The opening week is mercifully over, and now fantasy football owners can commence overreacting ahead of Week 2. Start ’em, sit ’em decisions shouldn’t be overly difficult unless you were really bitten by the injury bug, but regardless of your situation, it never hurts to have some bench/waiver wire players in good situations on your radar. Guys like Jeff Wilson Jr., Aaron Rodgers (yes, Aaron Rodgers), and Khalil Herbert are among our favorite Week 2 fantasy sleepers and could all pay off thanks to favorable matchups and increased usage this week.
As always, we must note that any of our sleeper picks below could bust this week. We’re always going to take chances here because it’s a waste of time to list obvious players. That doesn’t help anyone. You won’t start the guys below over proven producers, but you also don’t need fantasy sleepers if your lineup is locked in. Even if you’re set in season-long leagues, our sleeper picks can help you find value in NFL DFS contests, as the prices of these players should be affordable.
Last week’s picks were pretty spotty, which isn’t a surprise for the first week of the season. We hit on Kenneth Gainwell, Kirk Cousins, Jameis Winston, and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Hayden Hurst was decent, and we had the right idea with Brevin Jordan, but it was O.J. Howard who scored twice. Now that we have a little more to go on, we’ll look to improve our psychic sleeper abilities.
WEEK 2 FANTASY PICKS: Busts | Start ’em, sit ’em
Let’s get to it with our Week 2 sleeper picks.
Week 2 Fantasy Sleepers: Running backs
Khalil Herbert, Bears @ Packers (Sloan Piva). From where we were sitting on Sunday, Herbert was the better Bears RB in Chicago’s 19-10 win over the 49ers. Compared to RB1 David Montgomery (17 carries for 26 yards and no scores), the speedy 24-year-old did more with less (9-45-1). He gets a chance to build off that strong Week 1 against a Packers squad that allowed Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison to combine for 126 ground yards on 28 carries (4.5 yards per rush). Herbie should be fully loaded this weekend.
Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots @ Steelers (Vinnie Iyer). Stevenson profiles well to rip into Pittsburgh’s run defense. The Steelers also have issues covering backs in the passing game.
Jeff Wilson Jr., 49ers vs. Seahawks (Matt Lutovsky). JWJ takes over as San Francisco’s lead back with Elijah Mitchell out, and that role usually results in success. He might lose some goal-line carries to Deebo Samuel and Trey Lance, but against a mediocre Seahawks’ defense that had trouble containing Denver’s backs on the ground and through the air, Wilson can easily do enough to be a solid flex.
WEEK 2 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST | Kicker
Week 2 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Quarterbacks
Kirk Cousins, Dolphins @ Eagles (Piva). Cousins just beat back-to-back MVP Aaron Rodgers and a strong Packers D on opening weekend, passing for a cool 277 yards and two TDs. Kevin O’Connell has this Vikings offense moving and grooving, everyone seems healthy, and Minnesota now gets to tee off against a Philly defense that allowed Detroit to score 35 points in Week 1. You like that?!
Aaron Rodgers, Packers vs. Bears (Iyer). There’s no way he has a second consecutive clunker. Rodgers will dig deep to find multiple scores with someone he trusts in prime time in Lambeau.
Carson Wentz, Commanders vs. Lions (Lutovsky). Wentz had his usual fill of ugly turnovers in Week 1, but that’s just something fantasy owners will have to live with. However, with 313 passing yards and four TDs, he also had plenty of passing success. He spread the ball around to all of his talented pass-catchers and took advantage of a favorable matchup against Jacksonville in that one. He’ll do it again against the Lions this week.
WEEK 2 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST | Kicker
Week 2 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Wide receivers
Hunter Renfrow, Raiders vs. Cardinals (Piva). Don’t pull Renfrow out of your flex spot just yet. He left a bad taste in owners’ mouths against the Bolts, sure, but he lines up versus the Cardinals at home this week. Arizona allowed the sixth-most receptions and ninth-most yards to slot receivers in 2021 and just surrendered 44 points to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Week 1. New KC slot-man JuJu Smith-Schuster nabbed six catches for 79 yards, so expect Hunter to eat this week.
Adam Thielen, Vikings @ Eagles (Iyer). Thielen will get in on the fun to help Justin Jefferson with his first trip to the end zone in 2022.
Darnell Mooney, Bears @ Packers (Lutovsky). Don’t let Mooney’s Week 1 dud discourage you too much. Conditions were terrible, and Chicago attempted just 17 passes. Mooney is no Justin Jefferson, but he can also put up solid numbers against a burnable Packers’ secondary.
WEEK 2 DFS LINEUPS: FanDuel | DraftKings | Yahoo
Week 2 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Tight ends
Albert Okwuegbunam, Broncos vs. Texans (Piva). Albert O played 67 percent of Russell Wilson’s snaps against the Seahawks, and hauled in five of his six targets for 33 yards. He also missed out on a touchdown by inches near the goal line. At 6-5, 260 pounds, Okwuegbunam has size and strength to go with sub-4.50 speed. Houston allowed eight TDs and 14.1 PPR points per game to tight ends last season and started 2022 by giving up five catches for 48 yards to Indy’s subpar TE group. We don’t expect nearly as much red-zone turmoil as the Broncos experienced on Monday Night Football, giving Okwuegbunam a nice outlook this week.
Robert Tonyan, Packers vs. Bears (Iyer). Tonyan will one of those guys Aaron Rodgers looks to in the red zone to make sure Green Bay gets back on the usual TD track.
Evan Engram, Jaguars vs. Colts (Lutovsky). Engram caught all four of his targets in Week 1, and against a Colts’ defense that gave up two TE touchdowns to O.J. Howard last week, he should be in line for a more productive day.
WEEK 2 DFS: Best values | Best stacks
Week 2 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Defense
Miami Dolphins @ Ravens (Piva). The Dolphins looked ready for AFC playoff contention in Week 1, stifling the Patriots with two sacks, two fumble recoveries, and a clutch end-zone interception. All said, New England scored just seven points. Baltimore cruised to an easy win over the Jets in the Meadowlands, but still banged up at RB, the Ravens won’t be as prepared as they’ll need to be against this underrated Miami D.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cowboys (Iyer). Trey Hendrickson and their pass rush will rule, forcing some turnovers from Cooper Rush on the road.
Carolina Panthers @ Giants (Lutovsky). The Giants got out of Week 1 with a win, but Daniel Jones still turned it over twice and was sacked five times. The Panthers can take advantage of him and a limited Giants’ offense.
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