Week 2 Fantasy Football WR Report: Starts, Sits and the Consensus No. 1
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports. Pictured: Emmanuel Sanders
- The Action Network ranked fantasy football wide receivers across standard, PPR and half-point PPR leagues for Week 2.
- We break down three favorable wide receiver matchups, including Emmanuel Sanders against the Raiders.
- We also break down why you should fade one of Tom Brady's favorite targets this weekend.
Which wide receivers have the most favorable fantasy matchups this week? Who should you fade?
Here's a breakdown of five notable wide receivers featured in Sean Koerner, Chris Raybon and Matthew Freedman's Week 2 fantasy football rankings.
The No. 1 WR
Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers
The Chiefs-Steelers matchup boasts the highest game total (52.5) of the slate with a close four-point spread as of writing (see live odds here). I'd expect a lot of back and forth on Sunday, with Brown taking full advantage of the Chiefs' weak secondary.
Brown has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Ben Roethlisberger's extreme home/road splits as the receiver has averaged 28.24 DraftKings points per game at home since 2014 (per the FantasyLabs Trends tool).
The Most Favorable Matchups
Emmanuel Sanders, Denver Broncos
The Broncos have one of the most condensed target shares in the league with Sanders and Demaryius Thomas representing 53.85% of their market share of targets. And Sanders leads the way with 28.21% target share.
Per Pro Football Focus, Sanders ran 62.2% of his routes from the slate in Week 1, so he will see a lot of Raiders cornerback Leon Hall, who allowed a passer rating of 106.7 when targeted last week.
Sanders cracks our rankers' top 20 in standard, PPR and half-point PPR.
Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings
Thielen saw 34.29% of the target share last week, leading the Vikings with 12 targets.
Overall, the Packers struggled to stop the pass last year, allowing 30 touchdown passes and 6.9 yards per attempt. Their rookie corner, first-round pick Jaire Alexander, will have his hands full with Thielen in the slot — where Thielen ran 66.7% of his routes last week per PFF.
Thielen ranks no worse than ninth in our experts' standard, PPR and half-point PPR rankings.
The Fades
Chris Hogan, New England Patriots
Hogan played 91% of the snaps last week, but saw only five targets. Now on Sunday he has to duel with two of the best cornerbacks in the league: A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey.
Freedman, Koerner and Raybon all have Hogan ranked 30th or worse.
Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers
Adams is dealing with a shoulder injury from last week, but he's fully expected to suit up at the time of writing. Even if Aaron Rodgers (knee) is active, this is one of the worst matchups on the board.
Since Mike Zimmer took over in 2014, Rodgers averaged 206.57 passing yards and 1.86 passing touchdowns per game against the Vikings, compared to 268.51 passing yards and 2.35 touchdowns per game against everyone else. Those splits could trickle into Adams' fantasy output.
Adams is an even easier fade if DeShone Kizer is starting.
Want another edge? Be sure to keep up with the week's news on FantasyLabs.
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