Matchups

Week 2 of the league saw a substantial increase to the number of points scored over week 1. There was only one matchup this week that was within 10 points, a matchup between Erik and Jacob that was significantly impacted by injuries to both teams. The matchups were as follows:
Stone (1-0) 107.54 vs. Paxton (0-1) 125.00
Tim (0-1) 95.38 vs. Alex (1-0) 123.60
Ethan (0-1) 110.94 vs. Bryce (0-1) 88.88
Nate (1-0) 104.52 vs. Perry (1-0) 84.26
Erik (0-1) 106.44 vs. Jacob (1-0) 105.06

League Standings

1. Alex (2-0) 212.16
2. Nate (2-0) 200.12
3. Stone (1-1) 245.68
4. Paxton (1-1) 216.34
5. Jacob (1-1) 206.80
6. Ethan (1-1) 206.18
7. Perry (1-1) 185.00
8. Erik (1-1) 178.76
9. Tim (0-2) 177.76
10. Bryce (0-2) 170.44

Power Rankings

1. Alex (2-0) (▲4)
Roster:
QB Justin Herbert 22.20
RB Derrick Henry 17.00
RB Javonte Williams 6.80
RB Dalvin Cook -0.30
RB Gus Edwards 12.20
RB Brian Robinson 27.90
WR Garrett Wilson 15.30
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown 11.20
WR DeAndre Hopkins 6.00
WR Puka Nacua 22.60
WR Keenan Allen 27.10
TE Mark Andrews 13.00
K Graham Gano 7.00
D/ST Patriots 4.00
TOTAL SCORE: 123.60
Alex has built a monster of a roster. He made it out of this weekend with no major injuries in a week where several key players across the NFL went down with injuries. He also managed to grab a couple of immediate performers off the waiver wire in Gus Edwards and Puka Nacua. He had an incredible 4 WRs score over 10 points, including 2 over 20 in Keenan Allen and Puka Nacua. He had 3 RBs score over 10 points. Alex's roster has the depth to absorb bye weeks and injuries as the season continues to progress, setting himself up as the rightful number 1 in this week's power ranking.

2. Nate (2-0) (▲1)
Roster:
QB Jalen Hurts 25.22
RB Josh Jacobs 7.40
RB Jahmyr Gibbs 9.10
RB James Cook 17.90
WR Stefon Diggs 10.10
WR DK Metcalf 10.50
WR Chris Olave 11.60
WR Chris Godwin 8.30
WR Christian Kirk 16.46
WR Terry McLaurin 13.90
WR Elijah Moore 5.60
TE Darren Waller 10.60
K Nick Folk 10.00
D/ST Browns 10.00
TOTAL SCORE: 104.52
While Nate's team didn't put up as great of numbers as Alex's team, and was even below the median score for the league, his team did show that he will be one of the more consistent teams in the league. It looks like Darren Waller is recovering from his hamstring injury that was bothering him at the start of the season, and I'm sure Darren Waller will only get better as he gets more reps with Danny Dimes over the course of the season. While Nate did take an injury step-back from DK Metcalf sustaining a rib injury during the Seahawks victory over the Lions, that injury does not seem like it will hold him back from competing in the future. Nate also stands to gain from an injury to Jahmyr Gibbs's fellow Detroit Lion RB David Montgomery, who initial reports indicate could be out for a week or 2 from a thigh injury. Nate has cause for concern with regards to his keeper Josh Jacobs having negative rushing yards this week; however, as long as he keeps producing in the receiving game, Josh Jacobs will continue to hold good value. Christian Kirk also looked good for Nate this week; although he didn't grab any touchdowns, he seemed to be the star receiver for the Jaguars this week. Overall, Nate lacks the depth at the RB position and star power at the WR position to be competing with Alex for the first slot in the power rankings, but his strong start to the season and good positional distribution will lead to a solid season for him.

3. Paxton (1-1) (▲3)
Roster:
QB Patrick Mahomes 21.20
RB D'Andre Swift 25.60
RB Rhamondre Stevenson 13.50
RB Kyren Williams 25.00
RB Samaje Perine 3.90
RB Elijah Mitchell 0.00
RB Jonathan Taylor 0.00
WR Ja'Marr Chase 5.60
WR Jaylen Waddle 10.40
WR Jerry Jeudy 4.00
WR Gabe Davis 18.20
WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba 5.90
WR Diontae Johnson 0.00
TE Evan Engram 8.70
K Harrison Butker 5.00
D/ST Saints 10.00
TOTAL SCORE: 125.00
While Paxton's team may look scary now, it has the potential to look even more dangerous when Jonathan Taylor comes back from the PUP list. Paxton made huge strides on the waiver wire this past week to shore up his RB position, and it looks like he did just that, nabbing D'Andre Swift (I'll discuss this more when I get to Ethan, don't worry) and Kyren Williams. D'Andre Swift bounced back from a game with almost no touches during his matchup against the Patriots Week 1 to setting his career best for carries, toting the ball 28 times and adding 3 receptions Week 2. If this usage continues, Paxton looks like he will have gotten a steal on the waiver wire. I fully expect his WR core to improve as the season progresses, as Ja'Marr Chase has had an uncharacteristically slow start to the season, partially due to the general woes of the Bengals offense. When Jonathan Taylor comes back, Paxton will have some tough decisions to make on who to start at the RB position unless he shifts one of them off for an upgrade, potentially at the WR position. Paxton team looks poised for success, as he looks to gain a 7 th consecutive fantasy championship.

