Bryce Young benched after two weeks 😬

Make sure to check out the latest video on our YouTube channel, in case you missed it: Faraz delivers his Top 20 takeaways from Week 2’s action!

• Panthers bench second year QB Bryce Young in favor of veteran QB Andy Dalton after two straight disappointing performances to open 2024

  • A harsh sentence for a quarterback doomed to fail from the beginning with a sub-par offensive line, supporting cast, and first year of coaching? Perhaps. After all, it was just his second start in the new Dave Canales system in Carolina. However, regardless of how bad the situation was around him, Young has struggled to flash any of the ability that made him the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, and that inability has only been magnified by the success of the quarterback taken off the board immediately behind him, C.J. Stroud. Through two games in 2024, Young has thrown no touchdowns and three interceptions while leading the Panthers offense to just 13 points in those two starts. With Young at the helm, there wasn’t a single fantasy-relevant pass catcher in the Panthers offense, and maybe not a single rosterable player besides Chuba Hubbard. Andy Dalton will look to provide Carolina’s offense and Dave Canales with any kind of spark heading into what should be a manageable matchup against the Raiders. At this point, Diontae Johnson can once again prospectively be placed in lineups as a flex for Week 3 in hopes that Dalton is able to resurrect whatever fantasy value might still lie in the Panthers offense. As for Young, it’s very likely that his benching means a fresh start will be necessary before his name is mentioned in any starting quarterback conversations in the near future.

• Rams WR Cooper Kupp expected to miss ‘an extended period of time’ with ankle injury, could land on injured reserve

  • First Puka Nacua, and now Cooper Kupp. The Rams hype train has officially been derailed by a myriad of injuries to some of their biggest contributors on offense, with Puka already one week into what’s expected to be at least a four week absence and Cooper Kupp raring to meet the same fate with an ankle injury of his own. With Kupp slated to miss time once again in 2024 as a potential candidate for injured reserve, this would be the third straight season where the 2021 offensive player of the year failed to remain healthy for a full year since blowing up box scores in his historic campaign. In his absence, the Rams will turn to a less than start-studded committee of pass catchers to weather the storm, including the likes of Demarcus Robinson, Tyler Johnson, and Jordan Whittington. Colby Parkinson could also be in line to receive an increased workload from the TE spot, but without any of their offensive stars besides Kyren Williams, the overall upside of this unit remains relatively low. That being said, Robinson, Johnson, and Whittington are all likely to find their way onto this week’s waiver wire list as potential volume-based replacements at flex for the absent star receivers in Nacua and Kupp.

• Eagles WR A.J. Brown expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury suffered ahead of Week 2

  • Well, that escalated quickly. What was originally reported late last week as a hamstring injury that had the possibility of holding Brown out of last night’s game against the Falcons has since evolved into a much more impactful ailment for Eagles’ No. 1 receiver. He’s reportedly expected to miss a few games as he recovers from the injury, adding him to the long list of players dealing with injuries that’s growing by the day. In the meantime, fantasy managers can anticipate Devonta Smith stepping into further increased opportunity for as long as Brown is out of the lineup. His 9 targets last night led the team, and his 76 yards and a score ranked him comfortably as a top fantasy start in Week 2. Backup WRs Britain Covey (6 targets, 6 catches, 23 yards) and recently acquired Jahan Dotson (1 target, 1 catch, 6 yards) hardly lit up the box score, but could be called upon to shoulder more of the load in the next handful of games. However, with Smith playing great football and Saquon Barkley being one of the premier dual-threat talents at RB, the target share very well may remain a top-heavy distribution – especially if Brown is able to make his return sooner rather than later.

• Brock Bowers: set it and forget it

  • Brock Bowers is the fantasy TE2 through two games, and I wouldn’t be surprised if things stay this way. 25% target share after catching all 9 of his targets for 98 yards in his second career game is extremely impressive. He did this on only 65% route participation, and we have to assume that goes up from here. He’ll be ranked in my Top-2 next week.

• Isaiah Likely fell back to earth

  • Mark Andrews led the Ravens TE duo with 4 catches for 51 yards on 5 targets on 76% route participation. Likely’s route participation fell to 49%, which led to a disappointing 2-catch 26 yard day. He’ll need to be running routes more consistently if he’s going to be an every-week starting fantasy TE.

• Klint Kubiak has transformed the Saints offense

  • The Saints have scored 11 touchdowns on offense through two games. Alvin Kamara had a monster fantasy performance with 44 fantasy points after a 22 fantasy point day in Week 1. Derek Carr looks very comfortable, and Chris Olave finished with 4 catches for 81 yards on only 16 routes run. Rashid Shaheed’s big play ability combined with 25% and 22% target shares makes him a high-end WR3. Masterclass by Klint Kubiak. Stay bullish on this offense.

• Browns backfield becoming uncertain

  • After being an afterthought in Week 1, D’Onta Foreman created a timeshare with Jerome Ford and actually doubled Ford’s carries with 14 carries despite Ford being more efficient. Foreman ended up being on the field for both of their goal line snaps. This backfield can’t be trusted next week.

• JSN and DK Metcalf combine for 30 targets

  • It would be a thing of beauty to have the passing offense funneled through these two WRs. JSN has finally showed us what he’s capable of, and he gets upgraded to a high-end WR3 after his 16-target, 12 for 117 day. Hope you bought low.

• Cardinals offense taking form

  • Kyler Murray looked unstoppable against the Rams, and it all started with getting Marvin Harrison Jr. more involved. He looked like a different player after starting slow in Week 1, catching 4 of his 8 targets for 132 yards and 2 TDs. He led the Cardinals with 38% target share, followed by Trey McBride’s second straight week of 29%+ target share.