Fantasy
9/19/22
6 min read
Five Fantasy Takeaways from NFL Week 2
Welcome to The Five Takeaways! Every Monday morning from here on out, this article will bring you the top need-to-know storylines for Fantasy Football in 2022. All data included in this article comes from TruMedia. Enjoy!
The Miami Dolphins Are a Scary, Pass-First Team.
- The Miami Dolphins closed Week 2 with the league’s No. 1 neutral-game passing rate, 73.1%. Their 67.4% rate during the first two weeks is top-five in the NFL.
- Coach Mike McDaniel is intent on featuring wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle as the focal points of Miami’s offense. Hill and Waddle look like the most likely wide receiver duo to finish inside the position’s top-12 by year’s end.
| Miami Dolphins | Routes/Targets | Receptions-Yards-Touchdowns | Target per Route Run Rate | Yards per Route Run |
| Tyreek Hill | 71/25 | 19-284-2 | 35.2% | 4.00 |
| Jaylen Waddle | 70/24 | 15-240-3 | 34.3% | 3.43 |
| Remaining Dolphins | 268/32 | 25-215-2 | 11.9% | 0.80 |
- Running back Chase Edmonds is in a timeshare with Raheem Mostert. Edmonds maintained a slight edge in both 3rd-down and two-minute drill usage, which is his key to RB3 relevance.
| Week 1/Week2 -> | Carries | Routes | Targets | 3rd-Down Snaps | 2-Minute Drill Snaps | Red Zone (Green Zone) |
| Chase Edmonds | 12/5 | 21/26 | 4/3 | 12/7 | 1/5 | 0(0)/5(2) |
| Raheem Mostert | 5/11 | 13/25 | 1/3 | 3/4 | 8/4 | 5(0)/5(4) |
New Orleans Saints Rookie Wide Receiver Chris Olave Is a Screaming Buy-Low
- New Orleans Saints veteran wide receivers Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry stole the show last week, Thomas due to talent, Landry due to matchup, but rookie Chris Olave stormed his way to an impressive usage profile by the end of Week 2.
- Through two games, five rookie wide receivers have earned 9 targets or more.
| NFL Rookie WRs Weeks 1-2 | Routes | Targets (Receptions) | Air Yards per Target | Target per Route Run Rate | Yards per Route Run |
| Jahan Dotson | 93 | 10 (10) | 14.40 | 10.8% | 1.06 |
| Garrett Wilson | 72 | 22 (12) | 10.18 | 30.6% | 2.14 |
| Chris Olave | 71 | 16 (8) | 23.25 | 22.5% | 1.70 |
| Drake London | 53 | 19 (13) | 9.58 | 35.8% | 3.02 |
| Kyle Philips (Week 1 only) | 21 | 9 (6) | 8.33 | 42.9% | 3.14 |
- New Orleans opened the year with a brutal one-two schedule-punch against the vaunted secondaries of the Atlanta Falcons (Casey Hayward and A.J. Terrell) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Jamel Dean, Carlton Davis, Antoine Winfield Jr., Logan Ryan and Mike Edwards).
- During the next three weeks, New Orleans gets to play the paltry pass defenses of Carolina, Minnesota and Seattle. Carolina has failed to record an interception despite playing Jacoby Brissett and Daniel Jones. Minnesota hasn't played its Week 2 matchup yet (Monday Night Football), but they only had 12 quarterback pressures in Week 1. That came against a Green Bay Packers offensive line that was missing both starting offensive tackles, which tied for just 18th in the NFL. Seattle has allowed 514 passing yards through two games, eighth most in the NFL ahead of Sunday Night Football. Olave will be a fantasy WR3 with a serious upside during that span.
- Among NFL players with at leave five targets in 2022, Olave’s 23.25 air yards per target ranks No. 1.
Houston Texans Rookie Running Back Dameon Pierce Dominates Carries and Sees an Uptick in Passing Game Usage.
- Houston Texans head coach Lovie Smith righted the ship this week, deploying rooking running back Dameon Pierce in his rightful role as the team’s No.1 back.
| Week 1/Week2 -> | Carries | Routes | Targets | 3rd-Down Snaps | 2-Minute Drill Snaps | Red Zone (Green Zone) |
| Rex Burkhead | 14/0 | 25/20 | 8/3 | 13/9 | 10/7 | 1(0)/2(1) |
| Dameon Pierce | 11/15 | 5/16 | 1/1 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 0(0)/4(2) |
- The drastic shift in carries is enough for fantasy managers to be excited about Pierce’s prospects. Still, the mood is bettered by Pierce’s scoring-position snaps and the steady, if minimal, third-down usage.
- Pierce is a fantasy RB3 with a good matchup against the Chicago Bears’ soft front-seven on deck.
New York Jets Rookie Running Back Breece Hall Is More Efficient Than Veterans Michael Carter and Ty Johnson.
- Rookie running back Breece Hall is playing at a very high level. Still, the New York Jets coaching staff has failed to fully utilize him, even activating “never-was” veteran back Ty Johnson this week. Johnson was inactive in Week 1 but siphoned meaningful passing down work away from Hall and Michael Carter.
| NYJ RBs Weeks 1-2 | Yards per Carry (Carry Total) | Yards After Contact per Carry | Routes-Rec/TGT-Yards-TDs | Target per Route Run Rate | Yards per Route Run | 3rd-Down Snaps | 2-Minute Drill Snaps | Red Zone (Green Zone) Snaps |
| Michael Carter | 4.88 (17) | 2.94 | 51-12/14-67-0 | 27.5% | 1.31 | 14 | 20 | 13 (6) |
| Breece Hall | 5.62 (13) | 4.85 | 34-7/10-48-1 | 29.4% | 1.41 | 5 | 5 | 10 (7) |
| Ty Johnson | 0 (0) | 0 | 10-1/3-4-0 | 30.0% | 0.40 | 8 | 6 | 1 (0) |
- Hall’s efficiency, both as a rusher and receiver, is too potent for coach Robert Saleh to ignore for long. Both of New York’s next two opponents, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, quietly offer Hall an opportunity to steal the coach’s gaze. Cincinnati (1.41) and Pittsburgh (1.43) are top-15 in yards per carry allowed before contact through Weeks 1 and 2.
- Hall may have already won the scoring-position role. He out-snapped Carter in the green zone four-to-two in Week 2 after trailing three-to-four in Week 1.
Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Marcus Mariota Needs to Be Rostered in All Formats.
- With two Monday games left to play in Week 2, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota is middle of the pack in total passing yards and touchdowns (411 yards, two touchdowns). Still, it sits top-three in quarterback rushing attempts (18), yards (88) and touchdowns (1).
- He’s committed a total of 3 turnovers (2 interceptions, one fumble), one of which as time expired in a wild loss to the Los Angeles Rams this weekend.
| Weeks 1 and 2 | Yards per Carry (Carries per game) | Rushing Yards / TDs / Fumbles per game | Passing Yards / TDs / INTs per Game | 17-Game Projected Rushing Yards-TDs | 17-Game Projected Passing Yards-TDs-INTs |
| Marcus Mariota | 4.89 (9.0) | 44.01/0.5/0.5 | 205.5/1/1 | 748.17-8.5-8.5 | 3,493.5-17-17 |
- Based on the projections in the table above, Mariota is on pace to score 282.56 fantasy points throughout a 17-game season. That total would have earned him the QB12 overall finish in 2021. For fantasy managers who just lost San Francisco quarterback Trey Lance for the year, Mariota is your replacement.
Watch More: The Bucs Still Have a Lot to Do
