The Weekly Bender: Week 2 Hot Takes and Takeaways

Mon Sep 15 4:17pm ET
By HOWARD BENDER
Fantasy Writer

As the dust settles on NFL Week 2 Sunday action and we gear up for a Monday Night Football doubleheader, there seems to be a weird energy permeating through the fantasy football community. You would think half the field would be elated having likely won their weekly match-up, but instead, there’s an overwhelming sense that this season could be a major disaster of epic proportions. Can you feel it? I can.

Maybe it’s the Joe Burrow toe injury or the lack of targets headed Justin Jefferson’s way this season. Maybe it’s because the Ravens have put up 81 points in two games and Mark Andrews is a ghost. Maybe it’s because the stat-heads and snap-counters from Week 1 look like a bunch of chumps after watching situations they so smugly predicted one way turned out to be the other. Or maybe it’s because grown men are still pissing and moaning about Taylor Swift’s name being mentioned in a broadcast.

Whatever the case is, there is plenty to sort out as we start to look at the Week 3 waiver wire and what the upcoming matchup have in store for us.

Joe Burrow Set to Miss the Next 3 Months

It’s like 2023 all over again, isn’t it? Probably worse, considering he still managed to play 10 games that season. Three months is 12 weeks if you’re into that whole math thing and if we’re doing fantasy football math, it means he’s gone for the rest of the fantasy football regular season. You can whine and cry all you want. The fantasy gods hate you. You paired him up with Ja’Marr Chase and now your stack is dead. Blah blah blah. We heard it then and some of us still managed to overcome the loss.

Stop your crying and check your waiver wire. If Daniel Jones is available, he’s probably your best option. He has a rushing element to his game, he selfishly poaches touchdowns near the goal-line, he’s got some decent receiving weapons and he has a pretty favorable schedule thanks to the AFC South sucking so much. If he’s there, get him.

If he’s not, don’t just grab Jake Browning and think he’s going to save your stack. With upcoming match-ups against the Vikings, Broncos, Lions and Packers, I don’t think Burrow would have survived anyway. If you want someone to try and hold for the rest of the season, give Trevor Lawrence, Matthew Stafford or Geno Smith a look. All of them have good weapons and excellent job security.

If you want to take it week-by-week, then start your streaming this week with Michael Penix, who leads the Falcons into Carolina to face a winless brigade incapable of stopping the run, yet also allows roughly 200 passing yards per game. You can also try Sam Darnold, who may not be the sexy play, but the Seahawks host the Saints and they’re worse than the Panthers. And, of course, you could even try Aaron Rodgers, who takes on a Patriots team that got housed by the Raiders in Week 1 and gave up 27 points to a hapless Dolphins team.

So stop your sniveling and fix your team. If you think losing Burrow trashes your whole season, then maybe fantasy football isn’t your thing.

It Was Always Kenneth Walker

If I had to hear one more idiot tell me about Zach Charbonnet’s snap count and touches from Week 1, I was going to lose my mind. When did one game become an accurate sample size? Especially when one of the running backs barely played in the preseason due to injury? At least we got some clarity as to who the dominant force is out of this backfield.

Walker missed the preseason and Charbonnet got a ton of work. It was only proper to give Charbonnet a heavier workload for Week 1 because Walker was still getting himself prepped and ready. But while the two shared snaps to open the game, it was easy to see which running back best fit Klint Kubiak’s run scheme and the cream rose to the top in the form of 105 yards on just 13 carries. Now you can tell me that Charbonnet had more carries and more snaps, but if you are, at least mention the majority of the fourth quarter when the game was in-hand and Seattle just wanted to run out the clock. You use your backup to do that, not your lead. Moving forward, it’s going to be Walker again. And again. And again.

Rome Odunze is Better Than DJ Moore

I’m sure we can put these two side-by-side and see if that’s actually true, but for our purposes here, it is. I was skeptical of Odunze originally. I feared that his time as the featured receiver at the University of Washington set unrealistic expectations for his time in the NFL and after a mediocre rookie campaign, it seems like that was true. However, two weeks into the season, the picture seems to be painted differently.

For the second-straight week, it is Odunze leading the Bears in both snaps and targets. Even if you take out the snaps he played on special teams, he still leads Moore in both categories, as well as receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. When we watched during the preseason, the expectation was that Moore would fill that Amon-Ra St. Brown role in Ben Johnson’s offense and Odunze would be just like Jameson Williams. But everything we have seen thus far indicates the opposite. Sure, you can tell me it’s just a two-game sample size and things could change, but I’ll hold tight to what few shares I have of Odunze and wait for that one game where Moore outproduces him so I can take a few stabs at buying low.

The Jury Is Still Out on Harold Fannin

I love it when Big Fantasy pushes a guy and we get to push back. Heading into Week 2, I warned people that the situation in Cleveland was eerily similar to what we witnessed last year in Baltimore when Mark Andrews was a ghost in Week 1 and Isaiah Likely was the waiver wire darling everyone overspent on. You were better off grabbing Juwan Johnson at half the cost as he played nearly all the snaps again, was second on the Saints in targets and found his way into the end zone. But alas, everyone wanted Fannin.

The Week 2 breakdown was pretty clear. David Njoku played more snaps and ran more routes. Fannin ran routes on a higher percentage of his snaps, though. They each had five targets and Fannin had one more catch and eight more yards. Pretty even. What do we discern from that? The Browns have two very capable tight ends and will use them both, so the rumors of Njoku’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

It should also be noted that the two tight ends also ranked fourth on the team in targets with Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman and Jerome Ford all seeing more looks. No one is outshining anyone else, so if you’re looking for tight end help, sure, you can look to the Browns, but wouldn’t you rather invest in a tight end who sees a bigger slice of the pie each week?

Quick Hits:

Justin Fields is as much of a bum this week as he was the savior last week. Maybe fix the play-action and RPO work by getting Breece Hall more than 10 carries, but how is his passing work ever going to improve if he doesn’t have any weapons? Beyond Garrett Wilson, who else is there?

Something isn’t right with the Jaguars passing game. This should have been a smash spot against the Bengals, but Trevor Lawrence struggled at times, Brian Thomas caught only four of 12 targets, Travis Hunter was pretty pedestrian, Brenton Strange stunk and they were forced to rely on Parker Washington and Dyami Brown? There’s a report that came out Monday in which Liam Coen said Brian Thomas Jr. entered the week with a wrist injury but no one heard anything like that beforehand. This team should be smashing it through the air right now and yet all anyone cares about is Bhayshul Tuten’s snap-share.

Quinshon Judkins saw just a 26 percent snap share but still led the Browns in carries and rushing yards. Say goodbye to Jerome Ford and let’s keep Dylan Sampson as the third-down pass-catcher. Do that, maybe get a legitimate QB and maybe the Browns aren’t so bad after all? I’m just kidding. They are and always will be.

If Elic Ayomanor isn’t on your radar, maybe he should be. He saw six targets in Week 1 and then another seven here in Week 2. He found his way into the end zone and he’s playing the role of the Titans’ WR2. And call me crazy, but it also looks like Cam Ward may even favor him a touch over Calvin Ridley? I won’t fully commit to that, but keep a watchful eye.

When you head to your waiver wire and you start sorting through wide receiver names like Devontez Walker, Tylan Wallace and Mitchell Tinsley, do yourself a favor and steer clear. As my great granddaddy always used to say, “the sun shines on a dog’s ass once,” and these guys all had their moments in the sun this week.

Bender out!

The Weekly Bender: Week 2 Hot Takes and Takeaways

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