Bold Fantasy Football Predictions for Week 2

The Yahoo Fantasy Football crew is ready to get bold for Week 2. Which one of these predictions will come true?

Uncs Stefon Diggs , Deebo Samuel Sr. finish as top-30 WRs

Diggs, nearly 33 years old, and Samuel, 30 (but a lot older in football years), had excellent debuts in terms of their involvement on new teams. Diggs had four grabs directly on elite slot CB Cooper DeJean and was moved across the formation as their primary schemed up player, leading to a 30% target share. Their OC David Blough comes from the Lions' tree and there was some Amon-Ra St. Brown stuff to Diggs' role. The Cowboys struggled with communication on these types of routes in Week 1.

Samuel's role was similar. There was a red-zone target on a Texas route from the backfield (first read), a quick out off play action (first read), second-and-1 out route (first read), a screen (first read) and a backfield choice route TD (broken play). That's good stuff!!! The Dolphins have the youngest defense by a mile, and rookie slot CB Chris Johnson was targeted 11 times in his debut, allowing two touchdowns. — Hayden Winks

Mayfield's rage leads to first top-5 week since 2024

After his big contract, people said the chip on Baker Mayfield 's shoulder disappeared in Week 1 versus Cincinnati . The best way to get that chip back is going against the team that drafted him in the Cleveland Browns . In 2022, Baker Mayfield was unstartable as the Panthers QB. However, he had one good game: 19 fantasy points versus the Browns, his season high.

I give out a lot of stats and this is most based on the stat that Baker Mayfield hates the Browns.

He now will face the QB who replaced him, and a defense that just allowed 11 yards per attempt to Trevor Lawrence . Mayfield is healthy, running again and set up for a bounce-back week against his former team. — Joel Smyth

So, here's the struggle of being a fan of a team. If Emeka Egbuka had torched my Bengals in Week 1, I'd be too bitter to write him up. But an 11.3-PPR-point outing and a Cincinnati W is the right combination for me to highlight how much of an issue the second-year receiver was beyond the box score. That offseason toe injury certainly wasn't a concern for Egbuka or OC Zac Robinson. On top of hoarding two-thirds of the team's air yards, the former Buckeye was everywhere along the formation, including a few snaps out of the backfield. Even in 11 personnel formations, it was Egbuka, not Chris Godwin Jr., with the highest target rate from the slot. And with half of his looks coming off play action, it's no wonder over half of his receptions turned into first downs.

But against the Browns, we should expect touchdowns instead. Not a single Cleveland CB forced an incompletion in Week 1. And its defensive front ranked fourth-worst in pressure rate. If this is going to be a "Baker Mayfield Revenge Game" like Joel suggests, above Mayfield's resurgence into the top five will only come with Egbuka finishing inside the top three. — Chris Allen

Skattebo handled 18 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown in Week 1, and what stood out was how different this Giants team looked with John Harbaugh at the helm. New York ran for 165 yards against Dallas and played with a physical identity that fits Skattebo perfectly. Now he gets a Rams defense that San Francisco just ran through, with Christian McCaffrey averaging 6.8 yards per carry, Kaelon Black averaging 4.6 and the 49ers piling up 174 rushing yards. That was with Myles Garrett on the field. Now Garrett is headed to IR following knee surgery. This Rams defense may be moving in a much different direction than we expected entering the season.

Give Skattebo another 18-plus touches in this environment and I think he turns them into a top-10 fantasy finish. — Ray Garvin

Garrett Wilson finishes as a top-five WR

We're back to business as usual with Garrett Wilson; he's the clear-cut target hog in the Jets offense. Wilson's 30.4% target share ranked eighth among all wide receivers and his 49% air yard share ranked ninth. The Jets went from 29th to seventh in rare of plays out of heavy personnel packages between the 2025 season and Week 1. We know that No. 1 receivers consolidate targets, especially downfield looks, in those groupings. With rookie first-round receiver Omar Cooper Jr. set to miss time and vacate the slot role, we can expect New York to work out of two tight end looks more often going forward with Mason Taylor and Kenyon Sadiq. That will funnel more high-leverage looks to Wilson.

He'll see plenty of those this week against a Packers defense that has serious issues at cornerback and can't consistently rush the passer. The Jets' offensive line was excellent in Week 1 and should afford Geno Smith the time needed to launch it down the field to Garrett Wilson for a monster day in a contest that could be sneaky high-scoring. — Matt Harmon

For years we followed Kevin O'Connell everywhere, before the collapse of 2025. Perhaps last year's mess was all J.J. McCarthy 's fault. Kyler Murray 's debut was truncated after just 11 snaps, and if his concussion issues don't clear in time for Sunday, Wentz gets the juicy assignment against an injury-wrecked Chicago secondary. Wentz made good decisions in his relief appearance last week, reminding us of past days when O'Connell worked miracles with players like Nick Mullens and Joshua Dobbs . Wentz has a great shot at multiple touchdowns in this spot. — Scott Pianowski

Both 49ers RBs top 100 yards vs. Dolphins

Kyle Shanahan had an epiphany when it comes to Christian McCaffrey's early-season usage. Perhaps he witnessed the success the Seahawks had splitting RB touches last year, before eventually turning the backfield over to Kenneth Walker en route to a Super Bowl victory. Maybe it had to do with CMC missing time in August due to "general tightness" or the fact San Francisco had a big lead in the opener. Regardless, McCaffrey played 55% of the snaps and earned 15 touches, while his backup Kaelon Black was also given 15 touches on a 43% snap share. Neither player found the end zone in a tougher matchup with the Rams, but that won't be a problem this week against a Dolphins defense that just allowed 188 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns to the Raiders' tandem of Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr.

The 49ers are 13-point favorites in this contest, so there will be no need for McCaffrey to rack up unnecessary miles in the second half. That opens the door for CMC to start hot and Black to put this game away in the fourth quarter. While McCaffrey is always in your lineup when healthy, Black has quickly emerged as an upside RB3 with a much higher ceiling against soft opponents like Miami . — Justin Boone

Matthew Golden posts a second straight top 24 week

Matthew Golden closed drafts as the WR49 on Yahoo. So it makes sense that the market is slow to react to his 12 target, 6 reception, 95-yard Week 1 performance — which made him the WR20 on the week. As someone who ranked him closer to WR40 during the preseason, I feel that his consensus spot of WR33 ahead of Week 2 is an under-reaction.

The Packers pace was faster. Their neutral pass rate was higher. And, most notably, their run game was predictably suspect. All of those factors are directing us towards a pass first operation with a very clear top-two wide receivers, something that has been rare in the LaFleur era. Christian Watson 's WR11 consensus ranking is on point, but it still feels like you can get in on the ground floor with Golden's delayed rise. Congratulations, you drafted a WR2/3 at a WR5 price tag. — Josh Norris