By: Greg Landry | LineStar Chat: @glandry | Twitter: @GP_Landry

Welcome back to LineStar NFL Takeaways! For those of you new to the community here, this article is published every Tuesday and takes a position by position look at several players whose fantasy performance stood out (both good and bad) and what this might mean in the fantasy landscape as we start to prepare for the week ahead.

An absolutely devastating week two in the NFL with multiple big names going down to injuries including Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, Nick Bosa, Jimmy Garappolo, and Davante Adams just to name a few. The 49ers are obliterated right now and their ability to defend the NFC title is in serious jeopardy. Multiple starting quarterbacks went down and may miss time. The consensus top two picks in fantasy got hurt and we know one of them is done for the season. From a fantasy perspective, there should be quite a bit of value opening up as a result of these injuries (Devonta Freeman should sign somewhere this week). We’ll need to be all over the news from practices trying to get a handle on which players are the most likely to step up and see a boost in their workload.  Pay attention to the NFL Beat Writers twitter feed which is directly inside your LineStar account. I read through this each day. This is an awesome feature.

Fun Fact: The Atlanta Falcons are the first team in NFL history to lose after scoring 39 points without a turnover (458-1)

What Did We Learn?

Here we'll focus on some players at each position who stood out (both good and bad) and identify if there's any actionable information we can use when building our rosters going forward.

Quarterbacks

Dak Prescott: 34/47, 450 yards, 1 TD plus 3 rushing TDs

This is less about Dak (who started terribly but certainly made up for it) and more about the game environment. Do you remember last season where it was typically a profitable move to stack both sides of whatever game the Buccaneers were playing in? Tampa Bay had the offensive firepower to keep up in any game but because they turned the ball over so much, and gave their opponent short fields, their games turned into shootouts frequently. Well, the Falcons are shaping up to be this year’s Tampa Bay. The Falcons have the offense to keep up with any team in the NFL – but their defense is brutal. This is going to lead to them being involved in high scoring games more often than not. Sunday’s game was a prime example of this where Dallas continually shot themselves in the foot and practically handed this game to Atlanta but their defense couldn’t close it out and Dallas came roaring back to win it at the last second. You will want pieces of the offense on both sides of Atlanta’s games throughout the year.  

Joe Burrow: 37/61, 316 yards 3 TDs

On the surface, the number one overall pick put up a lot of fantasy points, so if you started him you were happy with the results. The reality though is that he needed 61 pass attempts to get here, which is not something the Bengals will want to do very often. While the three passing touchdowns are encouraging, the number of attempts is not sustainable. He also fumbled twice in this game (after fumbling once last game also) which is concerning. Burrow is a rookie and this was his second NFL game so we have to take a lot of this with a grain of salt right now. As the season goes on, we’ll hopefully see him develop. He has solid weapons around him to turn the Cincinnati offense into a unit we may be able to pay more attention to later in the season. But for now, I wouldn’t go chasing these points.  

Carson Wentz: 26/43, 242 yards, 2 INT

Another subpar performance from Wentz. Last week it was all the sacks he took. This week it was a couple of brutal interceptions. For a team like the Eagles, who have quite a few weapons on offense, to have not passed 20 points in a game yet is a big concern. Even worse, they lose yet another offensive lineman in this one, which was a position already hanging on by a thread. Through two games, Wentz has a completion rate below 60%, has thrown two touchdowns to four interceptions, and has been sacked eight times. Whether it’s his fault or the offensive line can be debated. But until any improvement is shown, it’s going to be really difficult to trust any offensive pieces from this team outside of betting on talent and taking shots in large field tournaments. The floor is pretty much non-existent right now.

Running Backs

Aaron Jones: 18 carries, 168 yards, 2 TD, 4 receptions, 68 yards, 1 TD

Wow. If you had concerns about a possible timeshare in the Green Bay offense heading into this game, they are gone now. The rushing yardage is skewed quite a bit by a long 75 yard run but the highlight here is the four catches (on eight targets!) for 68 yards and another touchdown. One of Jones’ catches, if I couldn’t see the uniform number, I would have guessed it was Davante Adams. He had to jump for the ball, and the defender had a hand BETWEEN his hands, but he still managed to bring it in. Behind Jones, Jamaal Williams (8 carries, 0 targets) and AJ Dillon (5 carries, 0 targets) were basically fighting for scraps. This performance should ensure Jones gets the majority of the work for the foreseeable future. It helped, of course, that Adams left the game with a hamstring injury but seeing Rodgers lean on Jones even more, instead of his other receivers, just shows how much trust he has in him. For the second week in a row, Green Bay put up over 40 points. Buy this offense. Side note, Lambeau leaps without fans in the stands are depressing…..

