Week 2 Fantasy Football Rankings: Position-by-Position Breakdown

One week, 16 games and thousands of thrown laptops are in the books after the 2016 NFL season got underway last weekend.

Remember that time you felt great about stealing Dez Bryant in the third round? Or what about rolling the dice on Keenan Allen staying healthy in your points-per-reception league? Shoot, who needs a quarterback early when Robert Griffin III is due for a bounce-back year?

Uhh...about that.

Bryant caught one pass, Allen appears to have suffered his latest season-ending injury and Griffin...is a Cleveland Brown in every sense (plus he's injured). The first week brought heaps of disappointment and swaths of success to others—namely those with that sweet Drew Brees-to-Brandin Cooks connection.

How will things shake out in Week 2? Let's take a full look at some initial rankings and find out.  

QB

Rank	Player	Team
1	Cam Newton	CAR
2	Drew Brees	NO
3	Russell Wilson	SEA
4	Aaron Rodgers	GB
5	Eli Manning	NYG
6	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT
7	Andrew Luck	IND
8	Carson Palmer	ARI
9	Derek Carr	OAK
10	Matthew Stafford	DET
11	Philip Rivers	SD
12	Jameis Winston	TB
13	Blake Bortles	JAC
14	Andy Dalton	CIN
15	Kirk Cousins	WAS
16	Matt Ryan	ATL
17	Tyrod Taylor	BUF
18	Jimmy Garoppolo	NE
19	Marcus Mariota	TEN
20	Dak Prescott	DAL

Real Deal: Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders

Playing the New Orleans Saints isn't the best barometer of future success, but Carr picked up right back where he left off in 2015. He threw for 319 yards and a touchdown in Oakland's 35-34 comeback win, which are fine numbers for a fantasy quarterback but even better ones for a real-life signal-caller.

Amari Cooper (137 yards) looks ready to break out as a star, and Michael Crabtree (87 yards) remains entrenched as a solid second option. The Raiders aren't going to face much more opposition from an Atlanta secondary that allowed Jameis Winston to throw for four touchdowns in Week 1.

Carr is a top-10 guy this week and could get off to a huge first half of the season, given Oakland's below-average schedule.

Back Off: Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills

All of that preseason hype about Taylor being a potential top-10 guy does not look great right about now. The Bills offense was reduced to utter incompetence in the 13-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, with Taylor showing no signs of his 2015 electricity.

Taylor threw for just 111 yards and added 11 on the ground. With the Jets sacking Andy Dalton seven times Sunday, things aren't looking up for Taylor.

Oh, plus there's the fact Sammy Watkins is basically broken. Also not helping! 

RB

Rank	Player	Team
1	David Johnson	ARI
2	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL
3	Todd Gurley	LA
4	Lamar Miller	HOU
5	C.J. Anderson	DEN
6	Adrian Peterson	MIN
7	LeGarrette Blount	NE
8	Spencer Ware	KC
9	Mark Ingram	NO
10	Doug Martin	TB
11	Eddie Lacy	GB
12	LeSean McCoy	BUF
13	Matt Forte	NYJ
14	DeMarco Murray	TEN
15	DeAngelo Williams	PIT
16	Jonathan Stewart	CAR
17	Danny Woodhead	SD
18	Ryan Mathews	PHI
19	DeAngelo Williams	PIT
20	Devonta Freeman	ATL
21	Latavius Murray	OAK
22	Melvin Gordon	SD
23	Carlos Hyde	SF
24	Jeremy Langford	CHI
25	Ameer Abdullah	DET
26	Christine Michael	SEA
27	Rashad Jennings	NYG
28	Jeremy Hill	CIN
29	Arian Foster	MIA
30	Matt Jones	WAS

Real Deal: Matt Forte, New York Jets

Chalk this one up among my incorrect preseason predictions. Forte is not only the Jets' clear-cut No. 1 running back, but he looks rejuvenated. He picked up 96 yards on 22 carries and added 59 yards on five receptions in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. 

While none of those plays were particularly long, that's never been Forte's game. He consistently picked up three to five yards against a solid Cincy front seven, and the Jets made a concerted effort to keep feeding him the rock. Bilal Powell received only four carries and six total touches.

A 30-year-old running back playing on short rest isn't the best matchup, but Forte is a high-end RB2 in standard leagues and a low-end RB1 in PPR leagues going forward.

Back Off: Arian Foster, Miami Dolphins

Foster, meanwhile, seems to be falling in line with the typical aging running back-changing-teams pattern. He seems to have the job locked up with Jay Ajayi off pouting somewhere, but Foster did not provide anywhere near the top of his game.

Aside from a 50-yard reception that gave him nearly all of his value, Foster was stuffed at the line of scrimmage time and time again. He had just 38 yards on his 13 carries and compiled 12 yards on his other two receptions. The Dolphins averaged 3.2 yards per carry as a team and were befuddled from the outset in Seattle.

