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Dan's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 2 of 2026. He looks at potential warning signals from Marvin Harrison Jr., Tony Pollard, MarShawn Lloyd, Josh Downs, and George Kittle
Happy football season, RotoBallers! After months of waiting, Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season is in the books, and so too is the first week of fantasy football. Are you celebrating your early investments in Ashton Jeanty and Kenneth Walker III? Or are you lamenting placing your trust in players like Jaylen Waddle, Terry McLaurin, or Kyle Pitts Sr.?
A new fantasy football season brings back the Warning Signals column. Each week, I do my best to spare you gameday disappointments by highlighting a handful of players who could adversely affect your fantasy squad based on poor performance trends, changes in usage, and tough matchups.
Starting your studs is an easy piece of fantasy football advice to follow, but what about the down-roster players who don’t rank among the league’s elite? Before you set your rosters for your next matchup, check this column and beware of the following Warning Signals for Week 2 of fantasy football.
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Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Arizona Cardinals
Marvin Harrison Jr. came into 2026 with a questionable outlook. His injury-plagued 2025 begat Michael Wilson’s breakout and subsequent three-year, $75 million contract extension. Wilson’s production last season and Arizona’s recent investment in him call Harrison’s standing in the offense’s pecking order into question.
Harrison had one catch for 33 yards on three targets in Week 1, doing little to restore confidence in the former fourth-overall draft pick.
Harrison ran 33 routes last Sunday, and nearly half of them were go or post routes. Arizona essentially asked him to go deep all game long (and bring an extra defender with you!), and only looked his way three times. Rather than force the ball downfield to Harrison, quarterback Jacoby Brissett took advantage of more high-percentage plays on quick reads.
The Cardinals will face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2. In the NFL Kickoff game, Patriots wide receiver Romeo Doubs ran a similar amount of deep routes against the Seahawks and came away with three targets and nothing else. In 2025, Seattle’s defense allowed the lowest EPA per target and third-lowest catch rate on deep routes.
The Cardinals won’t have Harrison doing wind sprints all season, but you should look elsewhere to fill your flex this week.
Marvin Harrison Jr. in Week 1:
- 87% route participation (good)
- 8.3% target share (atrocious)
- 0.09 targets per route run (awful)Out-targeted by McBride, Wilson, Kendrick Bourne, and Jeremiyah Love https://t.co/Yww4LuhDCy
— Adam Koffler (@AdamKoffler) September 14, 2026
Tony Pollard, RB, Tennessee Titans
Last year I tried not to recycle too many names in this column, but if memory serves correctly, Tony Pollard was one of my few repeat offenders. I am not overly surprised to include him in my first entry of this series in 2026. Pollard was one of the last remaining starting running backs in fantasy drafts with a shot at working as his team’s bell cow.
However, the Titans’ Week 1 usage of their running backs put the kibosh on those hopes.
Pollard worked in a near-even split with backup Tyjae Spears, with the former on the field for 26 snaps to the latter’s 25. On the bright side, Pollard was efficient with the ball, averaging five yards per carry. Unfortunately, he had just seven running attempts in a game where Tennessee was trying to keep up with the overpowering offense of the (checks notes…) New York Jets???
If the Titans are having trouble hanging with the Jets, then their Week 2 pairing with the Eagles won’t give Pollard much room to grow. Operating from behind means further reliance on the passing game, thereby inhibiting Pollard’s involvement. Fantasy managers rostering Pollard as their RB2 are going to be in for a bad time on Sunday if they can’t find an alternative.
MarShawn Lloyd, RB, Green Bay Packers
There is good news for teams managing MarShawn Lloyd. He led the Packers in rushing attempts and yards in Week 1. The bad news? All it took for him to do that was 13 carries for 37 yards. The even worse news? Lloyd didn’t even start the game! After rocketing up draft boards in the wake of Josh Jacobs’ suspension, Green Bay gave the start to Chris Brooks, who also out-snapped Lloyd, 38-30.
Seven of his carries were stopped within two yards of the line of scrimmage, and three of those were stopped in the backfield for a loss of yards. Despite the Vikings’ eye-popping 82% blitz rate on Sunday, Lloyd did not benefit from dump-offs and finished the day with just one target.
The muddied depth chart and Lloyd’s lack of involvement on passing downs make it hard to trust him for Week 2. A matchup against a Jets defense that gave up the most fantasy points to running backs in 2025 is inviting, but Lloyd’s work in Week 1 invites the question of how much he will be allowed to benefit. Until we see the Packers dedicate a bigger piece of the pie to him, I’m not comfortable starting Lloyd.
MarShawn Lloyd carries pic.twitter.com/soRjAkagKB
— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) September 14, 2026
Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs seemed primed for a big step forward during the offseason. In March, Michael Pittman Jr. was traded to the Steelers, and weeks later, it was announced that Alec Pierce (heel) was undergoing ankle surgery, putting his availability for the start of 2026 in doubt. Just like that, Downs was at the top of the Colts’ depth chart.
Unfortunately for Downs, Indianapolis signed veteran free agent Keenan Allen on August 19, and Pierce was activated from the PUP list on August 27. In Week 1, both receivers outproduced Downs, who finished with two catches for 37 yards on three targets, despite Downs leading the group in snap share and Pierce operating on a pitch count to ease him back into action.
Pierce was a full participant in the first practice of the week, a possible sign that his restrictions will be loosened in Week 2, when the Colts face the Chiefs. Kansas City’s defense just allowed Bo Nix to throw for 131 passing yards, and the Broncos wide receiver group had a combined seven catches for 75 yards.
Downs’ participation (89% snap rate) was an encouraging sign that the Colts will get him more involved down the line. That said, I am not staking Week 2 on him in the face of a difficult matchup and the possibility that a healthier Pierce will demand more work himself.
George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers
As a 49ers fan since my childhood and a great admirer of George Kittle’s (Achilles) body of work, it feels borderline sacrilege to admit that I am feeling gunshy about his prospects this week. Kittle, who tore his Achilles in a wild card game last season, made an improbably fast recovery and was on the field for San Francisco’s season opener against the Rams in Melbourne.
Kittle was limited to 30 snaps in that game and ran 17 routes. Quarterback Brock Purdy welcomed Kittle back with some early attention, targeting him four times on the first drive. Kittle saw just one more look on the day and finished with two catches for 12 yards on five targets.
Now back at home and gearing up for a Week 2 matchup against the Miami Dolphins, Kittle was a limited participant in practice to start the week. The 49ers have a multitude of playmakers on offense and can easily avoid risking Kittle’s health. With that in mind, I would hesitate to plug him into lineups if he were given the go-ahead to play without restrictions.
In similar circumstances last year, Kittle returned in Week 7 after a five-game injury-related absence and played 81% of snaps but put up a goose egg and saw just two targets. I wouldn’t put it past head coach Kyle Shanahan to put Kittle to work as an extra blocker as a means of getting the star tight end back up to speed.
I’ll be delighted once Kittle is back to full health, but I’ll wait at least one more week before I add him to my starting lineup.
.@gkittle46 hasn't missed a beat 💪 pic.twitter.com/3C4pcdZYjb
— NFL (@NFL) September 11, 2026
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