We kick off Week 2 of the NFL season, and our experts at Alofoke Deportes break down the most relevant news and hot topics that are setting the pace of the league.
Week 1 left us with more questions than answers. What direction will the Giants take with Russell Wilson and his quarterback situation? What’s going on with the Dolphins after their disappointing loss to the Colts in the debut? Does Justin Fields’ outstanding performance suggest that the Jets might have found a long-term solution at the quarterback position?
Our analysts communicated with sources across the league to get firsthand information on these situations. They also analyzed the performance of the running backs in Week 1 and what we can expect in the future for fantasy football. Here’s a complete summary with answers to the most important questions and the most relevant news heading into Week 2.
What’s Happening with the Giants’ Plan for the Quarterback?
According to sources, coach Brian Daboll confirmed that Russell Wilson will remain the starter in Week 2. For now, the plan is to keep him in the position. However, the scenario could change once left tackle Andrew Thomas is fully recovered and the offensive line is more solid. Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka have a specific strategy for Jaxson Dart’s development, based on milestones he must reach to prove he is ready. This plan is based on previous experiences with young quarterbacks, including successful cases like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.
Nobody is saying Dart is Allen or Mahomes, but Daboll and Kafka are using their past successes to inform the plan.
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For now, they insist they trust Wilson in the short term while preparing Dart for the future. This stance is maintained, even after Wilson showed difficulties against the Commanders’ defense.
Despite Wilson’s problems, the economic factor is usually decisive in these situations. Bench Wilson after Week 1 would imply a significant cost for the Giants. The Giants seek to be sensible and maintain a long-term plan, which could benefit Dart’s development. Although Wilson is in decline, his experience is valuable to the team. Wilson is expected to improve his performance against the Cowboys in the next game.Stephen A. Smith suggests that Dart should be the starter in Week 3. Dart has accelerated his development process, showing great performance in the preseason. The Giants staff considers him a fast learner and highly motivated player. Although it is inevitable that Dart will play, the analyst is not getting carried away by the Week 1 reaction. What will happen if Wilson has another negative performance in Week 2?
The pressure will increase if Wilson doesn’t improve. The Giants designated Dart as the second quarterback for Sunday’s game, indicating their confidence in him in case Wilson can’t play. If Wilson doesn’t show improvement in Dallas, the Giants’ patience could run out. A question is whether Jameis Winston could be considered before Dart if Wilson is relegated, which could represent a compromise.
In a joint practice with the Jets, Winston led the third team and connected on a long pass. Implementing a game plan for Dart within Wilson’s offense remains a viable option.
Are the Dolphins on the Brink of Panic?
It hasn’t been activated yet, but there are signs of concern within the team. Although only a week has passed, the Dolphins’ season, and that of their leaders, Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel, is approaching a crossroads. The team showed a lackluster performance in Indianapolis. Although more is expected of the Dolphins, some concerns arose about the team’s overall talent. The Dolphins got rid of key players who didn’t fit in well, which could improve the locker room. However, this involved letting go of proven talent and replacing it with more economical options that, in some cases, seem less capable.
There are also questions about leadership on the team. Good teams have authentic leaders. With so many changes, who will take on that role in the Miami locker room? Strong voices may emerge, and they will be needed immediately, as games against divisional rivals are coming up in the next three weeks.
The team desperately needs a win in Week 2. After visiting their training camp, this season was expected to be a cultural reset. But the Dolphins had a disastrous performance against the Colts, suggesting they could be the worst team in the league this season. If Week 1 is an indication of how Miami’s season will be, things could get very ugly quickly, potentially resulting in major changes.
The trade rumors surrounding Tyreek Hill are a topic to follow. Although Miami received calls for Hill, they did not show interest in trading him. If the losses continue, the conversations could resume. The Dolphins have already exercised Hill’s $15.85 million bonus option, which leaves a base salary of $10 million and $1.8 million in per-game bonuses.
A meeting with the Chiefs could be a viable option for Kansas City. The Chiefs fail to align their trio of receivers, and a boost of explosiveness would be beneficial.
The Dolphins need to focus on improving their own game. There are legitimate questions about Hill’s performance at the moment. The Chiefs, who know Hill well, might believe he would play better for them. However, it has been a long time since Hill showed his explosiveness. If he doesn’t improve his game, it will be difficult for the Dolphins to find a trade partner.
Hill also faces domestic violence accusations from his wife. Besides being a serious matter outside of football, the accusations could affect the interest of other teams if they result in an NFL investigation and possible sanctions.
Is Justin Fields the Solution for the Jets?
