Week 2 Studs/Duds
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Now, on to the picks…
📈 STUD QB: Josh Allen (BUF)
Josh Allen opened the Bills' new stadium with 317 total yards and five touchdowns, and he's still the QB you build your team around. In fact, it’s tough to overstate just how valuable a fantasy player he’s shaping out to be this season.
Three of his TDs came from inside the five-yard line, two of them on the ground. That's bad news for James Cook managers.
He extended his own NFL record to 10 games with multiple rushing TDs and multiple passing TDs.
Through two weeks he has 582 passing yards, 92 rushing yards and nine total touchdowns, including a Week 1 win over Houston, last year's top-ranked defense.
He finished 2025 as the No. 1 fantasy player overall, and he's a lock to start at home against the Chargers in Week 3, even though they rank 6th-toughest against QBs.
📉 DUD QB: Drake Maye (NE)
Last year's MVP runner-up has come crashing back to earth, and managers are starting to have reason to sweat.
Week 2: 14-of-22 for 208 yards, no TDs and an interception in a 20-3 win over the Steelers, plus three sacks (one in the red zone).
After a three-INT Week 1 against Seattle, he has four picks and one TD through two weeks. He threw multiple interceptions in a game just once all of last year, playoffs included.
Forty-four percent of his Week 2 passing yards came on two third-quarter throws to Romeo Doubs.
His running ability keeps him in low-end QB1 territory, but a Week 3 date with a solid Jaguars defense (10th-toughest against QBs) won't make it easy to snap out of it.
📈 STUD RB: Derrick Henry (BAL)
Worried about a 32-year-old running back? Henry has 40 carries, 212 rushing yards and four TDs through two games, so you can put that worry on the shelf.
Week 1: 24 of the backfield's 30 carries for 144 yards and three TDs against the Colts.
Week 2: 16 carries for 68 yards and a TD, plus 3 catches for 19 yards. It was a grind (his longest run was 8 yards), but nobody's complaining about the production.
Last year he ran for 1,595 yards (2nd in the NFL) with 16 TDs, and he's played all 17 games four seasons in a row.
Next up is a plus matchup at Dallas, a defense that gave up 27.3 fantasy points to running backs in Week 1 and has allowed the 7th-most to the position, so keep Henry firmly in your RB1 slot.
📉 DUD RB David Montgomery (HOU)
Three touchdowns in Week 1 gave way to a face-plant in Week 2, and it was a reminder of how quickly a "TD magnet" can go cold.
Six carries for 10 yards and two catches for 14 yards, after 20 carries and three TDs in the opener.
Woody Marks played the same number of snaps (38 each), so Montgomery isn't securing passing-down work.
The Bengals bottled up the run, helped by Dexter Lawrence dominating the Texans' offensive line and Nico Collins being out.
The summer pitch was a high-floor RB2, and this week showed the floor can be much lower than you'd think. He should bounce back to RB2 range against the Colts in Week 3, but he's not the sure thing Week 1 made him look like.
📈 STUD WR: DeVonta Smith (PHI)
After a dud of an opener, DeVonta Smith delivered the rebound his managers were waiting for, and he saved his best work for the moments the Eagles needed it most.
His targets more than doubled, from 6 in Week 1 (3 catches, 53 yards, an 8.3-point dud) to 13 in Week 2 (10 catches, 117 yards, a TD).
Four of his catches came on the game-winning touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, capped by his 22-yard score.
It was the third 10-catch game of his six-year career, and he nearly had a second long TD but couldn't get both feet in bounds.
With A.J. Brown gone, this is Smith's offense, and a Monday night date with a Bears defense that has allowed the 7th-most fantasy points to receivers sets up another big one.
📉 DUD WR: Jameson Williams (DET)
Even in a game where the Lions scored 31 points, Williams was a non-factor, and he's currently fourth or fifth in line for Detroit's targets.
He caught 2 of 4 targets for 33 yards, down from 9 targets (and two drops) in Week 1.
Injuries on the offensive line are limiting Jared Goff's time to throw, so Williams' deep routes rarely have time to develop.
He's still being used mostly as a deep threat, even though offseason talk suggested a bigger route tree. The summer research also warned that Detroit's new tight end-heavy formations could squeeze vertical receivers like him.
He's an upside WR3 at best right now, and a tough start when the Lions host the Jets in Week 3.
📈 STUD TE: Darren Waller (CAR)
Waller had a vintage day: 3 targets, 3 catches, 33 yards and two TDs, the first two scores of his Carolina career.
He saw as many targets as Tommy Tremble and Mitchell Evans combined.
Unlike those two, he's still an explosive pass-catcher who works like a big wide receiver, and when Bryce Young looked his way, it was for a big play.
In Week 1 he had a short TD catch wiped out by an offensive pass interference call, so he's been close to the end zone all this young season.
He's a touchdown-dependent TE2 for now, and five targets through two weeks makes him tough to trust in your weekly lineup. So enjoy the spike week, but don't rush to plug him in.
📉 DUD TE: Tucker Kraft (GB)
Kraft's role is exactly what you drafted him for, but the production hasn't shown up yet.
Two catches for 15 yards on 3 targets, plus a fumble the Packers were lucky to keep, after 3 catches for 65 yards on 6 targets in Week 1.
The role is there: he played 52 of 53 snaps and ran a route on 32 of the Packers' 34 dropbacks. The targets just aren't following.
He tore his ACL in Week 9 last year while on pace for over 1,000 receiving yards, and it may take a couple more weeks before he looks like himself.
Stay patient: the Packers just made him the NFL's highest-paid tight end, and a role this big should turn into production once his legs catch up.
That’s the list. The best and worst fantasy performers at every position this weekend. Come back tomorrow for some of this week’s priority Waiver Targets.
-Joe
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