Welcome back folks to the Week 2 edition of The Recap Zone. Before I recap my picks from this past week, I think I speak for all fans saying that the plethora of injuries in Week 2 was deflating. As much as we want to win our fantasy leagues, it’s never easy to see that many great players go down with season-ending injuries or injuries that will sideline them for possibly half of their season. With that being said, my percentage on picks will be a little skewed this week as I had picked some of those players that went down. So let’s jump into it.
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The Recap Zone: Week 2 Top Fantasy Performers
Quarterbacks
Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys
Well, it was a shootout in Dallas on Sunday, to say the least. And like I mentioned about Dak scoring a rushing TD in his previous two starts vs. the Falcons, the QB had three in this matchup. Prescott ended the week as the #1 fantasy performer for QBs with a whopping 39.80 points. Prescott is giving me a good note to start the recap off with.
Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers
It might have been wishful thinking on my part picking Rodgers to replicate what he did in Week 1. At the same time though, it is not totally unimaginable. With the big game from Aaron Jones and the injury to Davante Adams, Rodgers came in this week as the #15 fantasy QB for Week 2. Once the Packers were able to get to a comfortable lead, the passing game obviously slowed down.
Jimmy Garoppolo – San Francisco 49ers
Well, the game started with Garoppolo’s favorite target, TE George Kittle, as inactive. The 49ers were one of those teams that got hit hard with the injury bug. Jimmy G was able to finish out the first half but was sidelined in the second half with an ankle sprain. Though he finished the first half with a good stat line, 131 yards, and 2 TDs, there is no telling how much more he could have done if he stayed in. He finished the week at #23 for fantasy QBs.
QB: 1-2
Running Backs
Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt both ended outside the top 3 like I predicted, though it wasn’t by much. They ended at #4 and #6 respectively.
Alvin Kamara – New Orleans Saints
Kamara balled out on Monday Night Football in a tough loss for the Saints. He had 79 yards on the ground for two scores and added another 9 receptions for 95 yards for a total of 174 scrimmage yards. Kamara ended Week 2 as the #2 fantasy performer with 38.40 points.
Saquon Barkley – New York Giants
It was a rough day for Barkley and Giants. The second-year back went down with a season-ending ACL injury in the team’s Week 2 loss to the Chicago Bears. This is a brutal blow to a team looking to improve on a lackluster 2019. Barkley was the #10 fantasy RB last year. Fantasy owners are hurting as Barkley was a top 5 in many leagues. Best wishes to a speedy recovery for Barkley.
Dalvin Cook – Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings are off to a rough start. One of the bright spots for the team though is RB Dalvin Cook. The problem though for his production is the Vikings being down. It’s tough to see touches when the team has to start throwing to get back into the game. A late TD and 2-pt did help fantasy owners, but it wasn’t enough. Cook ended Week 2 as the #17 RB with 17.10 points.
RB: 1-2
Wide Receivers
Julio Jones – Atlanta Falcons
Jones had a rough Week 2. It seems that Matt Ryan is more on page with Calvin Ridley than Jones. Ridley was the #1 fantasy receiver this week with 29.90 points. Jones was #97 with 4.40 points. It’s a tough pill to swallow for fantasy owners. The one thing that is positive is that it seems like the Falcons will be in shoot-outs for the majority of the year.
Davante Adams – Green Bay Packers
Another player that was hit by the injury bug in Week 2 was Adams. Though he was able to play the majority of the game, he did leave in the 3rd quarter and did not return. Up to that point though he was having a quiet game. He finished the game with 3 receptions for 36 yards, good for #75 for fantasy receivers with 6.60 points. He’ll be added to the total because he was able to play the majority of the game.
Marquise Brown – Baltimore Ravens
Another complete miss on a call by me, Brown ended Week 2 at #52 with 9.20 points. The Ravens had more success on the ground this week than they did in the air. Lamar Jackson threw for 204 yards and a TD. It is definitely going to be tough for me to pick Brown again until I can see consistent numbers out of the second-year receiver.
Parris Campbell – Indianapolis Colts
If it sounds like I’m being redundant, I don’t know what to tell you. Week 2 was rough. Another player that was hit with the injury bug and placed on IR. He left early in the Colts Week 2 win over the Vikings and the only stat he could provide was a 9-yard rush.
