We’re only two weeks into the NFL season, and we can already see those offseason draft cheat sheets setting themselves on fire. The fantasy football gods care not where you drafted your guys — everyone is on the same playing field now. Whether due to injuries, surprise performances, or both, we’re already seeing the landscape change drastically. Some old standbys look like they have one foot out the door, while some new faces have emerged to take their places.
In this space, we’ll journey through some Interesting Tidbits every week to help you with your upcoming lineup decisions. This can include notable recent performances, changes in playing time, historical matchup trends, and so on. At the very least, maybe we’ll uncover some amusing factoids along the way! So without further ado, let’s see what’s on tap for Week 3.
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The new top receiving option in Cleveland is… Rashard Higgins?
Rashard Higgins wasn’t exactly a name going around many fantasy circles in August, but in Week 2 against the Baltimore Ravens, he led the Cleveland Browns in receiving by catching 7-of-11 targets for 95 yards. With Corey Coleman leaving the game with a broken hand, and Kenny Britt looking disinterested at best, Higgins played 54-of-71 snaps, the most of all Cleveland wide receivers. Promoted off the practice squad the day before the game, there’s no guarantee he runs away with the top spot, but with Coleman hitting the IR, there’s little in the way of competition for targets. At the very least, Higgins makes for an intriguing flyer against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 3, who have allowed the third-most passing yards in the league so far.
The new top rushing option in Seattle is… Chris Carson?
While there were signs that this could come to fruition, few expected it to happen so soon. Chris Carson led Seattle Seahawks running backs in Week 1 snaps, but it was still a modest 26-of-49 snaps, and Thomas Rawls was out with an ankle injury. Thus, with Rawls back in the fold for Week 2, some sort of timeshare was expected. Instead, Carson wrested control of this backfield, rushing 20 times for 93 yards and adding one catch for 7 yards. He once again had the most running back snaps, but this time it was a substantial 51 snaps compared to Rawls (16) and C.J. Prosise (16). Eddie Lacy wasn’t even active. There are certainly still some concerns. Rawls could become a factor as he gets into game shape. Prosise isn’t going anywhere in the passing game, and the Seattle offense as a whole has underwhelmed so far this year. That said, volume is king in fantasy, and for now this looks like Carson’s job to lose.
LeGarrette Blount has zero carries in Week 2
While Carson saw his usage skyrocket in Seattle, Blount saw the opposite happen, watching his 14 Week 1 carries plummet to absolutely none in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs. He saw the field on just 6-of-72 snaps, behind both Darren Sproles (50) and Wendell Smallwood (14). Hey, but at least he saw one target! Yikes. We saw plenty of warning signs that Blount’s usefulness in the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense could be limited, but his value may have already evaporated. He may still find some goal-line carries, but barring an injury, it’s hard to see him drawing much fantasy value anytime soon.
The Bengals have zero touchdowns through two weeks, but we should give Andy Dalton another chance
Few would have predicted that a team with Andy Dalton, A.J. Green, Tyler Eifert, and Joe Mixon would have no touchdowns after two weeks, but here we are. The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t alone in that dubious honor, but let’s just say expectations aren’t exactly high for the San Francisco 49ers. The Bengals’ matchups against the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans were no cake walks, but Dalton has been particularly brutal. He’s completed just 54.5% of his passes for 394 yards and four interceptions. Yes, it’s ugly, but don’t forget that he was a popular sleeper pick for a reason. With Green and Eifert missing much of 2016, a limited supporting cast left Dalton with a career-low touchdown rate (3.2%), despite his most passing attempts (563) and passing yards (4,206) since 2013. A bounce back was expected before the season, and it can still happen now. Changes are already afoot, as the Bengals fired offensive coordinator Ken Zampese following their Week 2 loss and promoted Bill Lazor to head the offense. In Week 3, they get a much more forgiving opponent in a Green Bay Packers team that has weaknesses in the secondary. Admittedly it’s still risky, but if you’re in a bind in deep leagues, this might be the spot Dalton and the Bengals begin to turn things around.
Tarik Cohen is sixth in the league in targets (21)
It doesn’t look like Tarik Cohen is going anywhere, accumulating another nine targets in Week 2, giving him a grand total of 21 on the season. It’s by far the most among running backs, and overall he trails just DeAndre Hopkins, Dez Bryant, Antonio Brown, Randall Cobb, and Jason Witten. Cohen also out-snapped Jordan Howard 40-31 in Week 2 and out-touched him 15-9. Howard was reportedly wearing his arm in a sling after the game as well, so this situation is quickly turning into a nightmare for Howard owners. Cohen is still probably too small to garner feature duty roles even if Howard is forced to sit out, but he’s clearly taken a big chunk of this backfield and should continue to be a waiver-wire darling in PPR leagues.
C.J. Anderson leads all running backs in touches (49)
The clubhouse leader in touches through two weeks probably isn’t among the first dozen names one would have guessed entering the season. Coming off an unremarkable 2016 campaign that was cut short by a season-ending torn meniscus injury in Week 7, not many were expecting big things from Anderson — particularly with the addition of Jamaal Charles. And yet, in addition to all those touches, Anderson is seeing 71% of the snaps, good for 10th in the league among running backs, right behind LeSean McCoy (72%). If he can keep up this kind of usage, Anderson is a locked-in RB2 that could find his way into borderline RB1 territory.
After getting 31 touches in Week 2, Le’Veon Bell is going to be just fine
In Week 2, Le’Veon Bell rushed for 87 yards, while adding four receptions for four yards in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ win over the Minnesota Vikings. While it was the second straight week that Bell didn’t produce the sort of game-breaking fantasy score we’re used to seeing, it’s the volume that stood out. He ran the ball 27 times, giving him 31 total touches on the day, and was on the field for 92% of the snaps. Among running backs, only Jay Ajayi was on the field more last week (94%). Although Bell has “only” seen 10 targets in the passing game so far. With this kind of on-field usage, it’s only a matter of time before that part of his game takes off as well. That big fantasy day is coming soon.
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Kenyatta Storin is a featured writer with FantasyPros. For more from Kenyatta, check out his archive and follow him @kenyattastorin.
