Week 2 Waivers + Bounce Back or Buns? - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/15

Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast

The Fantasy Footballers Podcast recaps Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season, focusing on Monday Night Football highlights, injury updates, and in-depth analysis of waiver

Key takeaways

• Ken Walker's Week 2 performance against a top defense was a breakout moment that could signal long-term fantasy relevance despite injury concerns.
• The Chiefs' formula of dominant rushing and strong defense allows Mahomes to succeed without needing elite receiving production.

Main topics

• Monday Night Football Recap
• Ken Walker's Fantasy Rebound

Notable quotes

"It was the Ken Walker show. He's good at football."

Conclusion

The episode concludes with strong recommendations for Week 3 fantasy m

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:06) to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Speaker 1 (0:21) Welcome in. Tuesday, September 15th. Somebody in this office is glowing. I did not Speaker 2 (0:39) think Mike could be here. You didn't ascend? You did not? I just assumed you were no longer on this planet. Speaker 3 (0:47) I did. Speaker 2 (0:49) Oh, yeah! High five across the table, Kinbone Brothers! Speaker 3 (0:53) These Speaker 2 (0:53) two Kinbone Speaker 1 (0:54) Walkers. Speaker 2 (0:55) Oh, baby! Also, what is this, Andy, on the Kinbone Walkers? He's got him on League of Legends. I know why. I'm just saying it's not Speaker 1 (1:03) fair or true to nature. Just with Gibbs and Josh Allen and Seedy and Amon Speaker 3 (1:08) Aron. Speaker 1 (1:08) It's Speaker 3 (1:08) not Speaker 1 (1:08) their time Speaker 3 (1:08) right now, Andy. Listen. Speaker 1 (1:10) It took one game. Ken Bone Walker. It Speaker 3 (1:15) took one singular Speaker 1 (1:17) game. Speaker 3 (1:18) Well, hold on. Against one of last year's elite defenses. You may continue. Are Speaker 1 (1:26) they elite? I don't know. I'm saying they were last year. Yes, I know. Now all of a sudden it's like, do you start running backs against them? No. You can start this one against them. Kenneth Walker, 23 for 173. Two touchdowns because one was technically a passing touchdown. Did Speaker 3 (1:42) you realize this? Oh, yeah, yeah. It was the old Speaker 1 (1:44) -fashioned Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes. We just bowl it. Did you see that on that play, Ken Walker said that was a really tough one for him to learn how it worked because they were watching early 1900s football plays. Yeah. Early 1900s. Speaker 2 (2:00) It was an early 1900s play. Andy Reid said Chris Berman gave him that play. I mean. Yeah, Chris Burman showed him Speaker 1 (2:07) that, and he took it. It's always funny because I'm like, when do you decide you're actually going to use these? And then when you use them, you kind of like expire them to a degree. But, look, it was the Ken Walker. No, you set Speaker 3 (2:16) it up so that Speaker 1 (2:17) they're Speaker 3 (2:17) watching for it, and then you do something else. It was the Speaker 1 (2:19) Ken Walker show. Speaker 3 (2:21) Guys, he's good. He's good at football. Well, look, Speaker 1 (2:24) this is like. Speaker 1 (2:28) Anybody in this room read the Lord of the Rings books? No. They're very long, right? I'm not a nerd. They're long Speaker 2 (2:34) stories. Speaker 1 (2:34) Yeah, I've seen the movies. It takes a long time for a payoff and things like that. I feel like the Ken Walker story, it's like a six-series book set, and it had some ups and some downs and some all-arounds. And Mike. Mike's like, I'm going to keep reading. And we're like, I don't know if you should keep reading. He doesn't seem like. The fourth book was pretty slow. The fourth book was slow, and then some pages were torn out all over the place. And then, okay, it's Speaker 2 (3:00) a Speaker 1 (3:00) novelty. You win the MVP. But is he coming back to the team to share with Charbonnet, or is he going to the doldrums of some other franchise? Oh, wait, Kansas City. Well, that should work. Speaker 2 (3:11) And I love on the broadcast, they said what we all assumed, which was the reason he went there. It was not to win