Week 2 Fantasy Football Sneaky Starts & Sleepers

Sep 11, 2024

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

All but the luckiest fantasy owners at some point need to find the proverbial diamond in the rough—a waiver wire or bench player capable of putting up some points in a pinch. This weekly feature is dedicated to that part of fantasy football. It's not pretty, but it's part of the game.

I’ll put the defense’s aFPA rank in parentheses below, though users should exercise caution in putting too much stock into last year’s strength-of-schedule. The higher the number, the better the matchup. We will update aFPA for 2024 starting with Week 4 of this season.

Week 1’s Sneaky Starts featured Baker Mayfield (QB2), Geno Smith (QB9), Matthew Stafford (QB12), Jerome Ford (RB13), Jayden Reed (WR1), Brian Thomas (WR18), Xavier Worthy (WR9), Jameson Williams (WR5), and Colby Parkinson (TE7).

Let’s see who might surprise this week.

Quarterbacks

Jared Goff, Lions (vs. TB, 29)

I’m definitely going back to the Goff Gambit well. He has a long history of producing high-end QB1 numbers at home and nearly had a second touchdown pass against the Rams. (Sam LaPorta was tackled near the goal line.) The Bucs were vulnerable against the pass last season, so the Lions should be able to move the ball in what should be a high-scoring game.

Brock Purdy, 49ers (@ MIN, 3)

Purdy had a quiet game against the Jets, but that wasn’t too surprising given the matchup. He still averaged 8.0 YPA and threw for 231 yards while adding an 11-yard rush. The Vikings were tough against quarterbacks last season, but the 49ers’ passing game is arguably the most efficient in the league.