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Who Should I Start for Week 2? Fantasy Football outlooks for Kaelon Black, RJ Harvey, Saquon Barkley, TreVeyon Henderson, Emmett Johnson, Ashton Jeanty, Chris Brooks, Alvin Kamara.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 2 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Kaelon Black, RJ Harvey, Saquon Barkley, TreVeyon Henderson, Emmett Johnson, Ashton Jeanty, Chris Brooks, and Alvin Kamara. However, don't worry, we are here to help you make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 2. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Week 2 Fantasy Football Outlooks
Below are some fantasy football outlooks written by our NFL team here at RotoBaller, bringing you their fantasy football analysis and advice on which players to consider starting in Week 2:
TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots
New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson (ankle) was listed as a full practice participant on Wednesday. Henderson suffered an ankle injury in training camp in late August that kept him from suiting up in the Week 1 season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks last Wednesday night.
But now that he is back as a full-go early in the week at practice, the second-year back seems destined to make his 2026 debut on Sunday in a Week 2 clash against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers. In the loss to the Seahawks, Stevenson handled 18 rushing attempts for just 51 yards (2.8 yards per carry) while adding five catches on six targets for 44 yards through the air.
The impending return of Henderson is bad news for Stevenson's fantasy managers going into Week 2, as the two are expected to split New England's backfield pretty evenly again this year. The 23-year-old Henderson had an impressive 911 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns in 17 regular-season games as a rookie and will be on the RB3/flex radar this weekend if he is officially cleared to play later this week.
Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley opened 2026 with a much better rushing performance than fantasy managers became used to seeing last season. Barkley took 15 carries for 83 yards in Sunday's 24-22 win over Washington, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt and breaking off a 42-yard run that set up Philadelphia's second touchdown.
The efficiency is the important part here. Barkley averaged only 4.1 yards per carry in 2025 after posting a 5.8 mark during his 2,005-yard 2024 season. His grip on the backfield also hasn't changed. Barkley handled 15 of the Eagles' 18 running-back carries and played 39 offensive snaps, while Will Shipley and Tank Bigsby combined for just three rushing attempts.
The passing-game production wasn't there, as Barkley caught one of two targets for minus-three yards. Still, Week 1 offered an encouraging first look at a player coming off a down year by his standards. Barkley was already an RB1, but an efficient opener makes a bounce-back season look more plausible. He has a prime matchup to start a bounce-back against the Titans.
Kaelon Black, San Francisco 49ers
The Athletic's Matt Barrows writes that San Francisco 49ers rookie running back Kaelon Black has the trust of head coach Kyle Shanahan and running backs coach Bobby Turner. In his NFL debut in the Week 1 season-opening win over the division-rival Los Angeles Rams in Australia last Thursday, Black played 43% of the offensive snaps behind Christian McCaffrey (55%) and was awarded 14 carries for 65 yards (4.6 yards per carry).
The 24-year-old third-rounder from Indiana caught his only target for a pickup of five yards as a receiver. The Niners did not put too much on McCaffrey's plate in the season opener, especially in a blowout of the Rams, but they could be looking to dial back the All-Pro's touches throughout the year, which would obviously benefit Black.
Given CMC's lengthy injury history and the coaching staff's trust in Black, he is a valuable RB stash in 12-team leagues, even if you do not have McCaffrey rostered. Right now, Black is rostered in 27% of Yahoo leagues. If McCaffrey were to go down with an injury, Black would become a weekly must-start in fantasy leagues.
For now, Black is best left on the bench as one of the premier handcuffs in fantasy.
Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints veteran running back Alvin Kamara (knee) will make his season debut in the Week 2 game on the road in Baltimore against the Ravens, head coach Kellen Moore told Matthew Paras of The New Orleans Times-Picayune. After dealing with an MCL sprain in his knee for most of training camp in the summer, the Saints held Kamara out of their Week 1 season-opening loss to the Detroit Lions in overtime, but he is ready to go now after practicing in full on Wednesday.
It is bad news for fantasy managers who might have picked up Kendre Miller off waivers this week, and it is also bad news for the fantasy ceiling of RB1 Travis Etienne Jr., who underwhelmed in his Saints debut in the season opener with only nine carries for 46 yards and seven catches for 32 yards. While Kamara is expected to play this weekend, do not be surprised if the Saints ease him back into the fold, which will make him a pretty volatile RB3/flex option in PPR formats.
When fully healthy, Kamara is expected to take a back seat to Etienne in 2026 and mostly serve as the primary third-down pass-catcher out of the backfield. He could hold sneaky FLEX upside in deeper PPR formats.
Emmett Johnson, Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs running back Emmett Johnson made a strong first impression Monday night, turning eight carries into 24 yards and catching both of his targets for another 44 in a 31-10 win over Denver. Kenneth Walker III was the clear lead back, piling up 173 rushing yards on 23 carries, but Johnson still played 25 snaps and ran 10 routes in his NFL debut.
That is the part worth chasing. The fifth-round rookie is now listed second on Kansas City's depth chart, and his two receptions included gains of 19 and 25 yards. Some of Johnson's work came after the Chiefs had taken control, so fantasy managers should not treat 10 touches as a guaranteed weekly floor. He does not need to be in Week 2 lineups against Indianapolis, either.
Johnson has already shown enough as both a runner and receiver to offer more than ordinary handcuff appeal, though. He should be one of the priority running back additions in 12-team leagues, with even more value for managers rostering Walker. However, he should not be inserted into lineups until he carves out a larger role behind Walker.
Who Should I Start Tool
You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.
Week 2 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Kaelon Black, RJ Harvey, Saquon Barkley, TreVeyon Henderson, Emmett Johnson, Ashton Jeanty, Chris Brooks, Alvin Kamara. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 2.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 2 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 2 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 2 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 2 for Kaelon Black, RJ Harvey, Saquon Barkley, TreVeyon Henderson, Emmett Johnson, Ashton Jeanty, Chris Brooks, Alvin Kamara:
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