Week 2 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Fantasy Football Stars to Play and Bench

After a thrilling Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season, Week 2 is about to begin. The action will kick off Thursday night with a high-powered AFC West matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers, a pair of teams with two of the best offenses in football.

If you're a fantasy football manager with Chiefs and/or Chargers players on your roster, you're likely excited for this game. There could be a lot of points put up on the board, and there are quite a few start-worthy fantasy players on both teams.

But not every decision will be as easy as those ones. And when the rest of this week's games arrive (13 on Sunday and two on Monday), it'll be important for fantasy managers to have the right players in their lineups and the correct ones on the bench.

With Week 2 almost upon us, here's some start/sit advice for later this weekend.

It'd be easy to be discouraged by Trey Lance's Week 1 performance. The 49ers' second-year quarterback did not fare well in what should have been a favorable matchup against the Chicago Bears, going 13-for-28 for 164 yards and an interception while rushing for 54 yards on 13 carries.

However, the game was played in adverse weather conditions, as the rain poured down and Soldier Field was filled with puddles. In Week 2, San Francisco will be at home against the Seattle Seahawks, and it'll be worth giving Lance another opportunity.

Managers who drafted Lance did so with the idea that he'd be their starting QB, and one game isn't enough to bail on a player this talented. The 49ers' offense should operate better this week, making it so Lance can have a better fantasy performance.

Seattle may have trouble defending all the playmakers in San Francisco's receiving corps, and Lance will capitalize while putting on a bounce-back showing.

Entering the season, there were concerns that Josh Jacobs may not have as large of a role in new head coach Josh McDaniels' offense in Las Vegas. As it turns out, those were quite fair to have, considering Jacobs did not get off to a strong start in the Raiders' Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Jacobs had only 10 carries for 57 yards and one reception for 16 yards in Las Vegas' opener. The Raiders are likely to run the ball a bit more often in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals, but it's also clear that they're running a pass-first offense that may not get Jacobs too involved as a receiver.

Arizona struggled to stop Kansas City's passing attack in Week 1, so it wouldn't be surprising if Las Vegas followed a similar game plan. That's likely to be the case more frequently for the Raiders now that they added Davante Adams to their receiving corps.

Perhaps Jacobs will become more fantasy relevant later in the year, but for now, he's too risky to start, given his early usage.

Julio Jones may be 33, but he still can play at a high level. And now that he's catching passes from Tom Brady in a high-powered Buccaneers offense, Jones is perfectly set up to have a bounce-back year after struggling with the Tennessee Titans in 2021.

In Week 1, Jones had three catches for 69 yards and was targeted five times in Tampa Bay's win over the Dallas Cowboys. But Jones could be even more involved in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints, as Bucs receiver Chris Godwin may be out due to a hamstring injury.

Jones is dealing with a knee injury of his own, so fantasy managers will need to monitor his status this week. But assuming he plays, he's a great starting option at receiver because of his expected high volume and breakout potential.

Once Jones develops an even stronger connection with Brady, his fantasy value should only continue to rise throughout the year.

The Vikings notched an impressive Week 1 win over the Green Bay Packers, and several of their top offensive playmakers had big showings. However, Irv Smith Jr. wasn't among them, as the tight end was not nearly as involved in the offense as some expected him to be.

Smith was targeted twice, but he had no receptions. And he may not get a ton of passes thrown his way moving forward, either, as Justin Jefferson is likely to keep putting up big numbers and be the clear primary option for quarterback Kirk Cousins.

With Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook and others on Minnesota's offense, Smith won't get many chances. So he's likely not going to be a start-worthy fantasy option in the short term, including in Week 2, when the Vikings take on the Philadelphia Eagles.