After a long six-month wait without meaningful NFL football and fantasy football, Week 1 arrived, and it did not disappoint. 791 points were scored across the 16 games. That number is tied for the highest-scoring opening week in the Super Bowl era. If only the Chicago Bears scored 60 points instead of 59, there would have been history. Seriously though, the Bears offense was unstoppable, and it was one of the many highlights from an awesome first week of football. There were so many great games, awesome plays, and elite fantasy performances across the board.
The number of dominant running back performances in week one was truly spectacular. Six running backs scored over 30 fantasy points in PPR leagues, and six more scored over 20 points. The wide receivers weren’t as dominant, but three of them did score at least 30 points, including wide receiver one, Jalen Coker, and five more hit the 20-point mark. Players just couldn’t stop scoring points, or at least most of them couldn’t- sorry, Colston Loveland owners.
Heading into week two, there are going to be a lot of expectations following an electric opening week. Could those expectations be met? Sure they can, but that doesn’t mean week two will be a duplicate of the first week. It is highly unlikely that Coker will be the highest-scoring receiver in PPR leagues again, and Loveland will score points this week(hopefully). Essentially, don’t bench your studs because they disappointed in week one, and don’t automatically throw certain players into lineups because they had a good week one.
QB Start- Tyler Shough: 410 Passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 25.2 fantasy points
QB Sit- Trevor Lawrence: 245 Passing Yards, 4 touchdowns, 26.1 fantasy points
RB Start- Javonte Williams: 12 Attempts, 41 rushing Yards, 1 touchdown, 5 receptions, 31 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, 24.2 PPR fantasy points
RB Start- Chubba Hubbard: 10 Attempts, 49 rushing yards, 1 touchdown, 3 receptions, 38 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, 23.7 PPR fantasy points
RB Start- Jonathon Brooks: 4 Attempts, 14 rushing yards,1 reception, 48 receiving yards, 7.2 PPR fantasy points
RB Sit- Quinshon Judkins: 12 Attempts, 33 rushing yards, 2 receptions, 17 receiving yards, 7 PPR fantasy points
WR Start- Quentin Johnston: 6 Targets, 2 receptions, 17 yards, 3.7 PPR fantasy points
WR Start- Dontayvion Wicks: 4 Targets, 2 receptions, 73 yards, 1 touchdown, 15.3 PPR fantasy points
WR Sit- Terry McLaurin: 4 Targets, 2 receptions, 14 yards, 3.4 PPR fantasy points
WR Sit- Michael Wilson: 7 Targets, 5 receptions, 56 yards, 10.6 PPR fantasy points
TE Start- Isaiah Likely: 8 Targets, 8 receptions, 78 yards, 2 touchdowns, 31.8 PPR fantasy points
TE Sit- Dalton Schultz: 8 Targets, 4 receptions, 35 yards, 9.5 PPR fantasy points
There are a lot of ugly matchups in this week’s slate, but the Bears defense is a wonderful sight for opposing offenses. Bryce Young torched Chicago’s defense last week, as he threw for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns, and he also ran for a touchdown. He couldn’t be stopped, and while Young is a solid quarterback, he isn’t a game changer yet, but the Bears made him look like one. Due to that, it has now made Carson Wentz a streamable fantasy option.
Unfortunately, Kyler Murray was knocked out of last week’s game extremely early with a concussion after a scary hit. While he hasn’t been ruled out yet, it would be a surprise to see him return to play this week. If Murray misses, it is likely that Wentz would start in his absence.
People will laugh at this pick, but Wentz played well last week and led the Minnesota Vikings to a win over the Green Bay Packers. He threw for just 133 yards, but he threw for three touchdowns and, thankfully, forced the ball to Justin Jefferson. Spoiler alert: throw the ball to the best wide receiver in football, and good things happen. In a much better matchup against the Bears, it isn’t crazy to put Wentz in your lineup if you are looking for a pivot, and if Murray does play, don’t even hesitate to put him in the lineup.
Last week’s start of the week makes another appearance, but this time, as a sit. While the projected game script favors Shough, the mathcup does not. The Baltimore Ravens were nothing short of dominant last week against the Indianapolis Colts, and they should dominate once again this week.
Despite jumping out to a large lead early in the game, the Ravens limited Daniel Jones to just 166 passing yards last week. Shough should be more productive than Jones, but he struggled in the first half against the Detroit Lions, and Baltimore is a much better defense. He will pass the ball a million times, but it is hard to imagine Shough throwing for another 400 yards and 3 touchdowns against a strong Ravens defense.
There was a lot of hope that the Dallas Cowboys defense would be better than last year, but after week one, that doesn’t appear to be the case. With the defense still looking like a major liability, fantasy managers should look to take advantage of that, and they can do so with Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
Croskey-Merritt is coming off a solid week one performance, with 63 rushing yards and a touchdown against a strong Philadelphia Eagles defense. In a great matchup with the Cowboys, that features the second-highest projected point total of the week, at 51.5 points, Croskey-Merritt should thrive. Additionally, it doesn’t hurt that he ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns against this Dallas defense last season.
Neither Bayshul Tuten nor Chris Rodriguez played 50% of the snaps last week, but the former saw more than double the opportunities, with a total of 16 touches to 6. With those opportunities, Tuten ran for 66 yards, and he added another 22 yards on his lone reception. He didn’t find the end zone, so he only finished with 9.8 fantasy points, but he was productive with his opportunities.
This week Tuten plays the Denver Broncos, and while that sounds like a bad matchup, it was far from that in week one, as Kenneth Walker torched them and ran for 173 yards and one touchdown. Tuten isn’t on the same level as the former Seattle Seahawk, but he does have the speed and power combination that makes him a big-play threat at all times. Against a Broncos team that just allowed big play after big play on the ground, Tuten should be a good start as long as he gets the touches.
