Saquon Left it All on the Field 🏈

The Giants had us in the first half, not gonna lie. The Daniel Jones redemption is real.

What’s in store:

• What is going on with the Rams offense?? Cam Akers was inactive yesterday, Kyren Williams is a workhorse back, and Puka Nacua is the second coming of… Cooper Kupp? 😳

• The backfield shifts toward Bijan in Week 2… Can the eighth overall pick take on even more work moving forward?

• Jahmyr Gibbs being underutilized through two weeks 😡. I might be tilting about it somewhat here, but Craig Reynolds should not be getting snaps over Gibbs besides as a breather back.

• Puka Nacua returns on waiver wire investment in a huge way. He’s breaking records both in fantasy football and in real life.

• Rams RB Cam Akers INACTIVE just minutes before kickoff, assumed to be on the trade block

  • Akers’ time in LA has been characterized by peaks and valleys, and this might be the deepest valley yet. After he handled 22 carries for the team and put up just 29 yards in Week 1, fantasy managers were left scratching their heads as to where Kyren Williams came from. Now, it looks like Akers has once again quickly fallen out of favor with the Rams coaching staff, with rumors that he could be available on the trade block. That’s going to be the silver lining for Akers and his managers at this point, with hopes that he could join a backfield where he’ll be more utilized if the rumors are true.

• Colts RB Zack Moss handles all of the opportunities in the backfield in Week 2

  • We’ve been calling for Zack Moss’s return since he went down in the offseason with injury, and he was clearly the best running back in Indianapolis’s backfield in Week 2. If he’s not already claimed off waivers in your league, he should be a priority pickup wherever he’s available. And if you’re wondering about Deon Jackson, there’s nothing to say. He handled zero touches this week, and Moss looks to be the guy moving forward at least until Jonathan Taylor returns (a big if).

• Giants RB Saquon Barkley ends strong day with ankle injury, needed to be helped off field

  • After helping to lead the Giants (and presumably many fantasy teams) to victory in a strong performance, Saquon went down in concerning fashion towards the end of the game against the Cardinals. While the full extent of the injury remains unclear, his recovery will be thrust immediately under the microscope with the Giants slated to play the 49ers on a short week this Thursday. The belief is that it’s an ankle sprain for Barkley, but not timetable on what kind of time he could miss has been provided as of the writing of this newsletter. His status will be one to mention in the coming days.

• Lions RB David Montgomery exits game in Week 2 with apparent leg injury, believed to be a thigh bruise

  • While Montgomery was unable to finish the game against the Seahawks, the early indications are that it’s a thigh bruise for the former Bear. Montgomery’s departure did not coincide with a noticeable uptick in Jahmyr Gibbs’ usage, with Craig Reynolds stepping in as a 1:1 replacement to Montgomery. HC Dan Campbell said after the game that he’ll know more today about a potential timeline for Monty, but for the time being, there shouldn’t be any reason to believe that this will be a long-term injury for Monty.

• Bills vs. Raiders

  • James Cook sees Latavius Murray vulture some snaps, leading to just a 58% snap share. Didn’t matter though, he looked really good on his work (21 opportunities)

  • Dalton Kincaid sees the same snap share as Cook, looks like Knox and Kincaid are co-starters

  • Second straight quiet week for Josh Jacobs in a game that got away from the Raiders in a hurry. Obviously not ideal for Jacobs and it’s hard to be positive about his production in the offense, but the usage is there as usual. Strong buy-low candidate after two weeks.

  Packers vs. Falcons

  • A.J. Dillon again didn’t look fantastic filling in for Aaron Jones. Not necessarily a premium handcuff at this point, especially with the way Jordan Love has played.

  • Jayden Reed does the most with the least. He saw just over 50% of snaps, but scored 2 touchdowns and easily looked the best of any Packers WR on the day.

  • Quiet day for Romeo Doubs. Ran the most routes of any WR, but got just four targets. Touchdowns couldn’t save his say this week - and Christian Watson’s return looms.

