14 Fantasy Football Takeaways from NFL Preseason Week 2

Two weeks of the NFL Preseason down, one more to go before we buckle in for the real thing in early September. Let’s dig into some of the noteworthy fantasy football developments from the second round of exhibition games. We’ll keep it to the stuff that’s actionable — or at least serious food for thought — for fantasy.

Fantasy Football Takeaways: NFL Preseason Week 2

Big, Beautiful ‘Bill’

The Washington Commanders held Brian Robinson Jr. out of their Monday-night game against the Bengals, reportedly because they’re trying to trade him. Chris Rodriguez started for Washington, played all four snaps on the first series, and delivered a 40-yard touchdown.

But the Commanders’ next drive belonged to seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who prefers to go by the name “Bill.”

Croskey-Merritt opened the drive with a 5-yard run. After Josh Johnson completed a 12-yard pass to Jaylin Lane on the next play, Croskey-Merritt snapped off a 27-yard TD run.

Croskey-Merritt finished with 11-46-1 rushing, and he had two catches for zero yards. Rodriguez had 6-62-0 rushing and wasn’t targeted in the passing game.

Rodriguez is a credible NFL backup. But the main attraction here is Bill.

Croskey-Merritt wasn’t invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. He played just one full college season in FBS. He had almost 1,200 rushing yards and 17 TD runs for New Mexico. Then he went to Arizona but had eligibility issues and played one game.

At his pro day, Croskey-Merritt put on a show, clocking a 4.45 and high-jumping 41.5 inches. And after being a late-seventh-round pick, Croskey-Merritt has reportedly been the star of Washington’s training camp, dazzling onlookers in Ashburn, Virginia.

With Croskey-Merritt looking so good that the Commanders feel comfortable trading away the competent but limited Robinson, a rankings shakeup is in order.

In half-point PPR, Croskey-Merritt moves up to RB38, one spot ahead of teammate Austin Ekeler (who didn’t play on Monday).

Robinson slips to RB43. His stock is nose-diving, but we can’t discount the possibility that he resurfaces in a useful role elsewhere.

Rodriguez moves up a bit to RB89 now that he’s likely to be a solid No. 3 in a good offense.

Stay tuned to a Commanders backfield in transition.

Warren Ready for Lift-Off

Colts TE Tyler Warren played 14 of 15 snaps with the starters Saturday against the Packers after playing all 20 snaps with the starters in Indy’s preseason opener.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen is signaling that Warren is going to be an every-down tight end. And who can blame Steichen for wanting that? He had to cycle through a motley collection of TEs last year that included Mo Alie-Cox, Kylen Granson, Will Mallory and Andrew Ogletree.

Warren only had one catch for 25 yards on Saturday, but it’s his playing time that has been attention-grabbing. Warren had more than 1,200 receiving yards for Penn State last year and accounted for 35.6% of the Nittany Lions’ receptions. He had eight TD catches last season, four TD runs, and one TD pass.

The meaty role that Warren has played in the preseason has me creeping him up to TE9 in my rankings, and I worry that I’m still too low.

Peppering Pearsall

On the 49ers’ opening drive against the Raiders on Saturday, Brock Purdy targeted second-year WR Ricky Pearsall four times, with Pearsall catching three of those passes for 42 yards.

Even though Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings are currently sidelined with injuries, it was an encouraging showing for Pearsall, who left the game when Brock Purdy did.

I currently have Pearsall ranked RB37, one spot ahead of Jennings, and I probably need to move Pearsall up into WR3 range. He could be a value pick this year.

Sorting Out the Jaguars’ Backfield

It’s worth checking in on the muddled Jacksonville RB situation.

Travis Etienne started for the Jaguars in their first preseason game, even though Tank Bigsby had been at the front of the line for RB reps throughout most of training camp. But against the Saints on Sunday, Bigsby started and handled most of the early-down work with the starters, while Etienne played with the starters on passing downs.

The guess here is that we probably see the same arrangement in Week 1, with blazing-fast rookie Bhayshul Tuten waiting in the wings in case either Bigsby or Etienne is injured/ineffective.

In half-point PPR, I currently have Etienne ranked RB31, Bigsby RB37 and Tuten RB40.

