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Fantasy Football Recap and Takeaways: Week 1

Fantasy Football Recap and Takeaways: Week 1

NFL’s opening weekend gave fantasy football players a wide assortment of data to digest. Some Week 1 results validated preseason perceptions, but others quickly torpedoed meticulous summer planning.

Aside from the raw yards, touchdowns, and fantasy points, gamers must especially pay attention to playing time and usage patterns from the opening slate. Do not, however, formulate concrete conclusions after one weekend. It’s one thing to get excited about Kareem Hunt, but it’s another to trade Le’Veon Bell.

Let’s examine notable numbers, trends, and injuries from every Week 1 game and determine what they mean going forward.

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Kansas City Chiefs 42, New England Patriots 27

  • After fumbling on his first career carry, Kareem Hunt compiled 246 yards (148 rushing, 98 receiving) and three touchdowns in quite possibly the greatest fantasy debut ever. Despite his early error, no other Chiefs running back received a handoff until Charcandrick West followed Hunt’s 58-yard reception with a 21-yard touchdown. At the risk of overreacting, the neophyte looks well worth the lofty third-round price tag.
  • Hunt’s huge night may have stolen the spotlight from Alex Smith‘s career performance. Amid a preseason full of Patrick Mahomes praise, the 33-year-old quarterback threw for 368 yards and four touchdowns, including a 75-yard bomb to Tyreek Hill and 78-yard strike to Hunt. Per ESPN’s Chris Sprow, he threw two touchdowns of 75 yards or more in the last two seasons combined. Smith also never surpassed 300 passing yards in a game after opening 2016 with 363 against the Chargers, so don’t go overboard and add him to start over Tom Brady.
  • But speaking of Brady, he completed fewer than half his passes (16-of-36) for the first time in a regular-season game since Oct. 10, 2013. Has anyone mentioned that he’s 40?
  •  Stay away from Patriots running backs, they said. While James White played 43 snaps to Mike Gillislee’s 24, per Pro Football Reference, the latter had a clear grip on goal-line carries with three touchdowns for a combined five yards. There’s sell-high potential if someone expects Gillislee to duplicate LeGarrette Blount’s 18 touchdowns or receive significant work outside the red zone, but there’s also a realistic path to double-digit touchdowns.
  • Chris Hogan led Patriots wide receivers with 73 snaps in 82 Patriots plays, but he caught one of five targets for an eight-yard snag. Danny Amendola secured six of his seven targets for 100 yards in 32 snaps, but he left the game with a head injury. Stash Hogan on the bench for at least another week.

Buffalo Bills 21, New York Jets 12

  • LeSean McCoy once again showed why he’s fantasy’s Mr. Reliable with 110 rushing and 49 receiving yards on 22 carries and six receptions. Because he momentarily left the game with a wrist injury, Mike Tolbert-who finished with 12 carries and 42 rushing yards-vulturing a one-yard rushing touchdown. Although the former Panther once made a habit of poaching goal-line touches, don’t expect him to steal too many touchdowns from McCoy, who capped off eight of last year’s 13 rushing scores inside the 10.
  • To nobody’s surprise, the Jets’ offense stinks. They finished with an anemic 214 yards in Josh McCown’s debut. This dragged down Bilal Powell, last year’s late breakout star, to 39 yards on 12 touches. Further damaging the running back’s starting appeal, Matt Forte played 35 snaps to Powell’s 30, according to Pro Football Focus’ Nathan Jahnke. Steer clear of all Jets until someone proves their value.

Philadelphia Eagles 30, Washington Redskins 17

  • Fantasy players received as much early clarity as they could have hoped for regarding Philadelphia’s backfield. Blount fielded 14 of the team’s 20 carries and received two touches in its only red-zone appearance, one of which he converted into a one-yard receiving score. Darren Sproles, meanwhile, tied Zach Ertz – who caught all of his looks for 93 yards – and Nelson Agholor – who snagged a 58-yard-score-for a team-high eight targets. While Sproles should contribute as a PPR flex play once bye weeks and injuries take their toll, Blount is a touchdown-dependent flex gamble in standard formats.
  • Finishing with 14 yards and a fumble, popular breakout pick Jamison Crowder produced negative points for some frustrated fantasy investors. Ryan Grant, who caught nine passes for Washington last year, assumed the role many envisioned for Crowder with four receptions for 61 yards on six targets. A hip injury might have limited the expected Pierre Garcon replacement, so bench Crowder against the Rams instead of doing something more drastic.
  • In addition to attempting 40 passes, Kirk Cousins matched Rob Kelley with 30 rushing yards. That’s despite rookie running back Samaje Perine not seeing the field. Kelley figured to be more a low-end volume flex play, so stick him on the bench with Aaron Donald ending his holdout just in time to stymie Washington’s inconsistent run game in Week 2.