DeAndre Hopkins – Arizona Cardinals
Hopkins had a good week for his fantasy owners. For the sake of my picks though, he did not crack the top 6, but he was still top 10 for the second week in a row. His stat line was 8/68/1 good for 20.80 points and a #8 finish for fantasy receivers. The Cardinals look solid through two weeks of the season and Hopkins looks to be a consistent focal point in the offense.
CeeDee Lamb – Dallas Cowboys
Like I mentioned in the prediction article, Lamb was more of a sleeper pick this week. He performed well for fantasy owners who played him though. He ended Week 2 as the #18 fantasy performer with 17.50 points. Had he added a TD to his stat line of 6 receptions for 106 yards, he would have been a top 5 performer. Nonetheless, it was still a good week for the rookie.
WR: 0-5
Tight Ends
It was a good week for the TE group as the top 7 performers had 20+ point performances.
Travis Kelce – Kansas City Chiefs
Kelce was one of the TEs that had a 20+ performance in Week 2. A stat line of 9/90/1, Kelce’s performance put him at #5 for TE’s with 24 points. Kelce and Patrick Mahomes‘ rapport seems to be one of the best in the league as he currently sits as the #1 fantasy TE through two weeks of the season. A performance that made fantasy owners happy, but won’t help my prediction percentage.
Evan Engram – New York Giants
Engram made a good improvement from Week 1 to Week 2. As for being a top performer, he still has a ways to go. He ended Week 2 as the #15 TE with 12.50 points. Though that is a feasible number in leagues of 12 fantasy owners, he’s going to need to keep improving to break the top 10 and even more the top 3.
Tyler Higbee – Los Angeles Rams
Higbee had a big showing in Week 2 thanks to a 3 TD performance. His 28.40 points were good for #1 for fantasy TEs. He edged fellow TE Darren Waller by a tenth of a point for the top spot. This was Higbee’s first multi-touchdown game in his career. This performance gives many fantasy owners excitement as they hope he can replicate this type of output for the rest of the season.
TE: 1-3
DEF/STs
I whiffed big time on DEF/STs this week as none of my three picks broke the top 10.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Los Angeles Chargers and rookie Justin Herbert showed up to play on Sunday. Herbert got the start after Tyrod Taylor was a late scratch due to what we now know was a botched attempt at providing a painkiller. To be honest, I wasn’t surprised by Herbert’s performance. I am a little biased towards him being an Oregon Ducks fan, but I knew of his potential. With that being said, my pick for the Chiefs was on the thought that Tyrod was playing. At the end of the day, the Chiefs finished #13 with 5 points.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers did what people expected them to do by handling the New York Jets with ease. The problem for fantasy owners was that they didn’t get the coveted turnovers that make the DEF/STs important. That could be attributed to their two best pass rushers going down with ACL injuries. Defensive Rookie of the Year Nick Bosa went down as well as fellow first-rounder Solomon Thomas. The 49ers were #11 in Week 2 with 5 points.
Buffalo Bills
Well, neither the Dolphins defense nor the Bills defense would have been a good pick this week. A shootout down in Miami led to both DEF/STs ending Week 2 with a mere 2 points. The Bills were #24 this week and might not be a worthy defense for the next four games.
DEF/STs: 0-3
Kickers
Matt Prater – Detroit Lions
Prater had the worst fantasy performance for kickers in Week 2, spotting only 3 points for 3 PATs. This was due in part to the Lions being down and having to score touchdowns rather than field goals.
Michael Badgley – Los Angeles Chargers
Badgley was successful on all four of his opportunities on Sunday. He was 2/2 on PATs and 2/2 on FGs. The unexpected moving of the football by the offense did not set-up the amount of field goal attempts that I had predicted he would have had. He looks to be a viable option though moving forward with Justin Herbert as the starting QB. He ended Week 2 at #13 with 8 points.
Daniel Carlson – Las Vegas Raiders
Daniel Carlson finished Week 2 technically tied for #4 with Randy Bullock and Zane Gonzalez with 12 points. This is the second week in a row where Carlson has put up 12 point performances. He currently is the #1 kicker in fantasy points through two weeks of the season and hasn’t missed a kick yet.
K: 0-3
To Conclude
Well, I think my predictions got worse this week. I was pretty positive coming into it, but hey, you can’t get them all right. The positive though is there is always room for improvement. This week was a 3 for 18 clip, good for a .166 batting average, far below the Mendoza line. My season total is now 8 for 39, good for a .205 average. I’ll get better ’cause I’m chasing those Hall of Fame numbers!
Until next time on The Recap Zone.
