This article is part of our The Armband series.
Everything was back to normal in MLS for Week 2, with most of the stars finding the score sheet. And by 'most of the stars' I mean everyone but Giovani dos Santos, my top captain from a week ago who only played 45 minutes after getting hurt in another home loss for the Galaxy. At the least, David Villa and Chris Wondolowski were at the top of scoring lists and even Kevin Molino managed to score despite his team getting pummeled in the snow. Ignacio Piatti also scored and assisted, while Josef Martinez and Miguel Almiron were the biggest winners in Atlanta's 6-1 demolition in Minnesota.
Lucky for us, it won't be that hard to determine who will score again for the upcoming week. NYC FC is once again at home, which means Villa will be a top captain, but also newcomers Maxi Moralez and Rodney Wallace combined well with the striker. They'll host Montreal, which continues to struggle on the back line. There's zero chance I'm looking at any of the Galaxy players, but Portland definitely remains in the conversation. Back at home, the Timbers get a tougher test against Houston, but I'm not backing down from Diego Valeri until he has an off-week. On the other side of the field, Romell Quioto has scored in each of the first two matches and Alex has three assists in that period. The Timbers have played well, but I'm not sold on their defense just yet.
Another team to focus on is undoubtedly the Rapids, as they host a Minnesota side that has allowed 11 goals in the first two weeks. Even though Colorado has one goal this season, it's been a goal party for any forward going against Minnesota, with Dominique Badji the popular option to score unless Shkelzen Gashi finds his way into the starting XI. If Kevin Doyle also returns to the lineup, Badji can be forgotten about and that'll be something to keep an eye on.
Nicolas Lodeiro and Clint Dempsey will be plenty popular for the armband as the Sounders have their home opener against the Red Bulls, who had a home match last weekend. And to be honest, a lot of the other attacking options will be hard to trust this week. Piatti is on the road, while Sebastian Giovinco is hurt and Toronto has not looked as potent as last season. Justin Meram and David Accam don't have terrible situations at D.C. United and Atlanta, respectively, but still, both are on the road and haven't earned the 'Road Captain' tag yet.
Maybe unsurprisingly, defensive options have been slightly easier to predict in the early going. Real Salt Lake held Toronto in their first home match and get the Galaxy, who are really struggling. I'm not yet confident the Union can score on the road and they travel to Orlando, and the same is said for the Revs at Dallas. There hasn't been one goal in a Sporting KC match yet, so go ahead with SKC and Earthquakes defenders if you think that can happen again. And because of that, I'd stay away from Wondolowski and Anibal Godoy.
Given the above information, Jared Watts is a great option. After assisting in the opener, he accrued six defending bonus points in a 1-0 loss against the Red Bulls. Axel Sjoberg would have been the logical choice, but he's out with a hamstring injury, while Tim Howard is an option if you go the goalkeeper route. Matt Hedges is probably the best bet for Dallas and Jonathan Spector was great for Orlando in their opener. If none of those choices sound great, there's always Jimmy Medranda, who is listed as a defender yet playing right wing for Sporting KC.
