Fantasy Football Running Back Starts Week 2: Get Travis Etienne Jr. Back In Your Lineups Despite Kendre Miller

We are heading into Week 2 of the fantasy football season, which is one of the toughest weeks of the year to set your lineup. It's key to react to Week 1 without overreacting.

No position is more important to get right than running backs. These are the running backs who should be in your starting lineup in Week 2.

Running Back Starts: Week 2

Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots

We are calling Stevenson a starter with the assumption that TreVeyon Henderson will be active in Week 2. He is back at practice, and we are expecting him to play. If Henderson doesn't play, then this is a no-brainer, but it's going to become a real question if he's back.

In Week 1, Stevenson carried the ball 18 times, while Corey Kiner handled six carries. We would expect that Henderson would simply slip into the role Kiner held in Week 1. Maybe it would have been more like a 16-8 split, but nothing significant. That's more than enough volume to start Stevenson in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

However, Stevenson saw six targets and Kiner didn't see any. When fully healthy, Henderson should take at least half of those targets. With that said, it's not a given that Henderson will be a full-go in his first game back.

Travis Etienne Jr., New Orleans Saints

There is some panic in New Orleans after Etienne was essentially useless in the first half of Week 1, and Etienne and Kendre Miller both finished with nine carries. Miller also scored the touchdown. Nevertheless, we have plenty of reasons to believe that Etienne should be fine in Week 2 against the Baltimore Ravens.

First, the most obvious. Etienne averaged 5.1 yards per carry with Miller averaging just 3.3, so Etienne was much more efficient. Miller also was not targeted in the passing attack, while Etienne caught seven of nine targets.

Most importantly, Etienne out-snapped Miller 53 to 26, with Etienne playing 59% of the snaps and Miller playing 29%. That is a big gap, and we expect that gap to get even wider in Week 2.

Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns

It was a rough go for Judkins and the Browns' offense in Week 1. In a tough matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Judkins got 12 carries, but only averaged 2.8 yards per carry, totaling 33 yards on the ground.

We are still going back to him in Week 2 in a better matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With Dylan Sampson also dealing with an injury, Judkins saw two targets in Week 1, catching both for 17 yards. The volume is going to be there, and he could see extra targets through the air. It is too soon for us to put him on our bench.

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