TENNESSEE (vs. NYJ): The Titans don’t look capable of putting up big numbers right now. They managed only 244 net yards and 17 points in their opener at Chicago.
With a youngster at quarterback, they’ll want to limit mistakes by not asking him to do too much. Especially in this game, with a quality pass defense on the other side. The Jets, at least, also have offensive limitations, making this look like a lower-scoring game. The over-under is set at only 41.5 points, with New York favored by 3.5.
The numbers from Week 1 suggest Tony Pollard will be a top-5 back. The Jets have a ballyhooed defense, but it’s struggled against the run. Jordan Mason ran for 147 yards against them on Monday night, and the Jets also ranked in the bottom 10 against the run last year. Pollard, meanwhile, ran for 82 yards and a touchdown in the opener, with both he and Tyjae Spears averaging over 5 yards per carry against a defense that ranked No. 1 against the run last year. That makes it seem pretty certain that Pollard will be Tennessee’s main weapon this week, and that he could have a strong outing. Brian Callahan says he’d like to see Spears get more involved, moving to more of a one-two punch, but Pollard had 4 times as many carries last week. Pollard and Spears also combined to catch 7 passes last week; we’re ranking them higher than where they’d typically slot.
Will Levis, on the other hand, doesn’t look like he’ll be lasting 17 games. It was pretty rough in the opener, with 127 passing yards, 3 sacks, a lost fumble and 2 picks (the last coming on an ill-advised throwaway attempt that was returned for the game-winning touchdown). If they can’t get him turned around, they’ll likely be turning to veteran Mason Rudolph. For this game, the Titans likely will want to protect Levis from himself by keeping things simple and conservative against this defense. The Jets allowed the 3rd-fewest passing yards in the league last year, and with only two teams allowing fewer touchdown passes. Brian Callahan doesn’t want Levis trying to attempt 40 passes against this defense.
With lesser passing stats apparently on the way, we’re cool on the pass catchers. Especially DeAndre Hopkins, with him gimping around on a bad knee. He was on the field for only 27 percent of their plays last week, with just 1 catch for 8 yards. He can’t be used until he’s demonstrated he’s reasonably healthy. So that’s a selling point of sort for Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd and (to a lesser extent) Treylon Burks. They should be used more than would be playing alongside a healthy Hopkins. Ridley saw a team-high 7 targets last week, resulting in 3 catches for 22 yards. Boyd saw 5 targets (2nd-most), but his 3 catches totaled only 18 yards. These are lesser guys, considering the quality of the secondary they’ll be facing. If Ridley is lining up outside, he’ll presumably be locked down by Sauce Gardner for most of the game. (The Titans won’t want Levis trying to challenge Gardner.)
Chig Okonkwo might be re-emerging as a relevant player. He was putting up top-10 numbers at the end of his rookie season. While he was generally disappointing last year, he came down with a sick touchdown catch in the opener. Just one other catch, but he looks like a guy they might start using more. The Jets had a tough pass defense last year but allowed 8 TD passes to tight ends, tying for 2nd-most in the league. We’ll stop short of recommending Okonkwo as a Week 2 starter, but he merits consideration as a stash player – might be better than the backup tight end on many fantasy rosters.
Nick Folk looks like a middle-of-the-pack kicker. The Titans have a below-average offense, which could be hard to overcome, but New York allowed a league-high 6 field goals last week. In the 2023 season, only three teams allowed more field goal attempts than the Jets. Folk scored a credible 115 points last year.
The Titans' Defense came up big at Chicago, allowing only 148 net yards and consistently pressuring Caleb Williams (albeit with just 2 sacks). But Aaron Rodgers doesn’t look like he’ll be taking a lot of sacks. With him having lasted only 4 plays last year, they’ve got him getting rid of the ball more quickly (and the line in front of him is better). Entering Monday night, Rodgers had thrown only 21 interceptions in his last 50 games.
This report is just a small snippet of the Week 2 edition of Fantasy Index Weekly, part of the In-Season Analyst & Super Fanatic Packages. The newsletter includes our player rankings and 20-plus pages of matchup previews, plus stat projections and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.
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