Falcons fantasy stud and dud from Week 2 vs. Packers

How does 2-0 feel, folks?? Probably even better after watching the Falcons make a 12-point fourth quarter comeback where the defense locked in, Desmond Ridder led the charge and Bijan Robinson proved to be just as special as we all thought he was.

The Falcons are living up to the hype a couple of weeks in, going 2-0 for the first time since 2017. They have a chance to continue to emulate that specific season by winning in Detroit against the Lions to move to 3-0, which is exactly what they did after a Week 2 win at home against Green Bay six seasons ago.

With the offensive explosion late in the game, Atlanta’s fantasy players also got to eat a little bit, although it was hit or miss depending on the player.

There is a lot of great content available here at The Falcoholic, and I encourage you to check it out if you want some in-depth analysis. This article will look at things strictly from a fantasy football perspective (that means looking at nothing other than pure statistics). Here is Atlanta’s fantasy stud and fantasy dud from Week 2’s victory against the Green Bay Packers

Fantasy Stud/Dud 2023 History:

Past Studs: Tyler Allgeier (1)

Past Duds: Drake London (1)

Fantasy Stud - Bijan Robinson

Stat Line: 19 carries, 124 rushing yards, 4 catches, 48 receiving yards: 18.20 standard league points; 22.20 PPR points

Bijan Robinson was labeled a generational running back coming out of the University of Texas and the Atlanta Falcons spent a top-10 pick pick on him in an era of the NFL where it’s absolutely taboo to use such a premium selection on a RB. He was most likely taken in the first round of your fantasy football draft. Today, he showed you exactly why he was so coveted in both fantasy and real life.

Robinson just looked faster than everyone else on the field, making video game-like cuts, hitting a second gear at will and saving the afternoon with an incredible effort on fourth down late in the game.

Despite not finding the end zone, Bijan ended up as the overall RB6 going into Sunday Night Football, to go along with his overall RB7 PPR performance in Week 1 to firmly entrench him as an RB1 in the early part of the season.

Robinson ended up taking 23 total touches, and figures to continue getting workhorse usage even with Tyler Allgeier spelling him for plenty of carries himself (16 total today). Keep firing Bijan up, knowing that the Falcons offense will tick as he does.

Dud

Kyle Pitts: 2 catches, 15 receiving yards: 1.5 standard league points; 3.5 PPR points

For as much success as the Falcons have had two games in, winning both, Kyle Pitts has not been doing the job for fantasy teams. After an ok outing where he had 44 receiving yards last week, when rarely any tight end did anything, Pitts had just two more catches today for a team-low 15 receiving yards among players who had at least one target.

This is becoming very concerning for Pitts fantasy managers, both in redraft and in dynasty leagues (where he was probably a very high pick in 2021). Ridder spread the ball around a lot, giving at least five targets to five different players, as Pitts was even overshadowed by backup tight end Jonnu Smith who had more targets (6 vs. 5), more receptions (4 vs. 2) and more yards (47 vs. 15).

The tight end position remains what it was last season in the realm of fantasy football — Travis Kelce at the top, Mark Andrews and T.J. Hockenson in the tier right below and then every other TE below that after a wide gap. Unfortunately, Pitts is currently in that lower tier with the rest of the players in the TE wasteland, and you unfortunately likely used a fifth or sixth-round pick for his services.

With his value at its lowest now and with none of Atlanta’s pass-catching options looking like they’ll be consistent, the best thing you can do is hold out hope that talent can win out and that Pitts can rehab his value a little bit with a string of better statistical performances before you possibly move him if you would like to get off of this roller coaster.