Takeaways from Week 2 as told through @MarcasG's tweets.
Bow down and acknowledge our new fantasy quarterback savior. Nearly every fantasy analyst (yours truly included) liked Patrick Mahomes' potential but was concerned that there could be some growing pains along the way. It appears that the Chiefs QB is all growns up. Through two games, Mahomes has 10 touchdowns without a pick and is at the helm of the league's most potent -- and fun to watch -- offense. Next week, Kansas City hosts a San Francisco defense that just allowed 347 passing yards and three touchdowns to Matthew Stafford and the Lions. A hat trick for Patrick could be in the making.
Actually, make that eight. Fitzmagic followed up last week's four passing touchdowns with another four-pack on Sunday against the Eagles ... with just one interception in the first two games. And I haven't even mentioned his one rushing score. The Buccaneers are the surprise offensive juggernaut of the first two weeks and have a game next week against the Steelers. Yep, the same Steelers that were just shredded by Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs on Sunday. The same Steelers that allowed nearly 24 fantasy points to Tyrod Taylor in Week 1. It could pay off to believe in Fitzmagic at least for one more week.
By the way ... does this mean a quarterback controversy is brewing when Jameis Winston's suspension is over? Stay tuned.
The biggest knock on Melvin Gordon in his three-plus NFL seasons is that he's not the most efficient back. Instead, he succeeds with volume. That was the case in Week 1 when he topped Austin Ekeler in touches, 24-10. In Week 2, the touches were a lot more even with Gordon seeing the ball 15 times and Ekeler touching it 14 times. Even more, Ekeler outgained Gordon 98-68 but Gordon's three scores carried the day. It's hard to completely chalk it up to game script ... Los Angeles scored 28 points in the first half and nothing else until a fourth quarter field goal. Gordon is still the lead back and will get plenty of touches but there's no denying that Ekeler is going to have an expanded role in the offense.
On paper, this was a good matchup for Peterson and the Washington running backs but this was always the fear for the veteran. Because he's not known as a pass-catcher (I'm floored by his 100 receiving yards in the first two games), it limits how he can be used in the offense. Once Washington fell behind, it turned into the Chris Thompson show (14 targets). If you can pinpoint the games where Peterson can get heavy usage, good on you. Otherwise, you could be set up for weekly disappointment.
Until they actually do something, please stop talking to me about the Titans offense. I don't care that Marcus Mariota was hurt. He hasn't exactly done a bang-up job of moving this offense so far in his career. Now without Delanie Walker, where does this offense go in the passing game? Corey Davis? He had five catches for 55 yards. You need more from your No. 1 receiver if you're going to have consistent success. The Titans head to Duval County to play the Jaguars next week. If Jalen Ramsey is shutting down Rob Gronkowski, what do you think he'll do to Davis and company?
This feels like a good news, bad news situation. The good news is that McCaffrey is going to have insane usage rates by the end of the season if this keeps up. Through two games, Run CMC has 20 catches on 24 targets. (More like Catch CMC, amirite?) The bad news is that this could kill Cam Newton's passing numbers if the Panthers don't go big with yards after catch. Sunday, 57 percent of Newton's passing yards were thanks to YAC. Thank goodness Cam can run -- that should keep him with a fairly stable fantasy floor week-to-week.
Things are bad for LeSean McCoy right now. The Bills offense is going to be a catastrophe this year and McCoy is going to pay the price. To make matter worse, Shady suffered a rib injury in Sunday's loss to the Chargers. If you have him on your roster, you're a bit stuck right now. You're hard pressed to play him -- especially next week -- but you're also going to have a hard time trying to trade him. Good luck, gentle people.
The idea of Royce Freeman as a workhorse is dead. Through two weeks, Phillip Lindsay has become the back to have in Denver. The upside for Freeman is that he still appears to be the Broncos' goal line back, which will maintain some of his fantasy value. But right now, it's hard to advocate using him as anything more than a flex going forward.
David Johnson had only two targets the entire game -- with both of them coming well after the game had been decided. There is no good reason for this. None. Not a single one. The Cardinals are challenging the Bills to have the worst offense in the league but this might be more shameful because they have one of the NFL's best playmakers on their roster. Hopefully offensive coordinator Mike McCoy gets a wake-up call before next week's game against the Bears. Otherwise a lot of people spent a top four draft pick on an RB2.
Wait...what?
DeSean Jackson through two games: nine targets, nine catches, 275 yards, three touchdowns
Will Fuller has caught a touchdown in every game he's played with Deshaun Watson.
Michael Thomas has 28 catches through two games.
Jamison Crowder led Washington in rushing. Chris Thompson led the team in receiving.
No 49er player was targeted more than four times.
Sam Bradford averaged 3.3 yards per attempt.
