If only fantasy football owners could look into the future and know who the busts are going to be in a given week, frustrating losses would be so less frequent. But there’s some of you out there who probably lost in Week 1 because Mike Evans or Kirk Cousins or some other player let you down. Week 2 busts are sure to come out of the woodwork again (Kyler Murray? Marquise Brown? Adrian Peterson?), but hopefully our experts can help you avoid too many disappointing plays.
Sometimes we’re even right. We told you not to start Aaron Rodgers last week, and Chicago held the Packers to 10 points. Cam Newton was disappointing, too, just like we expected. Miles Sanders, Devonta Freeman and Sony Michel all put up stat lines that weren’t winning your fantasy matchup, and so did Robby Anderson, Eric Ebron and David Njoku.
WEEK 2 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Our biggest whiff might’ve been on Drew Brees, but even he got most of his numbers via compiling and didn’t look super sharp. The process didn’t get that one totally wrong, at least.
Heading into this week, one of our last week’s sleepers, Murray, is now a bust in our eyes. He was terrible for three quarters against Detroit and salvaged his stats late, but that doesn’t mean he was impressive enough to get himself into our lineups this week. We’re also worried that Adrian Peterson could struggle despite being a decent long-term addition, and we have Aaron Rodgers on our busts list again.
As a reminder, don’t just automatically sit the players on our busts list. We have rankings for a reason, and the context of your particular team/league matter. You might not have a QB better than Rodgers or Murray, but you should definitely give a second thought about the players on this list. Click here for our Week 2 sleeper picks.
WEEK 2 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
Week 2 Fantasy Busts: Running backs
Aaron Jones, Packers vs. Vikings (Billy Heyen). The Vikings had offensive success in Week 1, forcing Atlanta to pass a lot. When Green Bay was forced to pass (and pass protect) in its opener, it was Jamaal Williams on the field. This feels like a matchup where Jones might be marginally solid per play, but he won’t get enough volume to be a great fantasy option.
Devonta Freeman, Falcons vs. Eagles (Vinnie Iyer). Philadelphia’s front lost Malik Jackson, but it’s still stout against the run, and this feels like a big throwing game for Matt Ryan with Carson Wentz on the other side.
Adrian Peterson, Redskins vs. Cowboys (Matt Lutovsky). We’re not worried about the Week 1 scratch. Peterson doesn’t make sense as a backup, so why activate him? But with Derrius Guice (knee) out, Peterson should return to the workhorse role he had when he topped 1,000 yards last season. But we don’t like this matchup, as Dallas held AP to 134 yards on 36 carries and no TDs in two games last year, and the Redskins will likely be without their best offensive lineman, Trent Williaims, as he continuese to hold out.
Week 2 DFS: FD Cash | FD GPP | DK Cash | DK GPP | Y! Cash | Y! GPP
Week 2 Fantasy Football Busts: Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers, Packers vs. Vikings (Heyen). Minnesota made Matt Ryan look silly until late in Week 1, and Rodgers didn’t look good against the Bears in his debut performance in a Matt LaFleur offense. That combination doesn’t bode well for a big bounce back in Week 2. Rodgers is fine, but if the Week 1 matchup led to him being on your bench, maybe the Week 2 matchup should, as well.
Kyler Murray, Cardinals @ Ravens (Iyer). The Baltimore defense is a tough second-game assignment, and we’re not sure if Murray will actually run this week to complement more limited passing.
Matthew Stafford, Lions vs. Chargers (Lutovsky). Stafford lit up the Cardinals last week, but that matchup was much more favorable than this one, particularly in terms of the pass rush he’ll be facing. The Lions’ O-line issues were still evident (three sacks allowed, two fumbles for Stafford), so expect Joey Bosa and co. to have Stafford scrambling all day.
MORE DFS: Values | Stacks | Lineup builder
Week 2 Fantasy Football Busts: Wide receivers
Josh Gordon, Patriots @ Dolphins (Heyen). Antonio Brown’s status is up in the air, but Gordon still might be a Week 2 bust. Phillip Dorsett was on the field for 14 more plays than Gordon in Week 1. There could be more of a drop-off than you’d expect in Week 2, and while that Dolphins matchup is so tantalizing, I’d expect other Pats to do a lot more of the partying in the end zone.
John Ross, Bengals @ 49ers (Iyer). His career game should get the attention of the 49ers’ secondary, and he won’t be able to avoid Richard Sherman like Tyler Boyd in the slot.
Marquise Brown, Ravens vs. Cardinals (Lutovsky). Hollywood has another great matchup, so by no means is he a “must-sit”, but last week was just a little too good, wasn’t it? Especially when you factor in that he played just 14 snaps. Sure, the blowout nature of Baltimore’s win might have limited his time on the field, but rookie receivers on run-heavy teams who play that little generally don’t have consistent success.
Week 2 Fantasy Football Busts: Tight ends
Jared Cook, Saints @ Rams (Heyen). Cook saw just three targets in Week 1, turning that into two catches for 37 yards. He simply won’t be used the same this season as last, when he was Derek Carr’s favorite target. The offense in New Orleans runs through Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas, and the Rams’ defense is a tough matchup, too.
Austin Hooper, Falcons vs. Eagles (Iyer). Philadelphia’s cornerbacks will be attacked a lot more with Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley, leaving Hooper with far fewer targets this week.
Jimmy Graham, Packers vs. Vikings (Lutovsky). Graham scored last week and the Vikings gave up a lot of catches and yards to Austin Hooper. So…start him, right? Nah. Graham’s TD was sort of a fluky jump ball in the end zone, and a lot of Hooper’s stats came in garbage time. This isn’t a good matchup.
Week 2 Fantasy Busts: Defenses
Baltimore Ravens vs. Cardinals (Heyen). We’ll find out this week if the late surge by Kyler Murray and co. in Week 1 was real. The Ravens benefitted from a terrible Dolphins offense in Week 1 and aren’t actually that good a defense. I’d expect Murray to have enough success to make Baltimore less of an obvious start.
Los Angeles Chargers @ Lions (Iyer). Los Angeles has gone back to being gashed against the run, and that makes it hard to rack up big plays against the pass, as Detroit can better execute its Kerryon Johnson game plan this week.
Minnesota Vikings @ Packers (Lutovsky). We expect the Vikings to keep the score relatively low, but we don’t expect many turnovers. Most of their value will come from sacks and points allowed. If the Packers can score two TDs, that pretty much wipes us significant points-allowed points, so the ceiling here is low.