Week 2: Great Expecations

Trouble in San Diego? What happened there, Chargers? A team that everyone, and I can't stress everyone enough, picked for AFC West Champs went down to Kansas City, who amassed a spectacular 62 yards passing and were outgained 389 yards to 197. Is there panic in San Diego? If there isn't there certainly is concern. As there was all across the board for the first week of the season.

It was an interesting Week 1. There were plenty of fantasy studs (*cough* Michael Turner, Frank Gore, Ray Rice *cough*) who were barely in the boxscores while it was the middle round picks who excelled. Arian Foster looked ridiculous and is a must start going forward until he proves otherwise. Now, as mentioned before, players who make the Great Expectations list are players who I think will do well this week and, while not necessarily should be started if you have a stud as an alternative, could be a solid play. So, without any more waiting, here are my Great Expectations for Week 2.

Philip Rivers (vs. Jacksonville)

I admit, I was nervous about Rivers this year without Pro Bowlers Marcus McNeil and Vincent Jackson, both of whom are still holding out. But Rivers put those fears to rest with a very good showing in a loss to Kansas City on Monday Night. Rivers completed 22 passes on 39 attempts for 298 yards and 2 TDs (1 to Antonio Gates, 1 to Legedu Naanee). However, he did lose 2 fumbles. Still, Rivers still looked like a stud and I would start him with confidence from here on out. In the preseason, I ranked Rivers at 7th behind Romo. I'd bump him up to 6th now.

Matt Ryan (vs. Arizona)

While I'm not crazy about Ryan and actually feel that he has regressed, I would start him this week if I had questions at QB. He's playing Arizona, a team that let Sam Bradford throw for 253 yards last week. Sure, they had 3 INTs but one of those came on a Hail Mary on the last play of the game. Ryan is a better NFL QB than Bradford at this point. And Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez are a lot better than Mark Clayton and...who is the St. Louis TE? I expect the Atlanta offense to show up this week after being almost nonexistent last week.

Michael Vick (at Detroit)

Okay, this one is if you're really hurting at QB. But he plays Detroit. And, if you saw the Eagles play last week, you might have noticed something: Vick looked really good. He was throwing it well and looked like the Vick of old when he decided to use his feet. I think a week of practicing with the first team offense will allow him and DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin to get more comfortable with each other and have all three of them put up better numbers. So, if you're in a hole at QB or are in a Eh, what the hell? kind of mood, you could do a whole lot worse than Vick.

Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson(vs. New England)

This is a gut call. But if there's one thing the Jets can do, it's run the ball. Sure, they didn't show it last Monday. But that's because the only thing the Jets showed was that they lacked discipline. That, and that Mark Sanchez is not good (which Tim and I both said before the season). So, when you have a bad QB, what do you do? You run it. And when you play a team like the Patriots, who are bound to score, what do you do? You throw it! And who does Mark Sanchez throw to? I'll give you a clue: It wasn't really his receivers. Mark Sanchez likes to check it down and who will reel in those passes? Look up.

Brandon Jackson (vs. Buffalo)

Ryan Grant is done for the year which means that Jackson is now the feature back in Green Bay. Buffalo is bad. Aaron Rodgers is good. Green Bay is good. Green Bay will get up early. Green Bay will then run the ball. Do the math. If he's available in your league, go go go!

Marion Barber and Felix Jones (vs. Chicago)

If there was one thing I noticed from the Cowboys Redskins game, it was that Dallas actually looked really good running the ball. Both Barber and Jones looked to have a good first step and were running downhill the entire game. While they split carries evenly (Barber was 8 for 39 and Jones was 8 for 38), I expect that they find the endzone this week. That's right. I think both score TDs.

Hines Ward (at Tennessee)

God damn it, I don't want to write this. But I like Ward this week. A solid possession receiver is exactly what a young quarterback like Dennis Dixon likes to look for and Ward is the definition of a possession receiver. He runs crisp routes and has pretty good hands. Last week, he caught 6 passes for 108 yards. And I expect Tennessee to target Mike Wallace to avoid getting burned by the deep ball. Expect a bunch of short gains for Ward but eventually those catches and yards will begin to pile up.

Wes Welker (at New York Jets)

Speaking of things that I learned from the Ravens-Jets game, the Jets corners can't cover multiple good receivers. The Patriots have two very good receivers in Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Something tells me that Revis will stick Moss, leaving Welker to do what he does best. When he played against the Jets last year, he caught 15 passes for 192 yards and added an 11 yard run. 20 fantasy points? I'd take it.

Donald Driver (vs. Buffalo)

With Aaron Rodgers throwing the ball, I pretty much like everyone on Green Bay. I expect Driver to get a few catches, possibly a touchdown and then kinda watch as the Packers proceed to run all over the Bills. If you start him, be warned: the Packers will probably not throw the whole game.

Dez Bryant (vs. Chicago)

He had a team-high 12 targets last week, catching 8 of them for 56 yards. I expect those numbers to go up and for the rookie to find the endzone for the first time in his NFL career. He's too special to not get a catch so you're pretty much guaranteed to get some points. This kid's gonna be good.

John Carlson (at Denver)

It's sad that for all of the throwing Matt Hasselbeck did last week against San Francisco, he only found Carlson three times. Expect those numbers to go up this week. Carlson is too talented for Seattle to not get him the ball and Hasselbeck has even said that he likes Carlson as a fantasy tight end. And Hasselbeck plays fantasy! If you don't have a top tier tight end, Carlson could be your answer.

Chris Cooley (vs. Houston)

Cooley managed 6 catches for 80 yards last week against Dallas and seemed to be developing some chemistry with QB Donovan McNabb. Houston did let Dallas Clark score a TD against them last week and Chris Cooley is Dallas Clark light. Like, really light. Still, you could do worse than Cooley this week.

Okay, my Do Not Want list should be up tomorrow. Until then, you stay classy, San Diego.