4. Jacob (1-1)(=)
Roster:
QB Josh Allen 23.66
RB Joshua Kelley 3.90
RB Aaron Jones 0.00
RB AJ Dillon 6.80
RB Zack Moss 18.70
RB Zach Charbonnet 4.00
RB J.K. Dobbins 0.00
WR A.J. Brown 4.90
WR Davante Adams 17.40
WR Deebo Samuel 19.10
WR Mike Evans 26.10
TE T.J. Hockenson 22.10
TE Luke Musgrave 3.50
K Justin Tucker 10.00
D/ST 49ers 4.00
TOTAL SCORE: 105.06
There is going to be an asterisk this week for Jacob. He started Aaron Jones, who was out with a hamstring injury. Had Jacob started any of his non-injured RBs this week, he would have won. But, he did get lucky that Erik dealt with injuries to Anthony Richardson and David Montgomery, so in the end Jacob got to play a close game despite his mistake. While Lufty's RBs underperformed and he got a less than stellar performance out of Joshua Kelley, who was filling in for Ekeler, he more than made up for it with his WR and TE positions. Deebo Samuel benefitted from an early injury to his 49ers WR counterpart Brandon Aiyuk and capitalized in the form of multiple TDs. It appears that Davante Adams passed the concussion protocol, so he should expect his WR position to remain stout for the coming weeks, but multiple TD efforts from his TE is probably something he can't count on to continue. Though, he can still expect T.J. Hockenson to be one of the best TEs in the league. Jacob is still doing some soul searching at the RB position, as he can expect his production at that position to be in danger once Jonathan Taylor gets moved off the PUP list and Ekeler comes back from his ankle injury, but for the moment Lufty has a team that can compete with the best of them.

5. Stone (1-1) (▼4)
Roster:
QB Trevor Lawrence 9.24
QB Kyler Murray 0.00
RB Saquon Barkley 24.20
RB Raheem Mostert 25.20
RB Tony Pollard 16.40
RB Najee Harris 4.80
RB Khalil Herbert 6.30
RB De'Von Achane 1.40
WR Calvin Ridley 4.20
WR Brandon Aiyuk 5.80
WR Tyler Lockett 21.90
WR Kendrick Bourne 4.90
WR Zay Flowers 8.80
TE George Kittle 4.50
K Tyler Bass 8.00
D/ST Commanders 10.00
TOTAL SCORE: 107.54
Time to review myself: everyone on my team is great and you should try to buy everyone on my team! Just joking obviously. And while it isn't all sunshine and roses, with me sitting at 1-1, I have a lot to be optimistic for as we continue through this season. Noteworthily, I am the highest scorer in the league after two weeks, thanks to several huge performances from my players. Week 1 I had monster games out of my WRs, especially Calvin Ridley and Brandon Aiyuk, whereas Week 2 all of my starting running backs looked poised to score multiple touchdowns a game. While I hope that my roster becomes more consistent over the course of the season, I do have some roster construction issues that I hope to resolve. Trevor Lawrence has been up and down to start the season, and I just have to sit around and hope that he improves to perform at the level I expected him to. I would also like to see more out of my backing RBs Najee Harris and Khalil Herbert, especially now that my RB depth looks to be setback for the next couple of weeks as Saquon recovers from his ankle injury. For the WR position, I see a lot of promise. Brandon Aiyuk was banged up early during his matchup this week so I expect his play this past weekend to be an anomaly, and Calvin Ridley had a few catches (including in the end zone) that were slightly out of bounds - so I expect a few more of those to fall his way in the future. Probably the most disappointing player so far has been George Kittle, who has had less targets than I would have expected through 2 weeks. But ultimately, if I can make it through Saquon's injury at 3-2, I think I will be in a good spot to make a playoff run.

