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, but with one of them (probably Hill) set to be shadowed by Patrick Surtain II, arguably a top-two CB in the league, one can wonder if we’ll see that same upside. Adding to this, Waddle left early with a concussion, so we have to factor that in.

All of this under consideration, this is too big of a number for me with the Broncos traveling three hours east to play in the scorching heat of Miami.

Seahawks -4.5 vs. Panthers

Every week that the Seattle offensive line has to get healthier, the better their offense will look. Even without their two starting OTs this past weekend, they looked good, firing on all cylinders against a weak Lions’ pass defense.

Next week, they’ll be up against a Panthers team that is without starting CB1 Jaycee Horn, and I expect them to take full advantage of that by scheming all three of their top-flight wide receivers against the backup CB.

Don’t underestimate Pete Carroll. Even in his old age, Pete can still scheme up an offense, and I give him a massive edge over Frank Reich in this matchup.

TRENDING SPORTS NEWS 📈📱

Some of the quarterback deals this offseason:

• Joe Burrow - 5 years, $275 Million

• Justin Herbert - 5 years, $262.5 Million

• Lamar Jackson - 5 years, $260 Million

• Jalen Hurts - 5 years, $255 Million

• Patrick Mahomes - 4 years, $210.6 Million

Belichick is the funniest coach in the league 🤣