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senior NFL national reporter- Dan Graziano is a senior NFL national reporter for ESPN, covering the entire league and breaking news. Dan also contributes to Get Up, NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, Sunday NFL Countdown and Fantasy Football Now. He is a New Jersey native who joined ESPN in 2011, and he is also the author of two published novels.
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senior NFL national reporter- Jeremy Fowler is a senior national NFL writer for ESPN, covering the entire league including breaking news. Jeremy also contributes to SportsCenter both as a studio analyst and a sideline reporter covering for NFL games. He is an Orlando, Florida native who joined ESPN in 2014 after covering college football for CBSSports.com.
Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season is here, and league insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano are here to break down the biggest questions, latest news and notable buzz heading into the slate of games. Plus, they pick out which teams are on upset watch and which players should -- or shouldn't -- be in your fantasy football lineups.
Which teams should be on alert after Week 1? Which new coach made the best entrance? Are the Packers content with Malik Willis while Jordan Love's injured knee heals? And which running back situations are more clear after the first week? It's all here, as Dan and Jeremy answer big questions and empty their reporting notebooks with everything they've heard heading into Week 2.
Jump to:
Week 1 concerns | Coach debuts
Running backs | Packers QBs
Upset picks | Fantasy tips | Latest buzz
Which team should be most worried after Week 1?
Graziano: Probably the Panthers, but we didn't think they were going to be good anyway. So I'm going to say the Browns. Sure, edge rusher Micah Parsons and that Dallas defense will make a lot of quarterbacks look bad, but Deshaun Watson looked really bad against the Cowboys. Even when he had time or was able to find enough space to throw, he was missing badly.
Cleveland has put together an excellent roster (especially once its offensive line gets healthy) and has hopes of competing at the highest level. The Browns overhauled their entire offensive philosophy this offseason in the hopes of making Watson's life easier and getting the best out of him. If he's not at least decent, they have a massive problem. And he was a long way from decent, as Watson's 9.3 QBR was the worst in the league for Week 1. Jeremy, is it already time to think about Jameis Winston?
Fowler: I don't think we're quite there. To at least think about Winston over the course of the season? Possibly, because teams must consider every contingency. But the Browns should -- and probably will -- give Watson a healthy run to fix this. While I agree that Sunday's performance was unsettling, the Browns were playing without their top two offensive tackles and the Cowboys' defense was stifling. There's no way around it: Watson hasn't looked like the same quarterback who starred for the Texans from 2017 to 2020. He has 2,386 passing yards in 13 games in Cleveland. The signatures of his game in Houston -- poise and brilliant playmaking under duress -- have been weaknesses in Cleveland.
It must be asked whether he can ever regain his fastball. But people with the Browns have been adamant that they saw glimpses of the old Watson throughout the preseason. Even if that seems far away after one week, the Browns will hope that time on task, without injury, will reset his confidence.
I'll pivot to another team with even more quarterback uncertainty -- the Giants. No team needs a stronger Week 2 than Brian Daboll's crew. The goodwill Daniel Jones built up in 2022 is dissipating by the week. The onus is on New York to show life on offense. Anything short of improvement will place Jones' contractual future squarely in the spotlight. At least the Giants are catching their Week 2 opponent, the Commanders, in a transitional phase.
Graziano: Yes, and the Commanders are the one team Jones has played very well against throughout his career. If he can't get right against them, then he's in real trouble. That four-year, $160 million contract Jones signed before the 2023 season included only two years of fully guaranteed money. So if the Giants were to release him after this season, they'd have $22.21 million in dead money counting against their salary cap, though they wouldn't have to pay him the $78 million in salary and bonuses he's currently scheduled to earn over the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
Where are you on the Jets? The long-anticipated Aaron Rodgers debut (take two) was a serious flop Monday night. Wasn't their defense supposed to be one of the best in the league? The 49ers scored on eight straight possessions and were playing a backup running back! And sure, the Niners are one of the best teams in the league, but wasn't Rodgers supposed to allow the Jets to compete with the NFL's best teams? The Jets didn't look like they were anywhere near the 49ers' class. I have some concerns about their defensive depth and a relatively thin group of offensive playmakers.
Fowler: The Jets getting outclassed was a mild surprise. There's enough talent on that roster to compete for the playoffs and pull off a few high-stakes games. They should have been better against the run. Rodgers looked a bit rusty, but his arm is still elite. The Jets need an additional playmaker on offense, either a tight end or wide receiver Mike Williams, to take the pressure off the rest of the group, but their tight end room isn't overly impressive. Still, they should be fine. The offensive line is better, and that helps.
