Week 2 Lineup Advice: Starts, Sleepers, Sits, Player Debates, and TD Calls (Ep. 2199)
September 18, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readThe Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions kicked off Week 2 with a 54.5-point over/under, a far cry from the sluggish Thursday night games of years past. But for fantasy managers, the real action is in the lineup decisions that follow a chaotic Week 1. The FantasyPros crew—Ryan Warmly, Pat Fitzmaurice, and Jake Seely—walk through the week’s toughest starts, sits, and waiver-wire dilemmas, grounding their advice in specific matchups, usage trends, and the psychology of overreaction.
The Waiver-Wire Trap: Stashing vs. Starting
A key tension in early-season fantasy football is the urge to immediately plug a hot waiver pickup into your starting lineup. The crew flags three popular adds from Week 1 and urges caution. Kalen Black of the 49ers was the consensus top pickup, but both Fitz and Seely rank him as a fringe flex option (RB38 and RB37, respectively). The problem is uncertainty: Black played over 40% of snaps in Week 1, but that may have been due to Christian McCaffrey being managed carefully in the Australia game. “We don’t know if week one was overseas CMC cramping up,” Seely notes, warning that the 49ers could revert to giving McCaffrey 20 touches. The matchup against the Dolphins is tasty, but Black remains a handcuff with a capped floor.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:49) **Intro & Week 2 Vibes** - The hosts welcome Pat Fitzmaurice and Jake Seely, preview the Thursday night Bills-Lions shootout, and set up the episode's focus on starts, sits, and touchdown calls.
- 2 (02:53) **Waiver Adds: Start or Sit?** - A quick segment on whether popular Week 2 waiver pickups are immediately startable or just bench stashes.
- 3 (13:54) **Plant Your Flag: Baker Mayfield** - Fitz makes a strong conviction call for Baker Mayfield in a revenge game against his former team.
- 4 (16:54) **Plant Your Flag: Devontae Adams** - Jake plants his flag on Devontae Adams, arguing his Week 1 performance is a massive overreaction.
- 5 (21:36) **RB Debate: Aaron Jones vs. Chuba Hubbard** - A head-to-head comparison of two mid-tier running backs with different outlooks.
- 6 (27:24) **RB Debate: Marshawn Lloyd vs. Kyle Manungai** - A split decision on two young running backs in uncertain backfields.
- 7 (30:56) **WR Debate: Drake London vs. Jalen Waddle** - A decision between two high-draft picks who disappointed in Week 1.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Week 2 lineup decisions are already getting uncomfortable. Ryan Wormeli, Pat Fitzmaurice, and Jake Ciely break down which waiver-wire pickups can go straight into your starting lineup and identify the players they’re willing to bet on despite consensus.
The crew tackles some of the week’s toughest calls, including Aaron Jones vs. Chuba Hubbard, Drake London’s shaky quarterback situation, and whether Jalen Coker, Parker Washington, and Quentin Johnston belong in lineups. They also sort through borderline RB, WR, FLEX, QB, and TE decisions using matchup, role, and ECR.
Plus, get their Week 2 touchdown calls and final lineup advice before your lineups lock.
Timestamps: (May be off due to ads)
Intro - 0:00:00
Starting or Sitting Popular Waiver Wire Adds? - 0:02:14
Kaelon Black - 0:02:36
Devaughn Vele - 0:05:21
Caleb Douglas - 0:09:25
Plant Your Flag - 0:13:15
Baker Mayfield - 0:13:35
Davante Adams - 0:16:16
Polymarket - 0:19:55
Start/Sit Player Debates - 0:20:52
Aaron Jones vs. Chuba Hubbard - 0:20:59
MarShawn Lloyd vs. Kyle Monangai - 0:25:01
Drake London vs. Jaylen Waddle - 0:28:32
Parker Washington vs. Tee Higgins - 0:34:19
FantasyPros Tools - 0:37:47
Tyler Allgeier vs. Jonathon Brooks - 0:38:08
Jalen Coker vs. DK Metcalf - 0:41:05
Quinshon Judkins vs. Tetairoa McMillan - 0:43:11
Blake Corum vs. Quentin Johnston - 0:43:56
Chris Godwin vs. Jacory Croskey-Merritt - 0:46:50
Romeo Doubs vs. TreVeyon Henderson - 0:48:50
Justin Herbert vs. Jaxson Dart - 0:50:52
Dallas Goedert vs. Isaiah Likely - 0:53:16
TD Calls Contest - 0:55:28
Aaron Jones - 0:55:43
Davante Adams - 0:56:07
George Kittle - 0:56:40
Outro - 0:58:41
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