Week 2 Fantasy Football Rankings Early Look: Christian Watson, DJ Moore & More

For the first time this season, you're waking up seeing a 1-0 or an 0-1 next to your team name, and regardless of whether or not you started off with a win, you're already looking ahead to Week 2 fantasy football rankings to add another (or your first).

While it's basically the crack of dawn in terms of the Week 2 timeline, let's dive into a handful of standouts from Matthew Freedman's first run of his Week 2 fantasy rankings.

Risers In The Week 2 Fantasy Football Rankings

Javonte Williams | RB | Cowboys | RB13

After the surprising cuts of backup RBs Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah during roster cutdowns, it was already a barren backfield in Dallas, with just Javonte Williams and Malik Davis expected to get any work. Then, last weekend, Davis was placed on season-ending IR, leaving pass-blocking specialist Emari Demercado as the lone (semi-) capable body behind Williams.

To nobody's surprise, Williams was an absolute workhorse on Sunday night against the Giants. He accounted for 73% of the snaps (6th), 75% of the team's rushing attempts (6th), 100% of the inside-the-five carries (1st), and a Utilization Score of 90 (8th), en route to an RB9 finish on the week (24.2). He posted an encouraging 25% TPRR while playing 73% of the two-minute snaps, too, showcasing upside in the passing game where we didn't expect to see a ton of ceiling, despite how capable of a receiver Williams is.

Now he gets a very leaky Commanders rush defense that allowed over 140 rushing yards per game last season in what should be another high-scoring affair, positioning Williams as a borderline RB1/high-end RB2 for Week 2.

Christian Watson | WR | Packers | WR10

Nothing feels better than a breakout player breaking out in the first week of the season, and that's exactly what we saw out of Christian Watson. In a matchup against the stout Vikings defense, Watson posted 32.7 fantasy points on a 21% target share and 83% route rate. More importantly for his fantasy prospects was the fact that he was moving all over the field, getting 25% of the snaps from the slot and 15% of his snaps in motion plays.

His 3.87 yards per route run showcases his game-breaking upside (as evident by his 81-yard touchdown), and he now gets an unimposing matchup against a Jets team as a 3.5-point road favorite where our NFL Betting Game Model projects the Packers as 6-point favorites (five-star bet!). The Packers will put up points, and most of the production will funnel through the air (380+ passing yards for Jordan Love in Week 1) with Watson as the centerpiece. He feels like a sure-fire WR1 for Week 2 and a potential WR1 for the rest of the way if this keeps up.

DJ Moore | WR | Bills | WR14

After a lot of skepticism throughout fantasy circles surrounding DJ Moore entering the season, it only took him one week to prove that he just might be the alpha WR that Josh Allen needed. Against a typically stingy Texans defense and Derek Stingley Jr., Moore posted 100 yards and a touchdown on 8 targets (5 catches), with underlying metrics that point to more production on the horizon. On 81% of the routes, Moore posted a 27% target share (27% TPRR), a 21.9-yard aDOT (!!), 46% of the team's air yards and a 33% target share on third/fourth downs. Yes, please.

Going from arguably the toughest matchup in the league to a Thursday Night Football showdown against a leaky Lions secondary in what could be one of, if not the highest-scoring games of the week, Moore is locked and loaded as a high-end WR2 as Allen's new shiny toy.

Fallers In The Fantasy Rankings For Week 2

Jayden Reed | WR | Packers | WR42

While the arrow is pointing up for Watson and Matthew Golden, Jayden Reed remains the Packers wide receiver looking in from the outside. While the expectation was/is a more pass-heavy approach from Green Bay, Reed's role still doesn't seem positioned to evolve.

Despite Love passing for over 380 yards on 42 dropbacks, Reed only played 56.7% of the snaps with an 18% target share (24% TPRR). His Utilization Score of 42 is dwarfed by both Watson (83) and Golden (88), as it looks like he's, once again, the odd-man out in 2-WR sets. With such a limited playing-time ceiling and an already-low aDOT (5.6 yards in Week 1), it's hard to get excited about there being any semblance of a floor/ceiling combination from Reed that positions him as anything better than a mid-range WR4 in Week 2.

Harold Fannin Jr. | TE | Browns | TE12

Drafted throughout the offseason as a top-eight tight end after a strong rookie season, Week 1 was an alarming one for Harold Fannin. Despite playing 81.6% of the snaps with a 77% route rate, Fannin only drew 3 targets, something that only happened once in 17 games last season (2 targets; Week 17). It's very clear that the added target competition from Denzel Boston (4 targets) and KC Concepcion (5 targets) is going to have a significant impact on Fannin's upside (14% target share), and this isn't a good enough offense to trust supporting a trio of fantasy-relevant pass catchers.

He gets a neutral matchup against the Buccaneers in Week 2, but will still have to deal with the ineptitude of Deshaun Watson at quarterback, rendering Fannin a significant downgrade and a low-end TE1 at best.

Kyle Pitts | TE | Falcons | TE18

Speaking of tight end downgrades, Kyle Pitts is the subject of an even larger downgrade than Fannin. The quarterback situation in Atlanta is a mess (putting it kindly), and Pitts was massively impacted, failing to score a single fantasy point in Week 1. His 6% target share made him a complete afterthought despite being on the field for more than 80% of the pass plays, and this is starting to feel eerily reminiscent of the Pitts we couldn't trust when Drake London was healthy last season.

This offense will continue to funnel through Bijan Robinson and London, making it hard to start Pitts in Week 2 regardless of who's under center in a divisional tilt against the Panthers. If you have someone like Juwan Johnson, Dalton Kincaid, or even Mark Andrews, I would start them over Pitts.