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Matt's quarterback (QB) fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 2 of 2025. His QB lineups advice for Week 2 fantasy football start/sit decisions.
With the Vikings and Bears concluding Week 1 of the fantasy football season, it is time to crunch the film and data and paint a picture of what to expect as we look at the slate of games set for Week 2.
Week 1 saw several surprises in the top 10, including Daniel Jones, Aaron Rodgers, and Michael Penix Jr. At the same time, other quarterbacks struggled, and many had pegged them as set-it-and-forget-it fantasy assets in their weekly lineups. I'm looking at you, Joe Burrow, and Bo Nix. We also have our first potential loss in Brock Purdy (shoulder), which fantasy managers must now navigate.
With that in mind, here are your Week 2 starts and sits for the quarterback position.
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Week 2 - Fantasy Football Booms
Geno Smith- QB, Las Vegas Raiders vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Talk about making a good impression on the silver and black. In Geno Smith's debut, he torched the New England Patriots, completing 24 of 34 passing attempts for 362 yards and a touchdown, and his way to an 18.5 point fantasy outing against a Patriots defense that allowed the third-fewest fantasy points per game to the quarterback position a season ago.
Only Josh Allen had more passing yards than Smith in Week 1.
Geno Smith to Tre Tucker touchdown for the Raiders!
LVvsNE on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/CteEp7nh0v
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2025
Diving into the game film, New England was without Christian Gonzalez, but Smith had nine completions of more than 20 yards, something Raiders Nation hasn't seen from their quarterback since 1991. Smith would average 8.11 adjusted net yards per attempt last week, the eighth-most, while the 10.65 yards per passing attempt ranked second, behind Lamar Jackson. Smith accomplished all this while facing pressure on 35.9% of his dropbacks.
This week, Smith and the Raiders head to Los Angeles to face the Chargers after seeing Patrick Mahomes gouge the Chargers' secondary for 26 fantasy points. Most of Mahomes' production came from his legs, but he still completed 61.5% of his passes even after losing Xavier Worthy (shoulder) early on.
If you are a team trying to figure out what to do with the latest Purdy news, adding Smith off the waivers and plugging him into your starting lineup would be a seamless transition.
Drake Maye - QB, New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins
Drake Maye is coming off a subpar start in Week 1 against the Raiders, failing to record a quality start. A quality start for fantasy is one in which the quarterback produces 16 or more fantasy points, something Maye had accomplished in seven of his previous 11 starts. It's not like Maye was bad either; his 287 passing yards were the sixth-most last week. The Patriots couldn't get the ball into the end zone.
This week, there is likely less resistance to getting the ball into the end zone, considering Jones completed 22 of 29 passing attempts for 272 yards and a touchdown against this Miami defense. Not only did Jones produce 29.5 fantasy points and finish as the QB3 in fantasy, but he also led a Colts scoring drive on every possession, going seven-for-seven.
Since 1991, Jones has been the only quarterback to lead his team to points on every drive, which Maye certainly can do.
Jones scored 14.6 of his 29.5 fantasy points on the ground, rushing for 26 yards on seven carries while vulturing two touchdowns away from Jonathan Taylor. Last season, Maye's 31.3 scramble yards per contest were second only to Jayden Daniels. If Jones could produce in the run game, Maye could equal or surpass that production level this week.
Justin Fields - QB, New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills
Only Allen was more productive in fantasy last week than Justin Fields, who made his Jets debut. In a less-than-ideal matchup, facing the likes of T.J. Watt, Joey Porter Jr., and Jalen Ramsey, Fields was efficient, completing 16 of 22 passes for 218 yards, averaging 9.9 yards per attempt, showing once again why he is a top fantasy quarterback, producing a pair of touchdowns and 48 yards on the ground on 12 rushing attempts, 10 of which were designed runs.
🚨another angle of Justin Fields' first TD with the Jets just dropped 🚨 pic.twitter.com/31c9vg2wzE
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 8, 2025
In Fields's last five starts, the Jets quarterback has finished as a top 12 fantasy quarterback in four contests and averaged 24.14 fantasy points per game. Diving a little deeper into the analytics, according to the Fantasy Points Data Suite, in 2024, Fields was the QB10 in highly accurate throws, connecting at a 53.4% rate.
