Preseason Week 2 has now come and gone, and if you’re not a complete degenerate like me, you didn’t watch all the games and break down game film. Frankly, I’m proud of you for that. Just like Preseason Week 1, we have some expectations to set here.

But first, an acknowledgement. I could not write this article with Pro Football Focus’ Nathan Jahnke. His Preseason Recap articles are vital to fill in the blanks for the games I don’t have time to study so that I can bring you timely fantasy-focused information. Nathan’s work is filled with a ton of information that’s useful to me, the analyst, so I can go through and pick out the impactful parts for you. Pick whatever platform you’d like, but be sure to let Nathan know you appreciate his work.

Preseason Week 2: The Week We Start Pretending We Know Things

Ok, so what are we looking for and what should we keep in mind as we process what we’ve seen in Week 2 of the NFL Preseason?

• We’re looking for patterns. We now have 100% more data points than we did after last week.
• We’ve got questions that need answers. Are guys playing more or less? Who are they playing with, and how has it changed?
• Remember that while it’s good for rookies to look good, they’re playing with reduced playbooks against backups playing using vanilla schemes for the most part.
• We never, ever, trust Sean Payton. 

Tennessee Titans

Elic Ayomanor and Van Jefferson may be dueling for who starts at WR across from Calvin Ridley. While both played with Cam Ward and the “starters,” the Titans only pulled Ayomanor when the other starters were pulled. Jefferson played well into the 3rd quarter. Chimere Dike looks like the backup at the slot behind Tyler Lockett.

Atlanta Falcons

Once again, Atlanta sat anyone and everyone who could start for them, so we don’t have anything to take away from the game itself. The notable thing is that Casey Washington was one of the players that they held out. This indicates that he’s the WR to own if Darnell Mooney’s injury keeps him out into the regular season.

Kansas City Chiefs

Once again, Isiah Pacheco played only a handful of snaps with the starters before the Chiefs pulled them. Pacheco also played on the only third down the starters faced, and it looks like he’s regained the speed and explosiveness he lost when he broke his leg in ’24. JuJu Smith-Schuster is clearly Kansas City’s WR3 and will see a lot of time if/when Rashee Rice is suspended.

Seattle Seahawks

Zach Charbonnet was the only RB Seattle that played with their starting skill position players, while Kenneth Walker was held out. Seattle’s game plans will clearly rely heavily on the running game and play action off of it.

Cleveland Browns

Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman are your starting WRs, with Jamari Thrash at your Z/slot, with Diontae Johnson as the primary backup capable of playing all 3 roles. Dylan Sampson and Harold Fannin were held out after playing Preseason Week 1, which is a good sign for both.

Philadelphia Eagles

Will Shipley went from starting Preseason Week 1 to being held out with the rest of the starters in Preseason Week 2. He’s the backup behind Saquon Barkley.

Detroit Lions

Isaac TeSlaa continues to impress on the field with a limited route tree and against backups, but he’s still no better than 5th in the WR pecking order. He’s a best-ball only option unless the Lions sit him with the other starters for Preseason Week 3.

Miami Dolphins

Thanks to Alexander Mattison’s year-ending injury, Jaylen Wright is the clear-cut backup to De’Von Achane. Ollie Gordon didn’t play until Wright’s day was completely done. This isn’t a competition for RB2 at this point.

Houston Texans

Nick Chubb played 11 snaps of the 14 that C.J. Stroud played, while Dare Ogunbowale looks like the 3rd-down/2-minute RB if Joe Mixon misses regular-season time. The rookie WRs took a backseat to veterans Nico Collins, Christian Kirk, and even Xavier Hutchinson. Jayden Higgins could still win a starting spot, but it’s too soon to draft him like it.

Carolina Panthers

Hunter Renfrow is clearly the Adam Thielen backup/WR4. Rico Dowdle plays all 3rd downs in place of Chuba Hubbard, just like Preseason Week 1. Ja’Tavion Sanders left the game when Bryce Young and the other starters did.

Green Bay Packers

MarShawn Lloyd led the backup Green Bay RBs into this game and got first crack at playing time as he played with the “starter” in this game. He promptly injured himself on his biggest play of the game, and how long he’s out remains to be seen.

Indianapolis Colts

Daniel Jones operates mainly in the short area and misses badly on deep throws. Anthony Richardson’s mechanics look much better, especially in the short game. I’d be shocked if Richardson isn’t declared the starter soon.

Note: Daniel Jones was JUST named the starter for the Colts. This doesn’t change my outlook for the team – Jones isn’t a viable NFL QB. It will just delay things. However, this development will move everyone down in the short term while Jones is the starter. Good job, Colts, you played yourselves.

New York Giants

Jaxson Dart looked very OK. He played against 2nd/3rd stringers and did what you’d hope he’d do with mostly short throws. Brian Daboll is simplifying the offense to help him develop, not to start him in ’25.

New York Jets

In a rather strange mix, Braelon Allen is clearly both the 3rd-down and short-yardage RB. Overall, Justin Fields and the starting offense played 18 snaps with Breece Hall on the field for 11 of them, and Allen on the field for 8 of them. Hall is terrifying at ADP.

