NFL Week 1 Fantasy Recap
Rejoice! Football is here and boy oh boy did we get a fun matchup to begin the season! Lions took down the reigning champs on their own turf. You didn’t think you’d be reading that this week now did you? A relatively low-scoring affair, too, at 21-20. The “Under” was not a popular bet, at least amongst the Twitter crowd! Tough night for bettors.
Chiefs vs Lions
The Chiefs were Kelce-less, which meant one of the Chiefs’ wide receivers was going to go off this week right? Wrong. The Chiefs leading fantasy scorer (other than Mahomes who had 19.5) was Rashee Rice scoring 11.6 points in his NFL debut. Rice’s touchdown couldn’t have been any easier to catch. Mahomes put it on a line to Rice standing still near the middle-back of the end zone. After Rice, it’s not great. Isiah Pacheco, while also being their leading receiver in terms of catches, reached 9 points in this game. Safe to say the Chiefs will be relying on Travis Kelce A LOT as the season continues. Skyy Moore was a massive letdown for many fantasy managers out there, as were any McKinnon/CEH stans. Maybe next week!
The Lions had better fantasy scores. Amon Ra was the high scorer notching 19 points. Great opening week for the 2nd round fantasy player. David Montgomery had Jahmyr Gibbs peeps in shambles. Monty put up 13 points on 74 rush yards and a touchdown. You will see plenty of that going forward. Monty is an awesome flex play every week at minimum. While Jahmyr Gibbs had flashes of great plays on Thursday night, the bull was not let out of his pen. To be honest, the Lions were rather transparent about that before this game. They mentioned easing him into the role on their offense so if nothing else, go see if your fellow league mates are panicking on Gibbs for some reason. Goff had 14 points, not great, but not terrible I suppose. He will have better weeks. LaPorta looked sharp, just needs better opportunities in the coming weeks!
Trade targets: I would see if the Gibbs manager is panicking. You never know. I also think Skyy Moore may be dropped in some leagues once week one wraps up. Make sure to check your waiver wires!
Panthers vs Falcons
Did not expect to be writing this and Tyler Allgeier was the leading fantasy scorer for the Falcons in week one. But, here we are! Allgeier, in a gross game, ran for 75 yards and TWO touchdowns (24.4 points). Bijan Robinson managers everywhere are sick! What a crazy rookie debut that could’ve been. Kyle Pitts and Drake London…well…they scored 6.4 points COMBINED. And Pitts had 6.4 of them. Yep, you did the math right. London had ZERO fantasy points. That’s terrible. Ridder only had 115 passing yards. Against a rebuilding Panthers team that is bad. On the bright side, Bijan had 56 rush yards, 6 catches for 27 yards, and a touchdown in his debut! 20-point outing for the rookie. Wild to me that they won 24 to 10.
The Panthers had an even worse day. They’re getting Bryce Young right into the action, he threw the ball 38 times (20 more than Ridder!). His only touchdown pass went to Hayden Hurst, who stepped up with Thielen and Chark OUT. Hurst caught 5 passes for 41 yards and the score – good for 15 fantasy points. You may want to add him going into next week if you’re thin at TE! Miles Sanders in his Panthers debut ran for 72 yards on 18 carries. He also caught 4 passes for 26 yards, which I was curious to see if he would get more passing work down in Carolina. Not many fantasy-relevant players from Carolina this week. They have some work to do!
Trade targets: Miles Sanders is about the only person I’d WANT from this group of fantasy players.
Browns vs Bengals
Truly, not what I expected from the Bengals to open the season. Burrow just got his massive extension, everyone was healthy and the in-state rivalry to begin the season. And you put up 3 points??? That’s an expensive touchdown-less quarterback. The high scorer in fantasy was Mixon with 10 points. He had 56 rushing yards and 3 catches for 17 yards. Not great. It’s even worse when your stud receiver only has 5 catches for 39 yards. Oh, and Tee Higgins had 0 catches on 8 targets. Not sure how many were catchable, but I saw a few that were not. On to next week as some coaches would say…
Cleveland had a better day. Got the win 24-3. Chubb led the way with 106 rush yards and 4 catches for 21 yards (good for 16.7 points). Solid start for the running back with lots of expectations this season. Watson also did not have the greatest game. 154 passing yards and a touchdown in the air, and tacked on 45 rushing yards and a score. 20 points for his first season-opener as a Brown. If you happen to play Elijah Moore, you got 10 points out of him, which is fine for someone you most likely flexed. Good win for the Browns.
Trade Targets I wouldn’t mind reaching out to the Amari Cooper manager. It was rainy and gross all game, neither team got in rhythm, which is sad, but true. Cooper will be fine if you can trade for him for cheap after some week one overreactions.
