Another week in the books and now we have slightly more data to make slightly more informed conclusions and get slightly more tilted in our rest-of-season outlook. This week, I’m highlighting a Surprise! on every team through 2 weeks. Even though there may not be enough data to come to solid conclusions, there have been quite a few surprises so far in FFNUTHANG 2025.
1. I am not sacko! (Jeff Chen) (2-0) [1]
Jeff Chen’s team continues its reign as #1 in the #PowerRankings after another impressive Week 2 showing. Lamar Jackson is QB#1, James Cook and Javonte Williams are RB#1 and RB#2, respectively, and Nico Collins and Tyreek Hill are NOT Jeff’s top-scoring WRs after 2 weeks - that title goes to Emeka Egbuka and Quentin Johnson (who is at the moment on Jeff’s bench for Week 3). If Kittle was still healthy, Jeff’s team would be near unbeatable. But even without Kittle, it’s scary.
Surprise! Javonte Williams. I don’t know if Javonte’s production will last throughout the year, but his numbers have been impressive so far in 2025. I thought the RB position was Jeff’s weak spot going into the season (graded C), but it’s become one of his stronger suits so far, in large part due to Javonte’s hot start.
2. Run It Back! (Gabs) (1-1) [4]
Gabs’s team bounced back in Week 2 after a pretty disappointing Week 1 and gets #HighScore on the backs of Jonathan Taylor, Bucky Irving, Zach Ertz, Dak, Brandon Aubrey, and Arizona D (good call v. Panthers). His team would have gone even more bonkers had he started Goff and Kenneth Walker, but that shows how much depth Gabs has on his bench (including Mooney and Judkins on IR). Even with some underwhelming play at WR the first two weeks, I think Gabs has a solid enough team to live up to his pre-season #1 ranking.
Surprise! Brian Thomas Jr. I would have expected him to continue his ascension this year, but it seems like he hasn’t found a groove with Trevor Lawrence through 2 weeks. The targets are there, but he’ll need to capitalize on those targets moving forward.
3. #surviveandadvance (Eric) (2-0) [6]
Eric’s Monday Night players scored enough to pull out the win in Week 2, but it was a close one. His RBs are still super solid and I still believe in the Herbert-Ladd stack (even though Herbert is sharing the love with Keenan and Quentin). Eric is still weak at WR2 and TE, but with 2 wins under his belt, the defending champion doesn’t look to have much of a championship hangover to start the 2025 season.
Surprise! Travis Etienne Jr. The backfield of Jacksonville looked unpredictable during the pre-season, but after Tank Bigsby got traded away, Etienne has stepped up big time for Eric. Perhaps Tuten plays a bigger role moving forward, but the lead job at Jacksonville is Etienne’s to lose at this point. One could do worse at Flex.
4. Unicorn QueenZ (Tim) (1-1) [5]
My team was 5th again in Points For in Week 2 - while not spectacular, it was enough for a win. Jayden Daniels’s injury is concerning, but I’ve been satisfied with my team’s performance thus far.
Surprise! CMC is still healthy. I seriously thought he wasn’t going to play in Week 1 again. Each week I’m just waiting for the ball to drop. His usage will inevitably increase with all the injuries in SF, so I’m just crossing my fingers that his body can hold up.
5. chinaballa (Andrew) (1-1) [3]
Andrew’s team had a decent showing in Week 2, but it wasn’t enough to beat Eric in a close matchup. He’ll need more production from Derrick Henry (which he’ll get) and Isiah Pacheco (which I’m not sure about), but it’s at least encouraging to see Drake Maye putting up good numbers and CeeDee + JSN + Deebo putting up top-tier WR numbers. Figuring out what to do at TE will continue to be a struggle for Andrew, though.
Surprise! Deebo Samuel. He’s bounced back from a disappointing 2024 season with two great weeks of production so far. Perhaps he’s benefitted from the change of scenery + Terry’s holdout. If Jayden Daniels misses any time, Deebo might see a dip in targets or opportunities, but so far things have been surprisingly productive for him.
6. Maybabyboo (Laura) (1-1) [2]
Laura’s team flopped big time in Week 2, in large part due to JJ McCarthy’s poor performance (and injury). She still has a decent QB option in Bo Nix, though. I’m not too worried about Justin Jefferson’s ability to produce with another QB, but it’ll be interesting to see how Chase Brown does without Burrow under center. I still think Laura has a solid team, but maybe putting her at #2 in the rankings was a bit high.
Surprise! Zay Flowers. I saw a path for success for Flowers, but I definitely didn’t think he’d be the 6th highest scorer at WR after 2 weeks. He’s outperforming Justin Jefferson so far, which I would have found hard to believe had you told me that pre-season. Lamar has been hyper-targeting Zay, and he’s been making good use of those targets.
