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Which quarterbacks will shine in Week 2 for your fantasy football teams? We’ll take a look at all of them in our rankings.
Welcome to Week 2 of the NFL season. Week 1 was eye opening, as passing numbers were down across the league and rushing quarterbacks lived up to their hype for the most part, as Josh Allen, Anthony Richardson, Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels all put up strong fantasy numbers with the help of their rushing ability.
We also reinforced the idea that facing the Commanders is good for your passing game, as Baker Mayfield threw four touchdowns against their inept pass defense. Thankfully for Washington, they face Daniel Jones and company this week. Could Jones turn things around after a disastrous Week 1? There’s certainly a chance with this matchup.
We learned that Joe Burrow once again is off to a slow start and not having Tee Higgins available didn’t help. The situation should get on track as they get the offense together, but I’m avoiding Burrow until he can show his old form.
As we all expected, Justin Herbert isn’t going to have a big number of pass attempts in Jim Harbaugh’s offense this season. His 26 attempts ranked 20th in Week 1 and as long as the Chargers are close in a game, I expect those passing numbers to continue to be low. This week they face the Panthers, which means Herbert might just hand off every snap.
Oh, and Sam Darnold might not be awful. He had a strong, efficient game in Week 1 against the Giants. He completed 19-of-24 passes for 208 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a 28-6 win. There were signs he was turning a corner in Carolina and San Francisco, but we’ll still need to see him do it against a better defense than the Giants before we get too excited. The 49ers should give him that test this week.
Week 2 quarterback injuries
Jordan Love, Packers
Love suffered an MCL injury in Brazil against the Eagles that should keep him out around three games. It could have been worse, so the team is likely thankful, but they did not do a good job finding a backup quarterback this season. They ended up trading for Malik Willis just before the season started, so he doesn’t have a firm grasp of the playbook and frankly, Willis has been extremely bad when given opportunities in the past. The Colts D/ST is worth a flier this week.
Week 2 quarterback sleepers
Matthew Stafford, Rams vs. Cardinals
Stafford lost a prime target in Puka Nacua, so I can understand losing some faith in him while Nacua is out for at least four weeks. But, he gets to face a Cardinals defense that is going to be below average across the board. They gave up 9.7 yards per attempt to the Bills and allowed the most red zone snaps on the week. I expect the Cardinals to push the Rams as well, so we could see a Rams offense looking to score late in the game still.
Daniel Jones, Giants vs. Commanders
Yes, Jones was awful against the Buccaneers in Week 1, but we’ve seen him put up good numbers in good situations in the past and this is a great situation. The Commanders were the worst pass defense in the league last year and they could be worse than that this year Baker Mayfield and company had their way with the Commanders pass defense, as he completed 24 of 30 passes for 289 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. Add in the fact that Jones will run the ball, and there is upside despite his awful Week 1 game against the Vikings.
