Fantasy Football Week 2: Rankings, Projections and Waiver-Wire Tips

Relax.

Whether you’re stressing over losing your Week 1 fantasy matchup or you’re on top of the world following a win—or your week is coming down to Monday night’s games—take a deep breath.

You can’t win or lose your season in the opening week.

It’s time to focus on Week 2.

Rankings and Projections

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Projected stats	Projected points
1	Drew Brees	Saints	@ Giants	400 yards, four TDs	32
2	Eli Manning	Giants	vs. Saints	400 yards, four TDs, one INT	30
3	Aaron Rodgers	Packers	@ Vikings	250 yards, four TDs, three carries, 20 yards	28
4	Cam Newton	Panthers	vs. 49ers	220 yards, two TDs, five carries, 50 yards, one rushing TD	27.8
5	Derek Carr	Raiders	vs. Falcons	400 yards, two TDs	24
6	Matthew Stafford	Lions	vs. Titans	300 yards, three TDs	24
7	Carson Palmer	Cardinals	Buccaneers	300 yards, three TDs, one INT	22
8	Blake Bortles	Jaguars	@ Chargers	350 yards, two TDs, three carries, 25 yards	22
9	Russell Wilson	Seahawks	@ Rams	280 yards, two TDs, three carries, 25 yards	21.7
10	Ben Roethlisberger	Steelers	vs. Bengals	200 yards, three TDs, two carries, 10 yards	21

Notes:

• Did you watch the Saints-Raiders game? Here’s a summary: New Orleans gives up points, and it puts up points. Drew Brees chucked four touchdowns and 423 yards in Week 1. He appears poised to be a top-five QB on a weekly basis.
• Just to reiterate: The Saints give up points. Now that cornerback Delvin Breaux is injured, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, nobody stands in the way of Odell Beckham Jr. and Eli Manning catching fire in Week 2.
• Cam Newton gets a defense that’s not all-world this week. Book a big game from the reigning MVP.

Running Backs 

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Projected stats	Projected points
1	David Johnson	Cardinals	vs. Buccaneers	15 carries, 90 rushing yards, TD, five catches, 60 yards	21
2	C.J. Anderson	Broncos	vs. Colts	23 carries, 110 yards, four catches, 30 yards, TD	20
3	LeSean McCoy	Bills	@ Jets	14 carries, 70 yards, six catches, 40 yards, TD	17
4	Devonta Freeman	Falcons	@ Raiders	10 carries, 45 yards, TD, six catches, 60 yards	16.5
5	Todd Gurley	Rams	vs. Seahawks	20 carries, 100 yards, TD	16
6	Spencer Ware	Chiefs	@ Texans	14 carries, 90 yards, TD	15
7	Ezekiel Elliott	Cowboys	@ Redskins	17 carries, 85 yards, TD	14.5
8	Doug Martin	Buccaneers	@ Cardinals	12 carries, 50 yards, two catches, 25 yards, TD	13.5
9	Adrian Peterson	Vikings	vs. Packers	20 carries, 120 yards	12
10	Latavius Murray	Raiders	vs. Falcons	17 carries, 60 yards, TD	12

Notes:

• C.J. Who K? The Cardinals fed David Johnson 13 touches in the first half alone, and 20 on the game Sunday night. His backup had one carry. That's it. The workhorse is clear.
• If Jamaal Charles is out, or even limited, Spencer Ware is an elite option. He rewarded owners with 25.9 points in Week 1.
• Don’t bet on two straight poor showings from Adrian Peterson. The greats don't string together duds.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Projected stats	Projected points
1	Antonio Brown	Steelers	vs. Bengals	Eight catches, 90 yards, two TDs	21
2	Odell Beckham Jr.	Giants	vs. Saints	10 catches, 140 yards, TD	20
3	Mike Evans	Buccaneers	@ Cardinals	Seven catches, 80 yards, two TDs	20
4	A.J. Green	Bengals	@ Steelers	Seven catches, 115 yards, TD	17.5
5	Brandin Cooks	Saints	@ Giants	Five catches, 110 yards, TD	17
6	Sammy Watkins	Bills	vs. Jets	Four catches, 100 yards, TD	16
7	Julio Jones	Falcons	@ Raiders	Eight catches, 90 yards, TD	15
8	Brandon Marshall	Jets	@ Bills	Nine catches, 85 yards, TD	14.5
9	Amari Cooper	Raiders	vs. Falcons	10 catches, 120 yards	12
10	Doug Baldwin	Seahawks	@ Rams	Six catches, 95 yards	9.5

Notes:

