Fanrun Fantasy Football Fight Power Rankings: Week 2

By Tucker Harlin

Week 1 of the fantasy football season has concluded which means it’s time for our second official release of Fanrun Fantasy Football Fight power rankings ahead of Week 2.

There were a few pretty good performances in the league this week, but a lot of them were pretty awful.

This is the order the committee has ranked the league participants, in descending order.

1. TUCKER HARLIN

I’m sorry if you think this is vain, but the ESPN AI thought I had the best team in the league before the season started and I was head and shoulders above everyone else in Week 1.

I’m particularly impressed by the performances Josh Allen, Breece Hall, and Stefon Diggs in Week 1.

Contrary to what Peyton Manning said in the Pro Bowl, not all kickers are idiots, and Brandon Aubrey’s day was most certainly not idiotic for me on Sunday.

I play Jace this week. He had a bad week last week but his team should be far more competitive in the future than what it was in Week 1.

2. SAM BEARD

Sam had one of the few great performances in Week 1.

Both his receivers and running backs had great opening weeks, and I definitely think Tua has better performances in the future.

I don’t see the Bears defense having the kind of production it did against the Titans for most of the season. However, I think Sam now has several options in Brian Thomas Jr, Jameson Williams, and Rashid Shaheed on his bench that could help him if they stay consistent this season.

Sam has to go against Tim “the thrill” Hill this week, who’s actually projecting pretty highly ahead of Week 2.

3. JACE BROWN

Jace had a bad Week 1, but I’m still a believer in his team.

Lamar Jackson and Jahmyr Gibbs both had respectable starts to their seasons, and I expect them to stay good the rest of the way.

I fully expect Ja’Marr Chase and Travis Kelce to have stronger showings in the coming weeks than they did in Week 1.

Jace has to go against Young Phillip Fulmer this week, who posted a league high 156.58 in Week 1, so this should be a more difficult challenge than what More Important Issues posed.

4. RUSSELL SMITH

Russell had a terrific Week 1, but he’s in a bit of a pickle in the foreseeable at wide receiver.

His top receiver pick, Puka Nacua, is out for at least four weeks following a knee injury in the Rams’ loss at Detroit. Russell’s going to need a lot more production from Zay Flowers and D.K. Metcalf to pick up the slack, and his bench isn’t equipped to fill holes at flex.

Russell’s best bench player was Jordan Mason, who probably won’t play all four of those weeks Nacua is out because Christian McCaffrey should return in that time.

Rome Odunze, Russell’s top bench receiver, is banged up as well. So maybe Devin Singletary is the go to at flex?

I like what he got out of Anthony Richardson, Saquon Barkley, and the Dallas defense, but his matchup with Overtime Bill is not as favorable as it once was.

5. CODY MCCLURE

Cody moves up to #5 in my rankings because his team is deeper than I initially thought.

I figured Tyreek Hill would start the season hot, and I’m sure Travis Etienne and Jalen Hurts will have better weeks ahead.

Rachaad White turned out better than I thought in Week 1, and Ladd McConkey and David Montgomery could vie to start for the Varsity Athletes.

TalkSports dukes it out this week in fantasy, a matchup I think Cody prevails in.

6. HOUSTON KRESS

The Vol Rumor Mill proved me wrong in Week 1.

Isiah Pacheco and Joe Mixon both proved to be strong options at running back for Houston, and he may yet have a strong option in Isaiah Likely at tight end.

Jaylen Waddle was nice in Week 1, and I can’t imagine Amon-Ra St. Brown puts up anything lower than 4.3 as the year goes on.

Houston goes against Bob Baskerville this week. I projected Bob to have one of the better teams in the league, but I'm beginning to walk back that take.

7. TIM HILL

Peaches had a pretty rough Week 1 despite coming away with the win against Overtime Bill, but Tim’s team has some good opportunities on the horizon.

Patrick Mahomes will have better weeks ahead, and Kyren Williams should get more touches with Nacua out for the next few weeks.

Also, if the Thrill starts Xavier Worthy, he can cash in on bonus stacks with Mahomes and Worthy scoring points simultaneously.

Tim has a tough battle with Sam Beard upcoming, but he’s projected a big win right now.

8. MORE IMPORTANT ISSUES

Once again, More Important Issues had a pretty ugly Week 1 showing, but there are a lot of opportunities to boost the team’s stock if certain later round picks pan out.

Issues was put in a bind with Tee Higgins missing Week 1, so he’ll be a big help when he returns.

We know George Kittle is going to get better, and Kai’mi Fairbairn had one of the best kicking performances in Week 1.

J.K. Dobbins and Brandin Cooks are the certain late round picks I was hinting at.

Issues is starting Dobbins this week after he scored 22.9 in Week 1. With what we know about Jim Harbaugh’s offenses, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dobbins turns out to be one of the better picks in the draft.

Issues has to go against upper management this week, and it’s beginning to look favorable with Christian McCaffrey’s status.

9. BOB BASKERVILLE

I had Bob ranked highly to start the year, but he had a rough showing in Week 1 against Cody.

A.J. Brown and Rashee Rice are the only pieces on Bob’s team that started and played well in Week 1. He’s moving Brian Robinson in for Javonte Williams in the RB2 spot after Robinson posted 17.9 to start the year.

Bob has several pieces on his bench like Zack Moss, Khalil Shakir, and Christian Watson that are gambles but could pay off later. If these pan out, Bob could rise again quickly in the next set of power rankings.

10 RYAN BROWN

Upper management fell furthest in my power rankings for one reason.

Ryan’s team will go as CMC goes, and CMC did not go last week and isn’t expected to go this week.

De’Von Achane delivered in Week 1, but Keenan Allen, Davante Adams, and Brock Bowers didn’t exactly come out an amaze.

Ryan can most definitely rise back up in the power rankings, but it’s going to take a healthy CMC to make that happen.

11. WILLIAM PATTESON

Not too big of a surprise here, but William stays near the bottom after an ugly outing against Tim in Week 1.

I’m sure CeeDee has a better week for Overtime Bill, but for every good CeeDee week there’s a bad week from Rhamondre Stevenson and all of his beloved Jacksonville Jaguars players.

William’s somehow projecting to have a decent week against Russell, but I’m not very encouraged by what we saw in Week 1.

12. JON REED

Jon’s utter refusal to draft running backs and stacking at receiver is something I don’t understand.

We know how good Cooper Kupp is, Garrett Wilson will be good when he starts to play lesser defense, but Brandon Aiyuk may take a while to develop since he basically held out the entirety of 49ers training camp.

I think Jayden Daniels is going to help him quite a bit this week, but Mark Andrews’ opening performance was concerning.

It’s definitely going to be an uphill climb for Jon when he goes against his co-host this week.