Start, Drop or Bench? How fantasy football managers can handle NFL’s biggest Week 2 flops

Losing in Week 1 of the fantasy football season is bad, but falling in both Weeks 1 and 2 is considerably worse. There is always considerable randomness early in the season, but the shortened nature of fantasy compared to the regular game means that bad starts can completely torpedo a season before the leaves start changing league wide.

Making proper evaluations given the information at hand can make a big difference, as evidenced by how Ja’Marr Chase bounced back with two touchdowns for the Bengals in Week 2 after being featured in this space last week. Let’s take a look at some more candidates to start, bench or drop as we get ready for Week 3 of the season.

Justin Herbert

The Chargers are a five-alarm fire right now after dropping winnable games to the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders at home. Herbert, who was supposed to make beautiful music with Mike McDaniel as his new offensive coordinator, has instead delivered a sad trombone of a performance with five turnovers, two touchdowns and only 401 yards passing so far.

The schedule gets much harder for the Chargers going forward but Week 3 brings a manageable fantasy matchup against the Bills, who have given up six passing touchdowns in the first two weeks of the season. Given the matchup, Herbert has a chance to stabilize himself with a good passing performance but if he flops again it is time for Herbert backers to look elsewhere given the brutal stack of opposing defenses headed Los Angeles’ way starting in Week 4.

Verdict: Start (Last Chance)

Drake London and Kyle Pitts

We’ll use these two as the representatives of the Falcons’ passing game, which has been downright putrid for most of the season. London had a respectable Week 2, catching 4-of-5 targets for 51 yards, but that is well below his typical performance while Kyle Pitts caught 1-of-2 targets for 15 yards after a Week 1 donut.

There is a good chance that the Falcons are the worst team in football right now as Cooper Rush and undrafted rookie Jack Strand have been dreadful passers, tanking the entire offensive operation. The return of injured options Michael Penix or Tua Tagovailoa would be a merciful upgrade there but with a short week trip to Green Bay there’s a chance the Rush experience continues on a national stage.

Verdict: Bench until Tagovailoa or Penix is available

David Montgomery

After a solid Week 1 effort against the Bills things cratered for Montgomery on Sunday as he fell victim to the Bengals’ much-improved run defense. Montgomery was stuffed throughout the day, gaining only 10 yards on six carries while adding two catches for 14 yards in a 20-6 defeat.

The good news for Montgomery is that backup Woody Marks didn’t accomplish much either, turning eight carries into eight yards, leaving his starting role unthreatened entering a do-or-die Week 3 showdown with fellow 0-2 AFC South rival Indianapolis. The Colts have been gashed on the ground so far, giving up 117 yards to Kenneth Walker in Week 2 and 144 (with three touchdowns) to Derrick Henry in Week 1, making this a get-right spot for Montgomery and the Houston run game.

Verdict: Start

Rhamondre Stevenson

Despite being pumped up as the Patriots’ top running back entering the season, Week 2 turned into a nightmare for Stevenson. An early fumble led Mike Vrabel to turn the running game over to the returning Treveyon Henderson, who may have earned more work with a solid day of 16 carries for 76 yards highlighted by a 39-yard touchdown scamper.

There are qualities that Stevenson has that should allow him to at least share the workload with Henderson, notably his strong pass blocking and ability to grind out short yardage gains. While a Week 3 date with Jacksonville isn’t the worst case scenario for Stevenson the uncertainty surrounding how the workload will be divided makes a bench spot a prudent choice for teams who have better options.

Verdict: Bench

Marvin Harrison Jr.

It has been a steady fall from grace for Harrison, who has been usurped as Arizona’s top pass catching target over the past two seasons. The ascension of Jacoby Brissett to the starting gig has turned Trey McBride into the TE1 in fantasy but Harrison has also been surpassed by Michael Wilson, which is not a good sign for the 4th pick of the 2024 draft.

Harrison put up a donut on one target against the Dark Side defense after racking up only 1-of-3 targets for 33 yards in Week 1’s win over the Chargers. The fact that Harrison got little run when the Cardinals were chasing for most of the game is quite bad and there’s little reason to waste a roster spot on at best the third priority pass catcher in a bad offense.

Verdict: Drop