Week 2 Fantasy Football Start 'em Sit 'em: 5 Stud Wide Receivers Who'll Rebound

Fantasy owners who put each of their players on a short leash do get lucky every now and again. They'll bench a guy after a single bad performance, and it will end up paying off.

But this is rare. As with all things in life, patience is key in fantasy football. There are times when you have to give a guy coming off a bad performance the benefit of the doubt. Especially if that guy is a wide receiver.

Receivers are inconsistent like that. But if a receiver has a bad game, odds are he's going to rebound with a good game. In the end, it all evens out and his numbers will make him look like a stud.

By my reckoning, there were five stud wide receivers that inexplicably turned into duds in Week 1. But instead of benching them, I suggest you keep the faith.

5. Chad Ochocinco, New England Patriots

Tom Brady completed 32 passes for a franchise-record 517 yards on Monday night, but Chad Ochocinco caught just one pass for 14 yards. Pretty troubling seeing as how he's the most accomplished receiver Brady has at his disposal.

But my guess is that Ochocinco's opening flop is not a sign of bad things to come. He's probably not going to put up Randy Moss-like numbers, but you have to to expect that he'll at least grab a few more balls for a few more yards this weekend against the San Diego Chargers.

Shoot, it's not like he can do any worse.

Prediction: six catches, 90 yards.

4. Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs

If you're a Chiefs fan, my advice to you is to not even look at the box score from the Chiefs' opener against the Buffalo Bills. It's not pretty.

For fantasy owners, the real ugly part is that Dwayne Bowe hauled in just two catches for 17 yards. Not exactly what Bowe owners are used to.

Take a closer look, though, and you'll see that Matt Cassel targeted Bowe eight times. He was trying to get him the ball, but he just couldn't.

Cassel will try again this weekend against the Detroit Lions. And because the Chiefs are likely going to have to pass the ball in order to keep up with the Lions, there should be more action for Bowe.

Prediction: seven catches, 100 yards.

3. Mario Manningham, New York Giants

Is Mario Manningham a "stud" wide receiver? Honestly, probably not.

But going forward, Manningham may have to be a stud. Hakeem Nicks' knee is pretty banged up, and the latest word from The Star-Ledger is that Giants head coach Tom Coughlin would not say whether or not Nicks is going to play on Monday against the St. Louis Rams.

If Nicks can't play, Manningham will be Eli Manning's top target by default. Even if Nicks does play, I'd keep Manningham in your starting lineup just in case.

Prediction: eight catches, 100 yards.

2. Vincent Jackson, San Diego Chargers

Color me surprised that Philip Rivers found Vincent Jackson only twice for 31 yards against the Minnesota Vikings. It's also surprising that Rivers targeted him just three times.

Even I have to admit, this is a bit alarming. At the same time, Jackson does have a favorable matchup against the Patriots this weekend. They gave up over 400 yards passing to Chad Henne of all people, and they let Brandon Marshall catch seven passes for 139 yards.

He may not duplicate Marshall's success, but you can expect Jackson to bounce back against the Pats.

Prediction: six catches, 110 yards, one touchdown.

1. Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals didn't decide to shell out millions upon millions of dollars to Larry Fitzgerald just so he could catch three pass for 62 yards. You also didn't draft him for such numbers.

However, benching Fitzgerald would be severely premature. Despite his three catches, he was targeted seven times. Had he pulled in just two of those, he probably would have ended up with a 100-yard game. And this weekend, he's facing a Washington Redskins team that gave up a 100-yard game to Nicks, a lesser wide receiver with an erratic quarterback.

Prediction: eight catches, 120 yards, one touchdown.