The Raiders come to mind here, too. Their ability to score was a concern entering the season, and they did nothing to assuage that in Week 1. Winning each game 15-12 isn't feasible.
Which coaching debut surprised you the most in Week 1?
Fowler: Jerod Mayo. I did not anticipate the Patriots controlling the tempo against a talented Bengals team like that. The Patriots' defense is always a tough out, and Mayo seemed a step ahead of the Bengals' defense. But New England rushing for 170 yards and holding the ball 34-plus minutes was a mild surprise. Mayo clearly believes he has something with running back Rhamondre Stevenson in a wide-zone scheme. It worked in Cleveland, where new Patriots playcaller Alex Van Pelt was the offensive coordinator for four seasons. We still need to see more from the passing game, but it was a banner start for Mayo.
Graziano: Awesome win for Mayo and a Patriots team from whom very little is expected this season. "No one thought we could do it" is such a tired cliché, but sometimes it's true. I don't know many people who had them winning that game. I personally thought this season would be about getting things together on offense so that they'd be ready when Drake Maye takes over at QB. It obviously still might, but it was a cool first day for Mayo.
Among other new head coaches, I'm not sure who qualifies as a surprise. The Falcons were obviously a major disappointment, but I don't think we lay that at the feet of Raheem Morris. So let me go off the board and shout out new Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson. Yes, Tennessee lost, but Wilson's defense made No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams' debut forgettable, limiting the Bears to 148 total yards and 2.1 yards per pass attempt. Wilson has a reputation of being an outstanding secondary coach, and he's getting a chance to run his own defense under new Titans coach Brian Callahan. I think once Williams gets humming, we're going to look back on his debut as one that had more to do with a surprisingly tough defensive opponent than any sort of rookie jitters.
Fowler: Wilson was a strong offseason hire for Tennessee, which beat out several suitors for his services. That should pay off over 17 games. Will Levis' curious interception stunted what would have been a strong debut for Callahan. Morris' debut in Atlanta was marred by turnovers, which is usually the separator in a low-scoring, sloppy game. But the Falcons didn't look unprepared.
As far as Dave Canales in Carolina, the roster is deficient in several spots, particularly on defense. The nature of the loss to the Saints was a little surprising, as quarterback Bryce Young was supposed to be more accurate this season. He instead looked skittish. I expect the Panthers' staff to clean that up, and Young will show improvement. He must.
Graziano: He must, or the Panthers could be in the position of drafting a quarterback with the first overall pick for the second time in three years, which is not where you want to be. I believe Canales can get Young together and at least make him passable, but that pick is always going to be judged against the fact that the Panthers could have picked C.J. Stroud instead.
One coach we didn't mention yet is Dan Quinn in Washington. Rookie QB Jayden Daniels sure is fun to watch, especially when he runs. But the Commanders are going to have to at least try to do more with his arm if they want to be competitive anytime soon. And Quinn has a lot of work to do on that defense, especially in the secondary.
Which cloudy running back situation got the most clarity after Week 1?
Graziano: Bengals. Zack Moss is the lead back, and I don't think it's close. He got twice as many snaps as Chase Brown in a game they were not leading. I think the Bengals trust Moss more than Brown right now to operate in their offense and gain yards after contact. Maybe Brown can emerge to make it a competition or at least more of an even split, but I think Moss is the clear Joe Mixon replacement based on what I've heard out of there lately and what we saw Sunday.
Fowler: Rams. This one isn't exactly cloudy. Kyren Williams is clearly the No. 1 running back, but Blake Corum emerged from the summer with a lot of buzz. Rams people were raving about him to me at training camp, so I expected him to have some sort of impact Sunday against the Lions. He did not get a carry. Perhaps that changes soon, but for now Williams is an easy fantasy play.
I'm also intrigued by the running back outlooks following the Jacksonville-Miami game. It looks like the Dolphins found a way to get De'Von Achane and Raheem Mostert both involved, sometimes in the same backfield. I'm keeping a close eye on the Jaguars, who gave Travis Etienne Jr. and Tank Bigsby 12 carries apiece.
Graziano: They like Bigsby in Jacksonville, and I would expect him to get a representative share of the workload even though Etienne remains their top guy. I was in Atlanta for the Falcons-Steelers game, and while the Falcons' offense didn't look great, fantasy managers have to be thrilled with Bijan Robinson getting 23 touches in a game in which his team possessed the ball for only 24 minutes, 24 seconds. Tyler Allgeier is a nice player and might yet have some days when he breaks a big play and becomes the star. But for one game at least, it seemed as if offensive coordinator Zac Robinson wants to lean on Bijan Robinson, who is an electrifying playmaker.