a Super Bowl. It was solely he wanted the opportunity to get all the work. Basically, he was saying, oh, why were you so good in the Super Bowl? Why were you so good in the playoffs? Because he got the opportunity, and he wanted to go somewhere where he got the opportunity. Kansas City promised him the opportunity. Turns out. Speaker 1 (3:36) 375 rushing temps seems realistic if he could stay healthy, which is really going to be tough. Definitely is. Andy. I mean, I shouldn't be talking. Mike, you talk all you Speaker 2 (3:46) want. Speaker 1 (3:46) I Speaker 3 (3:46) love that. So we're in our slack. The Ken Bone brothers are celebrating. Yes, the Bone brothers. The worst. I Speaker 2 (3:54) mean, how can you not be celebrating? We should go out for like a Speaker 3 (3:57) Bone brothers lunch. Yeah, get some Bone broth. Yeah. To celebrate. I hate this. Ken Walker Day. Go over to Speaker 2 (4:04) Bourbon and Bone. Oh, very nice. Speaker 3 (4:07) Hashtag not sponsored. No, I just, the slack from the haters of our office was like, yeah, we's gonna die. Oh, that's the thing? Oh, Speaker 2 (4:19) no, my good player's getting too much work. I will say this. The only hope that our League of Record has with Gibbs and Walker is Speaker 3 (4:25) simply Speaker 2 (4:26) that they're going to die. Your biggest problem, Andy, your legitimate biggest problem right now in our league, in our main league, is that your guys are getting too much work. Speaker 2 (4:39) It's so good. Do you know how much that sucks for the rest of us? You know, Speaker 1 (4:42) there was this, we've had super teams in our league before. Oh, man. And the super teams, sometimes they come out in week one and they're just, you know, they underwhelm. That did not happen. No. No, Speaker 2 (4:52) it Speaker 1 (4:52) went as planned with a down week from HN and a down week from Devon. Yeah, in our league, Speaker 2 (4:58) if you score 130, you should win. That's like our scoring format. That is a great week. You crossed 130. And 140. And then you thought you had an okay game, and then you had Ken Bone Walker, and then you went to what, 175-ish? Yeah! It was a Speaker 3 (5:17) delightful moment. I need to get Speaker 1 (5:19) everybody else to give up. That's the real key. I need them to just. Speaker 2 (5:22) I Speaker 1 (5:22) think you did in week one. I think they need to retire. But this, it was on the back. I mean, Ken Bone, unbelievable performance. It was also, in my opinion, unbelievable to see Mahomes able to, you know, to run the football a little bit, to, you know, he didn't. Speaker 3 (5:37) I didn't forget this one, though. He didn't even slide. Speaker 1 (5:39) Oh, Speaker 3 (5:39) the Speaker 1 (5:39) pants store drop's not working, Jeremy. On it. I'm sorry. Travis Kelsey, 3 for 71. Look, Rashi Rice, thank goodness for the touchdown. Which was two broken tackles, which, by the way, Denver did not practice Speaker 2 (5:53) tackling this offseason. They seemed like they had a little bit of issue on wrapping up. Speaker 1 (5:57) Yeah, I don't know if there was like a, they distributed Vaseline to everybody because Bo Nix couldn't hold on to the football and they couldn't hold on to the Chiefs. It was an embarrassing performance. He did have an all-time podium quote, though. Speaker 2 (6:10) He was asked. Bo Nix? Yes, Bo Nix was asked by a reporter, can you walk us through the end zone interception? And he goes, yeah, I dropped back to pass and I threw it to the other team. Speaker 1 (6:22) It was like, next question. I mean, super accurate. Speaker 2 (6:26) I mean, he did walk you exactly through what happened. Speaker 1 (6:28) The Broncos have. Speaker 3 (6:31) There's hilariously two parts of this story. And Emma Johnson looked awesome. Let me finish one thing on the Chiefs Speaker 1 (6:37) real quick because I want you to talk about the Broncos. But I just want to say, make no mistake, this is the recipe for the season for the Chiefs. It's not that Mahomes can't have bigger games, better games, whatever. The recipe was seen in this game. The recipe is run the football and be a dominant defensive force and then let Mahomes execute without mistakes. They don't have the wide receiver personnel to be a dominant