Preseason Week 2 Game Recap: Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Friday's games

Elic Ayomanor was the one bright spot of the Tennessee Titans ‘ offense: Ward caught a 35-yard pass from Cam Ward, while the rest of the offense gained five net yards over their first three drives.

Ward caught a 35-yard pass from Cam Ward, while the rest of the offense gained five net yards over their first three drives. Casey Washington wins the Atlanta Falcons ‘ WR gig : Washington is the one skill player who played in the Falcons’ first preseason game who sat out this game.

Washington is the one skill player who played in the Falcons’ first preseason game who sat out this game. Data, tools and expert insights: Use code earlybird to save $20 on your PFF+ annual subscription.

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Titans WR Elic Ayomanor’s usage suggests a regular-season role: Ayomanor was put in motion at a high rate for his second-straight preseason game, which is something the other Titans wide receivers don’t do often.

The Titans completely reworked their wide receiver room from last season, as Calvin Ridley was the only returning player near the top of the depth chart. The Titans added veterans Tyler Lockett and Van Jefferson while drafting Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor in the fourth round of the draft.

In the first preseason game, Jefferson was the X receiver and Ridley was the Z, while Lockett played i the slot in three-receiver sets. Ayomanor was the backup Z, taking two snaps from Ridley, while playing both snaps in 13 personnel. Dike was the backup slot, taking one snap from Lockett. The Titans decided to rest both Ridley and Lockett for this game.

Unsurprisingly, Ayomanor started as the Z receiver, while Dike joined as the slot receiver. The Titans had wide receivers in motion on 254 plays last season, which was the eighth-lowest among teams. Ridley had a 13% motion rate, which was clearly the highest among the Titans’ top wide receivers. Ayomanor went into motion six times last week, while the rest of the wide receivers on the roster combined for five motions. Only one of Ayomanor’s motions was with Ward on the field. This week, Ayomanor was in motion on five of his 10 plays with the starters. It would not be surprising if Ayomanor is in for a package of plays each week where it’s helpful to have a wide receiver in motion.

Cam Ward left the game after three drives, but all three wide receivers who started this game kept playing. Jefferson and Ayomanor were taken out before the two-minute drill drive, while Dike kept playing. Last week, when Ward stopped playing, Jefferson’s day was also done. The fact that Jefferson was playing at a point when no projected starters were also on the field suggests his starting job might not be secure. Jefferson's benching would likely mean Ridley would move back to the X receiver spot, which he played in 2023 with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Since Dike has played explicitly in the slot in three-receiver sets, it would be Ayomanor who would take a starting spot.

Darnell Mooney’s temporary replacement: Casey Washington is a clear top-five wide receiver on the depth chart after sitting out this game.

Washington was a Falcons sixth-round pick in 2024, playing only nine offensive snaps as a rookie in the fourth quarter of blowout losses. He has been a standout at training camp, and head coach Raheem Morris recently suggested that Washington will replace Mooney in the starting lineup if Mooney misses time in the regular season. Mooney is dealing with a shoulder injury but would not have played even if he were healthy.

Washington started the first preseason game while the top four wide receivers on the depth chart had the night off. In this game, Washington was added to the long list of players with a secure roster spot who didn’t play. Washington would be a sneaky pick-up in deep leagues for anyone who might need a wide receiver in Week 1. The Falcons play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mooney gained nine receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns in the first game against Tampa Bay in addition to four receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown in the second.

Miscellaneous Notes

Carson Steele remains ahead of Elijah Mitchell and Brashard Smith: Steele was the Chiefs' second running back in the game, and Mitchell played later in the same drive.

The Chiefs have traditionally used one running back for a stretch of plays in the preseason, followed by another and another. In this game, Kansas City went through that cycle faster than usual. Isiah Pacheco played the first three snaps of the game before, similar to last week, his day was done. A week ago, Kareem Hunt was the next running back up, but he missed practice earlier in the week due to an undisclosed injury, and he didn’t end up playing.

Last week, Steele was the next man up. He primarily plays fullback but is also capable of playing halfback. He was the next man up after Hunt last week and next up for Kansas City in this game. He took the middle four plays of the initial drive, followed by three plays for Mitchell to close out the drive. The two continued to split plays throughout the first half. Smith played one snap in the first half, but he was lined up at wide receiver. Steele, similarly, was the second running back up after Pacheco in the second preseason game last season, but he was ahead of several running backs who didn’t end up making the roster.

