Field YatesESPN Insider
Each week during the 2022 NFL season, Field Yates will assist fantasy football managers by providing the accurate intelligence needed on the most important fantasy-related stories with the help of our friends at ESPN, who provide the best insight and fresher for what matters most. You’ll hear from our incredible team of NFL Nation reporters, our national reporters — including football-obsessed Adam Schefter — and our fantasy analysts here at ESPN. Field’s roodex is extensive; he will call whoever he needs. This is the Field Pass.
Cooper Kupp is inevitable.
That’s the only thing I’m sure of through two weeks of the 2022 NFL season.
Okay, so it’s not only with thing, but Week 2 was a reminder of the dangers of reading too much into Week 1. Things change quickly, and moods — good or bad — can change dramatically in a matter of days.
The players who were fired up in Week 1 were brought back to earth, while those who burst out of the gates in Week 1 reminded us that they are still, in fact, good at football (Mike Williams always was, always will be).
This is the roller coaster we call the first month — maybe a little more — of the NFL season. We’re so excited to finally have information to process after Week 1 that we make the completely understandable mistake of assuming that Week 1 is the beginning of trends, rather than a week filled with exceptions.
The sample size has now doubled after two full weeks of the NFL regular season, which certainly helps us feel a little more confident about a few things. But I could go over a million memories of strong early-season performances that were worth their weight in the dust; I’m old enough to remember when Sam Darnold was tied for the rushing lead nearly a quarter of the way through last season.
So those of us here at Field Pass HQ are here to remind you that we, too, remain in information-gathering mode this season, a process that will continue for the remaining 16 weeks of the regular season. but we certainly feel much more refined and reliable. as our reference points increase.
Our goal is to contextualize as much information as we already have and help you make the best lineup decisions you can.
Let’s go to it!
You can’t bench legends, can you?
Tom Brady is the greatest player in NFL history. Aaron Rodgers is — in the estimation of some respected football minds — the most talented quarterback the game has ever seen.
Their teams play on Sunday and in a fantasy league with 10 teams, I wouldn’t have either of them in my lineup.
