Bear witness to the devastation before you: Nico Collins’ hamstring; DJ Moore’s shoulder; DeZhaun Stribling’s ankle; Jordan Mason’s…thumb. Fallen soldiers strewn about. Josh Allen, basically, stands alone there against the horizon, a monolithic silhouette of a great fantasy-scoring colossus. We are at war, friends, and the next-man-up mentality is becoming as ironclad a platitude for fantasy managers as it is for coachspeak and player-parroting to the media. Here already in Week 2, most of us are desperate for value and edge.
Happy Fantasy Friday once more, friends. I’m back with the Five Lists of Five: Week 2 edition. Helmets on. Back to marching.
For the newly-ordained: Soundbite-length blurbs with advanced analysis on my favorite plays of the week. We begin now with my Top five must-start wide receivers for fantasy football Week 2. Here are my other offerings in this edition:
- Top five must-start RBs for fantasy football Week 2
- Top five FLEX plays for fantasy football Week 2 (TK)
- Top five fantasy football players to stash ahead of NFL Week 2 (TK)
- Top five fantasy defenses to start for NFL Week 2 (TK)
Fantasy football Week 2: Top five wide receivers to start
Jaylen Waddle, MIA (vs. Jaguars)
Denver went to the trouble of acquiring Jaylen Waddle, then found him once for two yards against Kansas City. I understand the urge to bench him. Owning a receiver this fast while his offense struggles to throw beyond the nearest patch of grass is an infuriatingly-aggravating way to spend a Sunday. Waddle nevertheless ran routes on 79% of Denver’s dropbacks, and that was the the highest share among the team’s wideouts by far. The role is there, but Bo Nix had a ton of trouble helming the Davis Webb assignment.
Jacksonville’s defense should afford Waddle some actual conversion on that RR rate. The Jags used Cover 3 and Cover 6 on a combined 53.3% of their opening-week coverage snaps. Against those looks since 2025, Waddle has averaged—averaged!—3.07 YPRR and commanded targets on 28% of them across a 176-route sample. Those numbers scream in neon soundwaves that Waddle is a receiver who can find productive space against the coverage Denver is likely to encounter on Sunday, provided the protection lets Bo Nix deliver the ball. And it should. Denver’s offensive line is the best in the league, and is, according to Troy Aikman, among the best in all of football!
All we need is a few more on-time completions into those intermediate windows, and fans would be reminded why Denver went after him, and why I was so high on him in the preseason. Waddle’s varied alignment and oft-motioned deployment gives the Broncos ways to arrange those throws; execution, admittedly, remains a fairly large item on the to-do list after last week. Against a Jacksonville offense that should demand a scoreboard-matching affair, I’m putting him back in a WR2 spot.
Emeka Egbuka, TB (vs. Browns)
Tampa Bay kept fumbling away possessions against Cincinnati, interrupting some rather encouraging plans for Emeka Egbuka. Baker Mayfield went to him on three first-read or designed throws during the opening drive. Egbuka commanded six targets on plays with motion at the snap; Chris Godwin commanded one in that situation. Egbuka finished with 53 receiving yards, but Tampa made a more concerted effort to feed him than that total would indicate.
I expect the Buccaneers to continue using motion with Egbuka to complicate a defender’s leverage this week. Cleveland played Cover 3 and Cover 4 on 70.9% of its Week 1 coverage snaps, and Egbuka has averaged 2.37 YPRR against those looks since his rookie season. He should find opportunities to separate well—his best trait—while defenders sort their underneath responsibilities on Tampa’s TEs and receiving backs.
Jalen McMillan practiced fully Thursday, so Mayfield will have another receiver competing for throws. Even allowing for that competition and a run-heavy finish, I have Egbuka around six to eight targets, five catches, and 60-75 receiving yards. I’m starting him as a WR2, with Tampa throwing to establish its lead before the backs help protect it.
