Unfortunately, I swung and missed on all three of my bold predictions last week. Emeka Egbuka was the WR3 in half-point per reception (half PPR) points in Week 1, but a second rookie didn’t join him among the top-15 half PPR wideouts. J.J. McCarthy produced three touchdowns (two passing and one rushing), but he fell 107 passing yards short of my 250-yard prognostication. Finally, James Conner flubbed a mouthwatering matchup and didn’t come close to finishing as the RB1 in all scoring formats. I’m ready to rebound with the following three bold predictions in Week 2.
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Week 2 Fantasy Football Bold Predictions
Medium
Travis Etienne Will Be a Top-10 Fantasy Football RB in Half PPR and PPR Formats This Week
Travis Etienne is the RB16 in half PPR expert consensus rankings (ECR) and the RB15 in PPR ECR for Week 2. I’m more bullish on his outlook. Etienne handled 16 of Jacksonville’s backfield’s 25 attempts (64%) in Week 1. However, Tank Bigsby was second in the backfield, with five rush attempts. He was traded to the Eagles. Bhayshul Tuten (three rush attempts) in Week 1 might soak up Bigsby’s vacated rush attempts if the Jaguars stay in a neutral game script against the favored Bengals. However, Bigsby’s exodus removes an annoying threat to Etienne’s rushing workload.
Speaking of annoying, according to the data suite at Fantasy Points, LeQuint Allen ran six routes (18.2% route participation rate) in Week 1. Still, Etienne’s 45.5% route participation rate led Jacksonville’s backfield, and it was 21st among running backs in Week 1. Etienne had a fantasy-friendly role in Week 1, and he erupted for 143 rushing yards, three receptions and 13 receiving yards. The Jaguars at the Bengals has shootout potential, and Etienne can thrive in a negative, neutral or positive game script thanks to his well-rounded skill set.
Hot
Drake Maye Will Exceed 20.0 Fantasy Points in Week 2
According to StatHead, Drake Maye has surpassed 20.0 fantasy points only once in his young career. The dual-threat second-year quarterback has the red carpet rolled out for him to do so for the second time in his career this week. Daniel Jones was tied for the second-most fantasy points (29.5) in Week 1, destroying Miami’s laughably bad defense. According to Pro Football Reference, Danny Dimes completed 22-of-29 passes (75.9%) for 272 yards, 9.40 adjusted net yards per attempt (ANY/A), one touchdown and zero interceptions, with seven rush attempts, 26 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Miami’s secondary looked suspect on paper entering the year. To that point, John Kosko from Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked their secondary 29th. They didn’t do anything to dissuade their doubters by allowing Danny Dimes to stuff them in a locker last week. Meanwhile, while Maye didn’t have a monstrous outing in Week 1, he threw for a career-high 287 yards in his first game with Josh McDaniels as his offensive coordinator. He’ll continue to pile up the passing yards this week and produce more touchdowns than the one he threw for and zero he ran for last week, allowing him to eclipse 20.0 fantasy points against the dumpster fire Dolphins.
Atomic
James Conner Will Have at Least 110 Rushing Yards With a Touchdown Against the Panthers
I’m not a quitter. Conner let me down last week, but he won’t do so this week. According to StatHead, Conner had at least 110 rushing yards only three times in his last 17 games. Predictably, he scored at least one touchdown in each of those contests.
Conner had the premier eruption-spot matchup last week. According to Pro Football Reference, the Panthers permitted an NFL-high 148.2 rushing yards per game and a whopping 21 touchdowns (18 rushing and three receiving) to running backs last season. Jacksonville’s running backs ran roughshod over them for an NFL-high 173 rushing yards at a blistering 6.92 yards per carry in Week 1.
The Cardinals are 6.5-point favorites at home this week. Conner should be busy if the Red Birds beat up on the Panthers. According to RotoViz’s pace app, Arizona has run the ball on 50% of 583 plays when tied or leading, excluding the final two minutes of the first half, since last year. Conversely, Carolina’s defense is tied for the highest situation-neutral rush rate (49%) against them since the start of last season. Even if Trey Benson mixes in as a change-of-pace option after handling 40% of Arizona’s backfield’s rush attempts in Week 1, Conner can rush for at least 110 yards and score a touchdown against Carolina’s barely-there run defense.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
