One of my favorite quotes from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (and there are many) is when the peasant has a lengthy back-and-forth dialogue with King Arthur about being repressed. Make no bones about it; he had a legitimate gripe!

Do you want to know who else has been repressed lately? Wide receivers and tight ends, due to CONTINUED poor play at the quarterback position! As I alluded to in last week’s column, one can tell that signal-callers are still knocking off the rust, with limited snaps under their belts before the season began.

But enough of being a negative Nancy, let’s begin by focusing on the positives from Week 2.

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Fantasy Football Studs & Duds: Week 2

Quarterbacks

STUD: Kyler Murray (QB – ARI) – Fresh off the heels of a rather ho-hum performance in the season opener against Buffalo, Murray was asked continually if there would be a focus on trying to integrate stud rookie wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. into the offense moving forward. His nonchalant response of, “sometimes the ball goes to him, but that isn’t my job,” raised an eyebrow on my end. Thankfully, it seems the point hit home in Arizona, as Murray continually looked his way during a 41-10 blowout victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Murray finished 17-of-21 passing for 266 yards and two touchdowns, chipping in 59 rushing yards as well. As of Monday morning, he is this week’s leader in the position. A popular selection as the bounce-back player of the year, Murray is off to a fantastic start and will look to keep things rolling against Detroit in Week 3.

DUD: Jared Goff (QB – DET) – Goff continued to disappoint in Week 2 and even in a negative game script, he was unable to get this offense in gear. His first pass of the game was picked off, and none of his following attempts went for more than 20 yards. Goff dinked and dunked his way to 307 yards on 34 completions, finishing with just 5.6 yards per attempt (YPA). The team has made a concentrated effort to get Jameson Williams more involved in the passing game, but as he primarily runs “go” routes deep downfield that have a middling completion rate, it is becoming detrimental. Even more puzzling is the Lions’ absurd decision to completely ignore tight end Sam LaPorta and use him primarily as a blocking option. LaPorta only saw three targets in Week 2, one fewer than David Montgomery and Kalif Raymond. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has been less-than-impressive with his play calling, which has hurt Goff tremendously, but he’ll look to turn it around this week against Arizona’s leaky defense.

Running Back

STUD: Alvin Kamara (RB – NO) – Have a day, Kamara! Yeesh. Kamara finished with 115 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground, and also caught two passes for 65 yards and a score as a receiver out of the backfield. In a game where the Dallas Cowboys looked utterly lost and confused on how to stop him (or any other New Orleans player, for that matter), New Orleans continually fed their hot hand. To borrow a statistic I saw on Twitter from Ryan McDowell (@RyanMc23), through the first two weeks of the season, Kamara is the overall RB1. And if you just took into account his statistics this week, he’s the RB3. He is thriving in this new offense for the suddenly surging Saints, who, thankfully for fantasy purposes, funnel their production through a small number of players. Kamara will look to continue his absurd level of production against the Philadelphia Eagles next week, a team that surrendered more than 160 rushing yards in Week 1.

DUD: Rachaad White (RB – TB) – White is off to a very slow start running the ball; through two weeks, he has totaled just 49 yards on 25 carries. More concerning for his fantasy value, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have decided to make this backfield more of a committee situation, thanks to rookie Bucky Irving. His emergence, coupled with White’s inefficiency as a runner, dropped White from being an upside RB2 to a low-end RB2/FLEX play in most standard-size formats. Quarterback Baker Mayfield has been outstanding in the first two games, which has also decreased the need for Tampa Bay to rely upon the running game. This is a situation that I’m monitoring closely and if White continues to struggle, there will be a changing of the guard sooner rather than later. White has historically relied upon an overwhelming number of touches to propel his fantasy statistics, and now that crutch has been removed.

Wide Receivers

STUD: Malik Nabers (WR – NYG) – The lone bright spot during the Giants’ 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders was Nabers, who was the catalyst for New York’s entire offense. Daniel Jones completed just 16 passes all afternoon, despite his improved offensive line affording him plenty of time to throw. Of those 16 completions, ten went to Nabers on 18 targets. If Judge Dredd can say, “I AM THE LAW,” Nabers can say, “I AM THE GAMEPLAN.” His elite athleticism and ability to make defenders miss after the catch led to him finishing with 127 yards and the first touchdown of his NFL career. During his post-game interview, Nabers was humble about his breakout game, instead focusing on a sideline pass on fourth down that would have extended New York’s drive and chance to win. The Giants have very few other viable options to move the ball in this offense and Nabers will be heavily involved each week, making him a low-end WR1 moving forward.

DUD: Ja’Marr Chase (WR – CIN) – Before I begin on Chase, let me preface things by stating this: I could have pointed out many high-profile alternatives as the dud of the week. Browsing quickly through ESPN’s totals, Chase joined Stefon Diggs, Michael Pittman Jr., Mike Evans, and Cooper Kupp as players who were projected for more than 15 points and finished with fewer than eight total (although in the case of Kupp, he deserves a pass due to injury). Chase caught just four passes on five targets for 35 yards total and drew an overwhelming amount of defensive attention, with Tee Higgins still unable to start. Quarterback Joe Burrow pivoted to alternatives, especially at the tight end position; Mike Gesicki and rookie Erick All Jr. combined for 11 catches and 123 yards on 13 targets, with Andrei Iosivas catching two touchdown passes to keep the game competitive. Better days are indeed ahead for Chase, with the Cincinnati Bengals squaring off against the Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers. He is a prime “buy low” target at the moment.

Tight Ends

STUD: Hunter Henry (TE – NE) – I chose to write about Henry over Brock Bowers since I’m not sure if Henry will duplicate this level of success again this season. Frustrated after a quiet Week 1 performance where he finished with an 84% snap share and just three targets, New England went out of their way to feature him in the passing game during Week 2. Henry finished with eight receptions for 109 yards on a team-leading 12 targets during an overtime loss against the Seattle Seahawks. To put things into perspective, Henry had half of the team’s total targets, with running back Rhamondre Stevenson getting the second-most with just five looks. New England will continue to be a plodding offense that relies heavily on the running game, clock management, and a smothering defense to win games under rookie head coach Jerod Mayo. For as long as Jacoby Brissett is under center, expect a modest amount of pass attempts with a shallow depth of target.

DUD: Travis Kelce (TE – KC) – Both Kelce and LaPorta have been horribly disappointing for fantasy managers in the early going, providing very little return on a high investment at the position. Through the first two games, Kelce had just four receptions for 39 yards on seven targets, and in both games, Kansas City has been playing from behind often and needing to throw. I’m unwilling to state that Father Time has reared his ugly head and caused the downfall of Kelce this season just yet, but things are getting dicey. He did have a 41-yard reception called back due to a holding penalty and just missed a touchdown on a short shovel pass around the goal line. That said, if it doesn’t count, it doesn’t count. Kanas City’s bevy of receivers has spread targets thin during games, but I still trust Kelce to be the one that Patrick Mahomes looks towards when things matter most.