🔥Monday Morning Fantasy Football Recap

Rookie Wide Receivers Get Their Revenge

Author

Ryan Kirksey
September 16, 2024

Week 2 left the fantasy football landscape littered with the bodies of defensive backs that wide receivers torched and a litany of injuries that must be navigated in the coming weeks. With two weeks of fantasy data now in the books, we now are finally starting to see trends emerge that will guide our fantasy decisions going forward.

The Deep Dive Fantasy Newsletter will hit your inboxes four days a week this season and each Monday I will bring you the highlights, lowlights, injury reports, and Monday Night Football look-ahead all here in one place.

First up are the top fantasy football headlines from a wild Week 2.

🎺 The Saints Go Marching Into Dallas

In one of the bigger upsets of the weekend, Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara, and Rashid Shaheed invaded Dallas and stomped the Cowboys 44-19 at the Jerry Dome. It was a good, old-fashioned thrashing from start to finish led by Alvin Kamara’s four total touchdowns. After 110 total yards and a touchdown last week, Kamara had 180 yards and four scores to lead the Saints. Kamara has 17 more half-PPR points than any other running back after two weeks of the 2024 season.

🐦 Cardinals Flying High

The Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams game was over almost as soon as it started. A mid-week kerfuffle based around comments Kyler Murray made about getting Marvin Harrison Jr. targets was much ado about nothing. Harrison had four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter and that was all he was needed in the game. Just those four catches showed a variety of athletic catches and playmaking ability and why he might be the next great receiver. James Conner also continues to look like one of the best full-workload running backs in the game with 122 rushing yards and a score on 21 rush attempts.

🎯 Even Daniel Jones Can’t Hold Down Malik Nabers

Well, this is exactly what we hoped Malik Nabers would be when he was drafted by the New York Giants. Even with Daniel Jones as his quarterback, Nabers absolutely dominated the offensive touches and share of opportunities on Sunday against the Washington Commanders. Nabers saw 18 targets from Jones when all other running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends combined for nine in Week 2. Nabers finished with 10 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown, and it would have been a bigger day if not for a couple of drops that can easily be cleaned up. After a crazy 64% target share Sunday, it’s not crazy to think he leads the NFL in target share the rest of the way.

✈ Jets Moving Down the “Run”way

The two-headed monster that is the New York Jets’ backfield ran all over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, showing that both Breece Hall and Braelon Allen will have significant fantasy value during the 2024 season. Hall had 114 total yards and a receiving touchdown while Allen amassed 56 yards and two touchdowns. The two running backs touched the ball 30 times compared to 10 times for all other skill players for New York. It’s not quite a trend yet, but expectations on players like Garrett Wilson should be managed going forward. This is likely a focused effort to preserve Aaron Rodgers all year long.

🎉 Mark Andrews is Alive!

Heading into Monday Night Football, Mark Andrews snuck into the top ten tight ends of Week 2 with four catches for 51 yards after his dud in Week 1. Andrews was back at the top of the tight end pecking order for the Ravens this week and out-targeted Isaiah Likely five to three against the Las Vegas Raiders. Perhaps most importantly, Andrews played nine more snaps and ran 10 more routes than Likely in this game.

⚰ But Travis Kelce Might be Dead (for Fantasy)

After a mildly disappointing Week 1 game for Travis Kelce (three catches for 34 yards), Kelce barely logged any fantasy points with just one catch for five yards against the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s not quite four-alarm, red-alert time for Kelce, but it’s mildly concerning he has had next to no involvement in the offensive scoring through two weeks. All is not lost however, because Kelce was on the field for more than 90% of the snaps, he ran more routes than any other Chiefs player, and Noah Gray and Jared Wiley combined for one target on Sunday.

A.J. Brown was ruled out of Monday Night Football already because of a hamstring injury he picked up at practice on Friday. He missed Saturday’s practice and it is apparently serious enough that the team needs to hold him out at least one game. Look for the Eagles to provide a more thorough update after the game when coaches talk to the press.

Justin Jefferson left Sunday’s game against San Francisco early after suffering what was first believed to be a quad injury. He had already put up four catches for 133 yards and a score, and the Vikings were able to hold on for the win without him. After the game, it was determined that it was a quad contusion and, while he is day-to-day, there is hope Jefferson will play in Week 3.

Cooper Kupp is the latest Los Angeles Rams receiver to suffer what could be a significant injury. After Puka Nacua’s knee injury in Week 1, Kupp was forced to leave with an ankle injury against the Cardinals after being tackled awkwardly. He was hardly able to walk on it after the injury happened and was quickly removed from the game. Look for an update from the team on Monday or Tuesday this week.

Isiah Pacheco almost had finished the entire game against the Cincinnati Bengals but was awkwardly twisted on a tackle and was forced to leave the game. On Monday morning, it was confirmed he fractured his fibula and will miss a significant amount of time. In his absence, look for Carson Steele and Samaje Perine to fill the gaps, but the Chiefs will likely sign a player until Clyde Edwards-Helaire is off of IR.

Joe Mixon left in the second half of the Sunday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears with an ankle injury and was eventually taken to the locker room. He would later return to the game, but how his ankle responds in the days to come will determine if he is limited or forced to miss any time.

Tyjae Spears suffered an ankle injury midway through the Titans’ loss to the Jets and was unable to return. No definitive update on his status has been announced, but should be miss time Tony Pollard would become the bell-cow of this offense. Pollard has already out-touched Spears 41-20 this season through two games.

Monday Night Football Play on Bleacher Nation Fantasy.

Receiving Yards: DeVonta Smith and Drake London OVER Kyle Pitts and Dallas Goedert (+46)

This week, my entry in the Bleacher Nation Fantasy Rivals game is choosing DeVonta Smith and Drake London with more receiving yards than Kyle Pitts and Dallas Goedert (+46). Picking this side is a simple addition by subtraction equation as well as following the narrative that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

With A.J. Brown now out for the Monday Night Football game, DeVonta Smith becomes the de facto WR1 for Philadelphia and should easily absorb a 30% target share in Week 2. Smith already hit 84 yards on seven catches in Week 1 and now has no Brown competition. Smith is in line for at least 100 yards in this game.

After Atlanta’s embarrassing Week 1 loss to Pittsburgh, coach Raheem Morris proclaimed that the team didn’t get the ball to Drake London enough in the loss. That likely changes this week against a Philadelphia secondary that allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers in 2023 and already gave up two scores to them in Week 1.

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Here are the latest articles on 4for4.com discussing all things Week 1 in the NFL. Check back throughout the week for much more.