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

The majority of the top fantasy football players from Week 1 were stars rostered in a high number of leagues.

Aaron Rodgers threw for four touchdowns, Josh Jacobs produced three scores and Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel Elliott and Davante Adams each produced a pair of end-zone trips.

That led to a top-heavy fantasy leaderboard headlined Thursday by Patrick Mahomes and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who has become a top fantasy running back after one game.

The usual top-level producers could feature in prominent roles again in Week 2 as teams look for more consistency on the offensive end.

Twenty-one of the 28 franchises to hit the gridiron Thursday and Sunday eclipsed the 20-point mark. Until defenses get more in-game reps, the high totals could continue to flow in, which would be beneficial for the top fantasy players.

Week 2 Rankings and Projections

Quarterback 

1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City (at Los Angeles Chargers) (Projection: 350 yards, 3 TD)

2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore (at Houston) (285 pass yards, 2 TD; 55 rush yards, TD)

3. Dak Prescott, Dallas (vs. Atlanta) (345 yards, 3 TD)

4. Drew Brees, New Orleans (at Las Vegas) (320 yards, 3 TD)

5. Russell Wilson, Seattle (vs. New England) (285 yards, 2 TD)

6. Matt Ryan, Atlanta (at Dallas) (330 yards, 2 TD)

7. Kyler Murray, Arizona (vs. Washington) (275 yards, 2 TD)

8. Deshaun Watson, Houston (vs. Baltimore) (270 yards, 2 TD)

9. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay (vs. Detroit) (270 yards, 2 TD)

10. Cam Newton, New England (at Seattle) (200 pass yards, TD; 75 rush yards, TD)

Running Back

1. Christian McCaffrey, Carolina (at Tampa Bay) (100 rush yards, TD; 65 receiving yards, TD)

2. Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas (vs. Atlanta) (95 rush yards, TD; 55 receiving yards, TD)

3. Dalvin Cook, Minnesota (at Indianapolis) (95 yards, TD) 

4. Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas (vs. New Orleans) (90 yards, TD)

5. Saquon Barkley, New York Giants (at Chicago) (85 yards, TD)

6. Derrick Henry, Tennessee (vs. Jacksonville) (85 yards, TD)

7. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Kansas City (at Los Angeles Chargers) (75 rush yards; 50 receiving yards, TD)

8. Alvin Kamara, New Orleans (at Las Vegas) (65 rush yards; 60 receiving yards, TD)

9. Joe Mixon, Cincinnati (at Cleveland) (80 rush yards, TD)

10. Chris Carson, Seattle (vs. New England) (70 rush yards, TD; 35 receiving yards)

Wide Receiver

1. Davante Adams, Green Bay (vs. Detroit) (115 receiving yards, 2 TD)

2. Tyreek Hill, Kansas City (at Los Angeles Chargers) (95 yards, 2 TD)

3. Michael Thomas, New Orleans (at Las Vegas) (90 yards, 2 TD)

4. Julio Jones, Atlanta (at Dallas) (90 yards, 2 TD)

5. DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona (vs. Washington) (90 yards, 2 TD)

6. Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay (vs. Carolina) (80 yards, TD) 

7. Adam Thielen, Minnesota (at Indianapolis) (75 yards, TD)

8. Calvin Ridley, Atlanta (at Dallas) (75 yards, TD)

9. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh (vs. Denver) (70 yards, TD) 

10. Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams (at Philadelphia) (70 yards, TD)

Tight End

1. Mark Andrews, Baltimore (at Houston) (75 receiving yards, 2 TD)

2. Travis Kelce, Kansas City (at Los Angeles Chargers) (70 yards, TD) 

3. George Kittle, San Francisco (at New York Jets) (65 yards, TD)

4. Zach Ertz, Philadelphia (vs. Los Angeles Rams) (55 yards, TD)

5. Darren Waller, Las Vegas (vs. New Orleans) (45 yards, TD)

6. Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams (at Philadelphia) (40 yards, TD)

7. T.J. Hockenson, Detroit (at Green Bay) (55 yards)

8. Hayden Hurst, Atlanta (at Dallas) (50 yards) 

9. Evan Engram, New York Giants (at Chicago) (50 yards)

10. Noah Fant, Denver (at Pittsburgh) (45 yards) 

Waiver-Wire Tips

Do Not Exclusively Look for Internal Injury Replacements

Two major injury situations developed Sunday.

The Indianapolis Colts lost running back Marlon Mack to an Achilles injury in the first half of their game Sunday, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

The Dallas Cowboys suffered a blow at tight end, as Blake Jarwin went down with a non-contact injury Sunday night. According to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, Jarwin was diagnosed with a torn ACL.

The immediate fantasy football reaction to both injuries would be to pick up their backups from the waiver wire. Nyheim Hines and Jonathan Taylor are going to be two of the hottest names on the waiver wire, but they are not the only running backs worth zeroing in on to replace Mack.

Baltimore Ravens rookie J.K. Dobbins recorded a pair of touchdowns in his debut, Peyton Barber had two scores for Washington and Joshua Kelley emerged as a key cog in the Los Angeles Chargers offense.

Each of those three players should be available in a wide variety of leagues and could be the alternative to landing Hines and Taylor, who will likely split carries in Week 2 based off Indianapolis' Week 1 distribution.

Dallas has Blake Bell and Dalton Schultz in line to replace Jarwin, but Dak Prescott shied away from throwing to his tight ends Sunday night once he lost the 26-year-old. Schultz only caught one of his four targets for 11 yards.

Until those players emerge as consistent targets alongside CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, they are not worth an addition.

If you need to replace Jarwin, Washington's Logan Thomas, who had four receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown could be an option.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Eric Ebron is also worth monitoring if he produces a decent stat line Monday night against the New York Giants.

Keep an Eye on Joe Burrow

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft almost led the Cincinnati Bengals to a game-winning drive in Week 1.

Joe Burrow came up just short because of an offensive pass interference call on A.J. Green and Randy Bullock's miss on the potential game-tying field goal.

Despite those setbacks, Burrow should gain a decent amount of confidence from leading his team down the field late in the fourth quarter.

Burrow should not be an immediate waiver-wire addition ahead of Week 2's clash with Cleveland, but he is worth monitoring if his production goes up.

In Week 1, Burrow produced 193 passing yards and an interception while completing 23 of his 36 passes.

The volume of pass attempts is encouraging, and the Bengals have a handful of potential fantasy stars at the skill positions to complement Burrow.

Green led the team with 51 receiving yards, Tyler Boyd caught four of his five targets and tight end C.J. Uzomah had four receptions for 45 yards.

If Burrow improves against the Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars, he could become a top waiver-wire add at some point during that stretch.

If anything, he is worth monitoring just in case one of the premier quarterbacks goes down with an injury.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from ESPN.