Meet the new injury. Same as the old injury. In a vacuum, a dislocated elbow is not the worst thing that could happen to an NFL player. This is, after all, the league of torn achilles’ and patellar tendons. But if you had asked Jayden Daniels heading into Week 2 which potential injury would be lowest on his list, he might say a re-dislocation of his left, non-throwing elbow.
Well here we are. It’s unclear where to go. Although Daniels is slated for Monday testing, the TwitterDoctors™ say a recurrence of such an issue will probably necessitate the surgery Daniels avoided the first time around. If your elbow keeps dislocating, you have to strengthen it. That means not only missed time, but time on injured reserve.
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And if Daniels heads back to injured reserve, that’s… about the last thing anyone wanted coming out of this situation in 2025. It puts a player who has made only seven starts over the past calendar year at a career crossroads. This is especially true since none of the injuries Daniels have suffered could be classified as “the big one.” He has mercifully avoided the aforementioned torn tendons of the knee or foot.
If he can’t stop getting nickel and dimed by these “second tier” ailments, do we have any real faith he can remain on the field long term? These are painful questions for a special player. The stakes are not as high for fantasy managers. There are plenty of quarterbacks available on the waiver wire, and even if you have Daniels in a two-QB league or superflex, Marcus Mariota is a reasonable enough facsimile of Daniels’ production. But for the Commanders? They are right back in the wilderness it appeared they had finally escaped in 2024.
Five Week 2 Storylines
The Bears and Caleb Williams managers are rudely reminded it’s a week-to-week game. First things first, “week to week” is a blessed phrase in this instance. That’s what Williams is after injuring his hamstring. We were afraid it was going to be year to year with a torn achilles’ tendon or busted knee after he went down in non-contact fashion against the Vikings. Now he’s on the wrong side of questionable for next Monday’s game against the Eagles but hopefully live for Week 4. But Williams’ injury did not mar a good day, but put an exclamation point on a bad one. Yes, Williams was getting blitzed with reckless abandon by Brian Flores’ defense, but that wasn’t exactly a secret coming out of Week 1. That the Bears had no answers confirms they will be subject to the regular ups and downs of NFL and fantasy football despite their 59-point Week 1 outburst.
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Things could get worse before they get better for Colston Loveland and Luther Burden. We hope “ups and downs” at one point applies to Loveland and Burden and Rome Odunze, because at this point it’s just downs. Things are still a little simpler for Loveland. He is on the field for almost every play. One catch for three yards through two games is inconceivable, but it would be equally inconceivable for that to continue. Burden is another story. He’s not only getting out-produced by veteran Kalif Raymond, he is playing fewer snaps. Not much fewer, but we weren’t expecting any fewer. Now with Williams set to miss a game or two, it’s probably become less likely coach Ben Johnson dials off Raymond’s “veteran savvy” in the near term. You don’t want to overreact to two games, but it’s safe to say Burden is more of a WR3 than WR2 at the moment.
TreVeyon Henderson reminds the Patriots and fantasy managers of his abilities. This was as Rhamondre Stevenson reminded the coaching staff of his liabilities. Stevenson lost an opening-drive fumble, and Henderson responded one series later with a 39-yard touchdown run. It was a well-timed display for not just fantasy managers, but the Pats, as well. That’s because they desperately need play-making ability with A.J. Brown on the shelf. It’s not coming from Mack Hollins or Pop Douglas. They have to have Henderson’s big plays, and Hendo has almost always provided them when given the opportunity. Hopefully Sunday’s confluence of events was enough to lock Henderson into the RB2 ranks for Week 3. That is certainly where I will be ranking him.
Jayden Reed suffers neck injury in New York City. On an afternoon full of awful injury developments, Reed’s was the most unsettling. It’s one of those situations where “the good news” is that Reed has feeling and movement in all of his extremities. The bad news is we have no idea when he might play football again. Hopefully for Reed the answer is in 2026. He’s been a star-crossed player who did not deserve another bad break. For fantasy managers, the effect will be a further condensing of the Packers’ target tree rather than someone stepping into Reed’s targets void. This offense is now Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, Tucker Kraft and not much else.
Kaleb Johnson emerges as potential backfield option for Packers. This is where the “not much else” comes in for the Pack. This running back group is absolutely barren, with Johnson’s theoretical upside now the last ray of hope. That’s because MarShawn Llyod’s upside is no longer theoretical, but seemingly disproven. No one had any expectations for Chris Brooks. He has confirmed that was the right call. That leaves Steelers castoff Johnson, who led the Pack in Week 2 rushing despite playing only 13 snaps. Of course, he had nothing in the way of high-value touches and wasn’t featured in the passing attack. That might not change in the near term, but with the banged up Pack on a short week vs. the overwhelmed Falcons, a huge dose of Johnson between the 20s should be in order, and that would be an excellent first step toward creating actual fantasy value.
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Five More 2 Storylines
Saquon Barkley gets banged up in Nashville. Barkley returned to the game, but in name only. After missing nearly all of the first and second quarters, Barkley played a smattering of snaps after the break, finishing with five touches. That was compared to 24 combined for Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley. The fact that Barkley “finished the game” in theory bodes well for Week 3, especially since the Eagles get an extra day of rest ahead of Monday Night Football. But again, this was in name only, and Barkley confirmed afterward he is heading for an MRI. At the very least, Bigsby is worth an immediate scoop in the 60-70 percent of leagues where he is not rostered. The exact FAAB bid will depend on Barkley’s updates. They should also take into account the fact that it was very much a committee in Barkley’s absence, suggesting Bigsby might not have as much contingency value as previously believed.