  • Bijan Robinson’s work grows. He saw over 70% of snaps this week against Green Bay and 23 opportunities, and was very efficient. Tyler Allgeier saw significant work on the ground but the box score is reflective of what we could see more of moving forward.

  • Drake London - solid game in a tough matchup against Jaire Alexander. He led the team in targets and this is exactly what you want to see after last week’s bagel.

  Bengals vs. Ravens

  • Another relatively gross day from the Bengals offense. Tee Higgins made the most of garbage time, and Ja’Marr Chase was way too quiet again. You can’t panic about Chase, but it’s an overall offensive problem that’s going to make him harder to trust until they work the kinks out.

  • Nelson Aghalor overproduced on the limited work he got, and Bateman was the replacement for Odell Beckham.

  • Mark Andrews led the team in targets and was second in routes run behind Zay Jones (33-34). He wasn’t very efficient but did score a touchdown, and was an asset in fantasy lineups even at less than 100%. He’s back.

  Lions vs. Seahawks

  • Jahmyr Gibbs is getting the D’Andre Swift treatment, and it couldn’t be more excruciating. Even once David Montgomery left the game with an injury, it was Craig Reynolds who took over the early down work. His usage in the receiving game has helped prevent him from bottoming out, but the workload he’s getting right now isn’t going to be sustainable long-term.

  • Josh Reynolds is establishing himself as a trusted target for Jared Goff and it’s got him looking like the Lions WR2. With Amon-Ra St. Brown missing chunks of the game here and there due to injury, he logged the second most snaps of any Lions pass catcher with 53 (Sam LaPorta had 54). If he’s still on waivers, grab him ASAP.

  • Geno Smith returned to form and helped the Seahawks receivers do what they didn’t last week: play like viable fantasy starters. Tyler Lockett was ol’ reliable, reeling in two touchdowns on limited production - just 59 yards on eight catches.

  • D.K. Metcalf was limited for part of the game due to injury but returned and finished the game. He and JSN both saw 6 targets apiece.

  Texans vs. Colts

  • Tank Dell became a starter in this game, running the second most routes of any Texans receiver and securing the highest target share, as well, in the process. He essentially shoved Robert Woods into the slot and secured his first touchdown.

  • Speaking of the former Rams receiver, Woods put up another serviceable stat line. As long as he’s running a high volume of routes, he’ll be worthy of flex consideration.

  • Nice Collins stole the show Sunday, even if a lot of Houston’s wide receiver production came on the back of a significantly negative game script. He’s looked like Stroud’s favorite downfield target through the first two weeks, and is the wide receiver to have rostered right now in Houston.

  • Michael Pittman saw a 40% target share this week while turning in a respectable performance. His production came with both Richardson and Minshew in the lineup, and he should have a safe floor each week at this point with both quarterbacks playing at a high enough level to sustain weekly production.

  • Oh, and Zack Moss is the lead back in Indianapolis until Jonathan Taylor returns. Deon Jackson saw no work this week on the heels of an ugly Week 1 performance, leading to Moss being given 22 total opportunities.

How could we not reserve this Monday’s stat of the day for the man playing like he’s been possessed by Cooper Kupp? Rams rookie WR Puka Nacua has set the NFL on fire in his first two starts of his career, shattering the record for the most receptions in a player’s first two NFL starts in league history.

Nacua reeled in 15 catches on an absolutely absurd 20 targets on Sunday for 147 scoreless yards, registering a 37% target share even with QB Matthew Stafford attempting 55 passes on the afternoon. Fellow waiver wire warrior Tutu Atwell also saw a healthy 9 targets along with Kyren Williams, who dominated the Rams backfield.

The Rams were playing from behind all game, and the negative game script helped contribute to Nacua’s big day. However, given the way that Stafford has fixated on him in the passing game and the potential for more negative game scripts in the future, Nacua just might have solidified himself as a mainstay in fantasy lineups just two games into his career.