NFL Week 2 latest buzz, upset predictions and fantasy tips
ESPN PLUS $ MATERIAL
Week 2 of the
2023 NFL season is here, and league insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano are here to break down the biggest questions, latest news and notable buzz of the week. Plus, they pick out which teams are on
upset watch and which players should -- or shouldn't -- be in your
fantasy football lineups.
Of course, the biggest news of the week is
Aaron Rodgers'
season-ending injury just four snaps into his Jets career. Will New York add another quarterback this week, and what's next for
Zach Wilson as he returns to the starter role? We talk through potential targets, both via free agency and the trade market. Beyond the Jets, what other teams should be concerned after Week 1? Which opening week surprises could turn out to be trends? What's the latest with
Brian Burns' situation with the Panthers?
What are you hearing on the Jets' options and QB outlook after the Aaron Rodgers injury?
Fowler: My immediate sense after asking around is the Jets aren't overly eager to acquire a veteran at this stage, but they will
at least look into it. In the short term, practice squad quarterback
Tim Boyle can serve as the backup behind
Zach Wilson. The Jets legitimately believe
Wilson has improved this offseason while learning behind Rodgers and New York's coaching staff. But will it be enough? The defense and run game are strong enough to at least find out.
Beyond that, the free agent options are scarce but intriguing.
Carson Wentz has been working out and staying fresh, waiting for the call.
Joe Flacco did a good job as the Jets' backup last season and is available.
Colt McCoy has 36 career starts.
Nick Foles has a history with GM Joe Douglas.
Wild cards include retired quarterbacks such as
Ben Roethlisberger,
Tom Brady and -- wait for it --
Blake Bortles, who went to the 2017 AFC Championship Game in Jacksonville with now-Jets playcaller Nathaniel Hackett as his offensive coordinator. Should the Jets, as currently constructed, be trying to swing a trade for reinforcements?
Graziano: Well, they're going to have to add
somebody, because their QB room right now is just Wilson and Boyle. The question is whether it's just another body or whether they go out and swing a deal for a starter. Coach Robert Saleh
said Wilson is the team's guy, and like you, I'm getting the sense the Jets aren't looking to go out and make a big-splash move right away. The plan appears to be coaching up Wilson and letting the defense and star skill players around him carry the team.
But if Wilson plays the way he did last season, and the Jets feel they can't be competitive with him as the starter, then I wouldn't be surprised to see them look around. They called the Rams about
Matthew Stafford early in the offseason, before they knew they could get Rodgers, and I guess they could revisit that. But when I was at Rams camp, I didn't get the sense the Rams were eager to move Stafford. Plus, they just
won their opener over a division rival, and it could be a while before they're ready to give up on their season, if they ever are. Add in the fact that Stafford has $31 million in guaranteed salary for 2024, and bringing him in basically means giving up on a Rodgers return.
For me, the more sensible trade acquisitions would be
Ryan Tannehill, whose contract expires at the end of the year, or
Jacoby Brissett, who could be looking for a chance to start somewhere if the Commanders are truly all-in on
Sam Howell.
Fowler: Tannehill is a good one, assuming the struggles continue. A few teams had the impression this offseason that Tannehill was available for a trade before the draft. Either way, the sensible play is the Jets give Wilson a few weeks of runway to show improvement. Then, they can always add a low-cost option in free agency or closer to the trade deadline. Stafford would be ideal, but to your point, the Rams looked good in Week 1, and the Jets probably can't carry two bloated quarterback contracts on the books, let alone relinquish the additional draft capital required to acquire someone like that.
Brissett,
Jameis Winston and
Andy Dalton are among current NFL backups who would also make sense.
Graziano: One of the wild cards in all of this is Rodgers. Is he going to stick around and help bring Wilson along? Is he going to keep the Jets abreast of his plans for the future, enabling them to plan around having him or not having him in 2024? Since he's not going to play 65% of their offensive snaps this year, the Jets get to keep their 2024 first-round pick rather than having to send it to Green Bay
as part of the trade, so they're equipped to make a big move if they decide they want to do it. Rodgers will remain a presence inside that building as long as he's on the roster, and I'm curious to see what impact that presence will have for the rest of the year.
Besides the Jets, which team should be most worried after Week 1?
Fowler: It has to be the Giants, right? One
flat game in the rain won't define their season, but there's really no excuse for football that bad. The cohesion of the offensive line will be a question mark until proved otherwise, and quarterback
Daniel Jones had more of the sloppy turnovers that plagued his early career. Dallas has one of the toughest defenses to handle because of its versatility, but the feeling coming out of that game was the Giants' offense was lucky to give up
only seven sacks.
