Top 3 Fantasy Football Storylines of Week 2 (2025)

Week 1 was the most important data point we have to date for the fantasy football season. However, Week 2 will provide more information, and a few happenings from Week 1 make for the most intriguing storylines to track in Week 2.

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Fantasy Football Storylines

Will the Browns Continue to Deploy Two Tight Ends Heavily?

According to SumerSports, the Browns played in 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends and two wide receivers) on an NFL-high 50.7% of their snaps in Week 1. The Eagles led the NFL in 12-personnel usage in 2024 at 46.6%.

David Njoku is Cleveland’s incumbent tight end, but the club used a third-round pick (67th overall) on highly productive tight end Harold Fannin. It was unclear how the two would be utilized, but Week 1 was somewhat encouraging for Njoku’s rest-of-season (ROS) outlook.

According to the data suite at Fantasy Points, Njoku’s 79.2% route participation rate in Week 1 was the third-highest mark on the Browns and the eighth-highest among all tight ends before Monday Night Football. The veteran tight end’s 11.1% target share and 0.13 targets per route run left something to be desired, but his route participation rate bodes well for better days than his three receptions for 37 scoreless yards in Week 1.

However, Fannin was the big winner from Cleveland’s Week 1 showing. Fannin recorded the following stats in his professional debut, according to the data suite at Fantasy Points:

• 60.4% route participation
• 6.2-yard average depth of target (aDOT)
• 9 targets
• 20.0% target share
• 0.31 targets per route run
• 24.0% first-read rate
• 24.9% air yards share
• 7 receptions
• 63 receiving yards
• 2.17 yards per route run (YPRR)
• 10.1 half-PPR points
• 16.4 expected half-PPR points

Head coach Kevin Stefanski moved Fannin all over the offense, aligning him wide 13.8% of the time, in the slot at a 41.4% rate and inline 44.8% of the time. Of note for Njoku and Fannin, the Browns had an eye-popping neutral pass rate.

NFL Week 1 neutral pass rate (no SNF)

Our Raiders!!! pic.twitter.com/0hzCGjO3PX

– Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) September 8, 2025

Njoku should continue to be treated as a TE1 in 12-team leagues or larger, and Fannin is worth a speculative addition by tight end-needy gamers. Those who lost George Kittle to his hamstring injury can plug-and-play Fannin this week. Others with fringe TE1 options should add Fannin and allow the matchup and implied total for the Browns and their other tight end’s team to decide who should be started in Week 2.

Will Miami’s Pass Defense Cement Itself to Stream Quarterbacks Against Weekly?

Miami’s pitiful showing on offense got the most attention in fantasy football circles. However, gamers shouldn’t lose sight of Miami’s pitiful defense, which played poorly enough to make Daniel Jones look like an elite quarterback. Danny Dimes completed 22-of-29 pass attempts for 272 yards and one touchdown. He didn’t throw an interception, took only one sack and rumbled seven times for 26 yards and two touchdowns.

Before Monday Night Football, Pro Football Focus (PFF) graded the Dolphins dead last in pressure and 26th in coverage. Miami’s secondary is awful. Jack Jones (34 snaps), Storm Duck (17 snaps), Rasul Douglas (17 snaps) and rookie Jason Marshall (18 snaps) played the most passing snaps for the Dolphins in Week 1. Among 114 cornerbacks who played at least 350 coverage snaps in 2024, Duck was tied for 97th in PFF’s coverage grade, Jones was 101st and Douglas was 103rd. Making matters worse, Duck is injured and will be out for a few weeks.

Drake Maye is the next quarterback who gets a crack at the Dolphins. He completed 30-of-46 pass attempts for 287 yards, one touchdown and one interception with four rushes for 11 yards at home against the Raiders in Week 1. The Dolphins are a get-right matchup for the sophomore signal-caller, putting Maye in fringe QB1 territory in Week 2. Additionally, the Dolphins will become an exciting defense to stream or start quarterbacks against going forward if Maye follows Jones’ lead and lights up Miami in Week 2.

What Will Arizona’s Backfield Usage Look Like in a Mouthwatering Matchup Against Carolina?

James Conner had a favorable game script and an outstanding matchup in Week 1. Unfortunately, he mustered only 44 scrimmage yards on 12 rush attempts and four receptions. Conner salvaged his day with a touchdown reception.

Making matters worse for Conner, he handled only 60% of Arizona’s rushing attempts, with Trey Benson toting the rock eight times for a team-high 69 rushing yards. According to the data suite at Fantasy Points, Conner ran 17 routes (45.9% route participation rate) versus 11 (29.7% route participation rate) for Benson.

In Arizona’s first 15 games last year, before Conner injured his right knee early in their 16th game, the veteran running back handled 232 of Arizona’s 332 rushing attempts (69.9%), with a 41% route participation rate. Conner is talented enough to remain in the RB2 mix if his Week 1 usage sticks, but his ceiling is capped if Benson maintains his hold on a meaningful change-of-pace role.

Conner is a no-brainer starter, even in 10-team leagues, in Week 2. The Panthers allowed the most half-PPR points per game (27.5) to running backs in 2024. According to Pro-Football-Reference, the Panthers were tied for the most rushing touchdowns (18) allowed to running backs, and they gave up by far the most rushing yards per game (148.2 versus 119.8 in second). Running backs also added 4.4 receptions per game, 35.6 receiving yards per game and three receiving touchdowns against Carolina.

Benson shouldn’t be used in lineups in most 12-team leagues or smaller. However, drafters who employed a Zero RB strategy, or those in 14-team leagues or larger, could do worse than rolling the dice on Benson. The Panthers haven’t fixed their run defense. Instead, they maintained their stranglehold on the dubious distinction of being the worst defense at permitting rushing yards to running backs, allowing an NFL-high 173 yards to the position in Week 1. Jacksonville’s running backs also had four receptions on four targets for 17 yards.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.