This isn’t great news for Mitchell or Smith. It seems like Pacheco, Hunt and Steele should make the roster, but either Smith or Mitchell could be the fourth running back. The Chiefs don’t have a clear third-down back, so it’s at least possible the team adds a third-down back and doesn’t keep Mitchell or Smith on the 53-man roster.

Regardless, it seems like Hunt is the only threat to Pacheco's playing time on early downs, and he turned 30 year old this month, is currently injured and averaged 3.4 yards per carry over his last two seasons. The fact that no other running back has emerged in this backfield should be driving Pacheco up fantasy football rankings and leading to an earlier ADP.

Projecting the Chiefs' wide receiver room: There is room for a potential fantasy star if Rashee Rice misses significant time due to injury.

Reports emerged earlier today that the NFL initially proposed a double-digit game suspension for Rice this season. Rice’s NFL hearing is on September 30th. While it’s possible Rice and the league will settle on a length of a suspension before then, it’s possible that Rice plays the first month of the season and then is suspended for most of the fantasy season.

Last season, Xavier Worthy began taking Rice's role during the playoff run, which included playing more out of the slot, turning him into a fantasy star. In a limited sample size of six preseason plays, Worthy has only lined up once in the slot. Hollywood Brown is also projected to start but is currently out due to an ankle and foot injury. Brown lined up in the slot 37% of plays last season, including the playoffs.

JuJu Smith-Schuster started this game. Fourth-round rookie Jalen Royals and former New England Patriot Tyquan Thornton entered the game quickly after Rice and Worthy left the game. All three exited the game after the first drive. They are likely the top six wide receivers on the Chiefs' depth chart this season. Royals has played six snaps and ran five routes out of the slot in the first drive of preseason games this season, while Smith-Schuster and Thornton have each lined up there three times. There were also reports shortly after the draft that Royals reminded the team of Rice.

While the Rice situation remains fluid, it’s possible that Royals will be the late-round sleeper to draft this season. His ADP should be getting earlier as time goes on, but the uncertainty around Rice’s situation will likely prevent a significant change in ADP, allowing savvy fantasy managers to take advantage.

First look at the new Seahawks wide receiver room: The Seahawks played all of their wide receivers in this game, giving us confirmation of how their wide receiver rotation will look.

The Seahawks ran nine plays with the starters. Smith-Njigba played 100% of the snaps in 11, 12 and 21 personnel, while Kupp missed one of the three snaps out of 11 personnel. Smith-Njigba and Kupp shared the slot role, finishing with three snaps out of the slot each. Most of those plays were out of two-receiver sets. During the Seahawks' three plays out of 11 personnel, a different player lined up in the slot each play. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has a long history of not having a clear slot receiver, so this rotation should not be a surprise.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling remains the third wide receiver on the depth chart, but he only played two snaps with the starters. There was one play in 11 personnel with Smith-Njigba, Jake Bobo and Dareke Young. The fact that Valdes-Scantling didn’t play all three snaps out of 11 personnel was surprising. The Seahawks ran one play out of 13 personnel, and Tory Horton was the only wide receiver on that play. It was also surprising that Horton wasn’t in on the field for that 11 personnel play, rather than Bobo or Young.

Horton and Valdes-Scantling were the clear top-two wide receivers on the second drive. Valdes-Scantling stopped playing on the third drive. Horton has impressed during training camp, but the Seahawks' low 11-personnel rate will make it very difficult for any wide receiver, outside of Smith-Njigba and Kupp, to matter, unless someone can completely overtake Kupp on the depth chart.

The Seahawks’ messy tight end rotation: No Seahawks tight end played over 60% of the team's offensive snaps over the first two drives.

A.J. Barner was the Seahawks' starting tight end this week after being one of the veterans who rested last week. This allowed us to get a first look at the Seahawks' tight end rotation with everyone available. Eric Saubert played 11 snaps over the first two drives, while Barner played 10 and Elijah Arroyo played four. Barner stopped playing after the first two drives, while Saubert and Arroyo continued throughout the rest of the first half, similar to last week.

While this seems like Arroyo is a distant third on the depth chart, it’s worth noting that the Seahawks were never in a clear passing situation. Their two third-down plays were short-yardage situations. They only had two second downs of seven-plus yards, and Arroyo was on the field for one of those. We still don’t have a clear indication who will be the Seahawks' third-down tight end. If the Seahawks are playing from behind in a lot of games, that tight end will be on the field a lot.

That makes this a situation to completely avoid. Barner or Arroyo may outplay the other enough in the passing game to take a clear majority of passing plays. Until then, they can be left on the waiver wire.

Miscellaneous Notes

Table Notes

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