Oakland Raiders 26, Tennessee Titans 16

  • In the Week 1 matchup with the most fantasy upside, a debuting kicker stole the show. Replacing the injured Sebastian Janikowski, Giorgio Tavecchio made four field goals, two from 52 yards. Yes, a kicker most fans never heard of until Sunday scored more fantasy points (in standard ESPN leagues awarding five points for 50-yarders) than Le’Veon Bell and Julio Jones combined. That’s fantasy football for you. Tavecchio plays for a fruitful offense, so feel free to add him.
  • Marcus Mariota didn’t play favorites with his deep receiving corps. Eric Decker (8), Rishard Matthews (9), Delanie Walker (9) and Corey Davis (10) all received a similar amount of targets, but Decker turned his looks into just 10 yards. Walker remains a trustworthy starting tight end, especially in PPR leagues, but no receiver will be a reliable starter until someone separates from the pack. For now, Matthews offers the highest floor after forming a rapport with the young passer last year. Yet Davis could blossom into a stud by season’s end.
  • In his first game since retiring after the 2015 season, Marshawn Lynch ran the ball 18 times for 76 yards. If that was Oakland’s way of easing him back into the fold, the 31-year-old could finish among the league leaders in carries.

Baltimore Ravens 20, Cincinnati Bengals 0

  • Danny Woodhead caught three passes for 33 yards before leaving the opening drive with a non-contact injury. He still led the Ravens in receptions, as Joe Flacco completed four passes following the encouraging first series. Flacco finished one pass attempt behind Drew Brees for the NFL lead last year, but he went 9-of-17 and handed off the ball 42 times during a shutout win. It probably had more to do with game script, but Baltimore doesn’t have the personnel to throw as much as it did last year, especially if Woodhead is out indefinitely.
  • Terrance West looked to be the last Baltimore back standing once Woodhead went down, but Javorius Allen instead emerged to compile 71 rushing yards on 21 carries. West remains the top back to own after registering 80 yards and a score, but this was a golden opportunity for him to have a breakthrough performance. Allen may at least command a waiver claim.
  • As for Cincinnati’s offense… it wasn’t pretty. Two of Andy Dalton’s four interceptions were tipped, but it’s not the start anyone wants from a QB streamer. All those aboard the Joe Mixon hype train watched him crash with nine rushing yards on eight carries. Per Jahnke, Giovani Bernard led the backfield in snaps, so the rookie needs to take a seat in fantasy lineups for Thursday’s tough matchup with the Texans.

Atlanta Falcons 23, Chicago Bears 17 

  • Although he didn’t take over as Chicago’s featured back until Week 4 last year, Jordan Howard finished second in rushing yards and was one of 11 rushers to accrue over 250 carries. Taken in the late-first, early-second round because of his workhorse possibility, he may now have to share with Tarik Cohen. The 5’6″ rookie dazzled in his debut with eight receptions, 113 yards (66 rushing, 47 receiving) and a touchdown. Howard owners shouldn’t panic yet, but they (and everyone else) should also make the diminutive speedster a high waiver priority.
  • Cohen led the Bears with 12 targets, doubling runner-up Zach Miller. Kevin White turned four targets into a highly inefficient four yards. Per ESPN’s Dan Graziano, the Bears believe White may have broken his collarbone. Don’t bother with any Bears receivers for the foreseeable future.
  • Everyone’s favorite tight-end sleeper, Austin Hooper, stiff-armed Quintin Demps en route to an 88-yard touchdown grab. He finished with 128 yards, making the most of just two targets. Given the limited workload, he’s not yet a dependable fantasy starter. But the 22-year-old is definitely someone who needs to be rostered.
  • Devonta Freeman opened 2016 with 40 total yards in Week 1. He finished with 1,541 yards and 13 touchdowns, so don’t get nervous about his 39-yard debut.

