Week 2 Monday Night Start Decisions and Rankings: Emeka Egbuka, Omarion Hampton, Ashton Jeanty and More

The second week of the NFL regular season ends with a pair of Monday night games.

Let's take a look at the top fantasy players at each position. We'll rank the offensive players before we break!

Use the FantasySP start/sit tool for help with any last-minute lineup decisions.

Quarterbacks

Baker Mayfield, C.J. Stroud, Justin Herbert and Geno Smith are the four quarterbacks who will be in action tonight.

Herbert is the top-projected fantasy QB of that quartet, set for 18 points. Vegas allowed 15 fantasy points to quarterbacks in week 1.

Mayfield and Smith are each projected for 17 points on Monday night. Stroud is set for 16 points. 

Mayfield takes on a Texans' defense that surrendered 14 fantasy points to QBs in week 1. Smith faces an LA defense that gave up 26 fantasy points to QBs in week 1, while Stroud takes on a Bucs' defense that gave up 24 QB fantasy points in week 1. 

Herbert, Mayfield and Smith were bunched up in my weekly QB projections story, sitting 14th-16th, respectively. Stroud came in 25th. I simply trust the other three over Stroud more, and with only one week to base things off, I'm not following matchups too closely yet.

Running Backs

Tampa Bay's Bucky Irving is the top projected back in these two games tonight. He's set for 17 PPR points. 

Vegas' Ashton Jeanty is projected for 16 PPR points, while LA's Omarion Hampton is set for 13. Houston's Nick Chubb is projected for nine PPR points.

Rachaad White is the backup to Irving, and is slated for seven PPR points. LA's Najee Harris is at five points, while Houston's Woody Marks sits at three projected points.

The Houston backs have the best matchup based on week 1 numbers, as Tampa's defense allowed 27 fantasy points to RBs. The Texans' defense surrendered 17 points in week 1. The Raiders gave up 16 points, while the Chargers only gave up nine.

Irving was my No. 11 RB going into week 2. Jeanty ranked 13th, while Hampton was 18th. Chubb is the last back ranked for the two Monday games, sitting at No. 25.

I'm not a fan of starting the other backs in standard leagues. I'd rank them as follows: White, Harris, Marks.

Wide Receivers

LA's Ladd McConkey is the top-projected wideout for tonight's games. He's set for 17 PPR points.

Houston's Nico Collins is next at 16 projected points, while Tampa Bay's Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka are set for 15 and 14 points, respectively. Las Vegas' Jakobi Meyers is at 14 PPR points as well.

LA's Keenan Allen is set for 11 points, while teammate Quentin Johnston is at 10. Vegas' Dont'e Thornton is projected for seven, while Houston's Jayden Higgins checks in at six points. LA's Tre' Harris also made the projection list, but at just three points.

The LA receivers are set up for the best showing based on week 1 numbers, as the Vegas defense allowed wideouts to score 40 points in week 1. The Bucs' wideouts could also thrive, as Houston's defense surrendered 39 fantasy points to WRs in week 1. The Chargers' defense gave up 37 points to wideouts, while the Bucs' defense only gave up 28.

Collins is my top-ranked wideout among the Monday night teams, at No. 8 overall for week 2.

McConkey was 14th, while Evans was 16th and Meyers 17th. Egbuka was the last wideout I ranked, going 26th overall.

I like Allen most after that, and in a pinch, he's a fine starting flex option. Johnston is right near Allen, but I trust the veteran just a bit more.

Thornton is after that, but is a better deep-league asset. Higgins and Harris are guys to try to avoid, but they are in positions to contribute a little.

Tight Ends

Las Vegas' Brock Bowers is the top-projected tight end in this matchup. He was No. 2 overall at 14 projected PPR points, and that's even with an injury issue. Bowers is expected to play.

If Bowers cannot go, maybe teammate Michael Mayer can be a sneaky good fantasy asset. He's set for four PPR points.

Houston's Dalton Schultz is projected for seven PPR points, as is Tampa Bay's Cade Otton. 

No LA tight ends made the projection page. Will Dissly is projected for about three PPR points, while Tyler Conklin is nearly at four projected points.

The Vegas' tight ends have the best matchup, as LA's defense allowed 14 fantasy points to TEs in week 1. The Bucs' defense surrendered 13 points, as did the Raiders' unit. The Texans' only allowed opposing defenses to go for eight fantasy points.

A knee injury didn't scare me off Bowers, and I had him as my No. 1 fantasy tight end going into week 2.

Otton ranked 24th for me, while Schultz was 25th. No LA tight ends made my top 30.

Should Bowers be inactive, Mayer would be in the conversation to start with Schultz and Otton, not ranked where Bowers is. I might lean toward Mayer because of the matchup.

Kickers

Chase McLaughlin does the kicking for the Buccaneers. Ka'imi Fairbairn kicks for Houston. Daniel Carlson kicks for the Raiders, while Cameron Dicker boots it for the Chargers.

Dicker and Fairbairn are each projected for seven fantasy points tonight. Carlson and McLaughlin are at five projected fantasy points each.

Dicker is the most rostered (90%) of that group. McLaughlin is at 77% owned, while Fairbairn is at 68%. Carlson sits at just 10%.

The Raiders, Chargers' game has an over/under of 46.5, while the Bucs, Texas' game has an over/under of 42.5. All of these kickers are solid, but I'd trust their own percentages tonight.

I like Dicker the kicker most, followed by McLaughlin. Fairbairn is a good standard league option too, while Carlson is the only one I'd have called a deep-league asset coming into the week.

Defenses/Special Teams

The Texans' D/ST is projected for seven fantasy points tonight. The Chargers are set for six points, as are the Bucs. The Raiders bring up the rear, and are projected for just five fantasy points tonight.

The Texans' D/ST is owned in 74% of leagues, while the Chargers are at just 29%. The Bucs are only owned in 11% of leagues, and the Raiders are rostered in barely any leagues.

I'm not a huge fan of the Texans' D/ST against the Bucs tonight, and would rather start the Chargers' D/ST against the Raiders. I'd actually take the Bucs' D/ST over the Texans' units too. I'd avoid the Raiders at all costs.

The Chargers are going to be out at least two defensive players, and maybe three. The Vegas defense is healthy and good to go, while Bowers and an offensive lineman could miss the game - if Bowers is out, then the Chargers' defense is that much better of a fantasy starting option.

There's more injury news in the Bucs, Texans' game.

Tampa Bay could be without two defenders, but are more banged up on offense, which helps the Texans' defense a bit. The Texans' injuries are all on the offensive side of the ball, but not to any major assets.

Offensive Overall Rankings (OP or Flex Spots)

1. Bucky Irving

2. Justin Herbert

3. Brock Bowers

4. Ladd McConkey

5. Baker Mayfield

6. Mike Evans

7. Jakobi Meyers

8. Emeka Egbuka

9. Geno Smith

10. Ashton Jeanty

11. C.J. Stroud

12. Omarion Hampton

13. Keenan Allen

14. Nick Chubb

15. Quentin Johnston

16. Michael Mayer (if Bowers is out)

17. Cade Otton

18. Dalton Schultz

19. Rachaad White

20. Dont'e Thornton

21. Jayden Higgins

22. Najee Harris

23. Michael Mayer (if Bowers plays)

24. Tyler Conklin

25. Tre' Harris

26. Woody Marks

27. Will Dissly