NFL Week 2 All-Stars: A Clear Early MVP Frontrunner Has Emerged

The stars were out in full force in Week 2, with a couple of familiar faces making strong statements for early consideration for the major awards. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen had another signature performance to open up the week, while Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams dialed back the clock and was dominant on Monday night with Puka Nacua out. Other stars like CeeDee Lamb and Jaxon Smith-Njigba had strong outings on Sunday as well. But were those performances strong enough to earn those stars spots on our Week 2 All-Star Team? From quarterback to the team that had the best offensive line to the best players at each defensive position and more, here are the best of the best from Week 2. Twice in two weeks? It was an easier call this time, with Josh Allen going for five total touchdowns — three passing, two rushing — in a win over the Detroit Lions to break in their new home stadium. Games with two-plus passing touchdowns and two-plus rushing touchdowns? Allen has 10 now in his career, and nobody else in league history has more than four. Could we call that an NFL double-double? There were worse names. Allen is now the oddsmakers’ favorite to win MVP honors, with a huge role in two big wins to start the season for Buffalo. Dak Prescott and Jared Goff both had four-touchdown, zero-interception games — there were just 22 of those in the entire league last season, but neither did as much as Allen did. Not an amazing week for running backs compared to last week. You could put Bills all over this team, and James Cook is deserving, rushing for 135 yards on 6.4 yards per carry and a touchdown in their win over the Lions. The second nod is much tougher. Sunday night’s game saw Indianapolis Colts star Jonathan Taylor go for 92 yards and two touchdowns as he was a big part of why that game went to overtime. However, Taylor was outdone by Walker on Sunday night. Walker continues to be a game-changer for the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense, rushing for 117 yards on 4.9 yards per carry and getting another 61 yards receiving in Kansas City’s overtime win. You just don’t see receivers getting three touchdowns in a game, but Jaxon Smith-Njigba pulled it off in the Seahawks’ win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday with nine catches for 155 yards. There were only five instances when a receiver had three receiving touchdowns in a game last season. For the second spot, we had a plethora of options. We could’ve gone with Cincinnati Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase after getting two touchdowns or Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown going for 142 and two scores in a loss. Prior to Monday, we had CeeDee Lamb penciled in. The Dallas Cowboys star took a backseat to George Pickens for much of last year, but went off for 153 yards and two touchdowns Sunday in their win over the Washington Commanders. It’s Week 2, and he’s matched his touchdown total from all of 2025, with three now on the year. But Davante Adams did too much on Monday night to exclude him from the list. He carried the Los Angeles Rams’ passing offense with Puka Nacua out, logging eight receptions for 195 yards and two touchdowns in their dominant win over the New York Giants. In fact, Adams had five catches for 145 yards in the first half alone. He was done for the day midway thhrough the third quarter. Patrick Mahomes missed the cut on this week’s team despite throwing for 382 and three touchdowns. So, we’ll choose Travis Kelce at tight end after he went for 101 yards and a touchdown in the Chiefs’ overtime win. There were a few other worthy candidates to make the team at tight end this week. We could have gone with Houston Texans standout Dalton Schultz (12 for 140 in a loss) or Buffalo’s Dalton Kincaid, who had seven for 95 and a score in Buffalo’s win. Kelce getting 101 yards is his most in any game in nearly three years, since he had 179 against the Chargers in October 2023. We considered the San Francisco 49ers’ front as well, but the Denver Broncos got great protection in not giving up a single sack against a Jacksonville Jaguars defense that had five sacks against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1. This is seen as the best offensive line in the NFL, with continuity and experience. From left to right, it’s Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg, Quinn Meinerz and Mike McGlinchey. Bo Nix had 31 pass attempts and only three quarterback hits, and the Broncos rushed for 104 yards as well in a much-needed comeback win. We probably should have included Dallas Turner last week when he had seven QB hits in the Minnesota Vikings’ season-opening win against the Green Bay Packers, but we’ll make up for it here. Turner had two more sacks, two tackles for loss and four QB hits against the Chicago Bears, giving him a remarkable 11 QB hits in two weeks. Minnesota’s blitz-crazy defense is one of the best stories of the first two weeks, and Turner is showing why the Vikings were OK losing another key veteran rusher to free him up. The same is true for Greg Rousseau, who followed up a monster opener with two sacks, a forced fumble and four QB hits in the win over the Lions. The Carolina Panthers wrote two huge checks in free agency to upgrade their defense, and Devin Lloyd earned his Sunday with two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) in a rout of the Atlanta Falcons. He also had a sack and nine tackles, and coach Dave Canales called it perhaps the best linebacker game he’s seen since he’s been in the NFL. Jaelan Phillips, signed to an even bigger deal, has a sack in each of his first two games. The fifth-round rookie out of Florida International had a game of biblical proportions in helping the Las Vegas Raiders to an unlikely 2-0 start, picking off two passes in their win Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. He added a tackle for loss and two passes defensed, starting and playing 50 of 68 snaps in his second NFL game. Confidence is no issue for Masses, either. “It’s mine. It ain’t no 50-50 ball,” Masses said after the game. “I’m trying to get every ball.” We’ll also give a shoutout to Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, who had 13 tackles and a tackle for loss in their loss to the New Orleans Saints. Skyy Moore piled up 208 yards in eight returns Sunday between kickoffs and punts, but his biggest play was a 63-yard punt return with less than five minutes left and the Packers still trailing the New York Jets. That set up the tying field goal that allowed the game to go to overtime and gave the Packers a chance to win the game there. Moore had a 98-yard kickoff return last season with the 49ers — not for a touchdown, amazingly — and came through when Green Bay needed him most on Sunday. We also should mention Vikings kicker Will Reichard, who had all of their points with three field goals in a 9-3 win over the Bears in nasty weather.