Fantasy Football Week 2 Wide Receiver Start/Sit: Keon Coleman, Jameson Williams, Xavier Worthy

Ted breaks down six of the toughest wide receiver start/sit decisions for the second week of the fantasy football season!

Welcome to Week 2 of the fantasy football season! With one week of games in the books, we have infinitely more information to go off of than we did last week ... but be careful not to overreact to small sample sizes! Especially at the receiver position, where one big play can make or break a fantasy week, last week's production may not be the best predictor of this week's. With that in mind, let's take a look at some players on the bubble of fantasy lineups whom you should either start or sit in Week 2.

For more help with your toughest Week 2 Start/Sit decisions, check out FantasySP’s NFL Start/Sit tool!

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers To Start Week 2

Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills @ Miami Dolphins 

Tonight’s matchup between AFC East rivals should be a fireworks show, as both teams have lines above 23 points, and the 33rd overall pick in this year’s draft should be heavily involved. In his NFL debut last week, Coleman led the Bills in routes (27 on 30 Josh Allen dropbacks), target share (21.7%), and yards (51). He also saw a very solid 28.1% air yards share, not to mention multiple red zone targets. 

There is reason for long-term concern that the Bills seem to be leaning more on the run game under Joe Brady, but that shouldn’t be an issue tonight as Buffalo will have to pass to keep up with the high-flying Dolphins. Already Josh Allen’s No. 1 receiver, Coleman is absolutely worth starting tonight … just make sure you put him in a WR slot, not in the Flex. 

Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Williams came into this season with plenty of question marks. He entered the NFL with huge expectations, going 12th overall in the 2022 Draft while still recovering from a college ACL injury. However, that injury resulted in him appearing in just six games as a rookie, in which he recorded just one catch. Fantasy managers hoped he would break out in 2023, but a combination of suspension, injuries, and simply not commanding a large role in the Lions’ offense led to another underwhelming year.

However, if Week 1 is anything to judge by, the breakout is finally here. Williams finished with five catches on nine targets for 121 yards and a touchdown, plus one 13-yard carry. He still has the electric big-play ability that made him such an exciting prospect, and it was on display on Sunday night as he was the week’s fifth-fastest ball-carrier with a 21.03 mph peak. 

Even more importantly, there are good reasons to believe this wasn’t a one-off performance. Williams posted a 42.9% first-read target share in Week 1; in 2023, that number was 11.5% on average and never exceeded 20.0%. Detroit's coaches spent all offseason talking up Williams' improvement, and they are putting their targets where their mouths are. Especially in a matchup with the Buccaneers, who allowed the eighth-most points to opposing WRs in 2023, Jamo is absolutely worth starting. 

Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders vs. New York Giants

McLaurin’s first week in the Commanders’ new scheme was a mixed bag, to say the least. On the bright side, he easily led the team’s WRs with 30 routes run (88.2% participation). He also tied for the team lead in targets … with four. Despite the Commanders trailing for most of the game and running at Kliff Kingsbury’s trademark high speed, Jayden Daniels attempted just 24 passes. Kingsbury also stuck to another one of his old habits that is worrying for McLaurin’s outlook: sticking his WR1 on the left and never moving them. That may have worked for DeAndre Hopkins, but McLaurin isn’t the level of X receiver you can expect to simply go out and consistently beat opposing CB1s one-on-one. 

With all that said, why is McLaurin a start this week? There’s really one main reason: He gets to play the Giants. The Giants have had one of the league’s worst secondaries for a few years. Their primary right-sided corner (the corner who covers the left side, where we know McLaurin will be) is Deonte Banks, who had a brutal 48.6 PFF Coverage Grade in 2023 and started 2024 off with an even worse 47.5. For his career, McLaurin has averaged over 14 Half-PPR points per game against the Giants. Scary Terry may not have the best of seasons with a rookie rushing QB under center, but he should have a solid Week 2.

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers To Sit Week 2

Calvin Ridley, Tennessee Titans vs. New York Jets

The Titans’ offense struggled mightily last week against the Bears. Although Ridley did lead the team in both routes and targets, he finished with just three receptions for 50 yards, and Will Leivs looked flat-out bad. 

Things aren’t going to get any better for Ridely and the Titans in Week 2, as they have to face Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed, and the Jets. In 2023, the Jets allowed by far the fewest points to opposing receivers. They started off 2024 the same way, allowing the fewest fantasy points to receivers lined up out wide despite a tough matchup with the 49ers. Ridley, who lined up out wide on over 80% of his routes in Week 1, is unlikely to find more success against Reed and Gardner than Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk did.  

Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers vs. Indianapolis Colts

I listed Reed as a sit last week, which was obviously a mistake. Although I was right to be worried about the sophomore slot receiver’s route participation, which was just 70%, he was efficient enough that it didn’t matter one bit. Reed was one of the highest scorers of the week, with four catches for 138 yards and a touchdown, plus a 33-yard rushing TD on an end around. 

However, that efficiency is not going to last into Week 2. With Jordan Love out, the Packers will be turning to former Titan Malik Willis. The last time Willis played substantial snaps was in 2022, his rookie season. Across eight games (three starts), he posted a completion rate 10.5% below expectation and -0.46 expected points added per dropback (per nfelo). Both of those numbers rank in the bottom five among all quarterbacks over the last three years. Stop and think for a second about some of the terrible quarterbacks we’ve seen in that time span; Willis is one of the five worst. 

With Willis under center, I don’t recommend starting any of the Packers’ receivers — Reed, as the most highly drafted and most productive of the group in Week 1, is simply the poster child.

Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals 

I hate to follow up Reed with another talented young player who could absolutely make me look stupid, but I’m not sold on Worthy as a consistent fantasy option yet. Sure, he scored two touchdowns in his NFL debut. But those two TDs came on an end around and a blown coverage — not exactly consistent sources of wide receiver fantasy production. Outside of those two plays, he had just one catch for 12 yards on the day. 

Worthy is still a hugely explosive athlete who played over 60% of snaps in Week 1 in a Patrick Mahomes-led offense. Don’t bench him for just anyone. But if you have other options who project to see more volume, don’t be afraid to bench the fastest man in NFL history coming off his flashy NFL debut. 

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