They'll have easier matchups going forward, but Foster looked like a 30-year-old playing on a bum wheel—which is exactly what he is.

WR

Rank	Player	Team
1	Odell Beckham Jr.	NYG
2	Antonio Brown	PIT
3	Julio Jones	ATL
4	A.J. Green	CIN
5	Brandin Cooks	NO
6	Amari Cooper	OAK
7	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU
8	Allen Robinson	JAC
9	Mike Evans	TB
10	Jordy Nelson	GB
11	Kelvin Benjamin	CAR
12	Alshon Jeffery	CHI
13	Doug Baldwin	SEA
14	Brandon Marshall	NYJ
15	Dez Bryant	DAL
16	T.Y. Hilton	IND
17	Jordan Matthews	PHI
18	Emmanuel Sanders	DEN
19	Demaryius Thomas	DEN
20	Golden Tate	DET
21	Willie Snead	NO
22	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI
23	Jeremy Maclin	KC
24	Randall Cobb	GB
25	Jarvis Landry	MIA
26	Julian Edelman	NE
27	Michael Crabtree	OAK
28	Donte Moncrief	IND
29	Marvin Jones	DET
30	Sammy Watkins	BUF

Real Deal: Kelvin Benjamin, Carolina Panthers

It took all of seven minutes and 47 seconds for Benjamin to re-establish himself as Cam Newton's top target. Benjamin hauled in the first touchdown of the 2016 season and finished with 91 yards on six receptions.

While Newton had a below-average passing day against the mauling Broncos defense, Benjamin and Greg Olsen remained relevant by being his primary targets. They were the only two Carolina pass-catchers with more than one reception.

Benjamin's 12 targets ranked among the most for receivers in Week 1. With the Panthers hosting the lowly 49ers this weekend, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him hit the 100-yard mark with ease. 

Back Off: Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys

At least as a bona fide WR1. Bryant finished with one catch for eight yards Sunday. Making matters worse, he failed to reel in a potential touchdown that would have boosted his fantasy relevance and given the Cowboys a win.

Still, playing one bad game with a rookie quarterback does not make a crisis. Having four 100-yard games in his last 24, though? That's more than enough cause for some hand-wringing. With Dak Prescott seemingly preferring the underneath options of Cole Beasley and Jason Witten, it's time to start considering Bryant a mid-tier WR2 until folks start throwing up the X more often.

TE

Ranking	Player	Team
1	Rob Gronkowski	NE
2	Jordan Reed	WAS
3	Greg Olsen	CAR
4	Travis Kelce	KC
5	Jason Witten	DAL
6	Delanie Walker	TEN
7	Dwayne Allen	IND
8	Julius Thomas	JAC
9	Coby Fleener	NO
10	Eric Ebron	DET
11	Zach Ertz	PHI
12	Kyle Rudolph	MIN
13	Jacob Tamme	ATL
14	Antonio Gates	SD
15	Clive Walford	OAK

Real Deal: Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys

On the bright side, it appears Witten remains his ageless vampire self. The 34-year-old hauled in nine passes for 66 yards with Prescott targeting him 14 times.

After being ranked as a low-end starter coming into the preseason, Witten is now a top-five guy. We have to learn to stop doubting this dude until he has a bad season. In PPR leagues, he might be the best non-Rob Gronkowski/Jordan Reed option available going forward.

BRB, going to go kick myself for taking a risk on Zach Miller over Witten in two leagues.

Back Off: Jimmy Graham, Seattle Seahawks

Drop him. That simple.

K

Rank	Player	Team
1	Stephen Gostkowski	NE
2	Dan Bailey	DAL
3	Blair Walsh	MIN
4	Steven Hauschka	SEA
5	Justin Tucker	BAL
6	Graham Gano	CAR
7	Mason Crosby	GB
8	Adam Vinatieri	IND
9	Matt Prater	DET
10	Chandler Catanzaro	ARI
11	Kai Forbath	NO
11	Roberto Aguayo	TB
13	Chris Boswell	PIT
14	Connor Barth	CHI
15	Cairo Santos	KC

DEF

Ranking	Team	Opponent
1	Carolina Panthers	vs. SF
2	Seattle Seahawks	at LA
3	Denver Broncos	vs. IND
4	New England Patriots	vs. MIA
5	Baltimore Ravens	at CLE
6	New York Jets	at BUF
7	Houston Texans	vs. KC
8	Kansas City Chiefs	at HOU
9	Arizona Cardinals	vs. TB
10	Buffalo Bills	vs. NYJ
11	Los Angeles Rams	vs. SEA
12	Indianapolis Colts	at DEN
13	Green Bay Packers	at MIN
14	Cleveland Browns	vs. BAL
15	New York Giants	vs. NO

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.