Fantasy Football Week 2 Start/Sit Sleeper Picks

Were you able to escape the “Week 1 Wackiness” unscathed? Or did your player suffer an injury or extremely disappoint you to where you are now looking for a sleeper at that position? Don’t worry; I have a lineup full of sleepers that you may want to consider in your fantasy football Week 2 start/sit decisions!

First, I would like to recap last week’s picks that scored a total of 8.3 points over their projection! That’s largely thanks to Zack Moss and Jameson Williams. Now, while I did toot my own horn, I’m not afraid to mention that I did have Chuba Hubbard on there; he did not help the score. But I can’t hit all of them, and overall, two is better than one. So, I’ll take it! Let’s look forward to Week 2 now!

Fantasy Football Start/Sit Consideration: Week 2 Sleepers

Quarterback

Daniel Jones (New York Giants)

“Disappointin’ Daniel Jones“; that’s what he was last week. He had only 201 total yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions against the Vikings last week, finishing as the worst fantasy quarterback. So, why would I recommend last week’s worst signal-caller? Well, it’s the matchup!

Last week, the Commanders struggled against Baker Mayfield, allowing him to finish as the QB2. This was not a one-week thing. Dating back to last season, quarterbacks have been averaging 288.8 total yards, 2.3 touchdowns, 0.4 interceptions and 21.5 fantasy points per game against the Commanders.

Jones did not face off against the Commanders last year, but Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito did. Devito threw for 246 yards and three TDs, while Taylor combined for 304 passing/rushing yards and two touchdowns. If they can do it, why not Jones?

Running Back

Tank Bigsby (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Travis Etienne had a decent day last week, totaling 59 scrimmage yards and a touchdown against the Dolphins. But… then he fumbled. Enter Tank Bigsby. The former Auburn Tiger had the same number of carries as Etienne, with 12. However, Bigsby had 73 rushing yards to Etienne’s 44. While Etienne is still the RB1 for the Jaguars, I can see some carries getting stolen by Bigsby.

The matchup at hand is the Cleveland Browns. Last week, the Browns held the Cowboys’ running backs to 103 total yards and one rushing touchdown. The Browns are now around the middle of the pack against running backs after allowing the 14th-least amount of fantasy points to RBs in Week 1. This is the same position they finished in for the 2023 season.

Here’s why I like Bigsby: Last year, when the Browns were on the road, they saw five running backs carry the ball 12 or more times against them. Those running backs averaged 70.2 rushing yards and 0.6 touchdowns for 14.9 Points Per Reception (PPR) fantasy points. This is almost identical to Bigsby’s 12 carries for 73 rushing yards for a 7.3-PPR point performance last week.

Jaleel McLaughlin (Denver Broncos)

Despite Jaleel McLaughlin having fewer snaps than Javonte Williams, he was able to outperform his Broncos counterpart. Admittedly, the Dever RB didn’t do that much better than Williams. McLaughlin finished the day with 27 rushing yards and catching all five of his targets for one yard.

Now, he gets a tough matchup against Pittsburgh. The Steelers have not allowed a running back to score a touchdown in their last three games, including last year’s playoffs. The sneaky aspect of McLaughlin is his involvement in the passing game. As noted, he had 12 fewer snaps than Williams but received three more targets.

Let’s look at the three most recent running backs with five or more targets against the Steelers, excluding Week 18. Those backs averaged 46 rushing yards and 51.3 receiving yards, totaling 97.3 scrimmage yards and 17.4 PPR points per game. While I don’t expect McLaughlin to score that high, I can see him scoring somewhere in the double-digits.

Wide Receiver

Greg Dortch (Arizona Cardinals)

One of the biggest shockers in Week 1 was Marvin Harrison Jr., who only scored 1.8 PPR fantasy points. With Harrison Jr. disappointing, Greg Dortch stepped up as the second-most targeted player on the Cardinals last week with eight and finished with the most receiving yards on the Cardinals with 47.

You know what they say: Speed kills. Adding to Dortch’s big day, he had one carry for four yards. That might seem like a worthless stat, but dating back to last year and excluding Week 18, the Rams have seen eight WRs have a carry and a reception. Those eight WRs averaged 5.5 receptions for 84.4 scrimmage yards, 0.8 total touchdowns and 19.2 PPR points per game.

In three of the last four regular-season games, the Rams have experienced this. Excluding Week 18, that average increases to a shocking 5.3 receptions, 95.6 scrimmage yards, one touchdown and 20.9 PPR points. Hopefully, Dortch and Harrison Jr. can both have big days this time!

Jalen McMillan (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

The Buccaneers’ wide receivers had a field day last week against the horrid Commanders’ secondary. This includes rookie wide receiver Jalen McMillan, whose only reception was a 32-yard touchdown on his three targets. A rookie already getting a touchdown in his first game and seeing targets is good news.

His matchup this week brings more good news, as the Lions’ secondary made the Rams’ wide receivers look like a million bucks. Tyler Johnson and Demarcus Robinson both saw seven targets and had over 42 receiving yards after Puka Nacua left the game with an injury. The Lions are now going from allowing three WRs to score over 8.2 PPR points to facing another set of three WRs who all scored over 10.2 points.

Baker Mayfield woke up feeling dangerous this season. He should target his trio of receivers frequently on Sunday. Let there be points galore!

Tight End

Mike Gesicki (Cincinnati Bengals)

At first glance, Mike Gesicki‘s numbers were disappointing last week with only three receptions on four targets for 18 receiving yards. The one missed target would’ve been a 15-yard touchdown. He finished tied for the third-most targets on the Bengals’ offense in Week 1 and was the most-targeted tight end.

With the luck of the schedule, Gesicki and the Bengals get to face the Chiefs. The same team that double-covered Mark Andrews and allowed Isaiah Likely to have a huge game in the opener. After a week where the fantasy points for tight ends were low, facing the Chiefs is a prime target; they allowed the most points to the position.

With no Tee Higgins last week, the Bengals were one of 10 teams with five or more receptions from their tight ends. Combine all that, and there are a lot of things that favor Gesicki in Week 2. I would not be surprised if the former Penn State Nittany Lion had a big day on Sunday.

Check out all of our content for Week 2 of the fantasy football season:

Thanks for reading this week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers”! If you’re looking for more fantasy content like this or need help with the last-minute fantasy football start/sit decisions for your roster, you can find me on Facebook at “Fantasy Sports Start or Sit’Em Questions” or on Twitter/X @FSSOSEQ.

*Photo Credit: John Jones – USA TODAY Sports*

Ben Siebert

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Week 2 Shore Thing Sleepers (2024)