Jaguars vs Colts
Anthony Richardson looked pretty solid in his debut! They had the Jaguars in a tight one for three quarters. Richardson threw for 223 yards with a couple of big plays. Threw a touchdown to Michale Pittman Jr who had 8 catches for 97 yards and a TD (24.7 points). Big week for a guy who was going in 6/7/8th rounds of drafts. Richardson had 20 points himself. I’ll take that from a rookie in his first game. After them, not much fantasy relevance. Josh Downs had 6 points, and 3 catches for 30 yards so he’s worth a waiver pick up in my opinion. Deon Jackson had the most carries out of the running backs, but his carries are going to be less valuable than Richardsons. Meaning, Richardson is a better player, so he will earn the goal line carries.
There was a handful of fantasy-relevant players for the Jaguars. Number one would be Mr. Calvin Ridley himself. 8 catches, 101 yards, and a score. Ridley didn’t skip a beat! 24 points in his return to football. Travis Etienne Jr. had a great game as well. 77 rush yards and a TD on the ground while catching 5 passes for 27 yards. 21 points for Etienne to begin the season. Trevor Lawrence wound up with just under 18 points. 241 passing yards, 2 TDs, and 21 rush yards. Trevor Lawrence starting the season off right bodes well for his breakout chances! Zay Jones got you 16.5 if you were brave enough to start him and Engram who I am sure a lot played, got just shy of 10 points.
Trade targets: Christian Kirk would be cheaper after today if you want to take on the risk that Ridley didn’t push him to irrelevance. I dunno.
Bucs vs Vikings
I love the week one madness. No one expected the Bucs to come out and beat the Vikings 20-17. Hate on Baker all you want, he completed 61% of his passes for 173 yards and 2 TDs. No interceptions! That’s all you can ask for, right? Rachaad White led them with 39 rush yards, but nothing else to go with it. Quiet day from him. Mike Evans was the high scorer with 18.6 points. He caught 6 balls for 66 yards and a deep TD catch. Big day from Mike. Pay the man! Baker had 16 points and Godwin managed to hit double digits but we want more from him going forward. Good win for the Bucs!
The Vikings were having success moving the ball, they just kept turning it over. Kirk Cousins had 2 fumbles and an interception. That’s three drives they missed out on points. Not great. Kirk threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns. And that’s not a bad day until you remember the turnovers. 16 for Kirk, but could have been 22. Tough. JJet racked up 150 receiving yards on 9 catches. 25 points without a touchdown is why you drafted Justin Jefferson first overall. Jordan Addison caught an awesome deep TD, he caught 4 passes for 61 yards and that TD. 16 points for the rookie. Mattison ran for 34 yards and 3 passes and one was a TD. He got you 13 points this week. Someone I thought would have a better week was T.J. Hockenson who scored 11.5 on 8 catches for 35 yards. I do like that he is getting peppered with targets.
Trade targets: Godwin would be a good one and so would Rachaad White in my opinion.
Titans vs Saints
Two veterans each debuted with a new team in this game. Derek Carr and DeAndre Hopkins. I’m excited for both of them in their new ventures, but Carr slightly more. Which is good because he got the win today! Carr led the Saints with 305 yards and a TD. The biggest performance of the day was Chris Olave and his 8 catches for 112 yards. No TD for Olave, but they will come soon. Michael Thomas looks like his former self on the field. He had 5 catches for 61 yards. We even saw a TD catch from Rashid Shaheed who had 5 catches for 89 yards. Big day for him, he had 19 fantasy points. Jamaal Williams didn’t have the week I thought he would. Sub-10 points for him.
The Titans have a lot to work on. Tannehill threw for less than 200 yards and 2 interceptions. He did not throw a touchdown. He scored less than 3 points. Yikes. DeAndre Hopkins was the high scorer for the Titans. He dropped 15.5 points in his debut. 7 catches for 65 yards. Derrick Henry had a quiet day with 63 rushing yards but a bigger impact catching the ball with 2 catches for 56 yards. 13.9 points for the veteran RB. No one else was fantasy relevant, but keep your eyes out on Tyjae Spears, I saw he played more snaps than Derrick Henry!
Trade Targets: Not anyone. Maybe Derrick Henry if you’re feelin’ peachy.
