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Kate Magdziuk shares her Week 2 running back rankings for standard scoring leagues and highlights several streaming options.
Greetings, fantasy manager. It’s that time of the week again; with another exciting slate of NFL games on the schedule for Week 2, you’ve got to parse through the endless stats, news and rumors and set your perfect fantasy football lineup.
Though there wasn’t much fire power in the passing game for most teams in Week 1, the run game was plenty strong for several units, with some surprising mid-to-late round picks as well as waiver wire heroes emerging as viable flex options in Week 2.
If you’re looking for some help setting those lineups, SB Nation has you covered. Below, you’ll find Week 2 running back rankings for standard-scoring (non-PPR) leagues, as well as three viable flex plays and two deep sleepers to consider in case of a lineup “emergency.”
Week 2 RB flex plays
Jordan Mason, San Francisco 49ers (vs. Vikings)
As every fantasy manager knows, Christian McCaffrey is dealing with a calf/Achilles injury that has him dubbed as a “long-shot” to play in Week 2. Stepping in for him last week, Jordan Mason thrived in a workhorse role, averaging 5.3 yards per carry while managing to make the Jets’ defensive line look like paper throughout most of the game.
Even if McCaffrey is active, one would assume he’ll be limited in his workload, which would put Mason firmly in flex territory. Meanwhile, if McCaffrey is out, Mason becomes a near must-start thanks to his projected volume and Week 1 performance.
J.K. Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. Panthers)
There was a lot of skepticism surrounding J.K. Dobbins and his ability to make an NFL comeback after a significant injury history had marred what was once a very promising outlook for the former second-round pick. He put the skeptics to shame in Week 1, dominating on the ground posting 135 rushing yards and a score on just 10 attempts; that’s 13.5 yards per carry for you math stans out there.
Things didn’t open up for Dobbins until the second half, but once it did, he showcased that explosive playmaking ability with two rushes of 40+ yards, as well as a 10-yard touchdown. He gets a very appealing matchup against the Panthers in Week 2, which is an intriguing matchup based on both personnel and game script that has Dobbins as one of my favorite flex plays on the week in the Chargers’ already dominant run game.
Week 2 RB deep sleepers
Rostership percentages in Yahoo! Fantasy leagues are indicated in parentheses.
Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. Browns, 6%)
Tank Bigsby’s rookie season did not start off the way he had hoped after a promising training camp in 2023. However, he’s starting to look like the running back that most fantasy managers thought he had the potential to be after a promising Week 1. Bigbsy surprisingly split carries evenly with former first-round pick Travis Etienne, each with 12 attempts on the day, averaging 6.1 yards per carry to Etienne’s 3.7. Though Bigsby had a higher stuff rate on the day, he was generally the more explosive option with a higher missed forced tackle rate and earning more yards after contact than Etienne.
The Browns aren’t a tantalizing matchup, but they did manage to make Ezekiel Elliott look not completely washed in Week 1. If this timeshare between Bigsby and Etienne continues, he could be a viable weekly flex play.
Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. Lions, 27%)
Be warned — this isn’t the best rushing matchup you could target in Week 2; this Detroit Lions defense just held punt returner (ha!) Kyren Williams to a paltry 2.6 yards per touch in the season opener. However, Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie RB Bucky Irving could find himself in this sleepers column often this year with the way he outplayed starter Rachaad White in Week 1.
Though White still saw most of the volume on the day in terms of both carries (15) and targets (6), Irving was the far more efficient option on the whole. White averaged just 2.1 yards per carry, stuffed on 40% of his rush attempts with a first-down/touchdown rate of just 6.7% per PFF. Irving, meanwhile, had 31 more rushing yards than White despite six fewer rush attempts. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him continue to earn snaps in this offense, and with some receiving chops of his own, could be a preferred option for the Buccaneers sooner rather than later.
Emanuel Wilson, Green Bay Packers (vs. Cardinals, 2%)
This is another speculative play here based on both the projection for a potentially larger role in Week 2 and a favorable matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. The Green Bay Packers have had a slew of bad luck at the running back position, losing A.J. Dillon to a season-ending neck injury while rookie MarShawn Lloyd has dealt with a nagging hamstring injury up through the preseason that led to him being inactive in Week 1.
Though Jacobs was the clear-cut RB1 in the offense, Wilson looked solid in a complementary role that could earn him some more work moving forward when game script allows, totaling 46 rushing yards on just four attempts, also earning three targets in the passing game (though he didn’t do much with them). This week, the Packers will get a matchup with the Cardinals — a team already looking like one of the league’s worst defenses after Week 1.
If rookie MarShawn Lloyd is active in this one, Wilson becomes a much riskier flex play. However, Wilson arguably did enough alongside
Fantasy football: Week 2 standard RB rankings
Kate Magdziuk is an editor and contributor for Yahoo Fantasy and co-host of the Locked On Dynasty Football podcast. She is also the managing editor for Behind The Steel Curtain, SB Nation’s exclusive Pittsburgh Steelers blog. Her previous bylines include Pro Football Focus, NBC Sports Rotoworld and 4for4 Football, among others.
