Jake Bates is a fair Week 2 play — our K11 at 7.7 projected points, right around the K starter line.
- Projection
- 7.7 pts
- K rank
- #11
- Matchup
- at BUF
Jake Bates's fantasy role in Week 2
Jake Bates goes into Week 2 of the 2026 season as a every-week lineup piece at K for the DET. He is rostered in 68% of leagues and actually started in 61% of them, and we rank him K11 on our own weekly board at 7.7 projected points.
Roster rates are steady week over week, so his role looks settled rather than in flux.
No injury designation to work around right now, which keeps his projection honest.
Week 2 matchup breakdown
The matchup: at BUF. Our Pepper Meter heat rating for this spot is 2 out of 5, which is how we grade the combination of role, projection and opponent difficulty.
Against a typical starting K baseline of 7.5 points, his 7.7-point projection is 0.2 points better. That gap is the whole start/sit argument in one number.
How to play it
Jake Bates is a fair Week 2 play — our K11 at 7.7 projected points, right around the K starter line.
If you are deciding between him and another K, compare projections first, then lean on the Pepper Meter heat rating as the tiebreaker.
Sally's take
Peppers & Picks ranks Jake Bates (DET K), our K11 this week for Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season at BUF, projecting 7.7 projected points with a spicy Pepper Meter rating. 61% of managers already start him, and the depth-chart role behind that number looks stable. Bates clears the K bar by about 3%, which is why he sits this high on my board. The at BUF draw matters here — road snaps against BUF shape how often he's asked to do something. Spicy on the Pepper Meter reflects a steady weekly floor rather than a boom week — that's still a start.
Tina's take
Peppers & Picks ranks Jake Bates (DET K), our K11 this week for Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season at BUF, projecting 7.7 projected points with a spicy Pepper Meter rating. 61% of managers already start him, and the depth-chart role behind that number looks stable. Bates clears the K bar by about 3%, which is why he sits this high on my board. The at BUF draw matters here — road snaps against BUF shape how often he's asked to do something. Spicy on the Pepper Meter reflects a steady weekly floor rather than a boom week — that's still a start.