Steelers vs 49ers
A bit of a rude awakening for the Steelers after all the preseason hype. Safe to say more than half the league would struggle against that 49ers defense. Steelers just aren’t all that yet. Plus, they lost Diontae Johnson to a hamstring injury. His injury timetable is still uncertain to my knowledge. The Steelers struggled to get things going. Kenny Pickett threw for 232 yards and a TD to Freiermuth but also threw two interceptions. Najee only had 6 carries for 31 yards. Jaylen Warren had 3 carries for 6 yards. Their leading receiver was, and I’m not lying, Allen Robinson. Probably had a lot to do with Diontae’s injury but what happened to Pickens? Allen Robinson scored the most fantasy points with 11.4 and it gets really bad after that. Better luck next week, Steelers.
The 49ers had a vastly different week one experience. They dominated from the first whistle. Purdy led the charge with 220 passing yards and 2 TDs. Scoring 16.8 pts in his season opener. Bradon Aiyuk was your fantasy MVP from this game. Aiyuk had a massive week one. He caught 8 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns! An incredible 32.9-point week from him. Deebo put together a 5-catch, 55-yard game and Kittle wound up with 3 for 19. He was one one over-thrown pass away from a much better week. Oh well. McCaffrey did the typical McCaffrey thing and dropped a 25-point week. He had a huge 75-yard TD in the beginning of the second half.
Trade targets: If someone is bailing on Najee, I would attempt to snag him. The Steelers won’t face the 49ers level of defense every week. Just a rough week for Najee IMO.
Commanders vs Cardinals
Another “thrilling” game with this one. I will say that the Cardinals, despite being flamed in the football world, held their own in this game. Had the lead for a bit, the defense made a play and they had a chance to win it, but came up short. Dobbs had 132 passing yards, James Conner had 62 rushing yards and no one really stood out in the passing game. What did you expect from a QB who was traded there like 10 days ago? Conner led the Cardinals with 12 points. Not great. The Cardinals should be an easy win for a lot of teams.
The Commanders had a lot of preseason hype coming into this game. I would say they’re lucky they weren’t facing a team like the 49ers. Could have been a massive reality check for the Commanders but alas, they walked away victorious. Sam Howell led the way with 15 fantasy points, followed by 13.6 points. Robinson, despite not getting the preseason hype like Gibson, had a good game. Robinson ran for 59 yards and caught a short touchdown pass. His 19 carries is what I’m paying attention to. Curtis Samuel led the WRs in fantasy points. His 5 catches for 54 yards were good for 10 points. The Dotson and McLaurin chatter was prominent in the football world coming into this game. This week, Dotson caught 5 passes for 40 yards and McLaurin caught 2 for 31. Quiet days, but will be interesting to see how that pans out.
Trade targets: If you’re someone who lost J.K. Dobbins, maybe go for James Conner. It’s gross to even have to consider that at this point, but it’s better than nothing.
Texans vs Ravens
Tough start for the Texans, who failed to find the end zone this week. However, Stroud didn’t play terribly. He threw 44 times and completed 28 (64% completion) of them. Just needs his playmakers to do their job! Nico Collins did his best, he reeled in 6 passes for 8- yards. Solid 14-point fantasy week for him. The veteran, Robert Woods, also caught 6 balls for 57 yards. Dameon Pierce ran the ball 11 times for 38 yards. Not very efficient. Collins was the only fantasy-relevant players for the Texans this week.
The Ravens had some better scores for fantasy. The rookie, Zay Flowers, caught 9 passes for 78 yards. Good for 17.7 points. Hell of a start for the young buck! J.K. Dobbins was on his way to a solid start to the season until he suffered an injury. It came out that he tore his Achilles and will miss the rest of the season. Gut-wrenched for Dobbins. I was very excited to see him play this season. Justice Hill benefitted from Dobbins’s absence. Hill scored two touchdowns and wound up with 12.9 fantasy points. Only 9 rushing yards to go with it. Wild day. Lamar looked rusty, that’s for sure. Only 169 passing yards and 38 rush yards. No TDs. Unusual for the former MVP QB. Hopefully, that doesn’t continue!
Trade targets: If you can get Dameon Pierce cheap, I like that move. He won’t be facing the Ravens defense weekly.
Packers vs Bears
This one was the Aaron Jones show. Aaron Jones finished with 26 points! 41 rush yards, 86 receiving yards, and 2 TDs to go with it. Massive week for the veteran. He did tweak the hamstring in the second half, but I haven’t heard yet whether it is serious or something simple like cramping. Hoping it’s cramping. Jordan Love had a great day in the fantasy world as well. 23 points on 245 passing yards and 3 TDs. Love might be the guy in GB now! Something to monitor going forward, Dillon did have more carries than Aaron Jones. Luke Musgrave in his debut was a couple over throws from a big game. He did catch 3 for 50, but he had 2 wide-open TDs get botched. Romeo Doubs also had a big day with 2 TDs on 4 catches (18 fantasy points).
