<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
Elic Ayomanor and Troy Franklin are climbing their respective depth charts and both found the end zone in Week 2. They headline a strong group of receivers for the Week 3 waiver wire. <\/p>\n
2) Lions look back to form<\/p>\n
Last week, I wrote about the Lions looking out of sync as they adjusted to life without Ben Johnson and multiple starting offensive linemen<\/a>. They got rocked by the Packers in Week 1 but paid it forward over the weekend, dropping 52 on the Bears. The most notable turnaround came in the trenches. Jared Goff<\/b> was pressured on 37 percent of his dropbacks in Week 1. That fell to 14 percent in Week 2, one of the lowest marks in the league. Goff ranked third in the league in YPA (9.3) from a clean pocket in 2024. His 30 touchdown passes trailed only Baker Mayfield<\/b>. His YPA is down to 7.6 through two weeks, but the touchdown production is still elite, with six scores from a clean pocket, five of which came in Week 2. The Lions might be affected by bad matchups more often this year, but they still have the horses to whallop lesser teams.<\/p>\n 3) New offensive coordinator, same result<\/p>\n C.J. Stroud<\/b> and Caleb Williams<\/b> both had fatal flaws last year. For Stroud, it was how he played under pressure. The second-year passer was pressured on 38 percent of his dropbacks, the 10th-highest rate in the league, and his pressures turned into sacks at the 12th-highest rate. Neither mark was horrific in its own right, but the combo of seeing a lot of pressure and struggling under pressure put the offense in a bind. Stroud\u2019s pressure rate and pressure-to-sack rate are both up slightly this year. He Pro Football Focus has him graded as their No. 26 passer under pressure.<\/p>\n Williams was also a sack-taker last year, but what was even more concerning was the weekly cascade of errant throws. PFF charted him with an accuracy rate of 54.3 percent as a rookie, sandwiching him between Spencer Rattler<\/b> and Tyler Huntley<\/b> in that metric. His accuracy rate is down to 47.6 percent this year. He ranks 33rd out of 34 qualified passers. Situation and coaching matter an immeasurable amount for quarterbacks, but most passers also have stripes that will take years to change, if they even manage to do so at all.<\/p>\n 4) J.J. McCarthy goes down <\/p>\n The Vikings lost J.J. McCarthy<\/b> to an ankle injury in Week 2. He could be sidelined for up to a month, meaning we might be blessed with four Carson Wentz<\/b> starts. It sounds gross, but this could be a boon for Minnesota pass-catchers. McCarthy currently ranks dead last in EPA per play and second-to-last in completion percent over expected.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wentz has starts for the Chiefs and Rams over the past two years. Wentz ranks 25th in EPA per play and 19th in CPOE among quarterbacks with at least 50 dropbacks since 2023. Kevin O\u2019Connell<\/b> has also called a far more conservative offense with McCarthy under center than in any of his previous three seasons as the Vikings\u2019 head coach. He had a +3% pass rate over expected from 2022 to 2024. That is down to -2% percent this season.<\/p>\n 5) Drake Maye looks good<\/p>\n Don\u2019t look now, but the Patriots\u2019 signal-caller is making the leap in year two. Maye is sitting at exactly eighth among qualified passers in a heap of key metrics:<\/p>\n It\u2019s been hard to capitalize on Maye\u2019s ascendance because they don\u2019t have a clear No. 1 receiver. That player was Kayshon Boutte<\/b> with a 19 percent target share and 83 percent route rate in Week 1. Boutte\u2019s routes dipped slightly in Week 2 and his target total plummeted to one, though he did manage to get into the end zone. The hope for fantasy managers is that the Pats will find a full-time role for Stefon Diggs<\/b> or rookie Kyle Williams<\/b> at some point, creating a breakout bet for the second half of the season.