8 keys to winning your Week 2 fantasy football matchup
Fantasy football analyst Sal Vetri delivers his keys to victory for Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season.
The bounce-back of the week is ... Derrick Henry
Henry had a great start to Week 1, scoring a touchdown early on. But then, the Ravens fell behind and Henry saw just five second-half touches. He ended the game playing fewer snaps than Justice Hill, who was used more as a pass-catching back as the Ravens played catch up.
But the Ravens won’t face Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs every week. In fact, they are underdogs in just two more games this year. Expect Henry to bounce back this week as a nine-point favorite against the Raiders. Las Vegas allowed 135 rushing yards on 10 carries from J.K. Dobbins in Week 1. In games where Henry's team was favored by seven or more points, he has averaged 119 rushing yards per game over the course of his career, per RotoViz.
The bounce back is coming this week, and my bold prediction is Henry scores three TDs in Week 2.
The best RB spot of the week belongs to ... Kyren Williams
Williams played an elite 91% of the Rams snaps in Week 1, and more importantly, he handled 90% of the RB carries. Rookie Blake Corum played zero snaps in this game; it doesn’t look like this is going to be a split backfield anytime soon. Sean McVay trusts Williams most in pass protection, and they'll need him there as the Rams' O-line is battling multiple injuries.
This week, Williams takes on the Cardinals who allowed over 100 total yards to James Cook in Week 1. Last season in hid two games against Arizona, Williams produced 21.8 and 35.4 fantasy points, respectively. This is the best spot for any RB this week.
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Zamir White is trending down
White played just 39% of the Raiders' snaps in Week 1. This led to a poor fantasy performance of 4.6 points. Alexander Mattison was the snap leader in the Raiders backfield, playing 59% of the snaps and earning 16.2 points on nine touches.
Mattison was used as a pass-catching back while the Raiders played from behind. This isn’t great news for White because the Raiders will play from behind often this year. As stated above, the Raiders are nine-point underdogs against a strong Ravens defense in Week 2. If White isn’t going to earn passing down snaps, it’s going to be hard for him to be a consistent fantasy starter for you. He’s trending down heading into Week 2.
The sketchy spot of the week belongs to ... Zack Moss
Moss operated as the Bengals' lead back in all situations in Week 1. He played 65% of the snaps and was used on both early downs and passing downs. This was a bit surprising, as it seemed like Chase Brown would be the passing-down back based on his usage last season and training camp hype.
But in Week 1, Moss played 100% of the two-minute offense snaps and 88% of the long down-and-distance snaps according to Fantasy Life.
This is all great usage for Moss, but his Week 2 matchup is concerning. The Bengals are six-point underdogs on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs who allowed just 49 rushing yards to Ravens RBs in Week 1. Moss is in a sketchy spot as far as production goes. He’ll likely need a touchdown to be relevant in Week 2.
Rhamondre Stevenson is trending up
Stevenson had a massive Week 1, earning 80% of the Patriots' snaps and an elite 25 carries to just seven for backup Antonio Gibson. Stevenson battled injuries last season and didn’t look healthy for most of the year. But in Week 1, he looked like himself again, leading all running backs with 10 missed tackles forced in Week 1, per PFF.
This could be a sell-high spot for Stevenson, who still plays for a bottom-10 offense and has a shaky offensive line at best. In Week 2, Stevenson is a home underdog against the Seahawks who held Broncos RBs to just 3.2 yards per carry in Week 1.
I would hold Stevenson right now, unless you can trade him for someone like this next player ...
Buy low of the week is ... Tank Dell
Tank Dell is my favorite buy-low player of the week. Nico Collins topped 100 yards in Week 1 and Stefon Diggs scored twice while catching all six of his targets. This has some people down on Dell, who produced just three catches for 40 yards in Week 1.
But this performance needs more context.
Dell ran 33 routes in this game, which was one more than Collins and one fewer than Diggs for the team lead. Dell earned seven targets and led the team in downfield usage. His role was quietly great, as he played 70% of his snaps as an outside receiver. This is where he played most of his snaps last season when he finished top 20 in both yards per route run and fantasy points per game.
Buy low on Tank Dell before he takes the field again in Week 2.
The pickup-and-play is ... Demarcus Robinson
Puka Nacua will miss at least four games with a knee injury. This opens the door for Demarcus Robinson to see a larger role in the Ram’s offense. Over his final five games in 2023, Robinson was a top-12 fantasy WR.
The wild part? He did this with both Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua active.
In Week 1, Robinson played 92% of the snaps and earned a solid seven targets. This week he’ll face a Cardinals secondary that PFF ranks as the 29th coverage unit after one week. Josh Allen was able to complete 78% of his passes against this Arizona defense in Week 1. Expect plenty of points between the Rams and the Cardinals; it’s a good spot for Robinson.
More from Sal Vetri
Something to watch: The Browns' O-line
Cleveland’s offensive line allowed 24 pressures in Week 1, the most in the league. Deshaun Watson was under pressure on an egregious 43% of his dropbacks. The Browns averaged just 3.3 yards per play in Week 1, 31st in the NFL ahead of only the Bears.
It was a bad week all around for the Browns. But unlike some other offenses who were under pressure often in Week 1, the Browns O-line has help on the way. This unit was without their starting tackles Jack Conklin and Jedrick Willis in Week 1. They had to face Micah Parson, Demarcus Lawrence and rest of the Cowboys' defensive line without that duo. Not great.
Assuming they get one or both tackles back in Week 2, I think it’s an interesting spot to buy low on Amari Cooper. He should see plenty of usage now that David Njoku is dealing with an ankle injury. Keep an eye on the Browns' injury report; if their tackles are back, you’ll want to start your Browns this week against Jacksonville.