• As mentioned above, New Orleans has nobody who can stick OBJ. Multiple scores are possible.
• Giants-Saints should be a shootout reminiscent of Raiders-Saints. That’s good news for Cooks, who’s a human blur. Here's his 98-yard touchdown against Oakland.
• Keep an eye on Russell Wilson’s health (ankle) throughout the week. If he’s out or severely limited, Doug Baldwin’s stock drops.
• Healthy as ever, Amari Cooper looked the part of a stud wideout in Week 1. That’s unlikely to change in Week 2.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Projected stats	Projected points
1	Jordan Reed	Redskins	vs. Cowboys	Eight catches, 90 yards, two TDs	21
2	Rob Gronkowski	Patriots	vs. Dolphins	10 catches, 100 yard, TD	16
3	Julius Thomas	Jaguars	@ Chargers	Six catches, 50 yards, TD	11
4	Gary Barnidge	Browns	vs. Ravens	Four catches, 40 yards, TD	10
5	Greg Olsen	Panthers	vs. 49ers	Seven catches, 90 yards	9
6	Jared Cook	Packers	@ Vikings	Four catches, 30 yards, TD	9
7	Jason Witten	Cowboys	@ Redskins	Seven catches, 80 yards	8
8	Antonio Gates	Chargers	vs. Jaguars	Six catches, 75 yards	7.5
9	Travis Kelce	Chiefs	@ Texans	Five catches, 65 yards	6.5
10	Zach Ertz	Eagles	@ Bears	Seven catches, 60 yards	6

Notes:

• Of course, make sure Rob Gronkowski is healthy throughout the week.
• There were several duds in Week 1 (Gary Barnidge, Jared Cook), but don’t lose faith in them just yet. The Barnyard Dog is coming off a TE2 campaign, and Aaron Rodgers is known to have an affinity for using his tight end.
• Larry Donnell and Will Tye will continue to limit each other’s value in New York. Manning hooked up with Donnell for a score against Dallas in Week 1, but that was his lone catch. Tye had three grabs for 16 yards. Steer clear unless one guy emerges.

D/ST

Rank	Team	Opponent
1	Seahawks	@ Rams
2	Broncos	vs. Colts
3	Cardinals	vs. Buccaneers
4	Panthers	vs. 49ers
5	Ravens	@ Browns
6	Packers	@ Vikings
7	Jets	@ Bills
8	Patriots	vs. Dolphins
9	Raiders	vs. Falcons
10	Redskins	vs. Cowboys

Notes:

• No byes yet, so it's still safe to stick with your draft pick.

Kickers

• Same as D/ST. No need to freak out over your kicker. It's a fluky position.

Waiver-Wire Tips

Chris Hogan needs to be owned

ESPN ownership percentage: 40.2 percent

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Forget about waiting until Week 5 when Tom Brady returns from suspension.

New England Patriots wide receiver Chris Hogan needs to be owned in all 12-team leagues immediately.

Hogan, who signed with the Pats this offseason after spending the first four years of his career with the Buffalo Bills, has never cracked 500 receiving yards in a single season.

That's probably going to change in 2016.

You remember Hogan, yes? The New Jersey native was famously nicknamed 7-Eleven by Reggie Bush during a 2012 training camp stint with the Miami Dolphins.

Get it? Because he’s always open.

William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports

Now with New England, Hogan was viewed by many as a stash pick (or pickup). The idea was that he’d be valuable come Week 5 when Brady returns.

And that’s still true. But Hogan was extremely valuable in Week 1, and he will be in the weeks to come.

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo hit Hogan with a 37-yard dime to jump-start the Patriots early in the first quarter of their 23-21 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

While injury precaution might have been a factor, Hogan significantly outsnapped “starter” Danny Amendola early on, per ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss:

Hogan finished with a line of three catches, 60 yards and one score. Amendola also had three catches, but for 48 yards.

Hogan is clearly involved now, and there’s a chance he can get even better once Brady returns.

Don’t be afraid to make 7-Eleven your No. 1 claim, especially if you’re thin at wide receiver.

Watch who pops up on the market

Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Remember all those sleeper running backs your buddies wouldn’t stop bragging about?

"DeAndre Washington is the truth, man. I saw him in college. He’ll have the starting job in no time."

Some of those players are about to get dropped this week.

Whether it’s Alfred Morris, Chris Johnson, Jerick McKinnon or another reserve, it’s probable some owners will forgo the long-term investment for a shorter-term move, for a variety of reasons.

Maybe they need a backup QB (Russell Wilson doesn’t appear fully healthy, for example). Maybe their tight end laid a goose egg and they want to take a shot on someone else, like Jesse James of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Maybe they're wheeling and dealing and simply need to make room.

Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

So, don’t only scout the waiver wire.

Scout the drops, too.

Valuable players are going to become available thanks to adds and drops. You can count on that. Therefore, it’s silly to make a move simply for the sake of making one.

If you don’t want anyone and your league uses waivers, wait. Once the transactions go through, you’ll have a higher claim to scoop some of the players who others dropped.

Patience, friends. Patience.

Thanks to FantasyPros for providing Week 1 scoring statistics.