Perhaps Dallas simply has New York's number. But a team that won 10 games last season, including the playoffs, was expected to be better on paper.
Graziano: Yeah, wow. I was at that game, and I'm not sure it was as close as the
40-0 final score indicates. This was a game in which everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong for the Giants, and an outstanding Dallas defense came out with its hair on fire and pummeled them into submission before they knew what hit them.
How about the Steelers, though, whose offense kicked off Year 3 of the Matt Canada Experience with a megadud? After all the excitement about how good
Kenny Pickett and the offense looked in the preseason, the unit looked lost in the opener
against the 49ers. How are the Steelers good enough to compete in a division with the Bengals, Ravens and Browns?
Fowler: I expect Pickett to respond, but considering the Steelers' offense hasn't produced a 400-yard game since a January 2021 playoff loss to the Browns, time to perk up sooner than later.
The Bears come to mind here, too. Based on the offseason changes and their plans to accelerate
Justin Fields' development as a passer,
Sunday's loss to Green Bay looked more disjointed than expected.
Graziano: Yeah, as the season approached, the stuff I was hearing out of Chicago was leading me to believe the Bears' offense might still be more work in progress than a lot of people maybe were hoping, and Week 1 backed that up. It sounds like Chicago had a very specific game plan to stay away from the Green Bay corners and rely on the short passing game, but it definitely didn't work, and I have my eyes on any adjustments the team makes in Week 2 and going forward. It's a huge year for Fields, as the Bears will have to decide on his fifth-year option next May.
Which Week 1 surprise performance is the most sustainable?
Fowler: I'm going with
Puka Nacua's high-volume production in the Rams' offense. Seeing a fifth-round rookie receiver get 15 targets in his NFL debut was jarring, but a high target share makes sense on a few levels. The Rams have been low-key delighted about his impression all offseason and preseason. He's a true short-to-intermediate receiver, and coach Sean McVay thrives when drawing up plays for that type of receiver -- which has been on display for years with
Cooper Kupp. So while Kupp is out at least four games, Nacua -- who isn't Kupp, to be sure -- can at least fill that void, after catching 10 passes for 119 yards in
Week 1.
Graziano: Yeah, the Rams definitely weren't as surprised by Nacua's big game as the rest of the world.
I'm going to go with
David Montgomery and the Lions, though. After the Lions picked
Jahmyr Gibbs with the No. 12 overall pick in April, there were some who wondered why they had signed Montgomery in free agency. His usage in the
season-opening victory over the Chiefs answered that question and showed the way Detroit wants to play on offense. Gibbs will be a big part of things, but I see the Lions relying on Montgomery a lot as a traditional between-the-tackles runner as a centerpiece of their offense. He carried the ball 21 times for 74 yards and a touchdown last Thursday.
What's the latest on the Brian Burns situation, and what could his contract look like after the Nick Bosa deal?
Fowler: After months of talking, the Panthers and Burns
never got close on a new deal before Week 1. My sense is Burns, clearly frustrated, is now focused on
putting up a banner season and worrying about his contract -- or even a new destination -- next spring. That's not to say the Panthers can't double back and try to renegotiate in-season, but both sides probably need a cooling-off period at this point. Burns is set to be a free agent in March unless Carolina franchise-tags him. This one is still puzzling. Burns is an elite talent, and it feels like it should have gotten done.
Graziano: Burns is an extremely strong candidate for the franchise tag next March if the two sides can't work out a deal before then. I agree that this one feels odd, and I guess I wouldn't be totally surprised if they circled back and got a deal done during the season. But that's an unusual outcome, and the fact that Burns is playing and isn't sitting out to force the issue obviously eases the pressure on the team to do anything.
As for what the deal could look like, I doubt he gets
Nick Bosa
money ($34 million three-year average per season, $122.5 million guaranteed), but he can maybe land something in the
Joey Bosa neighborhood ($29.2 million three-year average per season, $102 million guaranteed). Something in the $27 million-$28 million per year range, in line with guys like
T.J. Watt and
Myles Garrett, makes sense.
What's your top upset pick for Week 2?
Graziano: Bears (+3) over Buccaneers. As I mentioned earlier, the Bears' offense remains a work in progress. But they shouldn't be as bad as they were against Green Bay. And without Packers cornerback
Jaire Alexander locking down
DJ Moore, Chicago could be able to open things up against a Bucs team that surprised a lot of people by
beating the Vikings on the road in Week 1. The Bears should be able to harass Tampa Bay defensively, especially with the questions in the middle of the Bucs' offensive line.
