Fantasy Football Must Starts Week 2

By James Collier

Maybe NFL fans, or more specifically Fantasy Football fans have short memories and this happens every year, but it felt like Week 1 of this season was particularly crazy. Two kickers inside the top 12 fantasy scorers of the week will not have been on many peoples bingo cards. 

But we should see things settle down over the next few weeks as teams get more reps and as and when that happens we’ll start to see some more consistent fantasy output. In the meantime, we’re back again with our Must Starts for Week 2! 

A reminder of what we are looking for in a “Must Start”. We are trying to find you players that are undervalued in DFS or are being ranked too low by ECR. So, while there will be some contrarian picks, there will also be some “good chalk”. 

Review of Last Week

In Week 1 we doubled down on the Bears offense under rookie Quarterback Caleb Williams and that blew up in our face. Caleb struggled in his debut despite becoming the first QB taken at number one overall to win in Week 1 since 2002. If your Quarterback is totalling just 93 yards then it’s impossible for a receiver, in this case Keenan Allen, to have a productive week. So we’ll mark both mine and Lewis’s picks up as busts. 

Kev’s pick of Gabe Davis was a little better as he hauled in three catches for 62 yards. That was enough for a WR44 finish after an ECR ranking of 56. And Tom’s pick, Deebo Samuel finished as the WR12 from a ranking of WR20. He described it as a safe pick, and he was not wrong! 

Terry McLaurin vs New York Giants

McLaurin was just one of a whole host of Wide Receivers that stank up box scores in Week 1. He managed just two catches (on four targets) for 17 yards in the Commanders loss to the Buccaneers. Maybe this is coming from a stubborn Commanders fan but I think of those receivers that struggled last week, McLaurin is in as good a position as any to bounce back in Week 2. 

Rookie Quarterback Jayden Daniels looked OK in his debut but the game plan was quite clearly to ease him in with a lot of short passes (he averaged a league low 1.8 air yards per completion). But I refuse to believe (again, stubborn Commanders fan) that they won’t look to make better use of the rookie’s strengths as the season goes on. 

The Giants are one of a very small number of teams that the Commanders will be favoured to beat this season and their defence just allowed Sam Darnold to do whatever he wanted in Week 1. If we aren’t going to start McLaurin at home in this matchup, when are we? 

DraftKings Value: $5,700

FantasyPros ECR Rank (PPR): WR27

Colby Parkinson @ Arizona Cardinals (Kev White)

Kev(@TheDynastyMind)’s pick this week is someone I am relying on in an unhealthy amount of leagues this week, Rams tight end Colby Parkinson. 

“I’m a firm advocate of targeting games and players with exposure to the highest expected points totals on the slate, this week is no different as I’m diving into the Rams at the Cardinals for my must start in week two. With injuries to starting tight end options David Njoku and Jake Ferguson, the pool is shallower, bringing into play Colby Parkinson as an excellent streaming option. The play gives you exposure to a potentially explosive game, with access to obtain him from waivers and a low price point in DFS. The week one injury of star wide receiver Puka Nacua creates opportunity and with a week to prepare I don’t envision Cooper Kupp seeing another 21-target outing. Parkinson was solid in week one, with four receptions for 47 yards and a TE7 finish on the week. Parkinson is a great ancillary leverage play in DFS and is a great streaming start in seasonal leagues, a solid bet for TE1 production this week.”

DraftKings Value: $3,100

FantasyPros ECR Rank (PPR): TE12

Chris Godwin @ Detroit Lions (Lewis Wood)

Lewis (@ff_pancake) is backing last week’s WR8 to have another strong performance in what looks to be one of the matchups of the week. 

“Bucs Lions has the highest over under of any game in week two. The Bucs have shown that with their new offense under Liam Coen, they can slice up a defense and feed all three WRs on the team. The Lions secondary is way better than the Commanders in week one (whose isn’t?) but there will be points aplenty in this one. And with a 38% target share in week one, Godwin is ready to feast in what should be a great game.”

DraftKings Value: $6,000

FantasyPros ECR Rank (PPR): WR18

JK Dobbins @ Carolina Panthers (Tom Strachan)

The performance of JK Dobbins against the Raiders was one of the stories of Week 1, given the struggles with injury the running back has had to deal with in recent years. Tom (@NFL_TStrack) thinks it was more than just a flash in the pan and is confident starting the former Raven in Carolina. 

“The Chargers spent all offseason talking up JK Dobbins to be a difference-maker, and low and behold, that’s exactly what happened in Week 1, with Dobbins totaling 130 yards on 10 rushing attempts, including a 61-yard run. Yes, Dobbins was caught from behind, but Breece Hall took time to get back up to speed in 2023 and the encouraging part is that Dobbins seemed to have no issues cutting and moving laterally. He averaged 13.5 yards per carry (YPC) and forced 4 missed tackles, while Gus Edwards averaged 2.4 YPC and zero missed tackles. The Chargers made Kimani Vidal a healthy scratch for Week 1 and with Dobbins impressing, this is clearly his backfield for the foreseeable future. The Chargers will now face the hopeless Panthers, so this should be another game that favors Dobbins.”

DraftKings Value: $5,400

FantasyPros ECR Rank (PPR): RB20

Feature image credit: AP Photo/Ashley Landis

JAMES COLLIER

Lead Fantasy Football Analyst

A Washington fan since the early 2010’s, James had no choice but to turn to fantasy football in search of happiness – and it wasn’t long until it became an obsession. You can follow him on Twitter @jamesc294.

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