Jalen Coker, CAR (at Falcons)
Well, hello there. Jalen Coker introduced himself rather spectacularly to anybody who ignored him through the summer: eight catches, 138 yards, and two touchdowns against Chicago in Week 1. He had been working toward this for a while, and the cult following of Cokeheads, as we love to call ourselves, are feeling dangerously validated Across his last six games lining up beside Tetairoa McMillan, both WRs have commanded 31 targets, but Coker has averaged more receiving yards: 63.7 to 51.0. Which is to say: Bryce Young clearly trusts him, and I’m inclined to take the quarterback’s interest seriously. We paid for him on waivers this week, most of us, after all.
Atlanta played Cover 3 and Cover 4 on 65.1% of its Week 1 coverage snaps, and Coker has separated considerably better against zone than man in this year’s early WR charting. With only a small sample to inspect, I won’t pretend even I—proud Cokehead that I am—solved his entire game, and understand his ceiling potential. But he can settle between underneath defenders, give Young a clear throwing window, and accumulate catches, with a sprinkle of an explosive play or two in the bag.
Coker remained limited in practice with the ankle through Thursday, while A.J. Terrell returned to full practice. However, he practiced fully Friday and officially has no injury designation headed into this week. Assuming Coker runs his normal complement of routes, I’m putting him around five or six catches and 60-80 yards. He gets my WR3 start in a more measured Carolina passing game; Young can throw for far less than 361 yards and still feed him.
Matthew Golden, GB (at Jets)
Christian Watson seized all the headlines re. Green Bay’s spectacular receiving line against Minnesota, but Matthew Golden sneakily ran more routes and commanded more of Jordan Love’s attention. Golden finished with an 87% route share and 28.6% target share, comfortably ahead of Jayden Reed’s 63% and 16.7%. It was surprising for us all. Green Bay simply kept Reed out of too many passing plays for me to treat the two as interchangeable this week. Golden gets the nod.
He caught six passes for 95 yards, and the Jets’ coverage is nothing if not inviting. New York played Cover 2 and Cover 6 on 48.7% of its Week 1 coverage snaps; Golden has produced 2.86 YPRR against those looks since 2025. It’s a huge number, but it’s for only 72 routes, that efficiency needs a generous allowance until the sample size gets larger, but it’s bafflingly impressive. His larger route share in Week 1, however, if projected across an entire season, gives Love more chances to find him. And volume is king.
The Jets should hurry Love often enough to frustrate everybody involved. Green Bay will still need the simple completions in a competitive game, and Golden might be the guy to supply them now, not Jayden Reed.. I’m expecting roughly seven to nine targets and 60-75 receiving yards. Between Golden and Reed, Golden gets my WR3 spot: he runs more of the routes and already commands more of the throws.
Deebo Samuel, SF (vs. Dolphins)
Kyle Shanahan kept Deebo Samuel in a rotation through the opener, and Samuel still commanded seven targets and handled a carry on only 41% of San Francisco’s offensive snaps. Samuel caught six passes for 48 yards and a touchdown, then added 12 rushing yards. Fantasy Points synthesized those numbers to a 20.1 XFP, seventh among WRs last week. Shanahan squeezed a remarkable amount of useful work into a part-time afternoon in Australia, and it showed the still-there willingness to manufacture touches for Deebo as a Niner.
With De’Zhaun Stribling unavailable, Shanahan has really no choice but to expand Samuel’s snaps, though it’s important we note Demarcus Robinson will share some of the additional work after his Week 1 performance. More encouragingly, Samuel commanded two first-read or designed targets on the opening possession of the game, before injuries disrupted the WR rotation in gametime. Shanahan intends to get the ball in Deebo’s hands, plain and simple.
Miami could give up so many points that it allows San Francisco turn toward the run early. That suits a modest projection of about five catches, a handoff or two, and 55-75 scrimmage yards, I’m thinking. To be conservative, I’m starting Samuel as a WR3, and I expect Purdy to find him underneath quite a bit while the 49ers establish a lead. Let Deebo turn upfield and make somebody tackle him before Shanahan starts draining the clock, you know? A touchdown means he’s an easy WR2 this week.
