Week 2 paid the right names and burned the quiet stars.
RL
Week 2 paid the right names and burned the quiet stars.
JSN went nuclear, CeeDee feasted, Chase bounced back — and Monday Night still has Giants-Rams left.
By Rhett Landry
Week 2 did not put on the same fireworks show as the opener, and that is fine. You still got paid if you rode the right names, and you still got burned if you trusted a quiet night from a star. The Giants and Rams still have Monday Night left at SoFi, so anybody with skin in that game waits until after dark. Everybody else can start sorting the wire.
Seattle put Jaxon Smith-Njigba on another planet. ESPN had him at 42.5 fantasy points with Drew Lock under center, a personal best after the breakthrough year he already posted in 2025. That is not a fluke flash. Lock found him at every level, and Week 3 against Washington looks like another invitation.
Dallas ate Washington alive, and CeeDee Lamb was the main course. Eight catches on nine targets, 153 yards, two scores, 35.3 points in the late window. Dak Prescott threw for four touchdowns and nearly 30 fantasy points himself. Jake Ferguson snuck into the TE1 conversation with two red-zone scores. If you sat Lamb after a quiet week, you already know how that felt.
Philadelphia got weird and still found a way. Saquon Barkley took a stinger early, came back briefly, then shut it down pending an MRI. DeVonta Smith did not care. He took a 38 percent target share with A.J. Brown gone to New England and dropped 27.7 points, the kind of night managers will point back to if this really is his WR1 year. Dallas Goedert left with a knee; Tank Bigsby got the early and red-zone work when Barkley was out, and ESPN’s Tristan Cockcroft flagged him as the Week 3 pickup if Saquon's MRI goes sideways.
Ja’Marr Chase reminded everybody why you do not panic after one dud. After a 3.2-point Week 1, he caught seven of nine for 75 and two touchdowns against Houston and finished with 26.5. Talent wins. Trust your first-rounder.
New Orleans kept rolling. Tyler Shough threw for 252 and a score, ran for another, and cleared 22 fantasy points for the second straight week. Chris Olave ate ten targets for 86 and a touchdown. FantasyPros has Shough inside the top five in scoring through two weeks, right next to Bryce Young, who carved Atlanta for 287, three passing scores, and a rushing touchdown in a 34-3 blowout. Young is a real streamer now, not a novelty.
Travis Kelce looked like Travis Kelce again on Sunday night. Nine of eleven targets, 101 yards, a touchdown, 25.1 points. Play speed in the route and after the catch. TE1 for Miami next week, no debate.
The ugly board was longer. Bijan Robinson managed only 11.1 against Carolina in a game Atlanta never had a chance to finish. Justin Jefferson went quiet in a wet Chicago afternoon. Drake London is stuck until Michael Penix or Tua Tagovailoa get healthy. Marvin Harrison Jr. ran routes and caught nothing on one target; FantasyPros is already telling managers in standard leagues it is not crazy to cut him. On the wire that actually matters, ESPN flagged Browns rookie Denzel Boston (rostered in about a quarter of leagues) after 95 yards and a score in back-to-back weeks with a touchdown.
Injuries will decide half the waiver scrum. Caleb Williams left late with a hamstring; early word leans mild, a couple weeks, not IR, but Bagent is the name for now and Chicago’s pass catchers take a hit if that sticks. Jayden Daniels dislocated the same left elbow again and Marcus Mariota finished the game. Daniels missed three weeks with it last year. If you are staring at that hole, Young is the claim ESPN and FantasyPros both keep circling. Jayden Reed left Green Bay on a backboard with a neck injury. Alec Pierce limped out for Indy; Josh Downs ate the volume.
TreVeyon Henderson finally cracked the New England door after Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled early. FantasyPros had Henderson on 16 carries for 76 and a touchdown while Stevenson’s snaps dried up. Boom-or-bust until the receiving work shows up, but the depth chart moved.
Monday night still belongs to the Giants and Rams. File your Sunday ledger, claim the names the tape already proved, and leave the SoFi box score for after midnight.
More on The Field: https://capitolandcleats.com/the-field
Related: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/week-1-didnt-whisper-it-yelled
Related: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/oxford-took-the-magnolia-bowl-texas-gets-the-nfl-remote-today