Hall Monitor

This came up in last week’s preseason takeaways article, and it’s worth repeating after the Jets’ second preseason game: Breece Hall is part of a committee.

Hall, Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis rotated at RB with the starters in the Jets’ first preseason game. In their second preseason game Saturday night against the Giants, Hall was in for 11 of the 18 snaps that starting QB Justin Fields played. Allen played eight snaps with the starters and played ahead of Hall on third downs. Davis sat out with an ankle injury.

Slow your roll on Hall, whose FantasyPros ADP is RB14, No. 33 overall.

Dart Throws

We’ve now gotten two preseason performances from Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart, and they’ve both been bangers.

Dart completed 14-of-16 passes against the Jets on Saturday night for 137 yards with one TD and no INTs,. He also had a 1-yard TD run.

Through two weeks of preseason action, Dart is 26-of-35 for 291 yards with two TDs and no INTs.

It might not be long before the Giants pull the plug on Russell Wilson and turn the QB position over to Dart — especially with the Giants facing a murderous early-season schedule that could knock them out of playoff contention early.

Dart is a willing and able runner, so whenever he plays, he’ll be fantasy-relevant.

Chubb Starts for the Texans

Joe Mixon‘s mysterious foot injury has left his Week 1 availability in doubt. Mixon is on the non-football injury list after reportedly hurting himself during offseason workouts. The Texans say they’ll re-evaluate him closer to the season. What if Mixon lands on the PUP list or (yikes) IR?

With Mixon’s status up in the air, Nick Chubb took most of the snaps at running back while QB C.J. Stroud and Houston’s offensive starters were in the game. Chubb had 5-25-0 rushing and had a 4-yard catch on his only target.

Chubb has to be considered the leading candidate for early-down work while Mixon is out. Dameon Pierce might be in the mix too, but Pierce sat against the Panthers on Saturday while recovering from a quad injury. Veteran RB Dare Ogunbowale played with the starters on passing downs, and rookie RB Woody Marks ran with the reserves.

Burden a Backup

Fans of second-round rookie WR Luther Burden have to reckon with the reality that veteran Olamide Zaccheaus has been the Bears’ first-team slot receiver in training camp and also played that role in the team’s second preseason game. Zaccheaus caught one of his two targets vs. the Bills on Sunday and turned it into a 36-yard touchdown.

Playing with the reserves, Burden had 3-49-0 on three targets.

Burden is still a worthwhile target in the late rounds of drafts. He’s electrifying with the ball in his hands, and the slot role has historically been valuable in Bears head coach Ben Johnson‘s offenses. Just realize it might take time for Burden to muscle his way past Zaccheaus on the depth chart.

Bits and pieces

Was anyone worried about Ashton Jeanty rushing for minus-1 yard in his first preseason game? He had seven carries for 33 yards and a touchdown in his second preseason contest and looked sensational. Nothing to see here. Jeanty is a worthy top-15 pick.

Speaking of rookie RBs, Omarion Hampton played all eight snaps with the Chargers’ starters Saturday vs. the Rams and had two carries for 12 yards. Hampton’s snap shares and rushing load could be massive early in the season is Najee Harris (eye) isn’t ready to play.

It’s strange that veteran RB Kenneth Gainwell has played ahead of third-round Kaleb Johnson in each of the Steelers’ first two preseason games. Should we worry about Johnson’s chance of being a worthwhile fantasy asset in his first NFL season? Not yet. But it’s possible this turns into a messy three-way backfield with Gainwell, Johnson and Jaylen Warren (who was rested on Saturday).

The Panthers have been using Chuba Hubbard on early downs and Rico Dowdle on passing downs during the preseason. That isn’t necessarily bad news for Hubbard, but he might be hard-pressed to match the 43 receptions he had last season.

Rookie D.J. Giddens looks like the primary handcuff to Colts RB Jonathan Taylor. Giddens was the first RB to enter Saturday’s game against the Packers after Taylor left, and veteran RB Tyler Goodson injured his elbow later in the game. Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter has been praising Giddens’ work in pass protections, which suggests that the Indy coaching staff trusts the rookie.

It’s interesting that the Browns held rookie TE Harold Fannin out of their second preseason game even though Fannin is healthy. It’s a sign that the team views Fannin as an important cog. He’s an interesting late-round flyer in deeper leagues.

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