The Chargers’ misery somehow deepens. We don’t really bother sugarcoating Chargers performances anymore, but not even the most devoted Bolts fan will have much in the way of copium coming out of that one. It was an embarrassing abomination with nothing to cling to heading into Week 3. LT Joe Alt is a disaster. Omarion Hampton is charging right into contact and losing too many fumbles. Justin Herbert is falling victim to his environment rather than elevating it with his play-making ability. New OC Mike McDaniel seems to have zero vision for what this attack is supposed to look like. This is after home games with the Cardinals and Raiders. Now it’s road dates with the Bills and Seahawks. If Herbert can’t get on track vs. what has appeared to be a defense-less Buffalo squad, it will be time to start making other 12-team league quarterback plans.
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Travis Etienne‘s baffling usage continues in Baltimore. How much do the Saints think of their high-dollar free agent addition? For Week 2 they healthy scratched the guy who shared work with him in Week 1, Kendre Miller. That, of course, was just so Alvin Kamara could receive more handles than Etienne and also feature better usage in the red zone. To make matters far, far worse, “CJ Donaldson” seemed to be the preferred option on third downs. It is extremely difficult to say what’s going on here, but it’s all conspired to drop Etienne out of the RB2 ranks until things either normalize or injuries take their course. It’s not a good situation if you landed Etienne in the “RB dead zone.”
Broncos’ backfield thrown into further injury chaos. RJ Harvey (hamstring) was already out. JK Dobbins (hamstring) soon joined him. Enter fourth-round rookie Jonah Coleman, who was limited to three total snaps in Week 1. This being Sean Payton’s Broncos, Coleman was obliged to split plays with Tyler Badie, but Coleman saw work in every game situation as he racked up 13 touches and a touchdown. Badie was on the field, but he was barely in the box score because Coleman dominated the post-Dobbins handles. Harvey could be back as soon as Week 3, but a player in Coleman that we liked over the summer is now very much worth a waivers looksee.
Adonai Mitchell continues to slowly emerge for the Jets. Arguably the hardest thing to find on the waiver wire? A starting wide receiver. Although some of us were dangerously invested in Mitchell this summer, most fantasy players were not. That is certainly understandable considering Mitchell’s checkered history. But there’s nothing checkered about his 2026 usage. He’s gobbling up air yards and targets, and Sunday he turned some of it into actual production. Although it stands to reason Garrett Wilson will eventually take a bigger lead in the usage department, it’s clear the Jets weren’t blowing smoke when they signaled they viewed Mitchell as a legitimate WR2. For fantasy managers, he’s a WR4 you could soon be plugging into your WR3 spot.
Questions
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1. Oh I’m sorry, you thought Week 1 implied there were going to be good teams this season?
2. Did the Saints think Travis Etienne was a different guy or something?
3. What’s it going to take to get Connor Stallions on the Chargers’ sideline?
Early Waivers Look (Players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)
QB: Tyler Shough (vs. LV), Bryce Young (@CLE), Daniel Jones (vs. HOU), Geno Smith (@DET), Drew Lock (@WAS)
RB: Tank Bigsby, Jonah Coleman, Kaleb Johnson, Emanuel Wilson, Alvin Kamara
WR: Denzel Boston, Adonai Mitchell, Khalil Shakir, Dontayvion Wicks, Tre Tucker
TE: T.J. Hockenson, Pat Freiermuth, Oronde Gadsden, Darren Waller
DEF: Chiefs (@MIA), Packers (vs. ATL), Panthers (@CLE), Bengals (@PIT), Bills (vs. LAC), Giants (vs. TEN)
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Stats of the Week
666. That’s how many days it had been since Aaron Jones had a 100-yard effort on the ground. Provided his knee injury isn’t serious, he will now be the clear lead back in an offense poised to finally get going with Kyler Murray (concussion) returning for Week 3.
11. That’s how many 2026 touches Jonathon Brooks made it without suffering another injury. Brooks’ groin issue does not appear serious, but it’s clear he’s mere waivers fodder in standard-sized 12-team leagues.
Bryce Young over his past nine starts, per Marcus Mosher: 20 total touchdowns, five interceptions, 7.6 YPA and 102.0 QB rating.
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15. That’s how many 12-plus catch performances there had been by a tight end this decade entering Week 2. Dalton Schultz sans Nico Collins made it 16.
Aaron Rodgers via Adam Levitan: “Aaron Rodgers has dropped back 86 times this season, third most in the NFL. It’s resulted in 408 passing yards, 20th most in the NFL.”
Awards Section
Week 2 Fantasy All-Pro Team: QB Josh Allen, RB Jonathan Taylor, RB Kenneth Walker III, WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR CeeDee Lamb, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, TE Dalton Schultz
Week 2 All Bank Examiner Squad: QB Justin Herbert, RB Travis Etienne, RB David Montgomery, WR Drake London, Jameson Williams, WR Luther Burden III, TE Colston Loveland
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Tweet of the Week, from Marc Sessler: The Browns are a satellite ship willingly forgotten by their home country. Gone forever.
Miss Me Yet? Week 2 Award: Tua Tagovailoa.
The Won’t Get Fooled Again Except Just One More Time Award: Justin Herbert.
The Have You Ever Considered Just Not Doing This? Award: The Bucs.
Read the full article here