Power Plays - Week 2

Welcome to Power Plays — this is a week where full stacks aren’t strictly necessary because there are multiple quarterback routes that project well as solo engines or skinny stacks without clean, reliable pairings . Cheap values like Justin Fields and Drake Maye offer rushing-driven ceilings and dispersed target trees, making single-QB builds viable without forcing attachment to uncertain WR/TE distributions that can add fragility instead of correlation . On the elite end, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson can bury slates with legs and spread efficiency, and neither requires a stack to capture ceiling when rushing production and broad distributions do the heavy lifting, which preserves salary for premium one-offs and minis elsewhere. However, here are some of my favourite stacks and correlations. 

Jags @ Bengals

Burrow–Chase is the way to attack Week 2’s headline total, and this is a prime bounce-back spot after Cincinnati’s offense was outright poor in Week 1 — 49 snaps versus a 65.5-play 2024 baseline, while Jacksonville’s opponent still ran 61 plays in their opener . Burrow is always a locked-in fantasy QB1 when Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are at full tilt, and the volume regression sets up perfectly against a Jaguars defense that allowed 61 offensive plays to Carolina in Week 1 . Chase profiles as an elite WR1 in one of the week’s best receiver matchups — Jacksonville bled the third-most WR fantasy points last season and didn’t meaningfully upgrade their coverage personnel, creating a clear funnel for Burrow to exploit single coverage and feed his alpha target . With defensive attention split between Chase and Higgins, expect Burrow to relentlessly target Chase as the ceiling-scorching centerpiece.

BTJ is the bring-back with serious upside potential. Trevor Lawrence’s opener was openly criticized by new HC Liam Coen, creating urgency to get Brian Thomas Jr. heavily involved as the designed explosive solution . The matchup sets up perfectly: Cincinnati allowed 290 passing yards to Joe Flacco while generating pressure on just five of 47 dropbacks, the exact environment for Lawrence to force-feed BTJ double-digit targets and get him hot early . If Jacksonville keeps pace in this total, it’s most likely through concentrated BTJ usage as their primary downfield weapon.

Browns @ Ravens

Flacco–Tillman is the leverage stack to press here, with the gun slinger Flacco a cert for 40+ dropbacks in a pass-leaning script that condenses targets to a tight three with Cedric Tillman as the cheap, high-upside attachment. Josh Allen just torched this secondary through the air, reinforcing a clear ceiling path via volume and verticals even if efficiency swings.

Tillman is my preferred partner. He dominated two‑WR sets, matched Jerry Jeudy in looks, and brings red‑zone and contested‑catch equity at 6’3”/213. Tillman’s cost makes him a clean salary saver who still carries splash‑play and TD paths.

Harold Fannin Jr. fits as an optional add in double‑stacks and minis. He led the team in targets despite fewer routes than the top wideouts, and in builds already betting on heavy Cleveland dropbacks, he attaches logically without over committing salary.

Bring it back with Lamar Jackson (if not opting for Flacco) or Derrick Henry. Lamar captures shootout correlation if this tilts aerial again, pairing elite dual‑threat ceiling with Flacco volume. Henry is the sledgehammer if Baltimore controls the game as expected, his goal‑line and explosive‑run paths push Cleveland’s pass rate while keeping the stack live. The story stays tight: bank Browns perimeter aggression with a cheap Tillman, and capture Ravens ceiling via Lamar’s spike week or Henry’s game‑control blueprint.

49ers @ Saints

Christian McCaffrey with Chris Olave or Juwan Johnson is the clean mini to play in a low-total game, and no quarterback should be added; Mac Jones and Spencer Rattler do not inspire confidence to consistently move the chains. CMC is once again just too cheap and his usage is elite and bankable after 31 touches on a 76% snap rate, and New Orleans just yielded 5.4 YPC to Arizona backs, keeping the floor and ceiling intact regardless of passing efficiency. This keeps correlation tight while avoiding fragility tied to limited QB play.

Olave is the bring-back for ceiling. He drew 13 targets with a career-high slot rate around 41%, giving him access to higher-percentage layups plus downfield shots, and the 49ers were just tagged by Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 9/124/0 in Week 1. If the Saints move it, Olave is the likeliest conduit for chunk receptions and yardage spikes in a condensed distribution.

Juwan Johnson is the alternative bring-back for red-zone leverage. He played 74 of 75 snaps with a 24% target share and has clear on-field rapport with Rattler dating back to last season. In lineups prioritizing touchdown paths over raw yardage, Johnson mirrors CMC’s scoring angle without requiring the Saints to erupt.

Eagles @ Chiefs

Eagles at Chiefs looks like a spot that should pop, but it’s harder to turn into clean DFS decisions than it appears. The headline matchup signals points, yet both offences carry distribution questions that undermine stacking confidence. Philadelphia can toggle between Jalen Hurts-driven spike weeks and a workload funnel to Saquon Barkley, while Kansas City’s receiver room is banged up and unsettled, inviting week-to-week volatility in target allocation. That combination creates a game that looks friendly for fantasy totals but offers few trustworthy pairing routes.

Within that uncertainty, the only pieces worth isolating are an expensive Saquon Barkley or a fragile Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Barkley’s role is elite and insulated — true three-down usage with goal-line equity that holds even if pace and efficiency wobble — making him a viable one-off anchor. Hollywood is thin but funneled; current personnel dynamics concentrate opportunities in his direction, giving him a real tournament path via double-digit targets and splash-play potential. Beyond those two, the difficulty is pairing anyone with confidence without overfitting a story that the usage doesn’t support. This is best treated as a minis-and-one-offs game: take Barkley’s bankable volume or Hollywood’s leveraged funnel, and resist forcing full-stack constructions when the distribution trees remain this unsettled.