Top 5 Fantasy Football Takeaways: Surprises & Disappointments

Week 2 was wildly entertaining. The scoring was through the roof. It was challenging to narrow the pleasant surprises to two, but an offense bouncing back from a lackluster Week 1 and a quarterback passing a stiff test in Week 2 will get the nod. The two disappointments were more straightforward, with one being the story of Week 2.

Finally, one rookie position group had mixed results in Week 2, with some players emerging from the week with their stock up, and others at the other end of the spectrum.

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Top 5 Fantasy Football Takeaways

Let’s dive into the biggest takeaways from Week 2.

Fantasy Football Week 2 Surprises

Lions Whooped Ben Johnson’s New Team

The Lions struggled in Week 1, but the Packers’ lockdown performance on Thursday Night Football against the Commanders provided a reason to believe Detroit’s ugly showing might have been more about Green Bay than about Detroit. Offensive coordinator John Morton and the Lions quieted the critics with an offensive explosion at home against the Bears.

The Lions 8.8 yards per play in Week 2 would’ve been the 2nd-best game from any team in 2024. It’s even better than the Ravens had last week.

+1.1 EPA per play action attempt. Per!!!

– Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) September 14, 2025

Jared Goff completed 23-of-28 pass attempts for an eye-popping 334 yards and five touchdowns. He didn’t throw an interception or take a sack. At the least, Goff is an intriguing player at home, or perhaps in any dome. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams both bested 100 receiving yards, with the former tallying nine receptions, 115 receiving yards, three receiving touchdowns, two rush attempts and seven rushing yards, and the latter recorded two receptions for 108 receiving yards and a touchdown on four targets. The Sun God is a must-start player in all formats and league sizes, and Williams is a volatile option, but Week 2 was encouraging for his chances of producing booms to offset the busts.

Detroit’s backfield remained a two-headed monster. Jahmyr Gibbs had 12 rush attempts for 94 yards and a touchdown; David Montgomery had 11 rush attempts for 57 yards and a touchdown. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Gibbs ran 18 routes versus only seven for Montgomery. Gibbs is game-script proof, and gamers who have him on their rosters should be excited. However, Montgomery isn’t going away, slightly capping Gibbs’ ceiling. Montgomery is more game-script sensitive. However, if Detroit’s offense is a juggernaut, he’ll regularly find paydirt and produce 60+ scrimmage yards, putting him comfortably in the RB2 mix.

Sam LaPorta had an unexciting three receptions for 26 scoreless yards on four targets. Nevertheless, a high tide of a well-oiled machine on offense would raise all ships, including LaPorta.

Daniel Jones is the Real Deal

Daniel Jones was tied for the QB2 in fantasy points (29.5) in Week 1. He completed 22-of-29 pass attempts for 272 yards and one touchdown. Of course, part of the fantasy appeal of Jones at his best was his rushing, as he also ran seven times for 22 yards and a touchdown. Still, Jones’ spectacular showing was met with a “yeah, but.” Miami’s defense, particularly its secondary, appeared weak on paper entering the year. The Dolphins were lit up again in Week 2. However, keeping the focus on Jones, the real litmus test for his fantasy validity was a Week 2 home start against Denver’s vaunted pass defense.

Not only did Danny Dimes avoid wilting against the Broncos, but he was spectacular. Jones completed 23-of-34 passes for 316 yards (9.3 yards per pass attempt) and one touchdown. He also scored a tush push touchdown. Furthermore, Jones didn’t turn the ball over, and he was sacked only once. Jones is a legitimate top-10 fantasy quarterback until further notice.

Fantasy Football Week 2 Disappointments

Joe Burrow Could Miss Three Months

The Bengals are 2-0, but their Week 2 win came at a significant cost. Joe Burrow has turf toe, and if he needs to undergo surgery, it will likely sideline him for three months. Jake Browning is a viable waiver wire option for gamers with Burrow, and Cincinnati’s interim starting quarterback isn’t a disaster for Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins.

According to RotoViz’s pace app, in Browning’s seven starts (Week 12 through Week 18) in 2023, the Bengals were tied for the sixth-highest situation-neutral pass rate (60%). Per Pro-Football-Reference, Browning averaged 266.9 passing yards per game with 11 passing touchdowns in those starts.

The below table has Chase’s and Higgins’ stats in those games, via the data suite at Fantasy Points.

Chase and Higgins were efficient with Browning in 2023, as evidenced by their superb yards per route run (YPRR). Obviously, their value takes a hit without Burrow, but gamers shouldn’t panic and trade them away for a quarter on the dollar. Still, if gamers with Chase can sell him at face value or slightly higher after he torched the Jaguars for 14 receptions, 165 receiving yards and one touchdown reception on 16 targets, that would be a reasonable move.