In Week 1, that number was 63.6%. Since 2022, Fields's worst season for fantasy points per drop back was 2023, when he averaged 0.53 and was the QB6. Last week, his 1.18 fantasy points pr drop back was the highest in the league.
Turning our attention to Week 2, Fields and the Jets face a Buffalo Bills team that just surrendered 29.4 fantasy points to Jackson, who had 209 yards passing, 70 yards rushing, and three total touchdowns. While Fields isn't Jackson, they have plenty of similarities, and the challenges Jackson presented the Bills with in Week 1 are the same challenges Buffalo will face again this week in dealing with Fields.
Fields may not have a 30-point week, but a return to the top 10 once again is highly probable.
Week 2 Potential Fantasy Football Busts
Patrick Mahomes - QB, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The last time Mahomes faced the Eagles, he threw a pair of interceptions while completing 65.6% of his passes for 257 yards. While Mahomes is coming off a 26-point fantasy performance in Week 1, no one is talking about it. Have we become numb to Mahomes' greatness?
Mahomes needed to rely on his legs for fantasy production against the Chargers, especially after the loss of Worthy. With Worthy sidelined, Marquise Brown took the lead in the passing game, catching 10 of 16 targets for 99 yards, while JuJu Smith-Schuster and Travis Kelce added 55 and 47 yards, respectively.
When Smith-Schuster is second on the team in receiving yards and has 14 more than Tyquan Thornton, things aren't all that great.
This week, it goes from bad to worse. Kansas City faces an Eagles team that allowed just 14.22 fantasy points per game to the quarterback position last season. Philadelphia is coming off a Week 1 performance in which they limited Dak Prescott to 7.8 fantasy points, preventing him from scoring.
Matthew Stafford - QB, Los Angeles Rams at Tennessee Titans
Against the Houston Texans, Matthew Stafford completed 21 of 29 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown, hitting a milestone of 60,000 career passing yards. While those numbers are serviceable for an NFL quarterback, they aren't going to excite fantasy enthusiasts as they equate to 13.6 fantasy points and a QB20 weekly finish.
Houston is tough on quarterbacks in fantasy, but this week's opponent, the Tennessee Titans, also presents a problem for opposing signal callers. Last season, Tennessee surrendered 15.12 fantasy points per game. In Week 1, Nix finished as the QB27 after facing this Titans defense, completing 25 of 40 passing attempts and being held to 8.8 fantasy points.
Nix had 43 turnover-worthy plays in the contest and zero Big Time Throws on 43 dropbacks. Was Nix experiencing the early signs of the sophomore slump last week, or were the Titans just that good on defense? We should find out this week.
Daniel Jones - QB, Indianapolis Colts vs. Denver Broncos
Don't expect Jones to go seven-for-seven on scoring drives this week; it will not happen. While Cam Ward is a rookie, Denver was one of five teams to generate pressure on 40% or more of their opponents' dropbacks in Week 1, sacking Ward six times (six different players) after leading the NFL in sacks (64) a season ago and recording 12 pressures.
Against Miami, Jones only faced pressure on 24.2% of his dropbacks, the third-lowest total of his career.
In Week 1, Denver only yielded 133 net yards, and as Zac Stephens of DNVR Sports pointed out, "The Titans had 72 yards on their four biggest offensive plays. In their other 51 plays against the Broncos defense, the Titans had 61 total net yards, just over one yard per play", including -2 net yards in the second half.
This is so crazy:
The Titans had 72 yards on their four biggest offensive plays.
In their other 51 plays against the Broncos' defense, the Titans had 61 total net yards. Just over one yard per play. pic.twitter.com/g0mQtbUkjZ
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) September 8, 2025
Denver's defense produced an EPA of -22.57 in Week 1. The next closest team was the Jacksonville Jaguars, at -15.38. Don't go chasing waterfalls, and don't go chasing fantasy points.
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