You make your final fantasy calls on Sunday morning. Injury reports firm up, inactive lists drop, and Week 1’s box scores start pointing toward this week’s usage. Week 2 of the 2026 season brings five names worth a second look before you lock your lineup, checked against final injury designations, current depth charts, and verified Week 1 production. Two are clean, high-floor starts. One is a pure opportunity play created by an injury that broke this week. The other two carry real volume questions.
Week 1 numbers, before this week’s context: Croskey-Merritt carried the ball 16 times for 63 yards and a touchdown. Samuel logged 60 total yards and a score in his 49ers return. Vele caught 7 of his targets for 69 yards and a touchdown. Boutte managed 1 catch on 2 targets for 21 yards in a crowded Houston passing game. Holani carried 8 times for 29 yards in a Seattle backfield split with rookie Jadarian Price. None of those five numbers tell the full story alone. The Week 2 context below matters more than the box score.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders
Croskey-Merritt did what Washington needed in Week 1: 16 carries, 63 yards, a 1-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter. He added one target for a 7-yard loss and put the ball on the ground once; Washington recovered it, the only blemish on a clean workload. Sixteen carries is a bell-cow number. It earned him the FedEx Ground Player of the Week award.
Washington travels to Dallas for the Cowboys’ home opener in Week 2. The touch distribution hasn’t changed: no other Commanders back threatens his workload, and the team’s final injury report carries no designation for him. Fantasy outlets have flagged him this week as one of the few backs on the slate worth starting with total confidence. Washington’s coaching staff leaned on him as the early-down and short-yardage answer in Week 1, and nothing points to a split now. If he’s in your lineup, leave him there.
Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Samuel is making his return to San Francisco pay off. In his 49ers reintroduction against the Rams in Week 1, he produced 60 total yards and a touchdown in a 27-7 rout, mixing the rushing and receiving work that made him a fantasy problem during his first stint in the Bay Area. San Francisco’s depth chart lists him as a starter next to Mike Evans and Demarcus Robinson, giving Brock Purdy three legitimate targets.
Samuel’s Week 2 matchup gets a lift from two directions. Rookie receiver De’Zhaun Stribling, who was pushing for early-season snaps at the position, underwent ankle surgery and is expected to miss roughly 10 weeks, clearing any target competition behind Evans and Samuel. Miami’s defense allowed three passing touchdowns in its Week 1 loss to Las Vegas, the kind of coverage trouble Purdy’s offense can exploit. Purdy is a strong streaming quarterback this week in his own right, and Samuel stands to benefit most if the game turns into a shootout.
Devaughn Vele, WR, New Orleans Saints
Vele was the best-kept secret of Week 1’s Saints offense. He caught 7 of his targets for 69 yards and a touchdown from Tyler Shough in New Orleans’ loss to Detroit, inside an offense that attempted 67 passes. A 7-catch, 69-yard, one-score outing on that volume is the profile fantasy managers chase off waivers.
New Orleans travels to Baltimore in Week 2. Chris Olave carries a questionable tag with a hamstring injury, though ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports he’s expected to play Sunday. That trims Vele’s target-share upside, but it doesn’t close the door: Shough has shown he’ll spread the ball around a pass-heavy offense, and Vele proved in Week 1 he can turn that volume into production regardless of Olave’s snap count. Running back Alvin Kamara is also set to return to the backfield this week, which keeps New Orleans’ offense balanced without touching Vele’s role at receiver. He’s a viable start in most leagues this week, not just deep PPR formats.
Kayshon Boutte, WR, Houston Texans
Boutte’s Week 1 debut with his new team was close to a nonevent: 1 catch on 2 targets for 21 yards, on under 46 percent of Houston’s offensive snaps, days after arriving via trade from New England. He played behind Nico Collins and Xavier Hutchinson on the depth chart. The stat line reflected a receiver still learning the playbook and building rapport with C.J. Stroud, not one pushed out of the plan.
Boutte’s opportunity changes in Week 2. Houston ruled Nico Collins out with a hamstring injury, removing the team’s clear No. 1 target ahead of the Cincinnati game. Houston lost a 36-31 shootout to Buffalo in Week 1, and even Xavier Hutchinson, the presumed WR2, managed just 3 catches on 6 targets for 32 yards. The target competition behind Collins was thin before the injury; it’s thinner now. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the Texans plan to use Boutte “a lot” in Collins’ absence, and an extra week of practice reps with Stroud helps his case further. This is the week’s clearest opportunity play: a legitimate streaming option in most formats, and a must-add if he’s still sitting on your waiver wire.
George Holani, RB, Seattle Seahawks
Holani’s Week 1 line tells the real story: 8 carries for 29 yards, splitting Seattle’s backfield with rookie Jadarian Price, who out-touched him 10 carries to 8. Price, a first-round pick, has taken over as the early-down starter while Zach Charbonnet recovers from a torn ACL on the physically-unable-to-perform list; Charbonnet isn’t expected back before Week 5 at the earliest. Emanuel Wilson sits behind both of them on the depth chart as the third option. Holani projects as the passing-down piece of a two-man committee with Price, not the lead back.
Seattle plays on the road at Arizona in Week 2. Holani is worth a look in PPR and deeper formats where his receiving work carries extra value, but he remains a committee flex play, not a workhorse start. If Price sits out or gets limited for any reason, Holani’s outlook changes. Barring that, treat him as a volume-dependent option who needs positive game flow to hit his ceiling.
Bottom Line
Two of these five, Croskey-Merritt and Vele, are clean, high-confidence starts backed by clear volume with no competing injury or depth-chart questions. Boutte offers the week’s best pure opportunity, stepping into the void Nico Collins left behind. Samuel carries the least risk of the group: his role is secure, and Miami’s shaky defense adds incentive. Holani stands apart from the other four. His usage is real but shared, worth starting only in deeper or PPR-heavy formats where touches alone clear the bar.
Before you lock anything in: check the final inactives list. This week’s injury report reshuffled Nico Collins and Chris Olave’s situations once already, and Sunday mornings tend to add one more twist before kickoff. A Week 1 stat line is a starting point, not a verdict. The matchup, the depth chart, and this week’s injury news decide whether a name belongs in your starting lineup or on your bench this Sunday. Go win Week 2!
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