Some fantasy football players watch the preseason simply because they miss the game of football. Others watch the game because they play preseason DFS and want to know if they’re going to make money. Then there are those who skip the preseason all together because they just want to watch the real thing. They are waiting for September 7th to get here in order to watch all the starters play all four quarters. But should you actually care about what happens in the preseason?
The answer is “yes.” There is a lot to be learned from the preseason, and no, I’m not talking about how good or how bad your team is going to be this year. In fact, the results of these games don’t matter in the slightest. I’ve heard Titans fans worrying about their team because they lost their preseason opener to the Jets. Guys, it’s one preseason game.
What you should care about are the mechanics of the players, when they were on the field, and who else was on the field when they were. Forget about stats for a moment. It’s like college football, because they all depend on the level of competition, right? Instead, let’s take a look at what happened in preseason Week 1 that you should care about, because it may have an impact on fantasy teams.
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Quarterbacks
Being one of the first games on this season, a lot of eyes were on Deshaun Watson, and rightfully so as he battles Tom Savage for the starting quarterback spot. Savage started the game, while Watson came in during the second quarter. He played solid, though Savage did as well. The area Watson can use some coaching is in his scrambling, as he’s moving in the pocket too much. This is Savage’s job to lose, but it’s something to pay attention to as we cruise through the preseason. It’ll be interesting to see if Watson gets a start at some point. The Broncos apparently wanted Paxton Lynch to win the job in training camp, but that doesn’t appear to be going well. Siemian played the first half of the game, while Lynch played the second half. This is likely to be a good thing for the Broncos wide receivers, as they’ve at least worked with Siemian for a year.
Mitch Trubisky is going to Canton? I kid, I kid. Bears GM Ryan Pace has said that Trubisky will not play in 2017, but if he continues to play great like he did against the Broncos (regardless of who was on the field with and against him), John Fox will be pleading to start the rookie sooner rather than later. I still think it’s Mike Glennon‘s job in 2017. Despite the Browns starting Brock Osweiler in Week 1, it’s not going to happen in the regular season. DeShone Kizer should be essentially competing with Cody Kessler for the starting job, and Kizer did himself some favors in his debut completing 11 of 18 passes for 184 yards, which included a 45-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. They may want to take it slow with the rookie, but it was a promising start.
Running Backs
Some of the notes on running backs are about backups in high-opportunity roles, while others have starter implications. Darren McFadden is the clear handcuff to Ezekiel Elliott, as he’s played nearly every snap with the first-team offense. Alfred Morris and Rod Smith continue to battle to be his backup. Alfred Blue is the direct backup to Lamar Miller, despite D’Onta Foreman making plays in training camp. This can change as time goes on, but Blue actually played solid.
One of the biggest notes comes from Carolina, as Christian McCaffrey and Jonathan Stewart share the backfield. Both played with the first-team offense, but Stewart was the clear running back with them both on the field. McCaffrey got in more reps with the second-team offense. He may be more of a Darren Sproles than some think. With Latavius Murray out of the lineup, Dalvin Cook saw all of his snaps with the first-team offense, making all the preseason rumblings about him being the starter seem legit. Move him up draft boards accordingly. A rookie who doesn’t have as good of news is Samaje Perine, who is clearly behind Robert Kelley on the depth chart at this point. It seems his pass-blocking is not very good, which is a huge knock to his value.
One of the oddest things about preseason Week 1 was that Dion Lewis played all the way into the fourth quarter, insinuating that he may be playing for a roster spot. After they signed James White to a contract extension and added multiple running backs, maybe it’s not that surprising. Broncos late-round pick De”Angelo Henderson made some noise in his debut, totaling 54 yards on seven carries, including a 41-yard touchdown run. With Jamaal Charles looking more and more questionable and Devontae Booker missing time, he can carve out a role with more performances like this one. Another guy who was further down the depth chart was 49ers running back Matt Brieda, who played immediately behind Carlos Hyde in the first game, not fourth-round pick Joe Williams. It’s clear that Williams should not be on your redraft radar at this point in time.
As it turns out, the Browns really are going to use Duke Johnson out of the slot, as he and Isaiah Crowell were on the field together for quite a few snaps in Week 1. Johnson should have flex value right away if this continues. Joe Mixon came off the bench, but did see some time with the first-team offense. It’s noteworthy that Giovani Bernard was out, but Mixon looked solid in his debut. Spencer Ware ran all but one snap with the starters in Kansas City, while Kareem Hunt came off the bench rotating with Charcandrick West. Ware also looked really good catching passes out of the backfield and even scored a touchdown. Lastly, Thomas Rawls was the Seahawks starter. This would be taken with a grain of salt had Eddie Lacy not played, but he did, and he played with the second-team offense splitting time with C.J. Prosise. Rawls has been said to be the better running back throughout camp by multiple sources.
Wide Receivers
When it comes to wide receivers, you want to pay attention to opportunity more than anything. I’m not even necessarily talking about the numbers they post, but rather their snap counts, who they were on the field with, and how long they were exposed with backups on the field. Jaelen Strong started opposite DeAndre Hopkins, which was interesting considering most expected Braxton Miller to fill the void while Will Fuller recovers from a broken collarbone. Devin Funchess played 9/9 snaps with the starters for the Panthers, making him the clear No. 2 option at wide receiver. DeVante Parker on the other hand didn’t come onto the field in two-wide sets, making it likely that he’s still the No. 3 option, though the team will run a lot of three-wide receiver sets.
The Bears wasted no time letting you know who their starters are, as Kevin White and Cameron Meredith were the clear No. 1 and No. 2 for them, but it was a surprise to see Kendall Wright as the clear-cut No. 3 wide receiver. Victor Cruz played with the backups into the fourth quarter. The hype for Willie Snead may die down a little bit when everyone realizes it was Ted Ginn on the field in two-wide sets, not Snead. He’s the team’s slot wide receiver and his role hasn’t changed much despite the loss of Brandin Cooks.
As I’ve been mentioning on the podcast the last few weeks, Paul Richardson is running with the starters ahead of Jermaine Kearse. It translated to the field, too, as Richardson was targeted on two of his three snaps which resulted in two catches for 30 yards. He hurt his shoulder on the second catch, forcing him to leave the game early, so stay tuned on updates. Robby Anderson is the clear-cut No. 1 wide receiver on the Jets and he hooked up for a 53-yard bomb with should-be-starter Josh McCown. Taywan Taylor made some impressions in the Titans game, something that should come as no shock to those who read his rookie draft profile on here a few months ago. Another rookie, Cooper Kupp played with the starters for the Rams, and appears to be in line for a role right away, though his upside is limited.
And the last paragraph goes solely to Kenny Golladay who lit up the stage on his preseason debut, snagging three of his four targets for 53 yards and two touchdowns. We’ve been hearing about him doing well in camp and it translated to the field, though it was against the inept Colts secondary. Pay attention to his snaps as the Lions play their starters more and more.
Tight Ends
There isn’t much to learn from the tight end position in preseason, as it mostly comes down to players trying to earn a roster spot behind the starter. One player who’s made a name for himself, though, is Rico Gathers. Through the first two games (the Cowboys have played twice already), Gathers has totaled seven catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns. He was questionable to make the roster just a few weeks ago, but has shown the ability to be a potential game-changer in the passing game. Antonio Gates and Hunter Henry both saw time with Philip Rivers, while Gates caught the touchdown.
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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.