6. Erik (1-1) (▲3)
Roster:
QB Anthony Richardson 17.74
QB Dak Prescott 19.60
RB David Montgomery 11.90
RB Isiah Pacheco 7.50
RB Kenneth Walker 17.90
RB Justice Hill 6.80
RB Austin Ekeler 0.00
WR Ceedee Lamb 19.80
WR Tee Higgins 24.90
WR Drake London 15.70
WR Treylon Burks 9.10

WR Raheed Shaheed 8.30
WR Jakobi Meyers 0.00
TE Pat Freiermuth 0.70
K Daniel Carlson 5.00
D/ST Cardinals 1.00
TOTAL SCORE: 106.44
Looking at Erik's roster, he was one of the hardest teams for me to rate. I was admittedly low on Erik's team to start the season, as he brought back a good chunk of a roster that struggled in the regular season last year. But looking at his team this year, I feel like he has the potential to put together a consistent season. I certainly don't anticipate Erik will be a front-runner going into the playoffs with this lineup, but I think he could surprise some people. Let's get into it. Erik has multiple passable QB options in Anthony Richardson and Dak Prescott. Dak has been more of a known quantity heading into the season - nobody is expecting him to be a top fantasy option, but he is expected to be solid over the course of the season. Anthony Richardson on the other hand, is a mystery - and so far he has been fantastic. Anthony Richardson left the game early following a concussion on his second TD rush of the game first quarter, and still managed to drop 17.74 points. His RB situation looks pretty solid, although Ekeler and David Montgomery are both banged up at the moment. Once Ekeler returns, Erik will have one of the better RB rooms in the league, since Kenneth Walker is picking up right where he left off after last season, scoring 2 TDs this week. His WR room looks like it will be relatively boom-and-bust, with the exception of our alma mater's Ceedee Lamb, who is a target magnet and catches everything within a mile's radius of him. If Erik can get the production levels out of Tee Higgins and Drake London that we saw this week rather than in Week 1, he will be a team to fear moving forward.

7. Ethan (1-1) (▲3)
Roster:
QB Justin Fields 14.74
RB Bijan Robinson 19.20
RB Miles Sanders 6.20
RB Alvin Kamara 0.00
RB Cam Akers 0.00
WR DeVonta Smith 21.10
WR DJ Moore 13.40
WR George Pickens 20.70
WR Michael Thomas 9.00
WR Mike Williams 12.60
TE Jake Ferguson 8.60
TE Dallas Goedert 5.20
K Jason Sanders 4.00
D/ST Falcons 3.00
TOTAL SCORE: 110.94
Ethan had one of the more interesting draft strategies I've seen in fantasy sports and I'm very excited to see how it turns out. His QB choice of Justin Fields has been disappointing so far, though I have faith that once the Bears realize their current offensive strategy of trying to utilize Justin Fields as a pocket passer isn't working for them, they'll free him up as a runner and he will improve. One of the positions it appears that he is currently struggling with is RBs. And while his decision to grab Bijan at 2 nd overall currently looks great, he has another decision, which I'm sure he is kicking himself for - dropping D'Andre Swift, who proceeded to go off for 25.60 this week. And while I can see why Ethan did it, with Swift only receiving 2 carries Week 1, this seems like it will be a mistake that ends up costing Ethan in the long run. To make matters worse for Ethan at RB, Cam Akers is in the doghouse for the Rams (again?), so it remains to be seen what will happen with him. Luckily for Ethan, he only has to wait a few more weeks for Alvin Kamara to come back from suspension, which will help shore up his RB position. His WRs showed up to help ease his woes about the RB position, with several of his RBs dropping massive gains - most notable DeVonta Smith and George Pickens, both of whom showed their abilities to stretch the field with long TDs. Especially promising for Ethan was the target share for some of his receivers - Pickens got 10 targets, Michael Thomas got 9 targets, and Mike Williams got a whopping 13 targets. All Ethan needs is for some of his receivers to grab a few more TDs out of these targets and he will be back to being in a good place.

