Fantasy Football Week 2: Dave Richard Offers Start, Sit, and Flex Rankings

Fantasy Football is all about the matchups. Even though you drafted your team with certain hopes and intentions, your weekly lineup decisions shouldn't be determined by the order you picked your players in. You need to check who your players play and make sure you've got the right guys in -- and the wrong guys on the bench.

It's too early to be absolutely sure which matchups will be easy and which will be tough, but we can make some educated guesses based on healthy personnel, defensive schemes, track records and key details of offenses. The things we know can help us minimize the impact of the things we don't know. This should lead to better decision-making.

Let's go through every game and highlight the players who aren't obvious starts and sits (because you don't need to be told to start Bijan Robinson ). You should feel more comfortable starting or sitting players based on the information given, and feeling comfortable with your Fantasy lineup before the games start is the best feeling in the world.

Dave Richard's Week 2 rankings: Top 150 | QB | RB | WR | TE | K | DST

Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

Detroit Lions

@ Buffalo Bills

Thu, Sep 17 at 8:15 pm ET • BUF -5.5, O/U 54.5

Lions deserve credit for putting a lot of pressure on Tyler Shough last week, landing five sacks (more than any other team). However, it's notable they had a solid-not-spectacular 35.5% pass rush pressure rate. I'm not even sure it'll matter how much they blitz in this short-week road game at a charged-up, fresh venue in Buffalo. I'd expect them to play a lot of zone coverage until they have to revert to man-to-man in an effort to blitz Allen and create some turnovers. If that's the case, then I'd expect Dalton Kincaid to keep seeing targets like he did last week (29.4% target per route run rate and 22.5 yards per catch against Houston's zone defense). Remember, the Lions' defense gave up a combined 7-87-2 stat line over 15 targets to New Orleans' top two tight ends last Sunday.

Jared Goff will have one of his six outdoor games in Week 2 against a Bills defense that was knocked around pretty good by C.J. Stroud on Sunday, especially in the middle of the field. I would guess Buffalo will stick with zone-heavy coverage but blitz plenty, something they did against Stroud, even though the pass rush pressure really didn't make a difference until late in the game. They might this week -- the Lions will be down two starters on the offensive line from Week 1 (three if you could center Cade Mays ). Goff has rarely played well when pressured, the latest example being last week, when he avoided pressure nicely on Amon-Ra St. Brown's red-zone touchdown but otherwise was 2 of 6 passing for 30 yards. His 50% completion rate last year when pressured is also an example. It's also a worry that it took Goff a while to get rolling last week and frankly got lucky to have a decent Fantasy game (the overtime TD was huge). I would go with higher-upside choices like Brock Purdy and Baker Mayfield (against the Browns ). Anecdotally, Goff's career-best game on the road on a Thursday short week was 13.4 in a six-point league.

- MUST-STARTS: Josh Allen , Jahmyr Gibbs , James Cook, Amon-Ra St. Brown - STARTS: DJ Moore , Jameson Williams , Sam LaPorta , Dalton Kincaid - SITS: Jared Goff, Khalil Shakir , Sione Vaki , Ray Davis , Lions DST, Bills DST Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

Carolina Panthers

@ Atlanta Falcons

Sun, Sep 20 at 1:00 pm ET • ATL +2.5, O/U 43.5

Since Jalen Coker saw a normal snap share in 12 games from Week 8 on last year, he's outproduced Tetairoa McMillan in PPR points per game despite seeing fewer targets. The numbers really favor Coker if you go back from Week 11 on last year, a nine-game sample. I say that to let you know that it's not wrong to view Coker and McMillan as equals, at least as of now. That being said, Coker enjoyed a coverage bust on his 51-yard touchdown and may just be the Panthers ' best wideout in man-to-man coverage. He certainly looked quicker than he did in 2025. The Falcons pass rush was actually effective last week, getting pressure on 43% of their snaps despite just a 12% blitz rate, but I'd bet against that being a factor against Bryce Young and the Panthers passing game. Even if the Falcons go the shadow route with A.J. Terrell on Tetairoa McMillan, I think both receivers can have another solid week. Besides, McMillan had a 4-70-1 stat line against Terrell over 34 routes in one game last year, per FantasyPoints Data.

- MUST-STARTS: Bijan Robinson, Drake London - STARTS: Chuba Hubbard (low-end No. 2 RB), Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker (both low-end No. 2 WRs), Kyle Pitts - SITS: Bryce Young (stash), Cooper Rush , Jonathon Brooks (stash), Darren Waller (desperation TE), Brian Robinson Jr. , Falcons DST Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

New Orleans Saints

@ Baltimore Ravens

Sun, Sep 20 at 1:00 pm ET • BAL -8.5, O/U 46.5

Tyler Shough was cool under pressure in Detroit and connected on 5 of 7 deep throws on top of his other shorter, quicker completions. While his play was a very encouraging sign for his future, his offensive line didn't hold up so well and the Saints run game was mostly stymied by the Lions outside of two good runs by Travis Etienne . The Ravens generated a higher pass rush pressure rate against a better Colts offensive line last week while playing lots of heavy zone coverage, but they also gave up five carries of 10-plus yards to Jonathan Taylor . It's possible the Saints try to get their ground game established but they gave up on it pretty quickly last week once they fell behind by one score -- the same thing can happen here, which is why I wouldn't expect a big game from Etienne. Baltimore's zone coverage might mean more short throws from Shough, perfect for Devaughn Vele to rack up more targets and have another solid game.

