NFL Fantasy Stock Report, Week 2: Which Stars Are Producing?
Stock Up
D’Andre Swift: After Kenneth Gainwell was inactive with a rib injury, Swift received a huge workload against the Vikings and took advantage finishing with 175 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. He also added three receptions so it was nice to see his involvement in the passing game as well. The Eagles backfield was a toss up to start the season and I think Swift proved himself enough to be the lead guy even after Gainwell’s return.
Keenan Allen: If you drafted Keenan Allen, you are likely very pleased with his start as he’s racked up 14 catches for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns through two games. With 19 targets as well he’s clearly Justin Herbert’s favorite option. He is such a reliable target for Herbert and with a defense that could give up chunk plays to the Blaine Gabbert-led Jaguars, the Chargers will likely be playing in shootouts frequently. I don’t see Keenan slowing down any time soon.
Nico Collins: The Texans were desperately looking for a receiver to even remotely fill the shoes DeAndre Hopkins left behind and they may have found something in Nico Collins. At 6’4”, he gives C.J. Stroud a nice, big target to rely on and they seem to have developed chemistry with one another. Collins is receiving massive volume to start the year with 20 targets so far and he’s produced with those chances. He’s caught at least 6 passes in both games and exploded this past week for 146 yards and a touchdown. The Texans will likely be playing from behind a lot this year which means a lot of time playing catch up. In the chance he still lingers on your waivers, snatch him up immediately.
Stock Down
Cam Akers: Coming off the board around round 5 of fantasy drafts, Akers had some high expectations this year. Well through two games he’s already lost his starting job to Kyren Williams. Not only that, he was inactive on Sunday and may get traded. If he gets traded, I doubt he requires a high price tag and I don’t have high hopes for him on a new team. Just an absolute disaster of a situation at his price points in drafts and he’s pretty much a sunken cost already.
Kyle Pitts: This one pains me to write as I love Kyle Pitts the player. I had no issues with him being drafted 4th overall as I thought his talent warranted it. The mind of Arthur Smith is uncrackable so we will never truly know why he refuses to utilize this absolute monster of a human being in Pitts. His 4 catches for 59 yards is quite frankly really sad for a talent like him and with only 8 targets so far, you can’t even put the blame on him. It’s a frustrating situation in Atlanta and I hope Pitts gets unlocked some day.
Ja’Marr Chase: Ja’Marr Chase was the consensus 1.02 pick in standard redraft format and a lot of people even had him above Justin Jefferson (yikes). His 10 catches on 17 targets isn’t the worst, but you expect better for a player of his caliber. He only has 70 yards so far and struggled vs a Ravens secondary that was down 2 starters in Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Williams. The Bengals offense overall has looked terrible and Joe Burrow doesn’t look like himself with the lingering calf injury. Adding salt to the wound he was out targeted and outplayed by fellow teammate Tee Higgins who had a really nice bounce back game with 8 catches on 12 targets for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns. I’m sure we will see improvement overall out of the Bengals but the start for the offense and Chase specifically is extremely concerning considering where he was drafted.
