Last week was a high-scoring Week 1, with a whopping 791 points scored across the league, tying the all-time record for the Super Bowl era. A ton of fantasy boom players dominated for your teams, while plenty of bust players hurt them. Players like Caleb Williams, who scored 37 points against the Carolina Panthers, helped fantasy teams, while players like Colston Loveland scored 0 points.
Boom-or-bust players in fantasy football are high-risk, high-reward options who can score 30 points one week and single digits the next. If you are projected to lose a matchup badly because your opponent has elite, consistent studs, starting a boom-or-bust player gives you the punch-above-your-weight ceiling you need to pull off an upset. You usually can get these players later in drafts or off the waiver wire, letting you spend early picks on safe, high-floor players.
In week 2 of the 2026-27 NFL Season, there were a ton of boom or bust players, let’s discuss those players.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seattle Seahawks: Boom
Even though Sam Darnold was ruled inactive for the Seattle Seahawks matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, that didn’t stop Jaxon Smith-Njigba from dominating as he put up 42.5 points, which is a new personal single-game career record. Showing why he is the reigning offensive player of the year and a top first-round fantasy draft pick. He’s expected to put up monster numbers, but his performance against the Cardinals was so dominant it’s almost absurd.
Smith-Njigba caught 9 passes on 11 targets for 155 yards and scored 3 touchdowns. One of his touchdowns came on an 82-yard catch to open the game. His status as a boom player is cemented in this matchup because it was a perfect storm of an elite target share, massive big-play capability, and high red-zone development.
Smith-Njigba was expected to be a boom candidate this week against the Cardinals. In Week 1, Smith-Njigba commanded a staggering 45.8% target share against the New England Patriots. Entering week 2, the Cardinals were heavily depleted at secondary, making them severely vulnerable on the back end. With Roy Lopez entering the game highly questionable with a groin injury, the lack of depth and interior pressure gave the Seahawks’ offense a glaring mismatch to exploit in the passing game. Drew Lock and Smith-Nijiga have shown great chemistry, as JSN is Lock’s most reliable, elite first-read option.
Dalton Schultz, TE, Houston Texans: Boom
Entering this matchup, Schultz was considered a massive fantasy “boom” candidate in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals because of a perfect storm of favorable defensive trends, game script, and a depleted Texans receiving corps.
Heading into the matchup, Cincinnati surrendered more fantasy points to tight ends than any other team the previous season. They yielded a league-high 116 catches, 1,444 receiving yards, and 16 touchdowns to tight ends. Fantasy Analysts highlighted this matchup as the ultimate “get-right” spot for Schultz after a quiet Week 1. With Collins sidelined, C.J. Stroud was left with a very young and inexperienced wide receiver group consisting of Xavier Hutchinson, Kayshon Boutte, and Jaylin Noel, essentially leaving Schultz as Stroud’s WR1.
Schultz finished with 12 receptions on 14 targets for 140 receiving yards, earning 26.0 PPR Fantasy Points. His 140 receiving yards shattered his career single-game high, and his 26.0 fantasy points launched him to the overall TE1 spot for the week, outscoring every other tight end in fantasy football. He caught 14 passes for 25.4% of Stroud’s 55 targets, and he caught 85.7% of the passes thrown his way.
Patriots D/ST, New England Patriots: Boom
The New England Patriots did not have the best start to their season, losing on opening night to the Seattle Seahawks. They will look to rebound and take control of their season in a highly regarded, favorable matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, where their defense could thrive against Pittsburgh’s struggling offense and amid critical injury setbacks.
In week 1, the Steelers offense looked anemic, sputtering to a league-low 58 rushing yards against the Atlanta Falcons. Just a day before the game, Michael Pittman Jr. was ruled out, leaving the Steelers without a primary aerial weapon and limiting Aaron Rodgers’ downfield options, which allowed the Patriots’ secondary to play more aggressively. With all that extra preparation time, head coach Mike Vrabel and defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr had extra time to game-plan and design customized looks to exploit a predictable, underwhelming Steelers offensive scheme.