7. Spider Pig (Luke) (1-1) [7]
As mentioned last week, Luke’s team will rise and fall depending on how Josh Allen does. Allen had a bad fantasy week, and Luke’s team ended up with a loss. While Luke was able to break 100 points, he didn’t get the production he was expecting from TJ Hockenson or Jacory Croskey-Merritt. With Ekeler’s injury, Jacory should be a lot more productive moving forward, but I have my reservations about Hockenson. Trust me, as the resident Panthers expert, picking up JaTavion Sanders is not the answer unless you want a TE that has butter on his hands. Flex is probably Luke’s weakest position at this point, though - however, he does have a few flier options to choose from. In spite of the loss, Luke still has a solid team moving forward.
Surprise! Jacory Croskey-Merritt. While there was pre-season hype around him, it seemed like it would take a while before he rose to the top as Washington’s lead RB. After the Brian Robinson trade, the path looked a bit more clear. And now with Ekeler out for the year, Jacory becomes a really good RB2 option.
8. Terrific (Taylor’s Version) (David) (2-0) [9]
David pulled out another win, this time in convincing fashion. ARSB, Gibbs, and the Lions had a big bounce-back week, Jaylen Warren had another solid week, and Baker Mayfield’s impressive comeback helped anchor David’s team to an impressive 125+ points. It looks like David will be benching his bae Kelce in favor of his hot new waiver pickup Juwan Johnson in Week 3, which is probably the smart move. The jury’s still out for me whether David’s team will look more Week 1-ish or more Week 2-ish, but at least he’s trending in the right direction right now.
Surprise! Jaylen Warren. I definitely didn’t expect Warren to be a low-end RB1, but he’s produced like one so far in 2 weeks. Granted, it’s a small sample size, but the once seemingly crowded Pittsburgh backfield might still be Warren’s for the foreseeable future given Kenneth Gainwell’s mid-ness and Kaleb Johnson’s boneheaded special teams gaffe.
9. Just Didn’t Catch D’Achane (Haji) (1-1) [10]
Haji’s team had a nice bounce-back week behind Achane and Davante. Ashton Jeanty may need some more time to develop as a rookie, but Aaron Jones’s injury will give more opportunity for Jordan Mason to shine and Haji’s ability to Flex Rome Odunze will give Haji some wiggle room to bench Jeanty if needed (which is what he’s doing for Week 3). He’ll need a better QB than Love, but it looks like he might be trying to compensate by rostering 3 Defenses?
Surprise! Rome Odunze. He’s 4th in points at the WR position through 2 weeks, yet all of those points have been wasted on Haji’s bench. It looks like Haji will be starting Rome in Week 3, and perhaps he’ll continue his ascension as Chicago’s WR1.
10. 大展鸿图 (Jeff Lin) (0-2) [8]
Jeff Lin’s team has struggled big-time coming out the gate in 2025. Malik Nabers has been his one shining spot, but the rest of his team has been pretty garbage. AJ Brown has been one of the more disappointing WRs after 2 weeks (compared to pre-season expectations), Breece Hall and Sam LaPorta both had a good Week 1 but struggled in Week 2, TreVeyon Henderson hasn’t gotten the opportunities he needs to be a serviceable RB2, and Joe Burrow is probably out for the rest of the FF season. We’ve seen Jeff turn things around in the past, but things are looking a bit dire right now.
Surprise! AJ Brown. 1 target in Week 1 was bad. 8 targets in Week 2 was better, but to only turn that into 5 receptions for 27 yards was concerning. If the Eagles continue to win games on the backs of Saquon and Jalen Hurts’s rushing abilities, then AJ Brown may not be as necessary to the Eagles offense, and hence may become an FF liability.
11. 第六 (Abraham) (0-2) [11]
Keenan Allen continues to impress for Abraham, and George Pickens had a good week as well. Starting the Chargers D was the right move, too. But Omarion Hampton is taking a while to get rolling (and the Chargers have been too pass-happy to utilize him), Kyren Williams has not been RB1 material, Drake London has been super disappointing, and Abraham is desperate for help at TE. Right now his team is technically Sacko, and I’m not sure I see a clear path out of it.
Surprise! Drake London. I would have expected him to be much more productive to start the season, but it appears Atlanta is content running with Bijan. If Abraham has any hope to avoid Sacko, London will need to bounce back big time.
12. choubacca (Aaron) (0-2) [12]
Well, at least JaMarr Chase did better in Week 2. With Joe Burrow out, JaMarr’s production may take a dip, although Browning has shown to be a competent enough QB to feed a talented player like JaMarr. I mean, I don’t have much analysis to do here besides what I’ve already said in previous weeks. Aaron’s team still sucks. Maybe his team has scored slightly more over 2 weeks than Jeff Lin’s or Abraham’s, but no matter. Aaron will be playing Jeff Chen in Week 3 - so even though I wouldn’t bet against Jeff’s team, it would be great to see an upset of epic proportions this week.
Surprise! Aaron’s team is 10th in our league’s standings. I guess the point difference between 10th and 12th is 3.8 Points, so maybe it’s not that surprising. But I expected him to be dead last.
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