Jonathan Taylor: 26 carries, 101 yards, 1 TD, 2 catches, 9 yards

If you spent an early pick on Taylor in season long or best ball, congratulations, you may have struck gold. Last week I mentioned I wasn’t ready to jump on the Taylor train quite yet because after the injury to Marlon Mack, Taylor and Hines basically split the workload right down the middle. One week later, Hines was non-existent (0 carries, 1 catch for four yards on 1 target) and Taylor had a massive workload with 28 touches. He was efficient on the ground at nearly four yards per carry and caught both of his targets. The one caveat here is the Colts were in control of this game from start to finish, which favored them keeping the ball on the ground. I looked back through Phillips Rivers’ game logs and he’s only had less than 25 pass attempts four times in the past five seasons. In more negative game scripts, it’s possible we would see Hines get more involved but even then, judging by what we saw today, it’s unlikely to be enough to cannibalize Taylor’s value. The unfortunate injury to Marlon Mack has opened the door for Taylor to take over this backfield. We are looking at a likely candidate for offensive rookie of the year.  

Leonard Fournette: 12 carries, 103 yards, 2 TD, 4 receptions, 13 yards

Ronald Jones: 7 carries, 23 yards, 1 TD, 2 receptions, 4 yards

LeSean McCoy: 1 carry, -5 yards, 5 receptions, 26 yards

Seeing the picture here? This backfield is a mess and it’s going to take a while for it to shake out. Fournette had a big game, but his numbers are skewed by a long 46 yard run. LeSean McCoy was second on the team in targets with seven, and RoJo found the end zone but did very little else with his opportunities. For the time being, the backfield is a stay away except in the deepest of GPP tournaments where you want to take a shot on someone and hope they break one loose. My guess is, Fournette eventually takes command of the running game and LeSean McCoy becomes the primary passing down back while Ronald Jones is mostly squeezed out. I was encouraged that Leonard Fournette saw five targets himself, third on the team, and caught four of them. It would be great if he took over the backfield entirely, as we’ve really never got the chance to see him in an offense with this many weapons before. But I think Jones and McCoy will still be involved just enough to annoy us and make all three of these guys useless from a fantasy perspective. Stick to the passing game in Tampa Bay for now.

Wide Receivers

Dionte Johnson: 8 receptions, 92 yards, 1 TD

Two weeks and two encouraging performances from the 66th overall pick in 2019 out of Toledo. With a healthy Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh is looking like the 2018 version of their offense when they had AB and JuJu as the top two receivers. If you remember that team, it was one of our favorites to target in fantasy because both guys were immensely talented and the distribution of targets was very narrow. As long as old man Roethlisberger can stay healthy, we should see something similar this year, with JuJu stepping into the #1 role and Johnson as the #2 receiver but both getting their fair share of the workload. Through two weeks, Johnson has a massive 34.9% share of the team’s targeted air yards and is currently tied with Amari Cooper for the second most targets (23) in the league behind only DeAndre Hopkins (25). Again, I don’t want to overreact to two weeks, but Johnson has the makings of being somebody for us to consider on an every week basis.

Stefon Diggs: 8 receptions, 153 yards, 1 TD

John Brown: 4 receptions, 82 yards, 1 TD

One of the interesting questions this offseason was how would the addition of Stefon Diggs impact John Brown’s usage after his breakout year? Two weeks in and so far the answer is not very much.  Similar to the aforementioned JuJu Smith-Schuster and Dionte Johnson situation, Diggs and Brown are looking like one of the most dangerous wide receiver combos in the league right now. The presence of Diggs on the field gives defenses more than one person they need to worry about and the progress being shown by Josh Allen as a passer is taking full advantage of this. With Brown (32.9% targeted air yards market share) and Diggs (37.5% targeted air yards market share) both getting regular looks it’s clear they can both be fantasy contributors side by side on the field. Now, the obvious disclaimer here is the Bills have had a very light schedule to start the season against the Jets and the Dolphins (although Miami on the road can be challenging). Coming up this week, Jalen Ramsey and the Los Angeles Rams. This should be the first real test for the Buffalo offense.  

