The first week of NFL games is in the books. Now moving into Week 2, it is time for overreactions and panic. Fantasy football team managers will flock to the waivers to claim all kinds of guys who will turn out to be one-hit wonders. While there are certainly multiple players to stake claims on this week, do so carefully. At the same time, don’t give up on some drafted players so quickly either. For some, it might be beneficial to wait and skip waivers this week. Olabisi Johnson, J.J. Taylor, and C.J. Uzomah are some players to keep an eye on and watch for week two’s slate of games.
Week Two Fantasy Football Watch List Featuring Bisi Johnson
Bisi Johnson
With the departure of Stefon Diggs, there is a void for targets at the wide receiver position for the Minnesota Vikings. Many were expecting Justin Jefferson to come in and immediately take that role. As many know, it is tough to expect a rookie to come in and immediately take on a large role for a team. Instead, Bisi Johnson should have been the guy being looked at by fantasy team managers.
Johnson was a seventh-round draft pick by the Vikings in 2019. He had a quiet rookie year but had been making noise during training camp in 2020. Beat writers had been talking him up, and he himself said that he felt a lot more comfortable. “I would say the game has definitely slowed down for me a lot,” Johnson says. “As far as understanding the playbook, being confident in my route running and things like that.”
Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, Johnson tied with Alexander Mattison for second on the team in targets. He was also second in receiving yards with 56. Compare that to Jefferson, who only caught two passes for 26 yards. If Johnson can continue to build on his strong week one, he might be worth an add on fantasy squads in the coming weeks.
J.J. Taylor
J.J. Taylor signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent. Like many in his position, he faced an uphill battle at making an NFL roster. The Patriots carried a ton of running backs for most of their off-season, including Sony Michel, Rex Burkhead, Damien Harris, and Lamar Miller. Harris went to short-term injured reserve, and Miller was cut. This gave Taylor the shot he needed to at least see some game action.
Taylor was used sparingly in Week 1 with the Patriots but made the most of his opportunity. New England gave him four carries, which he turned into 28 yards. This only made him the Patriots fourth-leading rusher, behind quarterback Cam Newton, Michel, and Burkhead. However, he only had nine fewer yards than Michel, who got more than twice the amount of carries as him, and only four yards less than Burkhead, who received three more carries.
So far Michel is the starter as the incumbent. Nevertheless, he has been less than impressive. His 3.7 yards-per-carry in Week 1 matches his number from the entire 2019 season. Burkhead has been a solid runner when he is on the field, but during his time in Foxboro, has struggled to stay on the field, missing 17 games the past three seasons. This could open up an opportunity for Taylor to move up the depth chart.
However, he doesn’t have long. Harris is only expected to miss the first three games, and Taylor is still the least established on the depth chart. He needs to continue to make the most of his opportunities, and get the coaching staff to increase his touches. Fantasy team managers should keep their eyes on him, but not expect much quite yet.
C.J. Uzomah
The talk of the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 will probably not include tight end C.J. Uzomah. Instead, it will be the promising play of first-overall pick Joe Burrow. It might be the terrible luck of kicker Randy Bullock injuring his calf while attempting a field goal to send the game to overtime. But in fantasy football, a productive weekly tight end is something that is tough to have.
Burrow spread the ball around pretty well in the matchup. A.J. Green paced the team with nine targets, but four other players came in behind him with five targets. Uzomah ended up making the most of them, totaling 45 yards on four catches. As Burrow gets more games behind him, he will start to find some go-to guys.
While it is premature to say that Uzomah will be a reliable target week-in and week-out, he needs to be monitored in leagues moving forward.