Jacksonville Jaguars

After Travis Etienne got 100% of the snaps with the starters in Preseason Week 1, it was Tank Bigsby’s turn in Preseason Week 2. This looks like a miserable RB situation overall, and one where the correct answer to “Who should I draft of the Jacksonville RBs?” is “Nobody.”

New Orleans Saints

Kendre Miller is the clear primary backup to Alvin Kamara, but he was relieved by Cam Akers on every 3rd down. Tyler Shough looked rough vs the starters, and better vs the backups. That might be enough to win him the job in a battle of “Does It Even Matter? (No)” for the starting QB job.

New England Patriots

Even with Rhamondre Stevenson out, Antonio Gibson started and shared time with electric rookie TreVeyon Henderson. No matter how much we want Henderson to be the only game in town, it’s not gonna happen while Josh McDaniels is the OC.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings rested all 22 starters and then some, so there’s not much to learn from this game. Ty Chandler looks downright dreadful, and there’s a chance he doesn’t survive cutdown day with Zavier Scott consistently outperforming him.

San Francisco 49ers

Once again, San Francisco is so banged up with injuries that it’s tough to get too much from who they play and how much. It’s a “duh” statement, but Ricky Pearsall remains The Guy at WR for however long as he’s the only WR, at least.

Las Vegas Raiders 

Ashton Jeanty showed off, and his trucking of highly paid nickel CB Deommodore Lenoir is worth seeing for yourself. It might be something, or it might be nothing. But the Raiders have heavily rotated Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer with the starters through the first two weeks of the preseason.

Ashton Jeanty TRUCK STICK

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— NFL Daily News (@fantasynflnews.bsky.social) August 16, 2025 at 3:35 PM

Baltimore Ravens

For a team that doesn’t pass a lot, there really wasn’t much to learn from this game, just that Tylan Wallace is fourth on the depth chart. 

Dallas Cowboys

Joe Milton can’t run an offense enough to evaluate backups. Aside from that, everything we learned in Preseason Week 1 was reaffirmed. Sadly, still no clarity on RB rotation thanks to various injuries at the position.

Los Angeles Rams

Backup RBs Jarquez Hunter and Blake Corum each played significant snaps in this game. Kyren Williams stands to benefit as the Rams don’t play players during the preseason who will play a significant role for them during the regular season.

Los Angeles Chargers

Ladd McConkey did not leave the field while the starters played, even when Keenan Allen came into the game, which he did only for 3WR sets. Quentin Johnston left the game with a concussion and played at the X WR position. When he left, KeAndre Lambert-Smith took over the X role. It looks like Lambert-Smith has pulled ahead of fellow rookie Tre Harris.

[Highlight] Justin Herbert throws a 29 yard dart to KeAndre Lambert-Smith #nfl Source: wildwing8

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— NFL Highlight (@nflhighlight.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 7:56 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers

For the second straight week, Kenneth Gainwell started over Kaleb Johnson. Johnson played into the 3rd quarter. Gainwell will get more playing time, and Kaleb will get less than the fantasy community expects.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Rookie Tez Johnson was subbed in ahead of veterans Rakim Jarrett and Ryan Miller. Monitor Jalen McMillan’s injury. Emeka Egbuka has been playing the X WR role, which is Mike Evans’ role, while McMillan has been playing the Z, which is the injured Chris Godwin’s role.

Denver Broncos

RJ Harvey scored another TD, Pat Bryant led the team in receiving yards, and both have everyone all up in their feelings. Starters Bo Nix, J.K. Dobbins, Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims, and Devaughn Vele all rested this week. Harvey and Bryant won’t see as much time to start the year.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals started Michael Carter and Emari Demercado, who played on 3rd downs. Unlike in Preseason Week 1, starters Kyler Murray, James Conner, Trey Benson, Marvin Harrison, Michael Wilson, Greg Dortch, Zay Jones, Trey McBride, and Tip Reiman all rested. Benson is in no danger of one of the other RBs cutting into his workload this year.

Chicago Bears

Olamide Zaccheaus is still playing with the starters ahead of Luther Burden, who’s only playing with the second team. Adjust your early-season rankings appropriately. Both Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland play exclusively with the starters, but Kmet is still more entrenched and should be drafted that way.

Buffalo Bills

Buffalo held out all of their offensive starters aside from Josh Palmer, who played eight snaps. Elijah Moore is probably not making the 53-man roster. Tyrell Shavers probably is.

Cincinnati Bengals

Chase Brown left the field for a 3rd down near midfield, but stayed on the field on 3rd and 4th and goal from the 2 and 1 yard lines, respectively. Brown is slated to get all of the important RB work for the Bengals.

Washington Commanders

The starting offense was on the field so little that it’s tough to get much out of it. Washington gave Chris Rodriguez the only RB carries with the starters. Bill Croskey-Meritt received the carries with the second team.

Commanders first 2 plays:

Deebo Samuel 19-yard rush
Chris Rodriguez 40-yard rush

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— NFL Daily News (@fantasynflnews.bsky.social) August 18, 2025 at 7:33 PM

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Lou Brunson is a Senior Analyst and THE social media brains for Optimus Fantasy. Find his dynasty stylings on right here and at draftbuddy.com.