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Fantasy Football Fantasy Football I’m beyond excited to be back for another year of fantasy football forecasting with everyone at The Athletic. Let’s go! For new readers unfamiliar with our weekly thought exercise, buckle up — it can be a bumpy ride. Going position by position, I mine my favorite advanced statistics regarding volume, depth and efficiency. Then I mash them together to identify some cheap fantasy gems to grab now before the squares do. Advertisement For all you normal people with lives and last-minute managers on the go, I include a section at the bottom of each column — “Sunday’s Streaming Service” — to help plug 11th-hour holes in leagues with first-come, first-serve free agency. Grab your fantasy pail and shovel, we’re speculating on the NFL’s most impactful Week 2 adds. Of course, in searching for a fantasy quarterback, we need volume and a willingness to push the ball downfield, but we also cannot ignore the importance of rushing the ball. The shallow nature of the player pool at the quarterback position allows us to chart all available free agents for a nice, broad perspective, so I combined total dropbacks and air yards per target with rushing yards per game to create a simple reference tool. Somehow, four different free-agent quarterbacks scored 13. 5+ fantasy points in Week 1, and I’m still not sold that any are a long-term answer. Forced to choose one, give me the elevated 68% pass rate and fast track in Atlanta with sophomore shot-caller Michael Penix. I know Minnesota’s on the schedule next (gulp), but Atlanta still carries a 20. 5 implied team total at sportsbooks — and we want to stay focused on the long game. Streaming QBs works occasionally, but finding a solution to stick should always remain the goal. If Penix continues to take off for first-down markers at this pace and maintains a 8. 5% scramble rate, we’re talking about the benchmarks of a consistent fantasy QB1. Plus, that’s definitely the division we want to pick on. Since we’re coming to you after the first run of weekly waivers, I won’t repeat the mainstream headliners — we’re here to get weird. That said, with so many different leagues of all sizes, make sure popular adds Dylan Sampson and Brian Robinson have a home before you go deep-league dumpster diving. Last year, pivoting away from the lowest-hanging fruit, total touches, proved useful. Instead, we frame utilization a little differently with touch per snap rate, which offers a unique perspective on frequency without volume being necessary. Then I’ll get out the microscope for any widely unrostered ball carriers showing top-tier efficiency reflected in high fantasy points per snap. Advertisement Helpful hint: If a player appears on both lists, you should probably prioritize him as a speculative add. Did I say prioritize players appearing on both lists? Sorry, I can’t bring myself to recommend Cowboys backup Miles Sanders as a solid long-term speculation in good faith. They say rules were meant to be broken, right? Outside the one “thanks but no thanks” in Dallas, those two did their job, encapsulating all my top handcuffs. I’m especially interested in Arizona’s Trey Benson, if available. He’s shown real burst, earning nine touches on just 21 snaps (8-69-0; 1-6-0). His standalone value will remain capped for the time being, but Benson has my attention as a true potential workhorse back if the situation calls. With more committees than ever and no major injuries, the RB market has never felt more squeezed. Combining skill set, contextual environment, schedule and potential workload in case of injury, I rank my favorite handcuffs for the deep-leaguers out there. Like free agent RBs, make sure this week’s top WR adds, Keon Coleman, Hollywood Brown, Kayshon Boutte, Quentin Johnston and Cedric Tillman, already belong to a squad. With that out of the way, every sharp fantasy manager knows targets are earned — which is precisely why talent level matters so much at the position. Earning targets is the carrying tool for WR speculation — the opportunities will come. And while playing time is nice, it’s not enough. Snap counts are a decent measure for wideout usage, but routes run test better. Do we really care if our guy is out there blocking downfield? I don’t. So, let’s see who has both run routes and earned an above-average amount of looks while doing it. Advertisement Last year’s bad wide receiver injury luck extended into 2025, and I, for one, have had enough of it. Why can’t we have nice things? Where my FAAB bids fell short on a true difference maker like Coleman, I’m shifting focus to acquiring Romeo Doubs. The spread-out nature of target distribution in Green Bay has turned many fantasy players sour on the Cheeseheads, I get it. That said, it’s too early to throw in the towel on a full-time player in a Jordan Love-led offense. Doubs led all Packer WRs in routes and air yards, managing to haul in 2-of-4 opportunities, good for 68 yards. Even if GB lays a Thursday Night Football egg, finding quality target earners will only get more difficult as we go. Remember to ensure this week’s top adds,  Juwan Johnson and Harold Fannin, aren’t floating around first. It was a pretty good start for the game’s most sluggish position, but it may not last, and I refuse to look the TE gift horse in the mouth. Let’s keep improving our rosters wherever possible. The best way to do that at a generally terrible position is to find playing time, preferably on a decent offense. Injuries to Brock Bowers in San Francisco and George Kittle in Las Vegas opened up temporary opportunities for Michael Mayer and Jake Tonges, respectively. I prefer the former — Mayer’s a Mackey Award finalist with a stronger track record than Tonges and an ability to earn targets in an improving Raiders offense. (Photo of Michael Penix: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle John is a lifetime fan and longtime analyst who crossed into content creation with his integration of technical analysis in the MLB space. He’s the man behind the @MLBMoving Avg handle on Twitter, launching the MLBMA algorithm in 2018 after having written several successful models, focused on creating the preeminent handicapping tool for fantasy baseball and sports betting. He's also the Director of MLB content at windailysports. com and will not rest until the Quality Start is fixed. Follow John on Twitter @MLBMoving Avg