passing team. I do not believe they do. What are you talking about? You saw a super spry Travis Kelsey in this game. I mean, it's funny because Emmitt Johnson and Travis Kelsey were the two leading receivers, neither a wide receiver. Speaker 1 (7:15) Xavier Worthy, three catches. Thornton, zero. Cyrus, zero. Worthy was the leader in total receptions at wide receiver. And then Rashi Rice, two catches. I mean, man, Speaker 3 (7:27) it's one week, but I'm concerned about Rice. Mike, your drop is fixed. Oh. Speaker 1 (7:33) Imagine owning pants right now. There was a point last night when I thought about making AI of pants exploding off of your body. I was just like, that was the most. pinnacle of your life yeah Speaker 2 (7:47) i don't think you're you've got anywhere to go but down now last night Speaker 1 (7:50) probably your wedding maybe the birth of your kids well i mean you forgot super duper that Speaker 2 (7:56) was probably that was fantasy fantasy yeah and Speaker 1 (7:59) then marriage Speaker 3 (8:00) and kids Speaker 1 (8:00) yeah Speaker 2 (8:00) i'm Speaker 3 (8:00) not worried i'm really concerned about that other i would Speaker 2 (8:02) say that there is legitimate concern for rashi rice going forward two targets with you know the eric b enemy system in place. I was worried about how will they utilize him? Will they have him be that kind of true possession receiver? And I don't think this is necessarily, I don't want to overreact to week one. You go back, you check the tape. They won easily running the ball, so you didn't have to throw it much. But I did have a little bit of concern or worry coming into the game that they wouldn't use Rushie Rice the way that they have the last couple years, which has been so good for him. I don't think that that has been good for the Kansas City Chiefs. It's not like a huge EPA play when it's successful enough, but it's like not explosive plays. I mean, there's a reason the Chiefs didn't make the playoffs last year. They weren't a great offense. And so, you know, TBD, he got a touchdown. I don't know if you use that as an opportunity to try to flip him. Speaker 3 (8:58) Matt has a question for you. Speaker 3 (9:00) The Falcon, a.k.a. Poop Butt, wants to know, would you trade Rasheed Rice for Parker Washington? In a heartbeat. And I think I would sprint to the button. In Speaker 2 (9:11) a Speaker 3 (9:11) heartbeat. Speaker 1 (9:12) And I don't think you can get that done after that first week. In any format. Yeah. Speaker 2 (9:16) In Speaker 1 (9:16) points Speaker 2 (9:17) per Rashi Rice Leagues, I would still do it. Speaker 1 (9:20) Mike, talk about the Broncos. Speaker 3 (9:22) Okay. So my question was going to be, how long is Speaker 2 (9:27) Davis Webb calling Speaker 3 (9:28) plays for this Speaker 2 (9:29) team? Totally. I can't believe he made it to quarter four. Because the next five weeks, Speaker 3 (9:34) J.K. Dobbins had one carry in the second quarter. Your main, like, and Harvey looked good. I thought they used Harvey, you know. You have to get him in space. My entire argument of why I like Dobbins over Harvey is that Dobbins is a better actual running back. Harvey has juice. He is a weapon that can be used in the correct way. But this is a defense, and it should be a defense and run team now that Dobbins is back to health. They did not. They completely abandoned the run. I think it was like three carries in the first. quarter, one in the second. Then he had a couple or he had at least one good carry in the second half, but it's like they kept throwing it over and over even though it was not working. The Chiefs knew what they were going to do. I mean, shout out to Pat Bryant. That was pretty fun. He led the team in targets. One Speaker 1 (10:33) catch for two yards for Jalen Waddell. Yeah. They were broken. How about Jacksonville, the Rams, the 49ers the next three weeks for Denver? Yeah, Speaker 2 (10:45) it's tough. They've got a good defense, and we've seen explosive offensive performances last year. They were sparse, though. They were here and there. They would blow up for 40 points. And then most weeks it was like they just did enough to squeak out a win. I did see Warren Sharp tweet out just a reminder of who the