Pittsburgh Steelers 21, Cleveland Browns 18

  • Le’Veon Bell recorded over 100 total yards in all but one of his 12 games last season. In the outlier, he still tallied 70 yards. So not to sound the sirens, but it’s concerning to see the consensus No. 1 or 2 pick deliver a middling 47 yards – the lowest single-game tally of his career – against a Browns defense that relinquished the second-most ESPN.com fantasy points to running backs last season. There’s also nothing his drafters can do other than hope he’s healthy and ready to bounce back.
  • The reinstated Martavis Bryant also underwhelmed with 14 yards. But hey, at least the “Road Dogg” Jesse James scored both of Ben Roethlisberger’s passing touchdowns. Perhaps James evolves into a matchup play, but he’s not Heath Miller just yet.
  • Isaiah Crowell looked poised for a breakout year if the Browns could simply avoid double-digit defeats. He received 17 carries and two catches in a three-point loss, but tallied just 33 rushing and receiving yards apiece. Nevertheless, Cleveland’s competitiveness is a positive for his rest-of-season value as a solid No. 2 back.
  • He might not be the Browns’ only fantasy contributor. Corey Coleman began his post-hype campaign with five catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. The sophomore established himself as DeShone Kizer’s preferred wideout target over Kenny Britt, who caught one of three passes for 13 yards. The rookie quarterback also threw and ran for a touchdown, so don’t be shocked if he leverages his legs into a top-20 QB finish.

Detroit Lions 35, Arizona Cardinals 23

  • Many training-camp standouts have fallen into obscurity once Week 1 rolls around. Not Kenny Golladay, who secured his second fourth-quarter touchdown on a diving 45-yard catch. Let’s not anoint him the next Calvin Johnson, but the rookie gives Matthew Stafford a much-needed vertical complement to possession receiver Golden Tate, who once again delighted PPR investors with 10 catches for 107 yards.
  • So much for Detroit developing a run game. Despite its best efforts to establish a ground attack, Ameer Abdullah ran for 30 yards on 15 carries. Stafford, who went 29-of-41 for 292 yards and four touchdowns, will have to keep throwing around 40 times a game, and getting Golloday as a deep target could unlock a top-10 QB finish.
  • According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, David Johnson will miss “a few weeks” or “half the season or more” depending on the severity of his injured wrist. Yikes. There’s no replacing the superstar running back, but Arizona will probably try filling the massive hole with Kerwynn Williams. As for everyone who selected him with the No. 1 pick, life and fantasy football aren’t always fair.
  • After surrendering a trio of interceptions, Carson Palmer has now thrown 17 picks in his last 14 games. The 37-year-old quarterback put a damper on any bounce-back hopes by accruing a mediocre 5.6 yards per pass attempt and one garbage-time touchdown. He’ll get a strong Week 2 matchup with the Colts, but the Lions also made him a popular streamer. Besides, Arizona’s offense won’t be close to the same without Johnson.

Jacksonville Jaguars 29, Houston Texans 7

  • DeAndre Hopkins led everyone with 16 Week 1 targets. Ten of them, including a four-yard touchdown, came after DeShaun Watson replaced Tom Savage to start the second half. Horrendous quarterback play derailed the star wideout throughout 2016, but the rookie passer looks competent enough to repair Hopkins’s stock as a high-end No. 2 option.
  • The Jaguars’ defense accumulated 10 sacks, two quarterback hits, an interception, and returned one of three fumble recoveries for a touchdown. This may say as much about the Texans’ offensive-line woes, but the burgeoning unit has sky-high fantasy upside in the right matchup. A Week 2 tilt against the Titans isn’t ideal, but they then face the Ravens and Jets.
  • Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone made his intentions clear in June, telling ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco that he’d “like to run the ball every play.” He wasn’t kidding. Rookie Leonard Fournette racked up a week-high 26 carries, limiting Blake Bortles to 21 passes in a rare blowout win. They won’t have the lead to execute this old-school blueprint to such an extreme degree, but Marrone wants to use Fournette as a throw-back workhorse a la Ezekiel Elliott last year.
  • They will especially look to run more than anyone after losing Allen Robinson to a torn ACL, as the team confirmed Sunday night. Although Robinson left Sunday’s game early, Allen Hurns led the depleted group with just 42 yards on four targets. Hurns is worth rostering if elevated to No. 1 on the depth chart by default, but don’t shove him into the starting lineup.

