Starts and sits for fantasy football ahead of Week 2 - Bears Wire

The first week of fantasy football did not go how some fantasy owners would have liked. One of the top tight end prospects, Colston Loveland, put up nothing, Ja’Marr Chase only had two receptions for 24 yards and Tony Pollard did next to nothing against the New York Jets.

However, some fantasy owners had a field day between quarterbacks Caleb Williams, Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence all having four total touchdowns. Derrick Henry went off for 144 rushing yards and three touchdowns and Chuba Hubbard even had a solid day with multiple touchdowns.

But that was the first week and weird things happen in season openers. Who should you start in Week 2?

Baker Mayfield did not have a good season opener with four sacks, a rushing touchdown but no passing touchdowns and three fumbles. However, that was against the Cincinnati Bengals defense. Now, he gets to face the Cleveland Browns defense. Cleveland just allowed Lawrence to put up four touchdowns, three of which came in the first half. Mayfield is definitely a top candidate for a bounce back week with the matchup he has.

This would be a lot different if A.J. Brown was still in the lineup. New England looked like a much better offense with Brown in the game and once he went down, the Patriots never scored again. He was going against the Seahawks defense Week 1 which does not help anything. However, going against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense is not a good matchup either. Between the opponent and Brown not playing, Maye is someone who should stay on the bench.

San Francisco spread the ball around in their season opener, but Samuel still managed to get seven targets and find the end zone in his return to the 49ers. Especially with rookie De’Zhaun Stribling going down, Samuel is now going to take on an increased role in this offense. Particularly for people who are in a PPR league, Samuel is someone that should be in your lineup. The matchup against the Miami Dolphins also helps since their defense is horribly inadequate.

Speaking of inadequate, the Los Angeles Rams had a rather inadequate performance against the 49ers in their season opener. Davante Adams had a lackluster game; despite being targeted six times, he only had three receptions for 26 yards. His matchup against the New York Giants Week 2 on Monday Night Football is not much better. New York managed to hold Dallas’ top receivers in check. CeeDee Lamb only had 44 receiving yards while George Pickens only had 28 yards. Until Davante proves he can get some reliable production, he may be better off on the bench.

With Jordan Mason now on injured reserve with a thumb injury, Aaron Jones is the unquestioned No. 1 running back on the Vikings and they are about to face a Chicago Bears team that gave up nearly six yards per carry last week to the Carolina Panthers. Also, across the 17 games Jones has played against the Bears, he has scored a total of 14 touchdowns - nine rushing touchdowns and five receiving touchdowns. Odds are he will get a touchdown in this game as well.

The season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders proved something most people already knew - the Miami Dolphins offense is lacking in execution and talent. However, we at least thought De’Von Achane would not be lacking in production. But, it turns out the offense is so bad that even Achane cannot do much of anything. He only had 36 rushing yards against the Raiders; even in PPR leagues, he did not do much. Now, Miami is facing one of the best defenses in the NFL in the San Francisco 49ers. This is not going to end well for Achane or the entire Dolphins team.

Atlanta Falcons passcatchers can rest easy knowing a decent quarterback has returned to practice. Michael Penix was a full participant in practice on Wednesday for the Falcons, meaning he could actually play in their second game of the season against the Carolina Panthers. Carolina had some issues on defense last week, allowing the Bears to score 59 points last week. Pitts could have a really big game in Week 2 after doing nothing in the season opener.

Note: Penix, Tua Tagovailoa and Cooper Rush were on Wednesday’s injury report. If neither Penix or Tagovailoa can start, Pitts should stay on the bench even if Rush can play.

Kyle Pitts may have his quarterback issue resolved with Penix potentially returning, but Harold Fannin Jr cannot say the same. DeShaun Watson was the quarterback Week 1 and he looked as terrible as a lot of people thought he would. Yet, he is still the starter. As long as Watson is the quarterback, everyone on the Browns should stay on the bench, including Fannin Jr.