Week 2 Fantasy Picks: Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Patriots vs Steelers

Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season includes an intriguing AFC showdown between the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers. FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL odds have the Patriots tabbed as 1.5-point road favorites in this meeting.

If you need some help with your fantasy lineups, here's our start 'em, sit 'em advice for this Week 2 showdown.

Jakobi Meyers Fantasy

Start Jakobi Meyers, WR, New England Patriots: The Patriots' passing game was relatively quiet in Week 1, but Jakobi Meyers managed to stand out above his fellow wideouts. Meyers paced all of his teammates in targets (6), receptions (4) and receiving yards (55), which is an encouraging sign of things to come. Fortunately, Pittsburgh's 41.9 fantasy points given up wideouts last week ranked fifth-most in the NFL. Meyers might not be the flashiest pick, but he is a decent option if you're weak at WR or need a quick FLEX player due to injury.

Steelers D/ST Fantasy

Start Steelers D/ST: If you own the Steelers D/ST, you're very pleased with how they performed in Week 1. Pittsburgh's defenders and special teams put up an NFL-best 26 fantasy points last week after racking up five turnovers and seven sacks against a potent Cincinnati Bengals offense. Even if the defense isn't as strong with star linebacker T.J. Watt out of the lineup, things look promising against an out-of-sync Patriots offense that let the Miami Dolphins D/ST put up 18 fantasy points against them in Week 1—second only to Pittsburgh. Unless you have an option with an easier matchup, start the Steelers D/ST with confidence.

Kendrick Bourne Fantasy

Sit Kendrick Bourne, WR, New England Patriots: The only thing harder to find last week than New England's offense was wideout Kendrick Bourne. The 27-year-old, who racked up 800 receiving yards in 2021, spent most of the game glued to the bench and didn't take a single snap until the game was nearly over. Though he ended up making a 41-yard catch, the fact that he only played two snaps (4%) is quite concerning. Bill Belichick said that the wideout's opportunities were limited because " it worked out that way," which doesn't inspire any confidence whatsoever about his usage. Given that the boom-or-bust WR was already unpredictable, stay away from Bourne until his role is more defined.

George Pickens Fantasy

Sit George Pickens, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers: After an impressive preseason, rookie WR George Pickens gave fantasy managers high expectations. Unfortunately, his NFL debut turned out to be a massive disappointment, producing just 1.3 fantasy points. The 21-year-old was also only targeted three times despite playing 71% of offensive snaps. The regular season clearly isn't as easy as the preseason was for Pickens, so it could take some time before he establishes himself as a reliable fantasy option. With how tough Belichick-led teams can be on rookies, sit Pickens this week.

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Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.