- MUST-STARTS: Lamar Jackson , Derrick Henry , Zay Flowers , Chris Olave - STARTS: Travis Etienne (low-end No. 2 RB), Mark Andrews (low-end starter) - FLEX: Devaughn Vele - SITS: Tyler Shough, Juwan Johnson (borderline starter), Bryce Lance (deep league stash), Kendre Miller , Justice Hill , Rashod Bateman , Saints DST, Ravens DST Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

Minnesota Vikings

@ Chicago Bears

Sun, Sep 20 at 1:00 pm ET • CHI -4.5, O/U 47.5

There were four games last year where Caleb Williams was blitzed at least 40% of his snaps -- two were by the Vikings . And, to defensive playcaller Brian Flores' credit, Williams completed just 55% of his passes for one score (he ran for another) in those two games. That's especially notable because Williams wound up having some of his best numbers when blitzed last year <i>except</i> against the Vikings. However, the Vikings have to at least be mildly concerned with breakdowns in their secondary last week that led to both Christian Watson touchdowns. Williams is capable of keeping plays alive when pressured and finding open receivers downfield. If the Vikings get too aggressive again, then all of Chicago's downfield pass-catchers are in play to make a splash or two. Rome Odunze comes to mind as someone who might, just as he did last week, when he Mossed a Panthers defensive back on an improvised deep ball.

The day will come when Carson Wentz will have to deal with a ton of pass rush pressure. That day probably won't be Sunday. Despite blitzing on nearly 40% of their snaps in Week 1, Chicago was league-average in pass rush pressure rate and notched just two sacks versus a Panthers offensive line starting two backup tackles. Bryce Young went off. Wentz has always been much more capable when not stressed by a defense, and the Bears ' secondary was a mess in Week 1. I wouldn't rule out Jordan Addison having some big plays, enough to make him a flex. Hopefully, his timing is much improved with Wentz.

- MUST-STARTS: Colston Loveland - STARTS: Caleb Williams, Justin Jefferson , D'Andre Swift , Luther Burden III - FLEX: Jordan Addison, Rome Odunze, Aaron Jones (borderline No. 2 RB) - SITS: Carson Wentz, T.J. Hockenson , DeeJay Dallas , Demond Claiborne , Vikings DST, Bears DST Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

Cincinnati Bengals

@ Houston Texans

Sun, Sep 20 at 1:00 pm ET • HOU -2.5, O/U 45.5

Cincinnati's defense got a boost by recovering four fumbles last week, two of them a byproduct of its improved pass rush. Bank on the Bengals bringing more heat this week against a Texans offensive line that started breaking down against the Bills late last week. Typically, that means shorter throws for C.J. Stroud, who threw to Dalton Schultz and Xavier Hutchinson (four targets each) when he gets the ball out inside of 2.5 seconds. That matches up with last year's numbers when Stroud was pressured -- both of those guys were in the top three in targets under 2.5 seconds behind Nico Collins . Not that you're dying for a streaming tight end this week, but Schultz certainly qualifies.

Even though Josh Allen had a monster game last week, I would lower expectations for Joe Burrow this week. The Texans' pass rush should be far more dangerous than the Buccaneers ' was in Week 1, and Burrow was quick to get the ball out last week. Imagine how fast he'll be on the trigger this week. That means more short throws, which works against Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins , who already have challenging coverage to deal with. You're going to start these guys, but a smash week would be surprising. And while I don't know if this is actually actionable advice I'd recommend, but a week after Mike Gesicki got a lot of looks against the Buccaneers' suspect linebackers in coverage, he can win his matchups again this week in the middle of the Texans zone defense down starting linebacker Henry To'oTo'o . Just understand that Gesicki had seven targets on just 17 routes last week and is not typically a full-time player for Cincy.

- MUST-STARTS: Chase Brown - STARTS: Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Bucky Irving (No. 2 RB), Chris Godwin (PPR start) - FLEX: Emeka Egbuka , Kenneth Gainwell (PPR) - SITS: Baker Mayfield (borderline starter), Jalen McMillan , Ted Hurst , Cade Otton , Erick All , Samaje Perine , both DSTs Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

Pittsburgh Steelers

@ New England Patriots

Sun, Sep 20 at 1:00 pm ET • NE -5, O/U 41.5

The Steelers are catching Drake Maye coming off a rough game, but he especially struggled once A.J. Brown got hurt, throwing all three of his interceptions in the fourth quarter, including two that were inexcusable. But if we're being fair then he deserves credit for some clutch dimes late in the game, including multiple throws to Mack Hollins on gotta-have-it downs. New Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham brought his heavy-zone scheme to Foxboro last year with the Raiders and held Maye to one touchdown in Week 1. Expect lots of zone coverage again this week, but with a little more blitzing than what the Steelers gave us on Sunday against the Falcons and backup QB Cooper Rush. Look for the Patriots to simplify their passing game with Brown sidelined and Maye in need of a bounce-back, addin

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/fantasy-football-rankings-week-2-dave-richard-makes-tough-decisions-who-to-start-sit-and-flex/)._