NFL Fantasy 2022 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 2: Quarterbacks

Stafford was a sit last week and that ended up being the right call. But this is a week to start the Rams signal-caller. He faces a Falcons defense that allowed the second-most fantasy points to QBs a year ago and just allowed 21.66 fantasy points to Jameis Winston in Week 1. This is a vast difference from Week 1, when Stafford played the team that allowed the fewest fantasy points to QBs last year. In his career, Stafford has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns when facing the top pass defense. That only got worse in Week 1. But the matchup in Week 2 is much better and this is a get-right spot for Stafford and the Rams offense. Get him back in your lineups.

Cousins just carved up the Packers' tough defense for 277 yards and two touchdowns. It could have been even better as he nearly connected on another touchdown with Justin Jefferson, who showed off the toe drag swag but was just out of bounds. It is only one week so we can't overreact, but coming into the season there was the possibility that the Vikings' passing game reaches new heights with Kevin O’Connell at the helm. Week 1 was a great first sign of what this offense could look like. This week, Cousins faces an Eagles defense that has a lot of new talent, but just allowed Jared Goff to throw multiple scores as the Lions scored 35 points. It also doesn’t hurt that Cousins is tied to Jefferson and the new pass-first Vikings offense.

Carr struggled a bit in Week 1, as he posted 13.8 fantasy points while throwing for 295 yards, two scores and three interceptions against the Chargers' revamped defense. This week he faces the Cardinals, fresh off of a shellacking from Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes took the Cardinals defense to school, throwing for 360 yards and five touchdowns, en route to finishing as the top-scoring QB in Week 1. Plus, the Raiders threw the ball on 78% of their plays, the second-most in the NFL. This game also has the chance of being a high-scoring matchup. Go back to Carr in Week 2.

Lance is coming off his own struggles, but he played in one of the worst environments. San Francisco's loss to Chicago was played in torrential rain, as they literally had to mop puddles off the field. Plus, he had no George Kittle and Elijah Mitchell was injured early on. A lot went wrong for the Niners' young signal-caller. Now, that is not all to just give Lance a pass, but it was certainly a very tough spot for the first-year starter. Lance did show off the rushing ability that makes him such an appealing fantasy asset, running 13 times for 54 yards. That was the fourth-most rushing yards by any QB, and in better conditions it's easy to see him running even more. He is not likely to put up huge passing numbers, but he could put up nice fantasy numbers similar to how Jalen Hurts did last year or how Marcus Mariota did in Week 1 due to that rushing ability. This week, he faces a Seahawks defense that allowed the second-most passing yards in 2021. Lance is worth giving another shot.

Brady is the G.O.A.T. and he is always a solid fantasy option, except for when he plays the Saints. Since joining the Bucs, Brady has faced the Saints four times. In those games he's thrown for 239, 209, 375 and 214 yards. That is one good performance and three bad ones. He also has thrown six touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has averaged 16.8 fantasy PPG in those four games, compared to nearly 26 per game against anyone else. Brady is also coming off a game where he failed to score 11 fantasy points and will be down a receiver as Chris Godwin is sidelined. This is a lot like the Stafford call last week. Do not bench him for anyone, but if you paired Brady with a similarly ranked QB in your draft, you can go with the other option this week. Going against the G.O.A.T., nothing could go wrong, right?

Mariota finished Week 1 as a top-10 fantasy QB and he is a name you can target off the waiver wire because of his rushing ability. But this is not the week to get him into your starting lineup. He faces a Rams defense that held QBs to just 14.4 fantasy PPG last year, and while Josh Allen overcame the tough matchup, Mariota is far from Allen. Additionally, the Rams limited QBs to just 292 rushing yards last year. Go in another direction this week. If Mariota can overcome a tough matchup on paper for a second straight week and put up a good fantasy score, then we can start to consider playing him in those matchups. But for now, since there are no teams on bye, it's best to take a wait-and-see approach and leave him on the bench.

Fields played well enough to secure the win in Week 1, but he only scored 13.6 fantasy points. Part of that was definitely due to the weather, but Fields threw just 17 passes. He ran 11 times but only picked up 28 yards. It is not really fair to judge Fields or the Bears offense off of Week 1, but we need to monitor the offense to see how much it will throw on a normal week. Since we are still figuring things out with the Bears offense, Fields is better suited as a bench stash for now. There should be better days ahead for Fields, but with no QBs on byes yet and an upcoming matchup against a tough Packers defense, this is not the week to plug him in.

Tannehill had a solid fantasy day in Week 1, throwing for 266 yards and two scores, on his way to scoring just under 20 fantasy points and finishing as a top-12 QB. But he gets a much tougher matchup this week against the Bills, who last season allowed the fewest fantasy PPG, passing yards and TDs, as well as holding Stafford to under eight fantasy points last week, including picking him off three times. There are better options on the waiver wire this week than Tannehill.