Week 2 Fantasy Superlatives: Aaron Jones leads the way

Building off of a successful Week 1 win, the Green Bay Packers’ offense was on track for Week 2 and absolutely electrifying— for the first quarter.

A combination of the Vikings tightening up and the Packers deferring from their initial play-action heavy first quarter game script reduced the offense to a very average output.

Despite that, Aaron Jones was able to grind out yards on the ground when the passing game struggled and even made an impression in the passing game.

The Packers defense put together another strong performance, despite giving up a big play or two here and there. The unit seems leagues away from the past couple years of just getting pounded for long drives with seemingly no way to stop opposing offenses from imposing their will.

If you missed the fantasy superlatives from Week 1, we broke down the awards and what they mean. You can check them out here.

Without further ado, let’s check out Week 2’s winners:

The Big Cheese

This week’s Big Cheese award goes to the aforementioned Aaron Jones. The running back from UTEP was able to gain 116 yards on the ground and added an additional 34 yards through the air. This week, head coach Matt LaFleur said he would like to “keep a good balance” between Jones and Jamaal Williams, but fantasy owners hope that doesn’t mean less work for Jones. Ideally, more carries would go to both backs because the Packers are winning handily and don’t have to pass as much.

While Jones didn’t have an excessive amount of receiving yards, his six targets in the passing game were encouraging. Coming out of college, Jones’ receiving ability has been underrated and under-utilized. With more reps, Jones and Aaron Rodgers will connect on that wheel route play to be sure. He’s also sure to earn more passing down reps if he continues to destroy All-Pro safeties:

Jones is currently the RB15 in PPR leagues, but finished last week as the second highest scoring back. An indicator of quality fantasy scoring going forward.

Number One Boy

This week’s Number One Boy is a new player, but same position. Marquez Valdes-Scantling wasn’t able to take advantage of a depleted Vikings secondary and only brought in three catches on five targets for 19 yards. He’s a young player and learning two offenses in your first two years in the league can’t be an easy task. He still holds a lot of big play ability and should be considered for a spot in the flex. Currently, players like KeeSean Johnson and Cody Latimer are averaging more fantasy points per game, but MVS is also in the company of Mike Evans and Stefon Diggs. That provides a little perspective on how it’s still too early to determine a WRs fantasy value.

The Big Short

The stock to short this week after their performance last week is Jimmy Graham. He was a non-factor in the passing game against Minnesota after coming up with a touchdown in Week 1. Graham is nursing what could turn out to be a “significant” groin injury that led the Packers to promote TE Evan Baylis to the active roster. I wasn’t high on Graham going into the season, despite being a jumpball endzone threat, and now his injury could indicate age catching up with him.