Fowler: Denver's backfield should heat up in Week 2. Javonte Williams played the most snaps among Broncos running backs in Week 1 but finished with eight carries to Jaleel McLaughlin's 10. Both players should get extended action vs. Pittsburgh as Denver tries to support rookie quarterback Bo Nix, who attempted 42 passes in his debut.
Is there any way the Packers go back to the trade/free agent market as insurance for Malik Willis for the next month?
Fowler: The options are relatively scarce. Free agent Ryan Tannehill is capable and can operate the system, but he hasn't played since getting hurt in the middle of last season. Blaine Gabbert was with Matt LaFleur in Tennessee in 2018. Otherwise, there's not much. The Packers could raid a practice squad (Arizona's Desmond Ridder comes to mind), but the preseason was the time to swing a trade for a young quarterback, which the Packers did in picking up Willis.
If Jordan Love's knee injury were a long-term one, the Rams' Jimmy Garoppolo or Broncos' Jarrett Stidham might make sense via trade. But this is essentially about surviving Weeks 2-5, which Green Bay can attempt to do with a strong running game and defense. It should be noted that Willis played well enough in the preseason that the Titans considered keeping three quarterbacks. He's playing much faster than he did as a rookie.
Graziano: It's noteworthy that the Packers did not put Love on injured reserve Monday. That could indicate some level of optimism that he might not have to miss four games. I'm a little surprised they're going with Willis over Sean Clifford, who was Love's backup last season, but they traded for Willis and obviously see something. I'm with you; I don't see the Packers bringing in anyone else from the outside unless Willis completely flops and the team finds out that Love will miss more time than it is currently expecting.
What's your favorite upset pick for Week 2?
Graziano: Falcons (+6.5) over Eagles on "Monday Night Football." Yeah, that's right. The Falcons looked terrible. I know, I was there, right on the sideline watching T.J. Watt take up residence in their backfield. But they have to be better than that, and I think you'll see it against an Eagles secondary that's still putting things together. Plus, we have zero data on how teams perform the week after playing in Brazil. What if the Eagles are still feeling the effects of travel? It's a Hail Mary pick.
Fowler: Buccaneers (+7) over Lions. It looks like we're both going bold here, skipping the tight spreads in favor of real upsets. Baker Mayfield and the Bucs' offense looked in complete command in Week 1. Mayfield was well protected, the running game looked stout, and Mike Evans is still Mike Evans. Tampa Bay will be motivated by its 0-2 record against Detroit last season, including a lousy six-point effort in Week 6. I don't have any reason to think the Lions will sleepwalk through this one -- I'm just expecting a spirited back and forth, with the Bucs making one more key play late.
What's your top fantasy football tip of the week?
Fowler: Ride the J.K. Dobbins train at least one more week. Even if the Chargers employ an equal running back timeshare between Dobbins and Gus Edwards, Dobbins has the big-play ability that will enhance his profile. The issue with Dobbins has never been performance but rather durability. At least for now, he looks durable -- and motivated. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman knows Dobbins can be a top-shelf NFL back with a full healthy season. And Los Angeles' Week 2 opponent, the Panthers, just gave up 180 yards on the ground to the Saints.
Other plays I like in Week 2: San Francisco RB Jordan Mason (an obvious starter if Christian McCaffrey sits), Mayfield, Jacksonville rookie WR Brian Thomas Jr. and Dolphins RB Jeff Wilson Jr. (if De'Von Achane or Raheem Mostert don't play Thursday). I also think Arizona WR Marvin Harrison Jr. could get force-fed the ball after a one-catch, 4-yard debut in Buffalo.
Graziano: Don't be afraid to run Giants receiver Malik Nabers right back out there for Week 2 against the Commanders. Washington's defense gave up 392 yards and four touchdown passes to the Bucs in Week 1, and I don't think things will get any better for the Commanders' secondary any time soon. Plus, if there's ever a week to expect Daniel Jones to play well, it's Commanders week. The Giants are 22-38-1 in games Jones has started for them at quarterback. Five of those wins have come against Washington. Jones hasn't beaten any other team more than twice (and the only two he has beaten twice are the Panthers and Eagles). He has thrown 10 touchdown passes and only three interceptions in seven career games against Washington. In all other games, his touchdown-to-interception ratio is 52-39.
