Fantasy Football Week 2 Wide Receiver Preview: Jarvis Landry looked like a must-start WR in Week 1

You never want to overreact to one week of data in Fantasy Football. That’s why Donovan Peoples-Jones wasn’t at the top of our waiver wire column after his 11-target showing in Week 1. But one guy who may just make us look silly all season long is Jarvis Landry.

We, like a lot of NFL teams, mostly ignored Landry this offseason. We had him clearly behind Michael Thomas and expected him to lose targets to Chris Olave as the season went on. We weren’t sure how much the Saints would throw or how Landry’s role as a possession receiver would mesh with Jameis Winston’s history as a gunslinger. It meshed, alright.

• Week 2: RB Preview | QB Preview | TE Preview

In Week 1 Landry led the Saints in targets, catches, and yards. More surprisingly, he was top 10 in the league in air yards share and saw an aDOT of 13.7. For comparison’s sake, Landry’s aDOT from 2019-2021 was between 7.9 and 9.7. If he’s a downfield receiver in this offense and he’s earning a 25% target share, Landry could be in line for a career year. At the very least he should be rostered and started everywhere. 

I’m willing to go as far as saying he should be rostered everywhere right now. And if he has one more week like Week 1, expect to find him inside my top 25 in Week 3.

Here is the rest of the Week 2 WR Preview:

Week 2 WR Preview

The following players are not being projected to play Week 2 at this time. Here’s what it means:

• 7 — Kadarius Toney played just seven snaps in Week 1. He’s too talented to drop after Week 1, but it will be hard to hold him much longer. Just remember how good Brandon Aiyuk was in the second half of 2021.
• 87% — Jahan Dotson played 87% of the snaps and scored two touchdowns in his NFL debut.
• 11 — Curtis Samuel saw 11 targets and had four carries in Week 1. If he can stay healthy, he looks like he has a big role.
• 124 — Jarvis Landry tied D.J. Chark with 124 air yards. Only three wide receivers had more in Week 1.
• 29% — Kyle Philips led the Titans with a 29% target share. We expect Treylon Burks will cut into that, but Philips is currently the most involved rookie.
• 5 — Chase Claypool’s average route depth, which is well below his career average. He may need those rush attempts if he’s going to be used like this in the passing game.
• 0 — Production from DeVonta Smith on four targets. There will be better days ahead, but he may not be a reliable contributor.
• 81% — Drake London played on 81% of the Falcons pass plays, he’s a WR3 or better moving forward.