The data set is growing, and the foundation on which we built our fantasy lineups felt slightly more stable than it did last week. We were feeling good. Like the payoff was bound to follow the agonizing week of splitting hairs and analyzing one week of production.
Then, Week 2 kicked off.
Welcome to Dreams and Nightmares, my friends. In this weekly retrospective, I'll be looking back at some of the guys who made you feel like they cared about your fantasy success, and those who made it painfully clear they have no idea you entrusted them with a spot on your roster.
The goal of this piece is to remind our esteemed readers that we're right there with you. We do the digging and have established processes we'll hang our hats on, sure. There are also those days when the layups, like Breece Hall against an Ed Oliver-less Bills defense, rim out. We live with that. Not so much because the calls hurt our teams. That's tough, sure. It's the calls that hurt you that sting much worse.
The ground rules here are pretty self-explanatory. I won't bore you with too many details. If a player lived up to expectations, or even went so far as to put us on their backs, they'll land among the fantasy dreams for that week. The guys who dropped four points in a juicy matchup will land among the nightmares. Easy enough, right?
We all have our unique teams and matchups. That means I may miss multiple dreams or nightmares. I'm sure I could make this a comprehensive overview of all that happens in a week. I'd never do that to our editorial staff, though. They've been too good to me. Depending on which side you were on, a dream could also be a nightmare. This is a matter of perspective. A testament to how much this game can give and take away.
Now that the housekeeping is out of the way, I bring you my first installment of fantasy dreams and nightmares. Some of these wounds could be fresh. Stay with me. We'll get through this together.
Fantasy Dream: Rome Odunze Is That Dude (Rome O-dude-ze? Yeah?)
One of the most agonizing thought exercises of the offseason was prognosticating the offensive roles in Chicago. Beyond D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze, you had Luther Burden III, Cole Kmet, Colston Loveland, D'Andre Swift, and Olamide Zaccheaus all vying to be featured in a system designed by one of the NFL's most respected minds. There were hopes this offense could support two viable fantasy options. If we were lucky, maybe we'd get three.
Through two weeks, though, Odunze might be the lone pass catcher in Chicago among the fire-them-up-weekly options. His ascension to that status happened with a massive showing against his head coach's former employer. He was the WR4 in Week 2 with 28.3 Half-PPR points.
Rome Odunze goes for 128 yards and 2 TD’s
— WestCoastCFB (@WestCoastCFB) September 14, 2025
pic.twitter.com/8Bwf03bbfI
Odunze is 11th in the NFL in target share (29.4 percent), tied for first with three receiving touchdowns, and tied for ninth in fantasy points per target (2.1). It's been about as good a start as you could've hoped for in the Johnson offense. Whether Caleb Williams settles in or not doesn't seem to be an overly impactful variable with Odunze. Williams has looked uneven, and Odunze is a WR1.
If you landed him at cost, congrats on your heist. Draft day steals are what dreams are made of.
Fantasy Nightmare: Joe Burrow Hits the Shelf (Toe Burrow. Okay, I'm done.)
This seems to be the tip of the iceberg for quarterback injuries in Week 2.
As I'm writing this, the alerts that J.J. McCarthy and Jayden Daniels could miss time are hitting harder than James Hudson.
James Hudson just out here throwing punches after being penalized 4 times in a row 🤣 pic.twitter.com/zA0GRSqaPZ
— NFL Memes (@nflmemezz) September 14, 2025
In the case of Joe Burrow, though, there are likely two angles you're considering:
- How does this affect my stock in the Cincinnati skill players
- Can I delete my fantasy app now that my team is dead?
I'll defer slightly on question two. Don't delete your app of choice. Keep playing. Fantasy has a weird way of leveling the playing field when you feel like all is lost. If you need a roadmap for what to do if you lost Burrow, our guy Sigmund Bloom has you covered here.
We fortunately have some data for the skill players from 2023, when Jake Browning started the last seven games of the season. We'll look at Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and, for the sake of Chase Brown, Joe Mixon's splits from over that span. Full disclosure, Chase missed Week 16 and Higgins missed Week 12 and 18, but these are per-game figures.
Bengals Skill Player Production with Jake Browning at QB - 2023 Weeks 12 - 18
| Player | Touches Per Game | Yards Per Game | Touchdowns Per Game | Half-PPR Points Per Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ja'Marr Chase | 4.8 | 63.8 | 0.2 | 9.8 (WR38) |
| Tee Higgins | 3.0 | 65.6 | 0.6 | 11.7 (WR25) |
| Joe Mixon | 17.9 | 88.2 | 1 | 16.6 (RB5) |
Not a one-for-one comparison. Higgins and Chase both missed time, and the Bengals leaned on Mixon. This still provides a frame of reference for the way things looked in Browning's 2023 starts. In Week 2, He threw for two touchdowns and rushed for one on a sneak, but also threw three interceptions after stepping in for Burrow. Chase saw a 35.6 percent share of Cincinnati's 45 passing attempts overall.
Given the way the run game has struggled to this point, I think it's fair to be concerned about Chase Brown's outlook without the threat of Burrow pushing the ball downfield. The Bengals are currently dead last in yards before contact per carry with -1.31 (!). Brown is doing what he can. They can't lean on him, though, if he's being contacted behind the line of scrimmage on average. The state of the offensive line is where the hope for Brown's production with Browning dwindles if they can't right the ship.
In other news, we might already be down Justin Fields next week, too. It's a really good thing QB was deep this year. Get ready to see some massive bids on Jake Browning and Carson Wentz in superflex leagues this week.