What else are you hearing this week?
Graziano:
• It's still early in the week, and the Steelers' game is against Russell Wilson's last team, but I'm still expecting Justin Fields to get a second start for Pittsburgh while Wilson works his way back from a calf injury. Wilson has been dealing with the injury since the first day of training camp, and aggravating it last week serves as a reminder that calf injuries can be tricky and linger. The Steelers don't want it to linger, and coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Wilson isn't scheduled to participate much in Wednesday's practice and that he'll begin the week planning on Fields being the starter in Week 2. Fields could certainly have been better Sunday. He was jittery early, and the coaches know he needs to work on reducing those nerves. But the Steelers designed a very conservative offensive game plan against offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's former team, working very hard to keep Fields' throws out of the middle of the field, where Falcons safety Jessie Bates III is adept at messing up offensive game plans. NFL Next Gen Stats shows that Fields attempted zero passes between the hashes, only one between the numbers and almost nothing deep. The Steelers obviously would prefer to finish drives with touchdowns instead of the six field goals they kicked in Sunday's 18-10 victory, but Fields was fine, especially on short notice.
• The new allegations against Deshaun Watson could result in further discipline from the league, which made it clear when announcing his 2022 suspension that it could take further action if new information came to light. A look at Watson's contract with the Browns also makes me think it could put his guaranteed money in jeopardy. Back in 2022, when Watson signed his fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract with Cleveland, it included standard NFL contract default language that allows the team to void the guarantees if the player is suspended under the personal conduct policy. But Watson's contract included an exception if the suspension was for conduct "in connection with matters disclosed to Club in writing ... and such suspension results in Player's unavailability to Club solely for games during the 2022 or 2023 NFL League Years."
The part about matters disclosed in writing refers to a side letter that isn't filed with the official contract because it was apparently a private communication between Watson and the team, but at the time it was assumed to refer to the accusations that were pending about Watson's sexual misconduct which eventually resulted in his 11-game suspension to start the 2022 season. Basically, Watson's team knew a suspension was probably coming and took steps to protect his guaranteed money against it. However, the contract specifies that the suspension would have had to render Watson unavailable for games in 2022 or 2023. The contract makes no such mention of games in 2024, 2025 or 2026, which indicates that if he's suspended again, the Browns would have the right to void his guarantees and could get out of the contract without paying him any more than they already have.
Now, the Browns restructured Watson's deal in 2023 and again just a few weeks ago to create cap space. I looked at a copy of the 2023 and 2024 amended contracts. The 2023 one reads the same way, except they took out the reference to 2022. The 2024 one doesn't include that "in connection with matters disclosed to Club in writing" part at all. So it appears that protection put in there in 2022 would seem to have expired. The restructures mean there would be dead-money salary cap consequences, of course. If the Browns were to void Watson's guarantees and release him after this season, they'd incur a dead-money charge of $80.734 million on their 2025 cap (or $26.935 million dead in 2025 and $53.799 million dead in 2026, if they designated him a post-June 1 release). But they'd be free of the $46 million salaries they currently owe him for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
One more note on this: Because the Browns converted nearly all of Watson's 2024 salary into a signing bonus a couple of weeks ago, his salary for this season is now just $1.21 million. So if he were to be suspended without pay during this season, he'd lose only $67,222.22 per missed week (one-eighteenth of his salary).
• The Dak Prescott contract extension in Dallas really did go down to the wire. Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones called Prescott's agent, Todd France, at 8:30 a.m. ET on Sunday morning to try to finalize the deal. Jones had yet to leave for Cleveland, where the team was playing Sunday, so it was 7:30 a.m. in Dallas when the call was made. Prescott and France hadn't ruled out continuing negotiations into the season, but the season opener was sort of a soft deadline, because Prescott's position was that the price was likely to go up with every week leading into potential free agency.
The final hurdle was guaranteed money. Prescott got an $80 million signing bonus and $129 million fully guaranteed at signing, including this year's $1.25 million salary and next year's $47.75 million salary. His $40 million salary for 2026 is guaranteed for injury and becomes fully guaranteed in March 2025. His $45 million salary for 2027 is guaranteed for injury and becomes fully guaranteed in March 2026. Of his $55 million salary for 2028, $17 million is guaranteed for injury and becomes fully guaranteed in March 2027. That's $231 million in total guarantees, which is 96% of the contract's $240 million value. It also includes a no-trade clause and a no-franchise/transition tag clause and makes Prescott the first player in league history to be paid at least $60 million per year. The Cowboys have the right to restructure the deal and add more void years (there are already four of them, spanning 2029 to '32) to create salary cap relief as often as they see fit.
