Fantasy Football Week 2: 5 waiver wire backup plans for D’Andre Swift

2. Jamaal Williams, Detroit Lions

Obvious, yes, but also true. Right or wrong, Williams had almost as many carries as Swift in Week 1 (11). He also got work around the goal line, and cashed it in to the tune of two touchdowns.

If Swift is inactive, Williams would get the lion’s share of the carries for Detroit against the Washington Commanders, with Craig Reynolds as his backup and Justin Jackson possibly sprinkled in too.

If not for running behind an offensive line that will be done as least two (Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Frank Ragnow and maybe three starters (add Jonah Jackson), Williams could be No. 1 on this list of fallback options for Swift. As it is, Williams is a viable flex option with Swift likely to be operating at less than 100 percent if he does play.

ESPN Ownership: 42.6%
Yahoo! Ownership: 57%

1. Rex Burkhead, Houston Texans

The Dameon Pierce hype derailed at the feet of Burkhead in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts. The veteran back out-snapped (50 to 20), out-touched (19 to 12) and outproduced (70 total yards to 39) the rookie. And in a game the Texans led and that finished in a tie, game script and valuing Burkhead’s experience and pass protection value wasn’t an excuse.

Texans head coach Lovie Smith did say he wants to get Pierce more involved going forward, presumably starting this week against the Denver Broncos. But in a game Denver is favored in by 9.5 (via FanDuel), Houston is lined up to be throwing plenty and that’ll keep Burkhead in the conversation.

Burkhead probably won’t out-snap Pierce as dramatically as he did in Week 1, even if the Texans are getting blown out by the Broncos. But the former Patriot could still very easily deliver RB2-style numbers in PPR formats.

ESPN Ownership: 38.4%
Yahoo! Ownership: 36%