Fantasy Football Risers and Fallers - Week 2 (2026)

September 16, 2026

Andrew Ball's fantasy football risers, fallers, sleepers, and busts heading into Week 2 of the 2026 season. He identifies players with rising and falling fantasy values.

Welcome to the Wednesday after Week 1, the time to victory-lap your initially successful sleepers and breakouts while panicking about the busts.

Week 1 is a time to watch for usage and opportunities. Some risers, like Chuba Hubbard, triumphed over position competition. Some fallers, like Travis Etienne Jr., were nowhere close to a bellcow title.

The players in this weekly article aren't necessarily the week's best and worst performers. Instead, we'll talk about trends that could last well beyond this week.

Week 2 Fantasy Football Risers

Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears

You may call Colston Loveland a faller after a goose egg (although he led the Bears in routes run and all tight ends in route rate). You may be upset by Rome Odunze's lack of opportunities (two catches on three targets). Heck, even Luther Burden III failed to reach double-digit PPR fantasy points.

The disappointing results for Caleb Williams' top three weapons make it even more impressive what the third-year signal caller did in his 2026 debut. Just one month after head coach Ben Johnson stated his goal was "to have the highest-scoring offense ever," Williams and Co. dropped 59 points on the Carolina defense.

Will they score 50+ regularly? No. However, the offensive game plan in Week 1 showcases that the Bears can score in a plethora of ways. D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai each rushed for triple digits, with four scores between the duo. Williams got in on the rushing fun, with a career-best 10 carries and 65 yards, the second-best mark of his career. The Bears could rely on the pass-catchers more next week.

Williams is trending toward being a locked-in QB1, no matter the matchup.

Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay offseason questions were: Who will get the goal-line opportunities, and which running back will get the bulk of the passing work?

We still don't have the answer to the first question. The Buccaneers didn't have any snaps inside the five-yard line, and Sean Tucker (hamstring) did not suit up.

The answer to the other is Bucky Irving, at least after one week. The third-year runner led the Buccaneers with seven targets and logged 21 routes. Compare that to Kenny Gainwell, who had one target on 14 routes.

The ground attempts (eight) were low, but that mostly reflected the game script. Gainwell only had five. Tampa fell behind 18 points in the second quarter and never got within one score the rest of the way. If Irving is going to be on the field regardless of game script, the catches are far more valuable than the carries.

Jalen Coker, WR, Carolina Panthers

Jalen Coker carried his late-season momentum straight into the new year.

Bryce Young goes long to Jalen Coker!

CHIvsCAR on FOX/FOX One pic.twitter.com/y4dv1AgdzS

— NFL (@NFL) September 13, 2026

Coker saw nine targets from Bryce Young, leading all Carolina pass-catchers, turning them into eight receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Tetairoa McMillan got eight targets, while most of his production came late in the fourth quarter.

Should we update the tally? Let's update the tally. Since Week 13 of last season, Coker has 44 targets. McMillan has 40. Coker has 36 receptions. McMillan has 24. There's more than 100 yards of space, in Coker's favor, between the two now.

Unfortunately, the Panthers won't get another matchup with the Chicago secondary to rack up more fantasy points, but Coker's usage and chemistry with Young is legit, and the matchup may not matter soon. One could even make the argument that he's Carolina's WR1.

Dalton Kincaid, TE, Buffalo Bills

All we want this fall is more playing time for Dalton Kincaid. We're off to a great start.

Buffalo's tight end played just over a third of Buffalo's snaps last season, managing a PCL injury and a crowded tight end room. He cleared his 2025 season-high mark (55%) in game one this year (73%).

Last year, Kincaid led all tight ends in targets per route run (0.27). That's the exact number he finished Week 1 with.

Kincaid's only saving grace last season was touchdowns (five, with a 12.3% rate). While he didn't score on Sunday, his yardage (130, a new career high) and targets (six, trailing DJ Moore's eight) better indicate season-long success. The red zone looks will come.

Kincaid did all of this against the Houston Texans' defense, widely regarded as one of, if not the best, units in football. Houston surrendered the seventh-fewest yards to the position last year.

