NFL Week 2 Recap: Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Monday's games

Woody Marks emerges for the Houston Texans: Marks has surpassed Dameon Pierce on the team's running back depth chart, and he may have done enough this week to move past Nick Chubb.

Bucky Irving continues to see an increased role: In terms of playing time, Irving’s past two games have been the best of his career.

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Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2025.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Houston Texans

Woody Marks makes a strong push for the starting job: Marks surpassed Dameon Pierce on the depth chart and could become the starter as early as next week.

The Texans used Joe Mixon as their starting running back last season, with Dare Ogunbowale playing on passing downs and Dameon Pierce serving as the primary backup. Houston drafted Marks in the fourth round for running back depth, and then signed free agent Nick Chubb to help replace the injured Mixon. In Week 1, Chubb was the clear starter on early downs, taking 70% of the early-down snaps. Ogunbowale remained the third-down back, while Pierce maintained his role as the primary backup on early downs. Marks played five of 40 snaps on early downs and two of 11 snaps during two-minute drills.

This week, Houston shook things up by making Pierce a healthy inactive. Fullback British Brooks was a healthy inactive last week but was active this week, presumably to play on special teams. This made Marks the clear backup. Chubb started the game, but Marks received his first snap on the first drive and took the majority of snaps on the second drive. The two continued in a rotation on early downs throughout the first half. In the second half, the team went back to Chubb as the primary back, despite Marks’ strong play. Marks averaged more yards per carry, even after a Chubb 25-yard touchdown run in the final three minutes, and had a 37-yard reception. Chubb has had only one reception of 37 or more yards in his career.

Marks now becomes the top waiver-wire pickup at running back. He could even be the starter next week, given how much better he’s played than Chubb so far this season. With uncertainty shrouding Mixon’s situation, Marks may be the starter for the rest of the season.

Bucky Irving continues to see a high snap rate: Irving played more than 72% of offensive snaps for the second straight week after never exceeding that mark in a game in 2024.

Irving logged a 46.2% offensive snap rate as a rookie in 2024, typically playing less than 50% of snaps until Week 10. In Week 18 and the wild-card round, Irving played between 68%-72% of snaps, including nearly every snap on early downs, in short-yardage situations and on goal-line plays, while Rachaad White became the third-down and two-minute drill back.

The usage between Irving and White wasn’t as black-and-white as at the end of last season, but Irving’s snap rate has been on the rise over the first two weeks. He played 75.9% of snaps last week, including a third-down snap and the majority of the two-minute drill snaps. Against the Texans, Irving played 19 of the first 20 snaps, including the third downs during that span. That included 10 consecutive plays on the Buccaneers’ second drive. White played more to end the half, largely to give Irving a break. Tampa Bay similarly rotated its wide receivers and tight ends a little more often to end the second drive and to start the third drive. Irving notably took the two-minute drill to end both the first and second halves.

Some of the top fantasy running backs are playing more than 80% of snaps, and Irving has slowly but surely been trending in that direction.

Miscellaneous Notes

The Texans elevated fullback Jakob Johnson to the active roster before the game.

Texans wide receivers Christian Kirk and Braxton Berrios missed their second straight games with hamstring injuries.

Houston's wide receiver rotation was initially identical to that of Week 1. Nico Collins and Jayden Higgins played most of the two-receiver sets, while Collins, Xavier Hutchinson and Justin Watson played in three-receiver sets. Higgins and Jaylin Noel also rotated in for three-receiver sets. Collins is the only one seeing enough playing time to be worth considering in fantasy starting lineups. In the second half, Noel saw equal playing time to Watson in 11 personnel.

Texans tight end Cade Stover landed on injured reserve after leading the tight end room in offensive snaps last week. Houston added Harrison Bryant off the practice squad to the 53-man roster to take his place. This left Houston with only two tight ends.

The Texans' tight end rotation was similar to last week despite the change, with Dalton Schultz playing most 11-personnel snaps and Bryant taking over as the primary 21-personnel tight end.

Tampa Bay continues to use Emeka Egbuka as its top wide receiver. He is playing out wide and in the slot in both two- and three-wide receiver sets.

The Buccaneers made seventh-round rookie Tez Johnson a healthy inactive, giving them five wide receivers this week. Johnson played eight snaps, primarily in single-wide-receiver sets, last week.

Ryan Miller has served as the primary backup to Mike Evans in each of the first two weeks. He scored the Buccaneers' first touchdown of the game while taking Evans’ place.

Buccaneers rookie running back Josh Williams and tight end Devin Culp were both healthy inactives as the fourth players on the depth chart at their positions.

Chris Godwin remains out with a foot injury.

