Fantasy Football Week 2: 10 Players To Avoid This Week

While Week 1 in the NFL had its surprises, Week 1 in the fantasy world played out true to form. 

As a fantasy owner, Week 1 has to be taken with a grain of salt.

All fantasy drafts are based on speculation, so we have to watch and see what happens in our players' season openers.

Then, we have to be smart about who we want to keep and who we want to cut for the waiver wire superstar. 

This list is dedicated to the guys that you may already own or guys that you may want to pick up from the waiver wire. It's an all-inclusive* look at who to avoid in Week 2 of fantasy football. 

Some of the guys on this list looked absolutely fantastic in Week 1, but can they keep that up all season, or more importantly, next week? 

Some of the guys on this list are proven superstars, but maybe they had a terrible outing in Week 1.

Will that carry over to their next game? 

Read on and you shall find out. 

* All-inclusive should be taken with a grain of salt as well. I mean, come on, it's Week 1. 

Chad Henne: Quarterback (Miami Dolphins)

Week One Fantasy Points (ESPN): 33

Week Two Opponent: Houston Texans

In the most likely of all fantasy happenings in Week 1, Chad Henne came in second for most points scored. 

What? You didn't call that? I thought it was pretty obvious...

Henne, who was only topped in fantasy points by his Week 1 counterpart Tom Brady, threw for 416 yards and two touchdowns.

Henne also ran the ball seven times for 59 yards and one touchdown.

Even though Miami lost, Henne exposed some holes in New England's secondary while proving he was worthy of being a starter.

He did a good job of silencing his critics, but he will have a tougher defense staring at him next week. 

The Houston Texans made a mockery of the Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts.

While coasting to an easy victory, the Texans defense limited QB replacement Kerry Collins to 197 yards through the air. They also held the Colts to just 64 yards on the ground. 

Henne will make a valiant effort, but his Week 2 performance will bring him back down to Earth. 

Cam Newton: Quarterback (Carolina Panthers)

Week One Fantasy Points (ESPN): 29

Week Two Opponent: Green Bay Packers

I've been an avid Cam Newton supporter for a while now.

I liked him being drafted No. 1 by the Panthers and I liked his future as an NFL quarterback.

But did I expect him to score 29 fantasy points in Week 1?

Not a chance.

After a few rocky preseason starts, it didn't take long for last year's Heisman winner to wow both his fans and critics.

Newton threw for 422 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 18 yards and another score. 

His 422 passing yards were good enough to set a record for most passing yards by a rookie in their debut, but it wasn't good enough to get his team the victory.

Carolina ended up losing to Arizona, 28-21, after they were unable to convert a fourth down in the red zone at the end of the game.

Even though Newton had such a great performance, is this an omen of things to come in the future?

Probably not to this extent.

The problem is that this performance came against a terrible defense, and the fact that Newton's amazing day fell short in the win column against a terrible defense really speaks volumes to where the Panthers currently are.

This week, Newton takes on the Super Bowl defending-champion Green Bay Packers.

The Packers are coming off an exciting Week 1 victory against the New Orleans Saints.

While Drew Brees was able to burn the packers for 419 yards, I wouldn't expect the same out of Newton.

Newton is not Drew Brees. Not yet, anyway. 

Expect his stats to suffer and expect the Packers to roll. 

Kenny Britt: Wide Receiver (Tennessee Titans)

Week One Fantasy Points (ESPN): 25

Week Two Opponent: Baltimore Ravens

Kenny Britt had high hopes for his numbers coming into this season, but with a new quarterback in the system, most were undervaluing Britt's ability. 

In the Titans' Week 1 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Britt was one of the only bright spots.

He caught five passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns, but he was targeted 10 times in the game. 

If Britt is able to keep this up, he'll be one of the best wide receivers in all of fantasy football.

Unfortunately, his Week 2 performance should take a major hit as the Titans host the Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens looked absolutely scary in their Week 1 pummeling of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Ravens defense had a lot to do with that. They were able to pick Ben Roethlisberger off three times and they also recovered four fumbles in the game. 

Titans veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck will be able to handle himself, but there's no doubt that his Week 2 reads are going to be harder than Week 1.

Ravens safety Ed Reed, who picked off two passes against the Steelers, will certainly be a factor. 

Britt will continue to see the most targets of any wide receiver on the Titans, so that will always make him a good flex player at the least, but this week may be hard on him.

