SportsLine's computer model reveals its Week 2 Fantasy football projections, rankings, start-sit advice
When Christian McCaffrey was traded from the Panthers to the 49ers last season, the potential fit in Kyle Shanahan's offense was apparent. After a full season to learn the system, McCaffrey looks like he might be the cornerstone of many championship runs this season following a Week 1 performance in which he carried the ball 22 times for 152 yards and a touchdown while adding three catches for 17 yards. McCaffrey belongs near the top of the Week 2 Fantasy football rankings and should be an automatic start in your Fantasy football lineups against the Rams, but there will be plenty of difficult Fantasy football start-sit decisions.
With Cooper Kupp (hamstring) out, Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell both had 100-yard receiving games for the Rams and both players could be among the most popular Fantasy football waiver-wire additions this week. However, can you trust either enough to immediately thrust them into your lineups or should you take a wait-and-see approach? Before you lock in your Week 2 Fantasy football lineups, be sure to check out the Week 2 Fantasy football rankings from the advanced computer model at SportsLine.
When it comes to ranking players, SportsLine's model beat human experts in Fantasy football for the past several seasons especially when there were big differences in ranking. Over the course of a season, that could literally be the difference between winning your league or going home empty-handed.
Now, the model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times, has revealed its Fantasy football rankings for Week 2 of the 2023 NFL season. Head to SportsLine now to see them.
Top Week 2 Fantasy football picks
One player the model is high on this week: Lions quarterback Jared Goff. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft was traded to the Lions as part of the Matthew Stafford deal, but he's put distance between himself and any thought that he would be a bridge quarterback.
Goff broke out as a top-10 Fantasy football quarterback in 2022 by throwing for 4,438 yards and 29 touchdowns with only seven interceptions. He also had a solid game in an upset win over the Chiefs in Week 1, throwing for 253 yards and a touchdown and no interceptions. Now he'll take on a Seattle defense that just gave up 30 points to the Rams. The model ranks Goff as a top-five option at quarterback for Week
2.
And a massive shocker: Jets running back Dalvin Cook, who had 33 yards on 13 carries in Week 1, stumbles big-time and doesn't even crack the top 35 at his position. A salary-cap casualty in Minnesota, Cook didn't sign with the Jets until late in the preseason and practiced sparingly while recovering from an offseason shoulder injury.
In Week 1, he split carries almost right down the middle with Breece Hall, who was also coming off a surgery to repair a torn ACL.