Los Angeles Chargers @ Las Vegas Raiders

Ashton Jeanty loses playing time: Jeanty played 85.7% of the offensive snaps in Week 1, but the Raiders made a clear effort to scale back his workload in Week 2.

Jeanty was almost always on the field in Week 1. He played 100% of snaps during two-minute drills, short-yardage, and goal-line situations. He also handled 84% of snaps in standard early-down scenarios and 70% of third downs. When he did come off the field, it was typically Zamir White who stepped in.

In Week 2, the Raiders made a more deliberate effort to reduce his workload. Jeanty was consistently taken off the field on third downs in favor of White. While the Raiders didn’t have many short-yardage opportunities, White still saw two of the team’s three snaps in those situations. During a two-minute drill, former sixth-round pick Dylan Laube played four snaps, and he also logged time late in the game when the Chargers were passing frequently. Jeanty did, however, continue to take a very high percentage of snaps on standard early downs.

White played 11 snaps in the first half alone — more than he logged in all of Week 1. He also saw 10 snaps on third-and-medium or third-and-long situations, compared to just 12 such snaps across his entire career prior to this game. Meanwhile, Laube entered the night with only two career offensive snaps, making this by far his most involved outing to date.

Jeanty should still be considered a fantasy starter thanks to his heavy early-down usage. However, if this rotation continues, it could be difficult for him to deliver on his ADP expectations.

Brock Bowers plays despite injury: Bowers didn’t practice on Thursday or Friday due to a knee injury.

Bowers was in a notable rotation with Michael Mayer during the preseason, a concern that carried into Week 1. Over the first three quarters, Bowers played 32 of a possible 45 snaps. He saw the field regularly in two- and three-tight-end sets but played just 15 of 27 snaps in 11 personnel during that span.

Bowers was consistently used on third downs and in the two-minute drill, logging snaps on all eight third-down plays and all seven two-minute drill snaps. However, on the 14 early-down snaps from 11 personnel outside of the two-minute drill, Bowers played just three, while Mayer logged seven and Ian Thomas saw four.

Bowers left briefly in the fourth quarter with an injury, raising some concern, but his playing time prior to that was unaffected. He remained the primary tight end on third downs and in two-tight end sets, and he saw the majority of early-down snaps in 11 personnel — an improvement from Week 1, though still short of his typical usage after Week 6 last season. His increased snap count this week likely stemmed from game script, as the Raiders were trailing throughout; in contrast, they led most of Week 1.

The injury may have affected his production, as he finished with just five catches for 38 yards. Bowers should still be in fantasy starting lineups as long as he’s healthy, but this evolving role limits his upside as the overall TE1. For instance, Michael Mayer caught a 6-yard pass out of 11 personnel on a play that would’ve likely featured Bowers last year — the kind of marginal loss that can add up across a season.

The Chargers' tight ends flip roles: Will Dissly saw increased usage on passing downs in Week 2, while Tyler Conklin was more involved on run downs compared to the previous week.

The Chargers have typically deployed a split approach at tight end, using one player on early downs and another on passing downs, while leaning on 21 personnel with fullback Scott Matlock rather than traditional 12 personnel.

In Week 1, Will Dissly played 69% of early down snaps in single-tight-end sets, while Tyler Conklin saw 70% of third-down work, aligning with their respective profiles as a balanced player and a receiving specialist. However, in Week 2, the roles flipped, with Conklin seeing more early down work, particularly in 21 personnel, and Dissly featured more on passing downs.

Adding to the unpredictability, the Chargers frequently utilized 10 personnel with extra wide receivers like Tre’ Harris or KeAndre Lambert-Smith, and even mixed in 20 personnel looks with Matlock helping to block. With a two-man tight end rotation and a growing tendency to leave the position off the field altogether, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to trust either Dissly or Conklin in fantasy lineups.

Miscellaneous Notes

The Raiders elevated Alex Bachman from the practice squad before the game.

Raheem Mostert was a healthy inactive for the Raiders for a second straight week.

Los Angeles used a similar wide receiver rotation as last week, with Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston playing in both 21 and 11 personnel, with Keenan Allen joining them in 11 personnel.

Both Tre Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith received most of their playing time in unique personnel groupings. They both received snaps in 10 personnel, as well as 22 personnel, but rarely in 11 of 21 personnel. This was also true in Week 1.

The Chargers running back rotation was also near-identical to last week, with Omarion Hampton playing a clear majority of snaps in all situations. However, it was Harris with more PPR points thanks to his 20 receiving yards on two catches. Harris also closed out the game for the Chargers after Hampton fumbled in the last four minutes.

The Chargers made both Tucker Fisk and Oronde Gadsden healthy inactives, leaving them with two tight ends, similar to last week.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

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