Kyren Williams Has Company

Kyren Williams isn’t in imminent danger of getting passed on the depth chart. The Rams are committed to him, signing him to an extension during the offseason. Per Over the Cap, Williams’ extension was for three years and $33 million, with $15.1 million guaranteed. The sizable financial commitment should have been a signal he’d continue to be used as a workhorse, right? To quote Lee Corso, not so fast, my friend.

Perhaps the large expenditure on Williams should have been interpreted as a sign the Rams wanted to lighten his workload to keep him fresh and healthy over the length of his deal. Williams isn’t an explosive runner, and he doesn’t add much value as a pass-catching weapon, leaving him dependent on a bell-cow workload to be a reliable weekly option. The gravy train might have run dry.

According to PFF, Williams played 43 snaps and ran 17 routes in Week 2. He toted the rock 17 times for 66 scoreless yards and had two receptions for 14 scoreless yards. Williams’ 19 touches look good on the surface.

Yet, Blake Corum played 18 snaps, ran 10 routes and parlayed his opportunities into five rush attempts, 44 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. The Rams won 33-19, but they trailed 13-10 at the half and led 20-16 after three quarters. Despite the game’s 14-point final margin, it wasn’t a blowout from start to finish. In addition, Sean McVay provided comments about the backfield split after the game.

Sean McVay said that the split today between Kyren Williams and Blake Corum (69.5% and 30.5%, respectively) was “much more in alignment” with how he wants the Rams backfield to look

– Adam Grosbard (@AdamGrosbard) September 14, 2025

McVay’s comments, verifying that the backfield split is what they envisioned, are suboptimal for Williams’ fantasy value going forward. Williams should be treated as a low-end RB2.

Miscellaneous Note

Mixed Results for Rookie RBs

This year’s NFL Draft class of running back prospects was considered one of the best in recent years by most pundits, and following them throughout the season will be interesting. It wasn’t all roses for the class this week.

TreVeyon Henderson and RJ Harvey were picked in the second round, and both were buzzy during fantasy draft season. Unfortunately, Henderson played 19 snaps, ran 11 routes, had two targets and carried the ball three times versus 39, 16, five and 11 for Rhamondre Stevenson in Week 2. Furthermore, Antonio Gibson made it a three-person committee, with 10 snaps, four routes, one target and five carries. The dynamic rookie had only 40 scoreless yards in his committee role. Henderson should be glued to fantasy benches.

Harvey was also the second back in a three-back committee. He had 19 snaps, 11 routes, one target and five carries against the Colts compared to 27, 10, two and 14 for J.K. Dobbins and 13, nine, two and one for Tyler Badie. Harvey’s role yielded only 24 scoreless yards. Like Henderson, Harvey should be put on the back burner on the bench of fantasy rosters.

As unappetizing as Henderson’s and Harvey’s Week 2 showings were, Kaleb Johnson‘s was mind-meltingly dreadful. Johnson’s two offensive snaps were the least egregious part of his line. Instead, he made a critical error on kickoff return duties.

The Seahawks just recovered a kickoff in the end zone for a touchdown!

SEAvsPIT on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/0J1gEbqx4r

– NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025

Johnson’s blunder is unlikely to result in more snaps on offense. Compounding problems for him, Pittsburgh’s offense crashed and burned this week. He can be cut in 12-team leagues or smaller with medium-sized benches.

Cam Skattebo led Big Blue’s backfield in rush attempts (11), rushing yards (45) and snaps (35). He ran for a touchdown, and his 18 routes were only one fewer than Tyrone Tracy‘s 19. Gamers shouldn’t start Skattebo yet, but his stock is up.

Bhayshul Tuten should have already been a priority waiver wire stash, but he confirmed his value as a wait-and-see bench option in Week 2. Travis Etienne comfortably headlined Jacksonville’s backfield with 47 snaps, 26 routes and 14 carries. However, Tuten made the most of his 18 snaps, seven routes, eight carries and two targets, producing 42 rushing yards, two receptions, 32 receiving yards and a touchdown reception. Tuten can emerge as an early-career Tony Pollard-like Flex if he notches 10-12 touches weekly as Jacksonville’s change-of-pace running back, and he also has contingent upside as Etienne’s backup.

The Ravens beat the brakes off the Browns, defeating them 41-17. Cleveland could be on the receiving end of some beatdowns the rest of the year, which isn’t ideal for the fantasy value of anyone on the Browns. Nonetheless, Quinshon Judkins had a nifty debut. He paced Cleveland’s backfield in rush attempts (10) and rushing yards (61). Judkins also had three receptions for 10 yards.

However, Jerome Ford played 35 snaps, ran 26 routes, had six targets and recorded six carries. Dylan Sampson played 18 snaps, recording 12 routes, three targets and four carries. Judkins was sandwiched in between with 19 snaps, eight routes, three targets and 10 carries. Judkins is worth rostering, as his role could grow as he gets more practice and game reps under his belt. Still, he’s merely a speculative bench stash in 10-team leagues with deep benches, 12-team leagues with medium-sized benches or deeper leagues.

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