If you have another option, play him this week for Britt. 

Beanie Wells: Running Back (Arizona Cardinals)

Week One Fantasy Points (ESPN): 16

Week Two Opponent: Washington Redskins

As expected, Beanie Wells received almost all of the Cardinals' carries on Sunday. He ran the ball 18 times for 90 yards and one touchdown while also grabbing four passes for 12 yards. 

While averaging five yards per carry is a good thing, it just happened to come against a defense even worse than his own: Carolina. 

Wells will continue being the focal point of Arizona's rushing attack this week when they take on the Washington Redskins, but after watching the Redskins handle the New York Giants on Sunday, Wells may be in for a long day.

The Redskins held Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw to 44 yards on 13 carries, and it's safe to say that Bradshaw is a little more skilled than Wells is at this point.

For Wells to have any success this Sunday, it will be dependent on QB Kevin Kolb and the Cardinals' passing game.

Kolb had a good showing in his Cardinals debut, throwing for 309 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Right now, like Kenny Britt, Wells is just a good flex option at most. Start somebody else if you can. 

Maurice Jones-Drew: Running Back (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Week One Fantasy Points (ESPN): 15

Week Two Opponent: New York Jets

As always, Maurice Jones-Drew was the focal point of the Jaguars' offense on Sunday. Jones-Drew ran the ball 24 times for 97 yards and one touchdown.

Jones-Drew performs week in and week out, but his decent stat line in Week 1 could have come as a result of the Titans' lackluster defense.

I guess we'll see when the Jaguars travel to New York to take on the Jets this weekend.

The Jets had to pull off a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, but the bright spot had to be their run defense. 

Cowboys RB Felix Jones was able to score one touchdown, but that was on a one-yard goal-line run. Jones only managed 44 yards on 17 carries for the rest of the game.

Cowboys QB Tony Romo was able to throw for over 300 yards on the Jets defense, but that shouldn't be the case this week.

The Jets are a good enough team to fix their mistakes, and they won't let Jaguars QB Luke McCown take advantage of them.

McCown is the key to Jones-Drew's success, much like Kolb and Wells. The only difference is, I actually have faith in Kolb.

You aren't going to bench Jones-Drew, that's a fact. I mean, he's Maurice Jones-Drew, you wasted a first round pick on him. 

But in all honesty, this might be a good week to do it. 

Randall Cobb: Wide Receiver (Green Bay Packers)

Week One Fantasy Points (ESPN): 15

Week Two Opponent: Carolina Panthers

Cobb is the first of two Green Bay Packers to appear on this list, but he is the only Packer on this list that had a decent Week 1. 

Cobb was the breakout performer in Green Bay's Week 1 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

He only caught two passes for 35 yards and a touchdown, but he also played a vital part in the Packers' return game. 

Cobb turned in a highlight reel return when he marched out of his own end zone and returned a kick for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Pretty great, right?

While I'm sure it was great at the time, the fact of the matter is that Cobb returned the kick even after head coach Mike McCarthy advised him against returning anything so deep.

Also, Cobb's only touchdown catch came in response to running the wrong route. 

Sure, both of his mistakes turned into touchdowns, but how likely is that? How many more mistakes will he make, and will that turn into less playing time for the rookie wide receiver? 

Aside from the mistakes, Green Bay is just way too deep at wide receiver to give Cobb serious consideration.

He is great for leagues that count return yards, as he will also be doing punts all year, but aside from that, don't rush out and grab Cobb off the waiver wires.

Donovan McNabb: Quarterback (Minnesota Vikings)

Week One Fantasy Points (ESPN): 6

Week Two Opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Donovan McNabb had a rough debut in Minnesota.

Even though the Vikings led for most of the game, McNabb was not the reason. 

He finished his first game with the Vikings 7 of 15 for an embarrassing 39 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He did run the ball successfully three times for 32 yards, though. 

The Vikings just had no rhythm offensively.

Even though McNabb only threw the ball 15 times, star RB Adrian Peterson only had 16 carries. They just didn't have the ball enough, and when they did have it, they didn't do much with it. 

Peterson was the only bright spot in the offense. He ran for 98 yards, which averages out to 6.1 yards per carry.

If someone is averaging 6.1 yards a carry, he needs more than 16 touches a game. Just a thought.