Broncos beat in 2025, which was Trey Lance, Chris Oladukun, Kenny Pickett, Geno Smith, Marcus Mariota, Geno Smith again, Davis Mills, Justin Fields, Jake Browning, Cam Ward. There was a list of not great offenses that they were playing. I still do view the Broncos as a very top-end defense, but at least be open to potential incorrect thoughts. It Speaker 3 (11:37) was so insane. They're like, hey, Bo Nix is playing real bad. Should we try and get him on track? Let's help him out with the run game. No. We're just going to let Bo Nix keep looking terrible. Speaker 1 (11:50) Yeah, and once you got down, you were stuck. And it was not good. It's one week, but, you know, through one week, the AFC title game. Speaker 1 (12:00) contenders. Didn't look great. Right. So it'll be very interesting. We got more news. By the way, today's Speaker 3 (12:05) a Speaker 1 (12:05) waiver show. I didn't even say it at the top because I was too quick to get into the Ken Bone Walker moment for Mike. But waivers on today's show, news on today's show. I've got a little game I want to play with you guys because... Is it called Ken Bone Walker or? Speaker 3 (12:19) No, I think I know how. Because the list is very small. I think I know. Well, that'd be a fun game to play. Speaker 2 (12:25) We could Speaker 3 (12:26) do that actually. Speaker 2 (12:27) That Speaker 3 (12:27) is actually Speaker 2 (12:27) wild. So it's like after you can't overreact, but you can't overreact. It's like, okay, obviously you'd take Gibbs and Bijon. Then the question starts. Well, I think I'd Speaker 1 (12:37) take Jonathan Taylor over. Speaker 2 (12:39) Okay. Speaker 1 (12:39) I think I Speaker 2 (12:40) would too. I Speaker 1 (12:41) would take CMC. Speaker 2 (12:43) Sure. But Speaker 1 (12:44) then I think the list ends. I Speaker 2 (12:45) mean, it is. I mean, you're taking him over HN. Oh, gosh. You're taking him over Jenty? Speaker 3 (12:52) People are very excited for Jenty. I need to see him play not the Dolphins. Speaker 2 (12:57) James Cook, I think that's a question. Speaker 1 (12:59) I mean, Ken Walker got zero goal line opportunities last Speaker 3 (13:02) night. Speaker 2 (13:03) What a Speaker 1 (13:03) loser. Oh, I mean, he got the target. Yeah, I just mean, like, you're going to have games where they're on the goal line and he's running the ball in. And Mahomes, you know. ran one in. So let's talk some more news. News and notes from around Speaker 2 (13:17) the Speaker 1 (13:17) league. The last piece of information we got on Sam Darnold, a unique soft tissue injury. I saw, I heard glute this morning. Oh, that is quite unique. And Speaker 3 (13:30) expected to be short. What is that, a glute? I haven't seen one of those in a while. Speaker 1 (13:34) Expected to be short term. Speaker 3 (13:35) I don't eat bread, so I'm not worried about it. Right, right, right. You're glute free. Oh. Speaker 1 (13:40) Swish. Thank you, Mike. Speaker 2 (13:41) It was Speaker 1 (13:42) on the bubble Speaker 3 (13:44) there. Speaker 1 (13:45) Come Speaker 3 (13:45) on. I Speaker 2 (13:46) liked Speaker 1 (13:46) it. Guys, I don't even care what's happening today. Arnold Speaker 3 (13:48) is looking like. Wavers, Speaker 2 (13:50) smavers. I've got Ken Bone Walker. Speaker 1 (13:52) Week four return to play, which, by the way, I did offer Mike Ken Walker for Christian McCaffrey. No, it was Bichon and the 211. Oh, that's right. Which I'm Speaker 3 (14:02) like, well. Maybe Speaker 1 (14:04) that was a mistake. Maybe. Darnold, week four return. Cardinals play the Seahawks this week. Cardinals play the Seahawks and Drew Locke this week. Okay. Jim Harbaugh. The Speaker 2 (14:14) NFC Speaker 1 (14:14) West goes through Arizona. Yes, Speaker 2 (14:17) it Speaker 1 (14:17) does, and we're going to find out because it's in Arizona. Ladd McConkie day-to-day with the rib injury. That's good Speaker 2 (14:22) news. So, obviously, he could put a flak jacket on, maybe play this week. The Chargers offense was running through him, granted poorly, but hopefully they figure that out. Speaker 1 (14:32) Jesse Minter said Jacoby Lane will seek a second and third opinion. Why did they already presume they need a third? Because we Speaker 3 (14:38) already