Jeremy Hill heads All-Bust Fantasy Lineup from Week 2

Week 2 will be remembered this year in the NFL as the week when everything got really weird. Travis Benjamin and Tyrod Taylor were two of the week’s top fantasy scorers. Survivor pools across America were wiped clean as Tampa Bay, Washington, Oakland and Jacksonville all won, something that hadn’t happened since Week 5 in 2010.

Heck, Johnny Manziel even had the first unequivocally good outing of his professional career. Accordingly, there’s plenty of conversation fodder for this week’s All-Bust fantasy team.

[Week 2's perfect fantasy lineup: Top scorers at each position]

A reminder on the selection process for each week’s edition of this exclusive club: I calculate the difference between the projected Yahoo point totals and the actual outputs of each player. The guys with the worst sums wind up here, with their disappointing performances illustrated by PointAfter visualizations.

Note: All projected point totals were pulled Sunday morning from Yahoo’s standard scoring system. All position ranks are accurate through the Monday game. Players who were injured on Sunday weren’t considered.

QB: Alex Smith, Chiefs

Projected points (position rank): 16.7 (19th)

Actual points (position rank): 7.1 (32nd)

Just in case you needed a reminder that Alex Smith isn’t a viable start in standard leagues after last week’s surprisingly robust 23.2 point showing, the former No. 1 overall pick showed his ugly side on Thursday. Smith only mustered 191 passing yards and threw two back-breaking interceptions, doing his part to help Kansas City choke away an eminently winnable game at Arrowhead Stadium.

And, yeah, he still hasn’t thrown a touchdown to a wide receiver since 2013.

RB1: Jeremy Hill, Bengals

Projected points: 13.4 (3rd)

Actual points: 0.1 (T-91st)

I thought Jeremy Hill was going way too high in drafts this year given the presence of Giovani Bernard, whom a lot of people were underestimating after an injury-shortened 2014 campaign. Sunday might have marked the beginning of the end of Hill’s bellcow status for the Bengals.

Hill only gained 39 yards on 10 carries against San Diego, and more importantly to his future fantasy outlook, fumbled twice and was subsequently benched. After Hill racked up 18.3 points against Oakland in Week 1 (albeit on just 3.3 yards per carry), his Week 2 performance was a nasty shock to his owners. Bernard, meanwhile, totaled 123 yards on 20 rush attempts.

While it’s too early to say that Hill is this year’s Zac Stacy, it’s almost certain that Cincinnati will be divvying up its carries more than most expected coming into this season.

RB2: Ameer Abdullah, Lions

Projected points: 10.8 (14th)

Actual points: 1.8 (T-63rd)

Ameer Abdullah earned the starting nod in Detroit after an electric Week 1 that saw him put up 15.4 points while averaging 8.5 yards per touch.

It really didn’t matter which Lion took handoffs against the Vikings on Sunday, though. The entire Lions backfield looked dreadful, as Abdullah, Joique Bell and Theo Riddick combined for just 16 yards on 11 carries against a defense that was ripped to shreds by Carlos Hyde in Week 1.

WR1: Keenan Allen, Chargers

Projected points: 9.9 (10th)

Actual points: -0.4 (N/A)

Keenan Allen has been a boom-or-bust type since he came into the league. Last year, he failed to surpass five points in nine of his 14 games but kept owners enticed by posting four games with 12 or more points.

Last week, the third-year wideout appeared to assert himself as a more consistent alpha dog in San Diego’s crowded receiving corps, hauling in 15 receptions for 166 yards. Instead, Allen reverted to his old ways on Sunday. He actually hurt his owners more than he helped them, totaling two catches and 16 yards to go along with a lost fumble on a muffed punt.

His four targets were tied for fourth with Malcom Floyd among Chargers, behind Danny Woodhead, Ladarius Green and Stevie Johnson, who all had six. There’s a lot to like about San Diego’s passing offense, but it’s going to be tough to predict which weapon will make an impact on a week-to-week basis.

WR2: Mike Evans, Buccaneers

Projected points: 9.6 (12th)

Actual points: 0.0 (N/A)

Hopefully, Mike Evans’ questionable injury status (hamstring) heading into Sunday scared you off from starting him. He clearly wasn’t himself against New Orleans’ notoriously soft secondary.

Evans was targeted just three times, and couldn’t connect with Jameis Winston on any of them. Evans’ owners have to hope the lackluster showing was the last consequence we’ll see from the hamstring injury that caused him to miss Week 1, rather than Winston simply favoring Vincent Jackson and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins.

TE: Jimmy Graham, Seahawks

Projected points: 8.0 (3rd)

Actual points: 1.1 (T-39th)

I warned everyone before the season started that Jimmy Graham would see a decline in production, given his departure from a passing offense in New Orleans that was essentially tailored around him. But not even the most pessimistic outlook could foretell just how invisible Graham would be against the Packers.

Graham was targeted just twice, and caught a single pass for 11 yards. It was mind boggling to see how uninvolved he was in Seattle’s game plan, as he was practically overshadowed by the guy he was supposed to supplant as the team’s passing tight end, Luke Willson (four targets, two receptions, 36 yards).

Graham isn't going to live up to his renowned fantasy reputation if the Seahawks don't target him downfield.

FLEX: Roddy White, Falcons

Projected points: 8.1 (26th)

Actual points: 0.0 (N/A)

On Sunday, Roddy White was held without a catch for the first time since 2006, his second year in the NFL. The stunning shutout showed why White talked about respecting the Giants’ corners more than Philadelphia’s after looking like his old self against the Eagles in Week 1.

Expect White, who was targeted just once against New York, to be more involved in the passing game going forward. I’m not expecting Leonard Hankerson to be targeted 11 times again in 2015.

D/ST: Baltimore Ravens

Projected points: 10.9 (1st)

Actual points: -1.0 (31st)

Fresh off an impressive showing against Denver, the Ravens were projected to score the most fantasy points among any defense/special teams in Week 2 against Oakland, home of 2014’s worst offense.

Instead, Baltimore forced just one turnover, gave up 37 points and allowed Derek Carr to orchestrate just the second fourth-quarter comeback of his career. Someone named Seth Roberts caught the game-winning, 12-yard touchdown strike.

Like I said, the NFL got weird this week.

KICKER: Zach Hocker, Saints

Projected points: 8.4 (7th)

Actual points: 1.0 (T-31st)

After not sticking with Washington or Miami since coming into the league in 2014, Zach Hocker finally won a kicking job with the Saints in training camp.

He went 4-for-4 in his pro debut last week, but followed that up by missing a 42-yard attempt with the Saints trailing 23-13 in the fourth quarter. Then, when New Orleans later found the end zone, his extra-point attempt was blocked.

Will Laws is a writer for PointAfter, a sports data aggregation and visualization website that's part of the Graphiq network.