Job Battles: Enunwa Continues Ascent

This series will first list the job battles by position, and then sort those in ostensible descending order of fantasy significance.

Quarterback

Ryan Fitzpatrick vs. Jameis Winston, TB

Winston is a bad person and only a middling quarterback. There is no reason to presume some enduring loyalty to the dislikable incumbent when the replacement throws for 819 yards and eight touchdowns over two mammoth upsets against two of the league's best pass defenses. Fitzpatrick has great pass catchers to throw to and the sudden benefit of excellent game planning. Winston would also benefit from those but again, you don't bench undefeated quarterbacks averaging 400 yards and four touchdowns per game just because an embarrassing former starter is returning from suspension. It would almost certainly take a memorable collapse from Fitzpatrick in Week 3 to get Winston back on the field, but why would you bet against Fitzpatrick right now?

Tyrod Taylor vs. Baker Mayfield, CLE

You can't assume rational decision making from coaches or front offices, and rarely does that rule apply more emphatically than in the case of the Dorsey-Jackson-Haley regime with the Browns. Taylor has been rough as a passer through two winnable games against heavily-favored opponents, and I think they win at least one if they have Mayfield out there instead. It's hard to speculate on the whims of an unstable institution, but the fact is Mayfield is the superior alternative here and the clarity of that fact will only strengthen with time.

Running Back

Royce Freeman vs. Phillip Lindsay, DEN

I remain convinced that Freeman is a far superior prospect and that Lindsay might not match the production of the last two games in any remaining two-week span this year, but I've also been caught totally off guard by what's occurred to this point. Instead of reasserting himself as Denver's lead runner following a Week 1 where Lindsay saw 17 touches on 26 snaps, it only got worse for Freeman in Week 2. Not only did Lindsay get another 15 touches Sunday, but Freeman saw his snap count drop to 16 while receiving just eight carries and one target. Lindsay, meanwhile, ran for 107 yards. Lindsay was not an efficient runner in college, but Denver has shown only an increasing commitment to him, and Sunday's results figure to only amplify that trend.

Jamaal Williams vs. Aaron Jones, GB

Williams decisively claimed the lead runner role during training camp, but after two dud games his role might be revisited as Jones returns from suspension. With just 106 yards to show for his 31 carries, Williams' output to this point might make Mike McCarthy more curious about alternatives than he was two weeks ago. That's a problem for Williams, because Jones is an objectively better producer from scrimmage. It was durability and pass blocking work that served as Williams' primary source of traction. If there's reason for optimism with Williams it's in the fact that he started the year with two tough run defenses, and he might have a bit more leash yet. After all, providing objectively superior from-scrimmage production hasn't meant anything for Ty Montgomery's chances of promotion, so how can we assume the obstacle is any lesser for Jones? McCarthy tends to do the same thing repeatedly until circumstances force him to change.

Sony Michel vs. Rex Burkhead, NE

Michel made his NFL debut Sunday after missing Week 1 with the knee injury he suffered in training camp. The results weren't pretty at a glance, but his owners ought to feel distinct encouragement heading into Week 3. Particularly with the season-ending injury to Jeremy Hill, there is a clear void in this backfield for Michel to exploit. Burkhead is not a serious go-to running option – he basically functions in the same spheres as James White – and Michel's return allows the Patriots to shift more of Burkhead's from-scrimmage workload to the passing game. There probably isn't a 20-carry role up for grabs within the structure of this offense, but Michel should quickly pull away as the team's top pure runner.

Kerryon Johnson vs. LeGarrette Blount, DET

The Lions' season and the Matt Patricia regime generally went nowhere fast, so the perceived stability theoretically offered by Blount will only lose its appeal, particularly given the obvious contrast of superior talent provided by Johnson. Johnson's play count more than doubled from Week 1, upping his snaps from 16 to 36 as his touches from scrimmage escalated from eight to 13. After posting 43 yards on eight carries against a 49ers defense that shut down Dalvin Cook on the ground, Johnson is almost certainly closing in on this one. With eight catches in two games, there's reason to think his function will be relatively game script-proof once he takes over.

Matt Breida vs. Alfred Morris, SF

Breida isn't going to see a huge workload at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, but he's still trending upward in that regard and at the very least is on the verge of establishing himself as the team's preferred running back in competitive situations. Following Breida's 138-yard showing against the Lions on 11 carries, Alfred Morris is at risk of seeing his role reduced to that of a change-of-pace player rather than a true workload split with Breida. Neither runner saw red-zone carries Sunday, but that's where Morris needs to worry about losing ground next.

Marlon Mack vs. Jordan Wilkins vs. Nyheim Hines, IND

Interchangeable depth is nice for an NFL team, especially when the players involved are all prospects of varying promise. It's annoying for fantasy purposes, though. Wilkins started the first two games and totaled 61 yards on 10 carries Sunday, but Mack saw 10 carries of his own, and Hines scored the only touchdown of the trio while playing 24 snaps. All three backs are just good enough to stay involved, but none are good enough to separate from the other two. It will probably take an injury to narrow this channel.

Wide Receiver

Quincy Enunwa vs. Robby Anderson, NYJ

Anderson was a revelation last year for the Jets, stepping up as a formidable WR1 while Enunwa missed the season with a neck injury. Through two weeks, it's pretty clear that Enunwa is the new WR1 while Anderson is more of a field-stretching specialist. This makes sense – Anderson has a thin build and functions best on the sidelines, whereas Enunwa is built to play over the middle at about 30 pounds heavier than Anderson. With 21 targets to Anderson's six, Enunwa is locked into top-25 fantasy wideout consideration while Anderson is quickly drifting to the margins.

Josh Gordon vs. Patriots WRs

You'd hate to see Tom Brady have a rough go of things and continue throwing fits on the sideline while losing like he did against the Jaguars on Sunday, so what a relief that he'll have Gordon inbound to give him some help. John Dorsey resolved to move Gordon in recent days because he felt like it, and that turned out to be to Brady's benefit. Cool. I'm not mad. Gordon is a game-changing talent and still just 27, and the hamstring issue that infamously popped up before the weekend is apparently already past him. When you look at just the talent of Gordon and Brady, this appears to be a lock for explosive results. But Gordon still has to adjust on the fly to a team that gave Phillip Dorsett barely any targets as an in-season trade addition one year ago, and Julian Edelman is back after two more games. Gordon should be speculatively owned in basically all formats, but I wouldn't go paying big to secure his rights. Even Randy Moss had a full offseason with the Patriots before he set fire to the league.

Tight End

OJ Howard vs. Cameron Brate, TB

One of the many Dirk Koetter judgment failures was his insistence on building the offense with space reserved for Brate, a useful but far from compelling pass catcher at tight end. Whatever Brate was ever good at Howard has always been better at, but Koetter decided to designate pass-catching space for Brate and work outward rather than assign pass-catching space on the basis of merit. Todd Monken has emphatically rejected that approach in the first two weeks, as Brate has just two targets on 38 snaps while Howard has six on 89 snaps. Monken's next challenge is to involve Howard further yet. Howard is a beast – a beast! – and could easily go down as one of the best tight ends ever. Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson, and Chris Godwin are a compelling trio at receiver, but Howard has 582 yards and seven touchdowns on his first 45 career targets. That's 12.9 yards per target for the 6-foot-6, 251-pound tight end with 4.51 speed. Feed him! Brate is canceled until further notice.