The answer is “rent-to-own”. Fields performed much better than expected in his first game with the Jets. With a completion percentage of 72.7% and 9.9 yards per pass attempt, it’s a performance that deserves attention. What Fields brings with his legs is known, and that was demonstrated on Sunday. What really stood out was the precision and touch on his long passes, something he previously lacked. If he has made a big leap in that aspect, the Jets could design plays to compensate for his limitations and succeed with a talented former player who is still 26 years old.
Fields has a lot to offer: he’s hardworking, he’s appreciated by his teammates, he’s a willing leader, and he’s incredibly dynamic with a lot of arm strength. But we know what he is at this moment. He has 45 career starts and has only won 14 of them (not all his fault). He’s never thrown more than 17 touchdown passes in a season and completes 61% of his passes.
The resurgence of quarterbacks like Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Geno Smith has made this situation fashionable, and perhaps Fields will be next. That would be a great story. But I’m a bit reluctant to believe that it can happen with consistent accuracy and touch throughout an NFL season. The Jets hired him as a bridge quarterback, and that’s what I think he is. But I’m very open to being wrong. What is clear is that Fields’ offensive support team is quite good, particularly on the offensive line. Did Sunday change your perception of the Jets?
Yes. A slower, ball-control offense was expected, based on the running game (including Fields’ running ability) and not requiring much from Fields as a passer, outside of key third-down situations. But on Sunday it became clear that the Jets had worked with him enough as a passer and that they trust him to throw more than we expected. Garrett Wilson has the ability to be a number 1 receiver, and I know they like their running backs a lot.
I’m still a little concerned about the loss of guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and its long-term impact on the offensive line, and I think the Jets could use another reliable wide receiver to complement Wilson. But I thought the Jets’ offense looked better than the Steelers’ offense on Sunday, regardless of the final score.
Fields’ performance was promising and seems capable of giving the Jets’ offense more versatility than I anticipated. But offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand also did a good job of keeping the game manageable for Fields, having him throw 22 times (versus 39 team rushing attempts). Asking Fields to be a volume passer could be problematic, but designing easier passes for Wilson and impressive rookie tight end Mason Taylor will help the quarterback thrive.
Which Running Back Hierarchy Had Clarity in Week 1?
The Bears-Vikings game was revealing. Minnesota’s information indicated that Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones Sr. would have a 50-50 split of work. That was fulfilled on Monday night, with Mason playing 30 plays and Jones 28. Mason is the youngest (26 years old) and most explosive running back at this stage, and he had 15 carries for 68 yards compared to Jones’ 23 yards on eight carries, although Jones added three receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown. I hope the workload remains, with Mason as the primary running back and Jones as the complete option.
On the other hand, D’Andre Swift played 54 of Chicago’s 67 plays. He is clearly the number 1 in a de facto contract year (the guaranteed money from his three-year contract expires after 2025).
The Jaguars’ situation cleared up a bit on Sunday, when Travis Etienne Jr. had 19 of the team’s 26 touches. It cleared up much more on Monday night when they traded Tank Bigsby to the Eagles. This leaves them with Etienne, fourth-round rookie Bhayshul Tuten, and seventh-round rookie LeQuint Allen Jr.
Tuten is the big-play runner who could aspire to a more significant role as he learns the league and Jacksonville’s playbook. Allen is the Jaguars’ pass-catching back on third down. But for now, Etienne seems to be the best fit for what they want to do on early downs, and I know they believe his skills fit well into their screen game plans. The question will be whether Tuten can earn more touches as his rookie season progresses, or if we’ll have to wait until 2026 to see what he can do.The hope is that Tuten can become a similar runner for Liam Coen in Jacksonville as Bucky Irving was for him last season in Tampa Bay, alleviating the burden on Etienne. Irving and Tuten are fourth-round picks with similar stature. That said, Etienne has found his 2022-23 rhythm again, building on the open-field explosion he showed in Week 1. Last season was difficult, but the qualities are there. Coen is skilled at creating a successful running game.
I heard Washington had high expectations for Jacory Croskey-Merritt in the preseason, and he delivered on Sunday with 82 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. I hope his momentum continues. Austin Ekeler will still be a factor, and the Commanders are relying on Jeremy McNichols and Chris Rodriguez Jr. Croskey-Merritt may not be the lead back yet, but he will be eventually. His teammates have been impressed by the patience and vision he showed while running with the starting offense in camp.
I tentatively agree. When it was announced that Rodriguez wouldn’t be active on Sunday, it was a clear signal that Croskey-Merritt would have a significant role. A small part of me wonders if the Commanders could have Rodriguez for the Thursday night game against the Packers and give other running backs more work to avoid overworking Croskey-Merritt with two high-usage games in a five-day span. But I have no inside information to suggest that, and being in that locker room after Sunday’s game, I can say they were very pleased with what they got from the seventh-round rookie. I expect him to be their primary running back for most of this season along with Ekeler, who has his own specific role.