Could Prescott have done better if he'd played it out and gone to free agency? Theoretically, sure. He had leverage. The no-franchise/transition clause was in his previous deal, and the Cowboys were confronting a dead-money salary cap hit of more than $40 million in 2025 if they didn't re-sign him. But playing it out and heading to free agency wouldn't have been without risk. Prescott did miss offseason time with ankle soreness this year (remember the photo of him in the walking boot?). And while he's fine to play and there aren't any long-term concerns, there's no guarantee how this season will go behind the Cowboys' revamped offensive line. The Cowboys know all about the ankle, have examined it many times and are comfortable with it. Would another team in free agency have felt as good about guaranteeing four or five years at that amount of money? Maybe, maybe not.
In the end, Prescott got what he was looking for in the place he wanted to play, and he'll get to hit free agency again at age 36, which isn't old for a quarterback these days.
Fowler:
• The Haason Reddick saga rolls on with no end in sight. Both sides appear dug in as the Jets wait for the defensive end to report to work. He remains on the reserve/did not report list and just forfeited a $791,666 game check on top of the more than $5 million in NFL-mandated fines he accumulated leading up to Week 1. Even those close to Reddick aren't exactly sure when he might reverse course and clock in at One Jets Drive. The bad blood has boiled over, and now teams around the league are curious as to what the Jets will do if he doesn't show. Their options appear clear: keep him on the reserve list until he reports or attempt to trade him closer to the trade deadline.
The latter is looking more likely, according to multiple league execs. "Not sure they have a choice," an NFC executive said. "They wouldn't get similar value back [a third-rounder], but it would be hard [for the Jets] to pay him at this point, and he clearly doesn't want to be there. Both sides badly mismanaged the situation." And the dispute has reinforced a harsh reality in trading for star players in contract years. "Teams will be nervous to make a trade for such a player if they don't want to pay him," a separate NFC exec said. "That was my first thought when Atlanta traded for [Matthew Judon], but it looks like he's comfortable playing it out, so I guess it's different. But if you make that move, you have to be prepared to do a deal in most cases."
• Prescott's four-year, $240 million deal caps a historic offseason for quarterback pay that easily eclipsed $1 billion and nearly hit $1.5 billion. Setting off the party was Baker Mayfield's deal in Tampa Bay ($100 million over three years) and Kirk Cousins' deal with Atlanta ($180 million over four years), and it grew exponentially from there. Detroit's Jared Goff ($212 million over four years) followed suit in May, with Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence ($275 million over five years) getting paid a month later. August got hotter for Miami and Green Bay, which paid $212.4 million and $220 million, respectively, on four-year deals for Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love.
And the wildest part -- not one of these passers ranked higher than No. 9 in ESPN's top-10 list as voted on by league executives, coaches and scouts. "Life in the middle is better than life without a quarterback," one NFL head coach said. "It's just so hard to win without a capable passer that teams are willing to overpay for a known commodity." That sentiment will continue to drive the market, even if teams are fatigued by doling out top-of-market deals to quarterbacks who aren't top five at their position. This comes against the backdrop of Week 1 quarterback play that was mostly mediocre. Seventeen of 32 starting QBs threw for fewer than 200 yards, while six were sacked at least four times.
• Even though Fields is expected to start for the Steelers in Denver, the belief is that Wilson will get the job once he returns from his calf injury. Pittsburgh believes Wilson's command of the offense is stronger, and it seems like only an explosive performance from Fields can change the trajectory.
• Ja'Marr Chase came close to reaching a deal with Cincinnati before Week 1, but it ultimately didn't get done. People I spoke to around the league expected the Bengals to pay him somewhere very close to the top of the receiver market, possibly somewhere between CeeDee Lamb ($34 million per year) and Justin Jefferson ($35 million). If that's the case, it sounds like the proposal wasn't enough -- especially based on the way Chase addressed the media Friday, with conviction that he could shatter Jefferson's deal.
• The Chiefs are somewhat optimistic about wide receiver Hollywood Brown returning sooner than later. His sternoclavicular dislocation, though similar to Tyreek Hill's 2019 injury, did not involve a broken bone, while Hill's did, from what I was told. Hill returned in just four weeks in part because Kansas City considered him a unique healer. With Brown's injury occurring Aug. 10, he's on schedule to return as early as this week, though the Chiefs won't push it if he's not ready. They'll see how he responds during the week.