Julian Edelman: 8 receptions, 179 yards   

This is why we say don’t over react to week one in the NFL. Last week, Cam used his legs and only attempted 19 passes. This week, Cam used his arm and attempted 47 in this one. N’Keal Harry (12 targets), Edelman (11 targets), and Damiere Byrd (9 targets) all saw plenty of work, but it was Edelman, not Harry or Byrd as we would have expected, who got the downfield opportunities. The Patriots are going to be (even more so than in years past) very opponent and game script dependent, as having a mobile quarterback adds a new dimension to their offense. Games they can control, they will keep the ball on the ground leaning on Cam and several talented running backs to lead the charge. Games like this, where they fall behind and need to score to keep up, Coach McDaniels showed us he won’t be afraid to unleash his new quarterback (who looked pretty healthy throwing the ball). This means before you think about rostering anyone from the Patriots (besides Cam and the defense) you need to really think through HOW you think the game will play out and then build your roster based on that expectation. This means Edelman will likely be unreliable from week to week consistently, but should have games like this where he gets a lot of opportunities.  

Tight Ends

Dalton Shultz: 9 receptions, 88 yards, 1 TD

Admittedly, I had never heard of Dalton Shultz prior to the injury to Blake Jarwin. I also expected, with Jarwin out, Dallas would likely funnel more targets to their incredible receiver trio of Cooper, Gallup, and Lamb. Instead, Shultz saw 10 targets (he led the team!) and caught nine of them for 88 yards and a touchdown! Despite, the encouraging performance, I’m hesitant to put much stock into this until we see some consistency. Keep in mind, the Cowboys fell way behind in this one, and Dak Prescott had to throw 47 times. This is obviously not something they’ll want to have to do every week. When the passing attempts drop, I would expect Shultz to be the person who is squeezed out. With that said, we can’t ignore this performance either. It’s clear Prescott has confidence in him and that’s worth something. Don’t expect this level of fantasy production every week but if you need to punt the tight end position, it’s clear you could do worse.

Jonnu Smith: 4 receptions, 84 yards, 2 TDs      

Speaking of trust, Ryan Tannehill is building some confidence with his tight end as well. For the second week in a row, Smith was second on the team in targets and found the end zone (this time twice). While the targets may fluctuate a bit (keep in mind AJ Brown missed this game) Smith looks like a real threat in the end zone. In a season where some of the top tight end talent is struggling (Kittle hurt his knee and will now have a backup quarterback throwing to him, Ertz and the Eagles passing attack is a bit of a mess, Fant now has a backup quarterback throwing to him) Smith has a shot to emerge as a top five player at the position in fantasy this season.  

Mike Gesicki: 8 receptions, 130 yards, 1 TD

We have been waiting on the 42nd overall pick in 2018 to breakout and potentially join the top tier of fantasy tight ends for quite some time. After one strong game, we aren’t making that call yet, but it was good to see him put up a monster performance. With Miami’s run game literally non-existent and game script unlikely to favor them very often, we will see some very pass heavy games from Ryan Fitzpatrick (47 attempts this week) which should mean plenty of opportunities for Gesicki (11 targets) alongside Parker and Williams. Don’t get too excited here, this is the Dolphins after all. Plus, at some point, it will probably be “Tua time” in Miami which potentially means a downgrade to the offense while the rookie develops after not being on a field in nearly a year. Again, as is the case with most tight ends, anyone with an opportunity for targets needs to be considered, so this game puts Gesicki squarely on our radar.

Key Injuries To Watch

In this section we'll take a look at some key injuries and what the potential impact may be for fantasy purposes.

Note: I’m writing this on Monday night so not all of these injuries are confirmed yet. Make sure to pay attention to the news throughout the week.

Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants

Say it ain’t so. It sucks for football losing a player like Saquon who is so fun to watch. It’s even worse that it’s his knee, which makes me nervous there is a chance he’ll never be the same. Let’s hope it was a clean tear and he’s got plenty of time to recover since it happened in week 2. This is an interesting situation for fantasy. Wayne Gallman was actually a healthy scratch for this game, with Dion Lewis serving as the primary backup. But Lewis is more of a passing down specialist than a three down back. Will the Giants turn back to Gallman or could it possibly be Devonta Freeman time in New York?

All of the San Francisco 49ers

It’s not that much of a stretch. The defending NFC Champions cannot catch a break. Jimmy Garappolo went down with a high ankle sprain, Nick Bosa is believed to have a torn ACL, Soloman Thomas is believed to have a serious knee injury (possibly a torn ACL), Dee Ford hurt his neck which is always serious, and both Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman left with knee injuries. Insanity. San Francisco is a good team that is well coached but this is more than a “next man up” mentality. They are missing pieces everywhere including their quarterback. If Jerrick McKinnon is the only remaining healthy running back, he becomes interesting as a player once viewed as a top fantasy option before he missed the past two seasons. But, defenses will stack the box and look to take away the run with Nick Mullens playing QB. It’s worth noting, with all the pieces the 49ers are missing on defense, this is no longer an elite unit and one that we may not need to avoid for fantasy purposes.

Drew Lock, QB, Denver Broncos

Sprained AC joint on his throwing shoulder which has a very wide range (two to six weeks) for a return timetable. Obviously, this is a downgrade to all of the Denver offensive pieces. 

Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos

Sutton returned to the field after missing week one only to hurt his knee in this one. Reports right now are sketchy but rumors on twitter are suggesting it could be serious. With a backup QB and Sutton potentially missing extended time, we can pretty much avoid Denver for the foreseeable future. (Note - this has been confirmed as a torn ACL. He will miss the season.)

Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers

Yikes. The latest news here suggests the consensus number one pick in fantasy football could miss several weeks with an ankle injury. Mike Davis played just about every snap after CMC went down, and could be viewed as a potential value running back who should get some goal line work but he won’t bring the pass catching abilities that McCaffrey does. (Note - this has been confirmed as a high ankle sprain. He will miss a few weeks.)

Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers

Reports are not clear on this injury either. Keep an eye on the news. If Adams misses time, I would expect Aaron Jones to play an even more significant role (like he did on Sunday) as well as MVS and Allen Lazard seeing additional targets. For those of you scoring at home, that’s three of the top ten picks in fantasy who got hurt this week. (Note - it is being reported that Adams could have returned to the game but with Green Bay having a lead they played it safe).

Brandon Scherff, G, Washington Football Team   

Obviously none of us have Scherff on our fantasy rosters, but indirectly this injury will impact the fantasy landscape. He’s arguably one of the best offensive linemen in football. Haskins took several sacks on Sunday and Washington was only able to put up 15 points. If he’s going to miss significant time, it will be a downgrade to the entire Washington offense (which wasn’t super high on our list to begin with). I would look at playing defenses against Washington in this case.

Tyrod Taylor, QB, Los Angeles Chargers  

Taylor had trouble breathing during pre-game warmups and was taken to the hospital. Rookie QB Justin Herbert filled in admirably, taking the defending Super Bowl champions down to the wire in overtime. Coach Lynn, for now, is saying Taylor is still the starter but after watching Herbert I can’t imagine it will last much longer. Once Herbert replaces Taylor, I would consider this an upgrade to all the offensive pieces here. The Chargers could add a lot of value to us from a fantasy perspective.

Parris Campbell, WR, Indianapolis Colts   

It was a knee injury for Campbell and he had to be carted off, which obviously isn’t a good sign. Should he miss significant time, Michael Pittman would likely step into the number two receiving role and expect TY Hilton to get a bump to his already high target market share.

Will Fuller, WR, Houston Texas

And so goes the story with Fuller. He has about as much upside as any player in football when healthy. But the “when healthy” piece is rare. With DeAndre Hopkins playing for the Cardinals now, this would leave Brandin Cooks as the primary receiver for Houston. If Fuller misses time, teams will look to take Cooks away, leaving the underneath guys (Coutee, Cobb, tight ends) as the biggest beneficiaries. This is obviously a downgrade to Deshaun Watson as well.

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