Week 2 of the NFL season gave us some great moments. We saw Marvin Harrison break out for his first big performance of his career. We saw the Raiders string together an improbable 4th quarter comeback. We even saw a Kirk Cousins prime time victory. Unfortunately, along with all these great storylines, there were some big disappointments this week. Let’s take a look and see if these letdowns were short term flukes, or a sign of things to come.
Caleb Williams
Caleb Williams was thrown into the spotlight early, playing in Houston on Sunday night in just the second game of his career. Week 1 was nothing special for Caleb. Even though the Bears won, he did not lead a single drive that ended in a touchdown and only threw for 93 yards. Week 2 was not much better. While the Bears offense finally did find their way into the end zone, Williams went 23-37 for 174 yards while throwing 2 interceptions and taking 7 sacks. While this stat line is less than ideal, there is more to the story. Williams’ decision making was tested this game, as he barely had any time to get his passes off. If his first read wasn’t open, bad things happened. It seems pretty obvious that the offensive line needs work, but will it be this way for the whole season? I think not. What the Bears offense is failing to do right now is make big plays through the air. Once everyone is settled and Keenan Allen is back in the lineup, Chicago will find their rhythm. Keenan will be there for the short looks when pressure comes, Odunze will be a deep threat, and Moore will be responsible for anything in between. I said it before the season and I’ll say it again: This offense is poised for success. The people giving up on Caleb Williams now are the same people that gave up on Marvin Harrison after Week 1.
Zamir White
Going into the season, many people were very high on Zamir White after Josh Jacobs signed with Green Bay. However, it has been a tough start to the season for White. This week he rushed 9 times for just 24 yards along with 3 receptions for 14 yards, one of the least efficient games I have seen in a while. The appeal of Zamir White from a fantasy perspective is that the Raiders are likely to be playing from behind a lot and he is supposed to be a good pass catching back. But this appears to be flawed logic. It’s now clear that the Raiders favor players like Devante Adams, Brock Bowers, or Jakobi Meyers when they are playing from behind. This leaves us with an undersized back who is failing to prove himself on an offense that has better options. If he has one or two more of these performances, Alexander Mattison will take his job. I wish nothing but the best for White, but I am certainly not starting him in Week 3.
Chris Olave
This is a controversial pick because, to be honest, Olave didn’t really play that poorly in Week 2. He had 4 receptions for 81 yards, a slightly below average game by his standards, but certainly not deserving of a slot in this article, right? Well I wanted to talk about Olave because he was a second round pick in fantasy football this year. The biggest worry surrounding Olave is that the Saints offense would not be able to get things going enough for him to be relevant. And yet, we’re two games in and the Saints lead the league in touchdowns with eleven, and Olave has zero. The clear star players on the Saints offense through the first two weeks are Alvin Kamara and Rashid Shaheed. As an Olave fantasy owner, should you be panicking that the team has found success by not looking in his direction? No. The Saints know what they have in Olave. He has proved himself in his first two years on the team. What the Saints have right now is real, and even though Olave is late to join the party, he will arrive. The red zone opportunities will come, and Kamara isn’t going to score four touchdowns every day. When I look at Olave, I see the WR1 on what could be a Top 5 offense in the NFL. Start him in fantasy, his time will come.
We are at a point in the NFL season where it is crucial to not overreact. However it’s also important to recognize red flags and understand when a player is trending in a bad direction. We will have a much clearer image of the future of these three players after Week 3.
