You can watch Thursday Night Football: Bills vs. Dolphins at 8:20 p.m. ET/5:20 p.m. PT on NBC or stream on Peacock, Fubo, DirecTV, and NFL+.

Thursday Night Football started this season on a hot note (and if you’ve watched TNF over the years, that’s a big deal), and the good times will continue as the Buffalo Bills travel to Florida to take on the division rival Miami Dolphins. Both teams are 1-0 on this young season.

Let’s get to the story of the (fantasy) volume.

Fantasy analysis Dolphins vs. Bills

Josh Allen reminded everyone why he was the top-ranked quarterback in Week 1 of the fantasy draft season. The dual-threat quarterback scored four total touchdowns against the Cardinals, two on the ground and two through the air, while showing a great example of Hero Ball.

Of course, those two rushing TDs hampered the performance of James Cook, who was held out of the end zone despite 103 yards of offense – a typical flaw in his fantasy profile. Although Cook has the talent and ability to launch a long touchdown run or catch a touchdown through the air, fantasy managers are hoping this is the game where Cook finally gets some goal-line rushing attempts.

Back to the air: The Bills’ pass-catching enigma remains just that as we prepare for tonight’s game. The biggest disappointment of Week 1 is arguably Dalton Kincaid. Everyone is waiting for the sophomore tight end to break out this season, and what an opponent to do that in Week 1 in the Cardinals, a defense that has been abysmal at defending tight ends over the last few seasons.

Instead, Kincaid caught just one measly catch; Dawson Knox caught one, too. Still, I remain optimistic about Kincaid; his share of snaps in Week 1 was elite, so fantasy managers shouldn’t worry about him starting the 2024 season with just one catch just yet. Still, one must at least think about the limitations of the Bills’ pass catchers. This is an extremely run-heavy offense that lives and dies on the heroics of Allen. Maybe we just need to habit Get a No. 1 target here. Fortunately, a Week 2 matchup against the high-flying (floating?) Dolphins should provide more clues.

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And oh, those Dolphins flew — and swam — in Week 1. Both Tyreek Hill (12-7-130-1) and Jaylen Waddle (5-5-109) eclipsed the 100 mark in a game that felt much higher-scoring than the 20-17 scoreline suggests. Perhaps the most interesting development, however, is that of second-year running back De’Von Achane.

Achane led the Dolphins with 10 rushing attempts, reaching double-digit rushing attempts on a day when Raheem Mostert (who was already out for this game) was sidelined with a pectoral injury. Achane managed just 24 yards on the ground, but ultimately finished as the seventh-best running back in the half-PPR. How, you ask? Using the fantasy RB cheat code, of course.

Achane was the team’s third-leading receiver, catching all seven passes (second behind Hill) for 76 yards (third behind Waddle). Achane also caught the Dolphins’ one goal-line run, which he converted into a touchdown.

Catches and touchdowns – that’s what we expect from our running backs.

Of course, Mostert left that game, and Waddle was also in and out of the game due to injury. Even Achane suffered an ankle injury that ultimately kept him out for today’s game. But how could you not be happy about that call-up? It seems obvious that the Dolphins would give the younger, fresher Achane more work this season to help him continue to develop as an all-around weapon, while also keeping the 32-year-old Mostert for the full season.

The question we all want answered tonight is: How big will Achane’s role be with Mostert injured? Will Jeff Wilson Jr. and/or Jaylen Wright (who will likely be activated) play Achane’s role in 2023? Or will Achane surprise us all with an unexpected workhorse appearance?

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves – fantasy managers will have to cross their fingers that Achane is even eligible to play. His availability is currently questionable, but there is optimism that he can play tonight. If he is out instead, Jeff Wilson Jr. will likely lead the charge out of the backfield, but the rookie Wright still has potential in deeper leagues, which should make for an exciting game.

Fantasy Lineup Advice

This game has the second highest O/U of Week 2, so we expect a fantasy carnival (of course, we know that TNF and division matchups have a lot to offer…) unwelcome surprises before) with two of the best offenses in the NFL. So basically I don’t have to tell you that you start with Josh Allen, James Cook, Dalton Kincaid, Tua Tagovailoa, De’Von Achane, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

But there is one player who is rarely in the starting lineup who I believe will compete in 12+ team leagues this week.

STARTING: Keon Coleman, WR, Buffalo Bills

Remember when I said the Bills might not have a true No. 1 target this season? Well, maybe he’s just not ready yet.

Coleman finished his pro debut with four catches for 51 yards — not bad for a rookie receiver who many accused of being a one-trick pony after the draft, but nothing to write home about. But Coleman was not only the Bills’ best player in targets (21.7% share of Bills’ WR targets) on a day when they scored 34 points, but he was also the Bills’ best player in routes run in Week 1; if you had told me before Week 1 that he would lead the team, I wouldn’t have believed you.

That’s right, Coleman was out there running in the passing game ahead of Dalton Kincaid (the second-year TE who everyone thought would be the obvious recipient of the targets released by Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis), Khalil Shakir (the only WR on the team who had caught passes from Allen before this season), and Curtis Samuel (Samuel only caught two passes on two targets for 15 yards).

Sure, all of Coleman’s snaps and routes have been on the outside, which somewhat limits his productivity at this stage of his career, but a big-play limit – his bread and butter as a 6-foot-3 X-receiver – remains, as we saw in Week 1 when he out-gained the defender on a 28-yard catch.

While I expect the Bills to incorporate Kincaid more in the future, this game should (ideally) be a back-and-forth again, as both Week 1 games were for those respective teams. That gives Coleman more potential for another spectacular play or two. And we just saw another 2024 rookie WR, Brian Thomas Jr. (4-4-47-1 Week 1 line), succeed against that beatable Dolphins secondary (in fact, Thomas did a lot of work against Jalen Ramsey).

If you’re looking for an edge at receiver in Week 2, consider the young Coleman, who undoubtedly turned heads with both his quarterback and the coaching staff after his performance in his debut.

However, don’t break the most important fantasy rule and start a receiver at your flex spot on Thursday!