Chicago uhhhh they struggled. Fields looked like he was running for his life again. He threw for 216 yards and ran for another 59, but it was not enough to get them a win. Roschon Johnson, the rookie RB, was the big winner of the week for Chicago. He managed to score 17.5 points in some garbage time. Garbage time or not, he is worth an add off waivers. Darnell Mooney made some noise, catching Fields’ solo TD pass. Mooney had 15 points this week. D.J. Moore was quite the let-down. Two catches for 25 yards and no score. Rough debut for Moore. Maybe they’ll get the wheels turnin’ next week.
Trade targets: D.J. Moore would be one. I don’t think the story is written based on this one game. They’ll be fine.
Raiders vs Broncos
How about Jakobi Meyers coming out and scoring damn near 30 points?! Love to see that. Unless you’re a Davante Adams manager…in which case you were not happy he only scored 12.5 points. Meyers and his 9 catches for 81 yards and two TDs was a top-5 finish in week one (pending MNF). Jimmy G in his Raiders’ debut had an even 200 passing yards and 2 TDs (15 pts). Jimmy G is no bum, and to have Josh Jacobs, Davante Adams, and Jakobi Meyers leading the offense is not a bad mixture. Just need Jacobs to get more than 48 rush yards.
The Broncos offense still seems so vanilla. In the first half, they were doing okay moving the ball, but in the second half, they failed to find the end zone. Can’t happen. Courtland Sutton had 13.2 points on 4 catches, 32 yards, and the TD right before halftime. Russell Wilson finished with 15 points, only 177 passing yards but had 2 TDs. Javonte in his return looked decent. Ran the ball 13 times for 52 yards and caught four passes. Only for 5 yards but hey, that’s four free points in PPR! Javonte wound up with 9.7 points. Samaje Perine saw plenty of work, scoring 11.8 points this week. I imagine they’ll be used much like the Kamara/Ingram backfield that Sean Payton had years ago. Should be a better year for the Broncos!
Trade targets: Josh Jacobs would probably be the only one from this game, but I doubt his manager would want to move him already.
Eagles vs Patriots
Despite taking a loss, the Patriots had some solid fantasy players. Kendrick Bourne might’ve emerged as the Patriots’ WR1, orrrrr he might disappear into the distance after this week. I dunno. Seems like a Sammy Watkins week one kind of performance to me! I kid, I kid…Bourne dropped 24 points on 6 catches for 64 yards and 2 scores. Hell of a week. Mac Jones had 316 yards and 3 TDs. can’t forget the interception, though. 24 points from Jones as well! Hunter Henry, as of Monday afternoon, is the TE1 for week one. I know I didn’t have that on my bingo card. Rhamondre Stevenson had just under 15 points and the bulk of his work came from catching 6 passes for 64 yards.
The Eagles won but it wasn’t pretty. Jalen Hurts struggled to get the rust off, throwing for 170 yards and a TD. He ran for 37, but clearly was not his day. 12.5 points for Hurts. Devonta Smith was the Eagles’ high scorer. He had 7 catches for 47 yards and Jalen’s only TD. A.J. Brown had a quieter day, reeled in 7 passes for 79 yards but didn’t find paydirt. Kenneth Gainwell was the story of the day. He led the Eagles backfield in carries and yards. 54 yards and 4 catches for 20 yards. 11.4 points for the Eagles back. The story of the day here was Dallas Goedert scoring 0 points on 0 catches for 0 yards. Not ideal for a tight end drafted early.
Trade targets: If the person rostering Henry has a better tight end (on paper) try to trade for them or Henry.
Dolphins vs Chargers
I know this game was in Los Angeles but I’m not sure who had the home game in this matchup. It was LOUD when Miami was making plays. The Chargers need some help fans! Herbert didn’t quite have the day you would expect him to. Throwing for 228 yards and 1 TD. 20 fantasy points after all was said and done with his rushing touchdown. Austin Ekeler was the Chargers’ high scorer, he racked up 117 rush yards, 4 catches for 47 yards, and a touchdown (26.4 pts). Heck of a day, but keep your eye on him. There are reports he banged up his ankle. Joshua Kelley, who you should be picking up on waivers, scored 15 points on 91 rush yards and a TD. Veteran Keenan Allen had 14 points which is a typical score for him if he doesn’t find the end zone. Solid game from the Chargers but not enough to beat my Dolphins!
