NFL Week 2 recap: Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Dolphins-Bills Thursday Night Football

• James Cook Finds the end zone three times: Cook ran for two touchdowns in all of 2022, two touchdowns in 2023 and two touchdowns Thursday night.

• De'Von Achane set a new career high: Aachen reached 20-plus carries for the first time in his NFL career.

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

PFF's fantasy football recaps focus on player usage and stats, breaking down all the important information you need to find fantasy success in 2024.

Buffalo Bill @ Miami Dolphins

• James Cook: 11 carries, 78 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 reception, 17 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
• D'Von Achen: 22 carries, 96 yards, 7 receptions, 69 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown

D'Von Achen Used in a feature role: Acahne was used most expectantly Rahim Mostert Out with a chest injury.

For most of the game, Aachen was the clear focal point for the Dolphins' offense. Last season, he never played more than 63% of Miami's offensive snaps, even when Mostert missed time with an injury. Achan was also on the injury report with an ankle injury, where he was listed as absent on Monday and Tuesday and as a limited participant on Wednesday.

Aachen played 75% of Miami's offensive snaps in the first half and reached a career high in touchdowns in the third quarter. That's great news for those who drafted Aachen, as he can hold that role as long as Mostert is out. If Mostert isn't as effective as a runner as he was last season, we could end up in a situation where Achen is the only starter and Mostert is the primary backup.

Jeff Wilson Jr Served as the game's primary backup, and Jaylen Wright Also making his NFL debut. The Dolphins began to use their backups more, but with the game out of reach in the second half Jeff Wilson Jr Suffered an oblique injury in the fourth quarter and was ruled out. Wright was a healthy inactive in Week 1. He could be again if Mostert and Wilson are both OK, but if they aren't he could be the primary backup next week with a bigger workload.

John Smith Dolphins shine while playing catchup: Smith was the Dolphins leader in receptions and receiving yards but was tight with the other Dolphins.

In Week 1, Smith played in 20 of a possible 71 snaps, not enough for a fantasy starter. He played 14-of-23 snaps in 11 personnel and just six snaps in other personnel groupings. This week, he played slightly more in the 11 personnel and slightly more out of the 11 personnel on a percentage basis. The difference this week is that the Dolphins lost double-digit points midway through the second quarter, so they spent a lot of time in 11 personnel.

Miami made much more of an effort to get Smith the ball this week than it did at the end of the blowout — a planned goal early in the first quarter and again to start the second quarter. He'll likely see two or three of those targets a game, but it'll be hard for him to pick up enough to be a fantasy starter most weeks. It's fine to have him on your roster if the bench is deep enough to warrant having a second tight end, but I'd be comfortable starting him if the Dolphins are underdogs, as his playing time will depend on the game script.

Monitor its health Tua Tagovailoa: The Dolphins starting quarterback suffered a concussion late in the third quarter and was quickly ruled out.

While Thursday night's injured players have a good chance of returning with an extended layoff, it's good to keep Tagovailoa in mind. History with concussions. There's a decent chance the Dolphins will be overly cautious given his history, which could see Tagovailo miss time.

The Dolphins had a quarterback battle during training camp and Skyler Thompson won. He was the replacement quarterback in this game and will be the starter for as long as Tagovailo misses. It's a downgrade for everyone on the Dolphins' offense, but Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddell And Achane should still be in the fantasy starting lineup.

We wish Tagovailoa a speedy recovery from this injury.

Dalton Kincaid Misses significant playing time: Kincaid rotates in and out throughout the game.

Kincaid played the first four snaps of the game, but during that time he took a knee to the head. He didn't play the last two snaps of the drive or at all on the following drive. Throughout the game, he rotates slightly more than fantasy managers. He was still on the field for the clear majority of pass plays, but Dawson Knox stayed on the field in run situations.

The Bills rotated Kincaid a bit to start Week 1 the same way, playing just 15-of-22 snaps in the first half, but the Bills slowed at halftime, allowing Kincaid to play 36-of-39 snaps in the second half. Regardless, the Bills aren't using 12 personnel like last season due to their increased depth at wide receiver, so there are fewer snaps for tight ends to go around.

If the Bills remain one of the NFL's top teams and stay in these positive game scripts, it could be bad news for Kincaid fantasy managers. It's also possible the team was cautious after he took the knee, but in that case he shouldn't have played at all, especially when they went up by multiple touchdowns. He caught four passes for 33 yards, which isn't terrible, but fantasy managers were hoping for more, especially considering how tight ends the Dolphins gave up last season.

Miscellaneous notes

• Rookie wide receiver Malik Washington He missed his second straight game with a quadriceps injury. Ravi chose He was promoted back from the practice squad in his place.
• Both Tyreek Hill And Jaylen Waddell Because barely played in the fourth quarter Tua Tagovailoa was out and the game was out of reach. Waddell ran 51 and Hill 49 of 59 plays through the first three quarters.
• Bills free agent wide receiver Curtis Samuel Has the clear fourth position on the depth chart at wide receiver. Some of his snaps came out of the backfield in four wide receiver sets. He can be ruled out in most fantasy leagues, as he can only be a starter if Khalil Shakir Suffers an injury.
• when James Cook And Ray Davis While Cary was close, most of Davis' work came in the fourth quarter with the Bills down by three scores. Cook ran the ball 10 times to Davis' three carries in the first three quarters.

Table notes

• Snaps include plays returned due to penalties including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays are removed from the other three figures.
• Goals may vary from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear throw-away pass, where the NFL would target the closest receiver, although this data would not.
• Carry is only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles will not count toward total carries in the game.