Los Angeles Rams 46, Indianapolis Colts 9

  • Firing Jeff Fisher and facing Scott Tolzien goes a long way. Despite Donald not playing, the Rams’ defense swung fantasy matchups with four sacks, three fumble recoveries, two pick-sixes, and a safety. Week 2 offers a better test of how they will fare against an actual NFL-caliber quarterback (Cousins), but remember them when the 49ers come around in Week 3.
  • Perhaps Fisher was that spectacularly bad at engineering a passing offense. Following a terrible rookie year, Jared Goff went 21-of-29 for 306 yards and a passing touchdown to Cooper Kupp, who led the way with 76 receiving yards. Per ESPN Stats & Info, the second-year quarterback went 5-of-5 for 126 yards on throws 15 or more yards downfield. It’s an intriguing start to the Sean McVay era, but everyone in one-quarterback leagues should demand more evidence before jumping on board. Kupp is a more intriguing add as the wideout who should compile catches alongside Sammy Watkins.
  • There’s not much to say about the Colts with Andrew Luck sidelined. Immediately finding Donte Moncrief for a 50-yard strike, Jacoby Brissett showed the potential to keep their skill-position players fantasy relevant. But heed the caution tape wrapped around their offense until Luck returns.

Green Bay Packers 17, Seattle Seahawks 9

  • A draft-day afterthought following a brutal 2016, Randall Cobb topped Green Bay’s wideouts in targets (13), receptions (9) and receiving yards (85). Although it didn’t count for most fantasy players, he re-emerged as a vital option with 260 yards and three touchdowns in three postseason games, so don’t overlook a 27-year-old who tallied 1,287 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 2014. That wouldn’t necessarily spell doom for Davante Adams, but it’d mean everyone overpaid for his 2016 breakout.
  • Ty Montgomery looked more like a traditional running back than ever, setting a career high with 19 carries. He received double-digit handoffs just once last season, but twice in the playoffs, so perhaps he’s a safer No. 2 RB than previously expected. He averaged 2.8 yards per rush against a stout Seahawks defense, but let’s see how he looks in a large role against the Falcons.
  • Who will emerge as Seattle’s top fantasy back? On Sunday, nobody. Russell Wilson led the Seahawks with 40 rushing yards, and rookie Chris Carson posted 30 of his 39 rushing yards on one run. Expected to serve as a lethal pass-catcher, C.J. Prosise didn’t receive a single target. Eddie Lacy, meanwhile, ran for three yards. Carson looked good in limited touches and led the trio in snaps, per Jahnke, so add the seventh-round rookie now in case he enjoys a coming-out-party against the 49ers.

Carolina Panthers 23, San Francisco 49ers 3

  • A Week 1 matchup against San Francisco set expectations sky high for Christian McCaffrey’s debut. As a result, his 85 yards (47 rushing, 38 receiving) left benefactors wanting more. Jonathan Stewart stole some of his thunder with 18 carries and a touchdown reception, but nobody should have anticipated a bell-cow role for the Stanford newcomer. McCaffrey still led the team with seven targets, so the duo can co-exist peacefully.
  • The 20-point win caused a conservative game plan, which led to Kelvin Benjamin and Greg Olsen combining for three catches and 43 yards. It’s more concerning for the inconsistent wideout, who submitted 108 yards and two touchdowns against the 49ers early last year.
  • With apologies to Brian Hoyer enthusiasts, Carlos Hyde and Pierre Garcon are the only relevant 49ers from a fantasy perspective. Hyde matched his personal high with six receptions, which is a highly useful skill for a rusher on a lackluster team. Garcon garnered 10 targets, so he should remain a valuable PPR asset.

Dallas Cowboys 19, New York Giants 3

  • In a game Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t play, Brandon Marshall recorded his only reception in the final seconds of a game already out of hand. Perhaps Eli Manning, who averaged 5.7 yards per attempt, isn’t the significant quarterback upgrade drafters hoped when drafting the veteran wideout.
  • Big Blue’s running game didn’t fare any better. Paul Perkins mustered 16 yards on seven carries, none of which went for more than three yards. Despite adding Marshall and rookie tight end Evan Engram – who caught four of his five targets for 44 yards – the Giants remain overly dependent on big plays from Beckham because of their woeful offensive line. There’s nobody to start next Monday night if OBJ misses another game.
  • Dez Bryant had a better showing than last year’s head-to-head slugfests against Janoris Jenkins, but he still only secured two of nine targets for 43 yards. That gives him four receptions for 61 yards in three games versus Big Blue since they signed Jenkins, so keep that in mind when they meet again in Week 14.


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Andrew Gould is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrewgould4.

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