The Steelers rushing attack was nonexistent last week, regardless of who touched the ball, but Rico Dowdle was extremely inefficient in his touches. In a matchup that should have been favorable, he ran for just 15 yards on 8 attempts. While he outsnapped Jaylen Warren, Dowdle was much less productive in his touches, and that could lead to a more even snap count for the two. On top of that, the New England Patriots are a much worse matchup than the Atlanta Falcons. They allowed the sixth-fewest rushing yards in the league last year, and they got off to a strong start in week one against the Seattle Seahawks.
Given the lack of production, split backfield, and bad matchup, Dowdle should be benched for any other serviceable option this week.
The Broncos offense was just weird in week one. Despite having no luck passing the ball, they continued to drop back and throw. Given how poorly the offense played last week, it is likely that Denver will attempt to run the ball more. That sounds like good news for J.K. Dobbins, but the matchup is anything but good news. As discussed in last week’s article, the Jacksonville Jaguars were the league’s best rush defense last year. While they played the Cleveland Browns in week one, they were a dominant unit up front once again, and there is no reason to believe they won’t be a top rush defense again.
Dobbins should see more volume, especially if RJ Harvey misses the game with a hamstring injury. Unfortunately, the matchup is brutal, and without any receiving game upside, he will need to score to be productive for fantasy. It might be hard to find a pivot from Dobbins, but if possible, try to find one.
Matthew Golden’s sophomore season couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. He saw a team-high 12 targets, and he caught 6 of them for 95 yards. If there was any doubt about what his role would be following a disappointing rookie campaign, there shouldn’t be any more. Golden is a prime breakout candidate, and he should be able to build off last week’s strong performance against the New York Jets this week.
The Jets defense played well last week, but part of that had to do with how bad the Tennessee Titans offense looked. The Green Bay Packers are a different team, and they will be able to exploit a defense that was one of the worst in the league last year. With an expected pass-first approach, Golden should see plenty of volume once again, and hopefully, find the endzone this week.
Rashee Rice would have been one of the biggest letdowns of week one if not for a touchdown. Heading into week two, there are already a lot of concerns surrounding his fantasy upside, and while it is valid, there should be no concerns this week. The Indianapolis Colts were lit up by the Ravens last week, and especially by Zay Flowers, who had 150 yards at halftime. Rice is poised to be in a favorable position this week, and in this very matchup last season, he went nuclear. Rice had 8 catches for 141 yards against this Colts defense last year, and while it is hard to expect that level of production again, he should thrive yet again.
Combining off-season rehab with a week one mathcup with the Broncos is not a recipe for success. A vulnerable Colts defense is one, and Rice should produce in a way that fantasy managers are used to.
The Colts defense might be vulnerable, but as everyone saw on Monday night, the Kansas City Chiefs defense is anything but vulnerable. They shut down every part of the Broncos passing game, and there is no reason to expect anything different against the Colts, and that is bad news for Alec Pierce.
Pierce is coming off an off-season where he hardly practiced as he recovered from surgery, and he was limited to just 59% of the snaps in week one. It is likely that he will still be on a pitch count this week, and in a bad matchup, it is hard to see him have much fantasy success on limited snaps. Even with a full allotment of snaps, it is hard to see Pierce make a major impact, especially considering that the Chiefs shut him down last year.
There was a lot of excitement around Pierce coming into the season, due to his play last year and the pay day he got, but this likely isn’t the week where the excitement becomes reality. Don’t worry, though; the Pierce breakout is coming; it may just take some time.
Last week Terry McLaurin was a fade against the Eagles, and this week Carnell Tate is. The matchup is bad, and the Titans offense doesn’t help any case that could be made for Tate to be started. They were nothing short of abysmal against a Jets team that did not record an interception last season. Now, against an Eagles team that is a bad matchup for all positions, it is hard to imagine the Titans having any sort of success on offense. Maybe Brian Daboll can come up with a plan that works given his experience against the Eagles, but Tate should be benched everywhere until the offense shows signs of life.
Starting Harold Fannin Jr. shouldn’t even be a discussion, but unfortunately, it is, because that’s how bad the Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson are. The panic is real for fantasy managers who drafted last year’s rookie sensation, after he saw just three targets that resulted in 2 catches for 21 yards in week one.
It would have been one thing if he didn’t produce, but he saw seven or eight targets; he only saw three, in a game where the Browns trailed the entire time. Fortunately for Fannin, he plays the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are the premier matchup for tight ends. Just ask Mike Gesicki and his 18.8 fantasy points how much he loved playing against Tampa’s defense. It’s almost as if they just disregard the entire position.
Fannin is a scary start because of his situation, but his matchup couldn’t be any better, and since it is still early in the season, fantasy managers can see how things play out for one more week.
Normally, if Kyle Pitts put up a complete zero, people would laugh, but it really isn’t his fault. Cooper Rush had no interest in throwing the ball to anyone other than Bijan Robinson, and he could be set to start once again. On top of poor quarterback play, the Panthers, despite giving up 59 points last week, didn’t allow a single reception to Colston Loveland. A total shutdown of an elite tight end doesn’t exactly help the case for starting Pitts.
Things should get better whenever Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr. return, but until then, stay far away from Pitts.
While there is more data to go off of entering week two, compared to week one, there is a lot that still needs to unfold. Don’t overreact to a poor week one performance from a high draft pick, and don’t assume that an unexpected week one performance is the new normal. Trust your gut and play the studs, but start to be mindful of certain trends moving forward as things start to play out.
For more articles like this, as well as last week’s fantasy football starts and sits, check out Stadium Rant.
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