Needless to say, everyone who drafted McNabb thinking he was going to have some sort of resurgence to fantasy fame in Minnesota was probably sad.

I just hope those of you that bought into the McNabb hype were smart enough to draft another quarterback as well.

If not, Cam Newton and Chad Henne are looking awfully good off the waiver wires right now. 

Chris Johnson: Running Back (Tennessee Titans)

Week One Fantasy Points (ESPN): 4

Week Two Opponent: Baltimore Ravens

In Week 1, Chris Johnson was able to show the world what they had been missing while he spent his preseason in lockout mode: absolutely nothing. 

The Titans' star running back carried the ball just nine times for 24 yards. He also caught six passes for 25 yards.

Titans head coach Mike Munchak said he was going to monitor the amount of Johnson's Week 1 carries, and that much was true.

But did any of us really expect Johnson to look as rusty as he did?

He averaged just 2.7 yards per carry against a Jaguars defense that finished near the bottom of the NFL in run defense last season (121.6 yards per game). 

There's no doubt that Johnson will see more touches in Week 2.

In fact, Munchak has already promised this. But if Johnson looked that rusty against the Jaguars, how bad is he going to look against the Ravens? 

I expect that Johnson will have more than 24 yards rushing, but I wouldn't expect a big game out of him by any means. The Ravens have a great defense, and they are going to shut down Matt Hasselbeck and the Titans' passing game. 

If the Titans get too focused on trying to get Johnson the ball, the Ravens will be able to play eight men in the box and limit his yards. 

Another thing that doesn't bode well for Johnson, is the fact that his team will be playing catch up all game.

This means that even if Hasselbeck is being shut down, the Titans will have to keep forcing the pass in order to gain big yards.

Johnson is not a safe play in Week 2. 

Ryan Grant: Running Back (Green Bay Packers)

Week One Fantasy Points (ESPN): 4

Week Two Opponent: Carolina Panthers

I had envisioned a big season opener for Ryan Grant.

After being sidelined all last season by an injury that happened in Week 1, I figured Grant would be in line to prove that he should still be the feature back in Green Bay's offense.

Unfortunately, Grant ran the ball nine times for 40 yards and no touchdowns, while his counterpart James Starks ran the ball 12 times for 57 yards and a touchdown.

If splitting time isn't enough to bug you about Grant's performance (and future performances), Starks was the one who got the call on the goal-line carry.

That's enough to make Grant owners upset and it's a sign of what's likely to come in Green Bay this season.

Even though Grant proved that he was a clear starter before his injury, Starks came on late last season and really provided a spark that helped propel the Packers into the Super Bowl.

Because of this, Starks has earned his right to compete for carries.

Unless Grant really steps up in practice, or unless Starks gets injured, Grant should be a rather terrible fantasy option for the remainder of the season.

If Starks does happen to get injured, though, Grant would become one of the best waiver wire running back options in the league, which I'm just assuming is where most people are going to place him after his Week 1 outing. 

Week 2 doesn't look a lot better for Grant, but the Packers do play a soft run defense in Carolina.

Starks is still the safer bet. 

Dwayne Bowe: Wide Receiver (Kansas City Chiefs)

Week One Fantasy Points (ESPN): 1

Week Two Opponent: Detroit Lions

Dwayne Bowe had eight targets in the Chiefs' Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills. He caught two of them for 17 yards.

While the Chiefs were the favorite going into their matchup, the Bills pulled off what was likely the most shocking Week 1 defeat. Not only did they beat the Chiefs, they embarrassed the Chiefs. 

They won the game 41-7 while shutting out the Chiefs entirely in the second half.

Let's face it, the Bills aren't that great. At least not as good as how they appeared to be against the Chiefs. 

This week, the Chiefs take on a superior opponent in the Detroit Lions. Unless they can figure something out this week in practice, it's not only going to be a long Week 2, but it's going to be a long season. 

Fantasy stars like Bowe and RB Jamaal Charles may not be good plays all season long. Especially Bowe, who keeps showing inconsistencies at wide receiver and bad chemistry with QB Matt Cassel.

This comes as a surprise to everyone who saw Bowe break out for 1,162 yards last season and 15 touchdowns.

Maybe this was just a bad all-around game for the Chiefs. Maybe Bowe will be able to improve on his terrible Week 1 performance that awarded his owners just one single fantasy point.

But I'm not betting on it.