Other Fantasy Football Risers:

• Chuba Hubbard
• Caleb Douglas
• Christian Watson / Matthew Golden
• Kaelon Black
• Isaiah Likely

Week 2 Fantasy Football Fallers

MarShawn Lloyd, RB, Green Bay Packers

The good news? MarShawn Lloyd led the Green Bay backfield with 13 carries. The bad news? Well, everything else.

When Josh Jacobs was placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List, the popular theory was that Lloyd would slide into a lead-back role for the Packers. In reality, it was more of a committee approach. Chris Brooks started the game, played more snaps, and had seven attempts. Lloyd wasn't efficient as a runner. He totaled 37 yards (2.8 yards per carry), compared to 4.1 for Brooks.

Jordan Love attempted 42 passes on Sunday, a number he cleared just once in 2025. Head coach Matt LaFleur has shown a tendency -- before and after Jacobs' arrival -- to lean on the passing game when he doesn't trust his available running backs. The final score tells a different story, but the Packers led for the vast majority of the game. Green Bay was still throwing.

Love's frequent dropbacks wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the running backs were involved in the receiving game. Lloyd ran just seven routes (nine for Brooks) and earned one target. This is shaping up to be a backfield to avoid until (if) Jacobs returns.

Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Commanders

It's so early in the season, but we may have a make-or-break game for Terry McLaurin on tap.

2025 was filled with injuries (to both him and Jayden Daniels). Week 1 was a straight disappointment. The Commanders struggled to pick up any offensive momentum for the first three quarters, and Washington's WR1 didn't have a catch until just under five minutes left in the game. It wasn't because he was seeing all-or-nothing deep balls. His average depth of target was just a hair over five yards.

I may have spoken too soon. Is McLaurin actually the WR1?

Stefon Diggs had more than double McLaurin's targets in his Washington debut. McLaurin's longtime appeal was the distinct lack of target competition in Washington. Diggs wasn't on the field all the time (65.8% route participation), but the former Patriot led his new team in target share (26.5%) and tied rookie Antonio Williams with 0.36 targets per route run.

There's a vast difference between All-Pro corner Quinyon Mitchell and a Dallas defense that floundered on Sunday night. It will, however, be red alert for McLaurin if Diggs leads the team in targets again, for what has been a historically low-volume pass offense under Dan Quinn.

Drake London, WR, Atlanta Falcons

I never thought I'd type this: Drake London needs Tua Tagovailoa to be healthy. Well, or Michael Penix Jr., but it seems more likely the former hits the field first.

Cooper Rush looked like a game manager managing a game manager. The veteran journeyman completed 12 passes Sunday afternoon. Half of them were behind the line of scrimmage. Running back Bijan Robinson accounted for eight receptions. That left four for London, Kyle Pitts Sr., and the rest of the Falcons. Atlanta's top wideout snagged two for 29 yards. Pitts (also a faller) had as many fantasy points as you did.

From ESPN Research: Cooper Rush's longest completion in terms of air yards today is 5 yards. On throws more than 5 air yards, Rush is 0-for-5 with an interception. #Falcons

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) September 13, 2026

To put it in layman's terms, this was not a proper NFL offense. The matchup against Carolina should be easier than Pittsburgh (although the Steelers did not have top cornerback Joey Porter Jr.), but will it even matter? London isn't moving to benches yet, but he's not the lineup lock he was drafted to be.

Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Cleveland Browns

Harold Fannin Jr. is the Cleveland representative because Quinshon Judkins could easily be here instead.

The Browns had zero first-half drives lasting more than five plays and didn't find the end zone until two-and-a-half minutes remained. Fannin, the team's go-to option at the end of the 2025 season, saw just three targets and caught two for 21 yards on Sunday.

Cleveland's only real effort came from designing plays for wide receiver KC Concepcion. The rookie led the team with five targets and added three carries. Fannin's target share subsequently fell to 14%, the worst mark since early in the 2025 season.

Head coach Todd Monken has already named Deshaun Watson the Week 2 starter. Starting any option on this disaster of an offense will lead to fantasy losses.

Other Fantasy Football Fallers:

• Travis Etienne Jr.
• Marvin Harrison Jr.
• De'Von Achane
• Tony Pollard
• Justin Herbert

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