<\/p>\n 6) Dolphins back in shape<\/p>\n After looking like the worst team in football in Week 1, the Dolphins started to get things on track versus the Patriots in Week 2. Tua Tagovailoa<\/b> finally made the spreadsheets go brr by posting the second-best mark in CPOE and the No. 11 mark in EPA per play. Tua looked far better on deep and intermediate throws. He went 3-of-8 for 51 yards and two interceptions on throws beyond 10 yards downfield in the Dolphins\u2019 opener. That jumped to 6-of-9 for 139 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in Week 2. Most importantly, Tyreek Hill<\/b> and Jaylen Waddle<\/b> were each targeted three times on throws 20+ yards downfield. Both wideouts came down with two deep receptions. Hill caught one deep pass in Week 1 and Waddle failed to earn even a single deep target. The Dolphins have to find ways to get their star receiving duo open downfield if they want to revive the careers of Tua and Mike McDaniel. Week 2 was a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n 7) Chris Olave is once again ready to break out<\/p>\n This time it counts for the former Buckeye and first-round pick. Per usual, Olave is a volume-earning phenom. His 23 targets are the third-most for a receiver through two games. He also ranks top-10 in air yards and end zone targets. PFF<\/a> and RotoViz<\/a> have him in the top six in expected fantasy points. Both measures also have him with the third-worst mark in fantasy points over expected. Part of this comes down to catching passes from Spencer Rattler<\/b>. We shouldn\u2019t expect Rattler to efficiently convert volume into fantasy points. But Rattler hasn\u2019t been putrid this year. He currently sits at 24th in EPA per play, 20th in CPOE, and 11th in PFF passing grade. Olave is a screaming buy-low candidate.<\/p>\n 8) Patrick Mahomes is back, but not for the reasons you might think<\/p>\n The Chiefs look dreadful on offense right now. They currently rank 14th in EPA per dropback and 27th in EPA per rush attempt. Kansas City hasn\u2019t scored more than 30 points in a regular season game in almost two years. Every other team in the league has a 31-point game more recently. This might not matter for fantasy managers who drafted Patrick Mahomes<\/b>. My GOAT has three career regular-season games with at least 50 rushing yards and a touchdown. He first accomplished this in 2022. The other two times were in Week 1 and Week 2 of the 2025 season. Mahomes leads the league with 13 scrambles. He has nine carries on non-pressured dropbacks. That leads the league with a three-carry gap between him and the No. 2 passer. Mahomes is trying to put the team on his back via his legs, much like he does in the playoffs. Even if the passing output doesn\u2019t recover, he is papering over that with an uptick in rushing production.<\/p>\n 9) Jaguars\u2019 wideouts are in a rut <\/p>\n Returning to the fantasy points over expectation metric I mentioned earlier, no receiver has left more points on the field than Brian Thomas Jr.<\/b> The second-year wideout has five catches for 60 yards on 19 targets.<\/p>\n Brian Thomas’ opportunity has been excellent through two weeks, 9th-best in entire NFL. <\/p>\n Not sure I’ve ever seen someone underperform their targets\/touches so drastically. pic.twitter.com\/Oz2JFQ4bk0<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) September 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Travis Hunter<\/b> isn\u2019t far behind with 55 yards on 14 targets. The Jags currently rank fourth in EPA per play when a running back is the intended target. They are one of just three teams with multiple receiving touchdowns in their backfield. They are a pitiful 29th in EPA per play when throwing to wideouts. PFF has the Jags\u2019 pass-catchers credited with nine drops. That is both the most total drops for a team and the highest drop rate.<\/p>\n BTJ is apparently dealing with an unreported wrist injury that could have been causing him more trouble than we realized in Week 2. Hunter hasn\u2019t been a difference-maker on offense yet and BTJ has taken a step back through two games. The Jags are doomed if these things don\u2019t change.<\/p>\n 10) Cam Skattebo takes over<\/p>\n Tyrone Tracy Jr.<\/b> struggled across the board in Week 1, and then publicly criticized the coaching staff\u2019s decision-making at the goal line.<\/p>\n This is quite the quote from Tyrone Tracy .. <\/p>\n Players questioning play calling after one game?<\/p>\n \u201cI have to do what\u2019s called, but I definitely said we needed to run the ball on the 1-yard line. I feel like everyone felt the same \u2014 whether it\u2019s offensive line, quarterback, running\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/YPV4UMqeGI<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n