We also leave Week 1 with the certainty that Javonte Williams is the Cowboys’ primary running back, a position that should be more consolidated after Miles Sanders’ costly fumble in the third quarter against the Eagles. Kenneth Gainwell should also have a significant role ahead of rookie Kaleb Johnson in Pittsburgh, at least in the short term, while Johnson works on pass protection and other areas that need to be polished.
What Else is Heard This Week?
• The highlight of Tampa Bay’s victory over Atlanta might have been rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka’s two touchdown receptions. But the understated performance that filled the people inside the Buccaneers’ building with pride was the way Graham Barton played left tackle in that game. He played left tackle at Duke, but was drafted in the first round of the 2024 draft to play center, which he did for the Bucs all last season. When Tampa Bay received news that starting left tackle Tristan Wirfs would miss the start of the season while recovering from offseason knee surgery, their first instinct was to try Charlie Heck, the veteran backup tackle who signed in free agency, as Wirfs’ replacement at the start of the season. But a couple of weeks into training camp, the Bucs tried a lineup with Barton at left tackle, trying to figure out if they could use him as a contingency plan in case of an emergency or if something happened to Heck.
The thing is, Barton looked pretty good there. And in the week following the Bucs’ roster cuts to 53 players, coach Todd Bowles and the offensive staff decided that was the best way to proceed in Week 1. So they practiced with Barton at left tackle, left guard Ben Bredeson at center, and veteran Mike Jordan at left guard. What’s most impressive is that they managed to keep everything secret until the offense took the field for the opening game on Sunday in Atlanta. Barton played well, they won the game, and I hope they use this same offensive line combination until Wirfs is ready to return from his injury. Barton may not be able to hold up at left tackle for an entire season, but so far it’s working as a patch, and the Bucs are thrilled to know he’s an option at other offensive line positions besides center.
• Veteran pass rusher Von Miller, who is 36 and playing his 15th NFL season, played a little more than 40% of the defensive snaps for the Commanders on Sunday. That’s a bit more than he played last season in Buffalo, and he anticipates being able to contribute at a higher level in Washington this year. “I’ll be three years removed from my ACL tear in November,” Miller told me last week. “I tore the same ACL when I was 24, and I guess I thought it would recover at the same speed as then, but that wasn’t the case. I feel good now, I feel strong, ready to help this team win.”
Miller is a two-time Super Bowl champion and ranks 16th with 129.5 career sacks, just three behind Leslie O’Neal and Lawrence Taylor. He is a future Hall of Famer with nothing more to prove in the league. I asked him what drives him at this moment. “I just love football, man,” he said. “I love all aspects of it. I love practice, watching films, being in the locker room with the guys. I guess if I got bored, I might want to do something different than this, but so far I haven’t. I just love it.”
• The Lions reached a contract extension with 2022 first-round pick Jameson Williams, but have yet to reach an agreement with their other 2022 first-round pick, Aidan Hutchinson, on a long-term deal. They’ve had productive conversations but no agreement yet, and considering the extent to which Micah Parsons’ deal set a new standard for pass rusher contracts, it could get complicated. The Lions have plenty of incentive to get it done before next spring, when their excellent 2023 draft class, including Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta, and Brian Branch, becomes extension-eligible for the first time. Lions general manager Brad Holmes has been talking since the spring about the difficult decisions Detroit might have to make as it works to sign its young stars long-term. The Lions have drafted almost too well for their own good.
• Jalen Carter’s disciplinary solution was interesting from a precedent standpoint. In the past, spitting incidents like this resulted in fines and not suspensions. The NFL announced Carter’s discipline as a one-game suspension without pay. The fine was equivalent to one-eighteenth of Carter’s base salary, i.e., one game check, and the suspension was considered to have already been served because Carter was ejected from the Eagles’ opening game before a single play from scrimmage had occurred.
In its announcement of the suspension, the NFL specifically mentioned its renewed emphasis on the monitoring of unsportsmanlike acts this season. Putting two and two together, it’s easy to conclude that Carter’s punishment represents a new precedent and that unsportsmanlike acts that used to only result in fines could now carry the possibility of suspension.
• The Chiefs are frustrated because injuries and other issues (i.e., Rashee Rice’s suspension) have prevented them from keeping their wide receiver group together in recent years. They had a game plan centered around Xavier Worthy designed for last Friday’s opening game against the Chargers in Brazil, and after Worthy was injured on the third play of the game, the offense looked out of sync… because it was. The Chiefs consider former Patriots second-round pick Tyquan Thornton one of the pleasant surprises of their offseason, but the fact is that quarterback Patrick Mahomes
