NFL Preseason Takeaways: D’Andre Swift, Eric Gray, Braelon Allen (Fantasy Football)

“It’s only the preseason.”

Sure, it can be foolish to make sweeping generalizations based on games that mean nothing in the standings. But savvy fantasy football managers know that preseason games often yield helpful clues about what to expect when the real games begin in September.

Here are what I believe to be the most important fantasy football takeaways from the first week of the NFL exhibition season. Let’s go position by position.

Fantasy Football Draft Advice: NFL Preseason Takeaways

Running Back

Time to put a flashing yellow light next to D’Andre Swift‘s name. The Bears’ RB usage in their first exhibition contest was … curious. Swift took the first offensive snap for the Bears, was subbed out for Khalil Herbert on the second, returned later in the series and gained 42 yards on a screen pass, then didn’t play again. Swift played two snaps, and it was Travis Homer who took the first third-down snap of Chicago’s first drive. (It’s worth noting that Homer played for new Bears OC Shane Waldron in Seattle.) Herbert played 14 snaps with the starters. Roschon Johnson has been banged up and didn’t play. I suspect I’ll be moving Swift around in my rankings in the coming weeks. After seeing his strange usage in this game, I dropped him from RB23 to RB28.

Eric Gray had a pair of TD runs in the Giants’ preseason game against the Lions, including a 48-yard, one-cut beauty, but rookie RB Tyrone Tracy took 11 snaps with the starters, while Gray took only two. Tracy is an interesting late-round flyer.

The battle for the Jets’ No. 2 RB role appears to be over already. Rookie Braelon Allen played all seven snaps with QB Tyrod Taylor (who started in place of Aaron Rodgers) and had 54 rushing yards on only six carries. If you’re hell-bent on handcuffing Breece Hall, Allen is your guy.