The New England Patriots defense shattered expectations and delivered a massive fantasy “boom” performance, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-3 in dominant fashion. The Patriots blitzed Rodgers on 21 of his 46 dropbacks (45.6%) and consistently sent extra rushers. Early in the fourth quarter, defensive tackle Christina Barmore exploded through the line for a strip-sack on Aaron Rodgers, allowing Elijah Ponder to snatch up the loose ball and return it 19 yards for a touchdown. With Michael Pittman Jr. sidelined, All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez shadowed DK Metcalf for most of the afternoon. Gonzalez entirely neutralized Metcalf, limiting him to just 27 receiving yards on 9 targets.
Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons: Bust
Coming into Bijan Robinson’s matchup against the Carolina Panthers, he was expected to be an elite, top-three running back option for fantasy managers. After logging 29 touches and racking up 173 total yards in Week 1, Robinson was locked in as the focal point of the Atlanta Falcons offense. Analysts and rankers heavily targeted Carolina’s defense, as the Panthers allowed 291 rushing yards against the Chicago Bears last week. Many projected him for about 16 to 18 PPR fantasy points; instead, he scored only 11.1 PPR points.
The Falcons were demolished at home against the Panthers in a 34-3 blowout loss. Because the game got out of hand so quickly, the Falcons had to abandon their typical game plan. After the Panthers’ defense surrendered 59 points last week, this week, the Falcons never found the end zone. With starting QB Michael Penix Jr. sidelined, backup Cooper Rush had a disastrous game, throwing two INTs and losing a fumble. As a result, showing that the passing game posed zero threat, the Panthers crowded the defensive line, severely capping Robinson’s ability to break open big chunk plays.
Ultimately, Robinson finished the day with fewer than 10 standard fantasy points-nearly half of his 22.4 projected PPR points.
Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers: Bust
The Los Angeles Chargers haven’t gotten off to the best start this season, losing their season opener to the Arizona Cardinals 26-14. QB Justin Herbert failed to produce for fantasy managers, posting 13.9 PPR fantasy points. His next matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders seemed like a favorable spot for a “Boom” performance because of his historical dominance against the Raiders, encouraging passing efficiency, and defensive trends. Unfortunately, Herbert again failed to produce for fantasy managers, posting just 7.9 PPR fantasy points.
In his week 2 performance, Herbery was plagued by giveaways as he threw two INT’s, one in the 2nd quarter and a late 4th quarter that sealed the Raiders victory, along with fumbling 3 times. The Raiders sacked Herbert 3 times, and the Raiders pass rush was so severe that even Elite Tackle Joe Alt suffered a nightmare game, committing 4 penalties, including an in-the-end-zone holding call that resulted in a Raiders safety. Spread too thin across 9 different targets, Herbert failed to establish a true primary weapon, as no Chargers pass catcher managed more than 53 yards.
Herbert finished with a meager 192 passing yards, throwing 1 TD on 15-of-27 passing, 2 INT’s, with a 59.5 passer rating.
Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings: Bust
Justin Jefferson will always be one of the top WR’s in the game, if not arguably the best WR in the league. He will always command a high-volume WR1 target share and explosive play ability, making him a perennial fantasy boom candidate every week, even in a matchup against the Minnesota Vikings or the Chicago Bears. That wasn’t the case this week, as he only put up 8.5 PPR fantasy points.
Both Bears and Vikings offenses struggled in this game, affecting players across the board, including Justin Jefferson. The game at Soldier Field was played in brutal wind and relentless rain, and the messy conditions severely limited the deep-passing game for both teams, turning it into a sluggish, run-heavy slog. Without starting QB Kyler Murray, the offense turned to backup Carson Wentz, who had a great game last week against the Green Bay Packers but failed to duplicate it, completing only 11 passes for 143 total yards all afternoon. The downpour forced the Vikings to minimize possessions and keep the ball on the ground, resulting in a 9-3 defensive battle.