8. Perry (1-1) (▼6)
Roster:
QB Tua Tagovailoa 12.26
RB Nick Chubb 6.40
RB Rachaad White 18.80
RB Tyler Allegier 4.80

RB Antonio Gibson 6.80
RB Breece Hall 0.90
WR Tyreek Hill 12.50
WR Romeo Doubs 4.00
WR Amari Cooper 12.50
WR Nico Collins 24.10
WR Christian Watson 0.00
TE Kyle Pitts 2.50
TE David Njoku 4.80
K Evan McPherson 6.00
D/ST Cowboys 17.00
TOTAL SCORE: 84.26
Rounding out our teams that start the season 1-1 we have Perry. Perry unfortunately lost star RB Nick Chubb for the rest of the season following his tragic knee injury during his game against the Browns Monday night, so he will need to find answers at the RB position for the rest of the season. Luckily for him, Rachaad White looks to be a passable option under the Buccaneers offense, and Breece Hall will surely receive more touches as he continues to be eased back in following his own knee injury last year. His strength is undoubtedly at the WR position, with several fantastic options, led by Tyreek Hill, who is currently the #1 overall WR on the year. His supporting cast of Amari Cooper and Nico Collins showed lots of promise, putting up good numbers on his bench this week, so Perry will need to lean on these WRs to help assuage the loss of Nick Chubb on his team. Easily the biggest surprise so far on his team is the Dallas Cowboys D/ST. This defense has scored a whopping 55.00 points through two weeks, not only making it the top scoring defense, but the TOP SCORING PLAYER IN ALL OF FANTASY. If the Dallas defense continues to look like it has throughout the rest of the year, Perry will be sitting pretty, getting great QB numbers out a position where you're usually happy with 10 points a week.

9. Tim (0-2) (▼2)
Roster:
QB Joe Burrow 15.38
RB Travis Etienne 5.20
RB Dameon Pierce 4.50
RB James Conner 16.60
RB Roschon Johnson 5.20
RB Ezekiel Elliott 1.30
RB Tyjae Spears 6.50
RB Kenneth Gainwell 0.00
WR Justin Jefferson 19.40
WR Jahan Dotson 3.70
WR Zay Jones 0.00
WR Quentin Johnston 1.20
TE Travis Kelce 10.60
K Cameron Dicker 10.00
D/ST Eagles 10.00
TOTAL SCORE: 82.38
Tim is another member of the league who had an interesting draft strategy, keeping Travis Kelce with his second round pick and opting to grab the first overall pick and nab Justin Jefferson. While he currently sits at 0-2, his team certainly has the potential to be one of the the best in the league, with a star QB, the unanimous #1 overall pick in Justin Jefferson, and the unanimous #1 TE going into the season in Travis Kelce. His team hasn't yet put it all together though, with star QB Joe Burrow having a slow start (which I believe is due to missing a majority of the preseason with a calf injury) to the season and TE Travis Kelce recovering from a pre-season knee injury. Where I think Tim struggles is depth, and while I think that will improve as the hierarchy of different teams lean to favor the younger players that Tim built his roster around such as Roschon Johnson and Tyjae Spears, it should definitely be a concern early in the season, as any injuries to his starting lineup will result in players who are frankly question marks needing to be slotted into his lineup. His position with the most depth so far in the season in his RB position, which leads to a good opportunity for him, as there are several teams that lack significant depth at the RB position, meaning he has the ability to leverage some of his options later in the season if he so chooses. Overall, I expect Tim's team's time to go a bit better as they continue to get into meat of the NFL schedule, but I think he will have some problems once bye weeks start popping up.

10. Bryce (0-2) (▼2)
Roster:
QB Lamar Jackson 22.88
RB Alexander Mattison 3.40
RB Christian McCaffrey 21.00
RB Jamaal Williams 2.90
RB Joe Mixon 11.50
WR Michael Pittman 9.60
WR Tutu Atwell 11.70
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster 5.30
WR Courtland Sutton 9.10
WR Jordan Addison 14.70
WR Brandin Cooks 0.00
WR Cooper Kupp 0.00
TE Dalton Schultz 5.40
K Younghoe Koo 12.00
D/ST Denver Broncos 0.00
TOTAL SCORE: 88.88
Bryce is unfortunately in a rough season due to Cooper Kupp's hamstring injury which flared back up right after our draft. That is leaving him playing from behind, starting out with back-to-back losses. To make matters worse for Bryce, some of the young receivers on the Rams look to be carving out a sizable role in the Rams offense, so it remains to be seen what that offense will look like when Kupp comes back. Will he immediately come back to being him, or will he see reduced touches as Stafford looks to continue leaning on his young receivers? Luckily for Bryce, he bought stock in the young WR core of the Rams, grabbing Tutu Atwell who continues to look good through two weeks. He also has another young WR on his roster in Jordan Addison, who looks to be a great keeper option for years to come as he develops his talent and his relationship with Kirk Cousins. Bryce has strength at the RB position but not a lot of depth, as Christian McCaffrey continues to look unstoppable and Joe Mixon looks solid through the first couple of weeks. Unfortunately for Bryce, Alexander Mattison hasn't quite panned out so far this year, and Jamaal Williams sustained a hamstring injury in his MNF game (I still have to get used to there being multiple Monday night games this year!). In my opinion, Bryce's best option at this point is looking to build a roster to get out of the loser's bracket early and develop keepers for next year, as his slow start to the season and Cooper Kupp needing time to recover from his hamstring injury will leave him in a hole which I fear will be difficult to climb out of.