The Week 2 matchup between the Houston Texans and the Carolina Panthers features two teams with something to prove. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 2: Texans-Panthers featuring DeAndre Hopkins, Nate Washington and Cam Newton
We break down the Week 2 matchup between the Houston Texans and the Carolina Panthers.
Houston Texans
It didn’t take long for a quarterback controversy to start brewing in Houston. Coach Bill O’Brien hasn’t named his starter for Week 2, but Brian Hoyer didn’t exactly help his own cause. The good news is, for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, it doesn’t matter who is throwing. He caught nine passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns last week and he will be a top target against the Panthers whether Hoyer or teammate Ryan Mallett starts. Hopkins is looking like a PPR machine this year.
Beyond him, an up and comer worth taking a look at is teammate Nate Washington. Washington isn’t exactly a newbie. He’ll never be an elite receiver, but he can put together a big game once in a while. He did that against the Chiefs last week, catching six passes for 105 yards. The Panthers are a bit more stifling defensively, but somebody’s going to have to catch the ball besides Hopkins. It might as well be Washington.
Carolina Panthers
The days of Cam Newton being considered an elite fantasy quarterback look like they passed him by last season and, in Week 1 this year, he didn’t do much to dispel that belief. Newton threw for just 175 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Not exactly numbers that impressed his fantasy owners given a historically weak matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. He will need to be better against the Texans, who are an elite team defensively. Newton is still a must start talent, but at this point a lot of his value comes in deeper leagues. He needs to step his game up for fantasy owners.
Tight end Greg Olsen will need to do the same. He offers more bang for your buck than any other player on the team from a fantasy perspective coming into this season. Last week obviously wasn’t the good start that owners were hoping for, as Olson caught just one pass for 11 yards in the game. While part of that is a byproduct of the quarterback’s poor play, Olsen will need to find a way to get open against the Texans if the Panthers are to have any chance of winning.