Fowler: Seahawks (+6) over Lions. I know the Lions are a trendy team coming off last year's strong finish and the Week 1 win in Arrowhead, but that's a big line for teams that are similar in makeup. The Seahawks and Lions have built strong rosters behind the freedom of reasonably priced starting quarterbacks
Jared Goff and
Geno Smith. Seattle can match up pound-for-pound with Detroit and will be looking to shake off the loss to the Rams.
What's your fantasy football call of the week?
Fowler: George Pickens will put up a big performance. The Steelers didn't get him going in Week 1, and the last time he faced the Browns, he put up 72 yards and a touchdown in the
2022 season finale. The Browns' secondary is much improved, but here's to guessing Pittsburgh gives Pickens a few 50-50 balls for him to win. Plus,
Diontae Johnson will
miss a few weeks, meaning more looks for Pickens. The Steelers averaged 3.9 yards per play last week against San Francisco. The 49ers' stout defense has a way of doing that to teams. Expect Pittsburgh to rebound.
Graziano: You can start the Falcons'
Tyler Allgeier if you're in a bind at running back. Rookie
Bijan Robinson had a big debut, but Allgeier actually outscored him, indicating that coach Arthur Smith intends to use both backs and use them both a lot. Allgeier might not be as involved in the passing game as Robinson, which could be an issue in games where the Falcons fall behind. But the
matchup with Green Bay is a sweet one, and Smith seems pretty dedicated to leaning on his run game as much as he can. When you realize the Falcons ran only a paltry 48 plays Sunday
against the Panthers, it's clear that there's room for everyone in this offense to contribute more moving forward.
What else are you hearing this week?
Fowler's notebook:
• After asking around on the
Chris Jones situation that
got awkwardly resolved this week, my take is the Chiefs were willing to make him the second-highest-paid defensive tackle in the league on a new deal -- which indicates higher than Jets DT
Quinnen Williams' average of $24 million per year. But the gap between Rams DT
Aaron Donald's $31.7 million per year and the rest of the field is sizable, and the two sides couldn't find a sweet spot somewhere in between.
So Jones, after incurring around $2 million in fines and forfeiting a $1.1 million game check, opted for the chance to earn up to $25 million on a
one-year, incentive-laden deal. This is hardly ideal, but here's the win: The Chiefs likely won't pay a franchise tag that could swing above $30 million for Jones due to his massive 2023 cap hit, so he's set to become the top free agent in March at age 29.
• A big adjustment for the Jets' offense will be recalibrating after tedious preparation for Rodgers' guidance of the unit on the field. Leading up to Week 1, receivers prepped for about 30 of Rodgers' hand signals at the line of scrimmage, and offensive linemen worked on staying patient during Rodgers' cadence and not jumping offsides. Things will be different under Wilson, more stripped down.
The defense is fully prepared to carry the load for now. As Williams told me recently, "We have one of the best lines in the [NFL]. Go hunt as a pack."
• Panthers cornerback
Jaycee Horn will
miss multiple weeks with a hamstring issue, which is devastating to a player who just wants to stay healthy. Horn is one of the league's most talented corners with range and speed. But he has missed 18 games since getting picked in the top 10 in 2021 and will now miss more. No word yet on whether he will go on the short-term IR, but the good news is he'll be back with plenty of time to make an impact in 2023. The Panthers will lean on
CJ Henderson as a starting option.
• Ravens safety
Marcus Williams is in the process of evaluating his options with his
shoulder injury. He had full range of motion and limited pain coming out of Sunday's game
against Houston but a lot of swelling. If he has a torn pectoral muscle, that will keep him out for most of the season. Either way, the Ravens are hopeful he'll return before season's end. As insurance, the Ravens signed veteran
Duron Harmon to the practice squad.
• With several injuries at running back, the Colts are still monitoring the market. They've been in touch with free agents
Kareem Hunt and
Leonard Fournette. That's a position to watch in Indy as the Colts cycle through options.
• Execs I've spoken to aren't concerned about the Bengals'
82-yard passing performance in Cleveland.
Joe Burrow had no preseason prep coming off the
strained calf, the rain affected things, and Cleveland's defensive performance was one of its best in a while. "I definitely wouldn't overreact -- they'll be fine," an AFC exec said. "Joe Burrow is too proven over time. Their timing was just off, and Cleveland's corners played well in one-on-one situations."