The Dolphins are probably the team of the week if it isn’t the Lions. Tua Tagovailoa popped off for 466 passing yards, 3 TDs, and a pick. 27 points for Tua! Tyreek was the highlight of this game. 11 catches, 215 yards, and 2 TDs. You love to see it! He wasn’t kidding about 2,000 yards! 44.5 points for the veteran wide receiver. Massive week one performance. Waddle was second in receiving yards with 78 on 4 catches (12.8 pts). Raheem had a solid fantasy day, scoring 13 points. But only had 37 yards with a touchdown. I was expecting more, I dunno about you. Hell of a comeback win from the Dolphins. I am very eager to see how this season will continue to pan out!
Trade targets: Jaylen Waddle will have his moments, but maybe you can sneak him in a trade while we ride the hangover of Tyreek’s 200-yard game!
Rams vs Seahawks
Raise your hand if you picked the Seahawks for your eliminator challenge. Yep, that’s me. I thought they’d come out swinging! Nope. The opposite. Geno Smith threw for 112 yards and 1 TD. Luckily, that TD went to Metcalf, who I needed! Metcalf finished with 13.7 points on his 3 catches for 47 yards. Not one other receiver had a fantasy-relevant game so I’m not going to bother covering it. I wouldn’t panic about JSN or Lockett, though. Just a rough game. Kenneth Walker looked okay, and had 64 rushing yards on 12 carries. 10 points for Walker. On to next week.
Matthew Stafford, despite not having his go-to receiver, put together quite the performance…sorta. He threw for 334 yards, but no touchdowns. The Rams TDs came from the run game. Kyren Williams had 2 touchdowns and Cam Akers had one. 17.4 points for Williams and 9 for Akers. Not ideal for an early-round pick. The story of the day in the receiver room was Puka Nacua catching 10 passes for 119 yards, good for 21.9 fantasy points. Who woulda thunk Puka would be rookie WR1 in fantasy week one?? Tut Atwell also had a good day. He racked up 119 yards as well on 6 catches.
Trade targets: Lockett is probably cheap after that week. Might be worth checking out.
Cowboys vs Giants
This game was not fun. From the get-go. The Giants offensive line looked abysmal at best. Giants fans, I know the feeling as a Dolphins fan. Far too familiar with that! Daniel Jones had a horrific night throwing, only reaching 104 yards and 2 picks. He only had 4.4 points. Not good. Saquon was the leading scorer with 9.3 points, and that sucks coming from your second-round pick. Add him to the list of disappointments in week one. The Darren Waller hype quickly was put out with water. Waller had 3 catches for 36 yards. I’m sure this offense will look completely different next week, but if I’m a Giants fan, I’m wondering where that playoff team went.
The Cowboys on the other hand were gelling. Dak was hardly needed because the special teams, defense, and run game did it all. Pollard accumulated 70 yards but found the end zone twice. Ceedee caught the ball for 7 yards on 4 passes. Brandin Cooks didn’t make much noise, two catches for 22 yards. The fantasy high scorer was their defense/ST with 23 points! Pollard wasn’t far behind with 22.2 though. This was the kind of game where most of America (specifically the East Coast dads) fell asleep either during halftime or the second half they dozed off. Cowboys take the division rival Giants to town in this one, 40-0 Cowboys.
Bills vs Jets
As a football fan, this was a fun game. As an AFC East rival, I wish this ended in a tie. Too bad. Unfortunately, Aaron Rodgers suffered an injury on the first drive. So this game was bonkers for most of the time as well. Zach Wilson came in under center and you could hear the mumbling amongst the crowd. Wilson finished with 140 yards and a TD (9.2 points). Garrett Wilson managed to put together a healthy score. Bringing in 5 catches for 34 yards and a TD (14.4 pts). Breece Hall in his return had a hell of a game. 127 rushing yards and 1 catch for 20 yards. 15.7 points from the sophomore running back. Dalvin Cook had 8.9 points on 33 rushing yards and 3 catches for 26 yards. He will have better nights in the future. Jets can never catch a break, good luck dealing with Zach Wilson! Great win in OT though. That punt return was electric.
Josh Allen and the Bills came into Metlife stadium optimistic and hoping to leave 1-0. Well, they fought hard but came up short. Losing to Zach Wilson and the Jets in the season opener. Bummer. Maybe don’t throw 3 interceptions, that might help. Allen had 236 passing yards, 1 TD, and the 3 picks I mentioned. A quiet 9-point week from Mr. Allen. Stefon Diggs was the MVP for the Bills, scoring 26 points from his 10 catches for 102 yards and a TD. The next best scorer was James Cook with 10 and after that, there was a fall-off. Not your typical game from the Bills. Season openers are usually electric or bland and for the Bills, this one was more bland. Jets win on an overtime punt return. Now that is electric!
Week one is done, now we move to week two for more fun!
