The first fantasy football weekend has come and gone, featuring no shortage of notable performances worth diving into to determine rest-of-season value.
While you never want to overreact to Week 1, it’s important not to underreact, either. The NFL season is a sprint, not a marathon, where player values can fluctuate quite often. Getting ahead of market perception can be a great way to trade away a depreciating asset before it’s too late.
That’s where the panic meter comes in. On this page, we’ll take a look at high-priced players who struggled in their first games. Find out which players you should panic about.
- Waiver Wire Pickups
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football Panic Meter: Week 1
Nico Collins (WR – HOU)
Nico Collins got off to a poor start to the season, catching three of his five targets for 25 yards in the Texans’ 14-9 loss to the Rams. Now, obviously, you’re not trading your late-first/early-second-round pick for 80 cents of the dollar, but there’s a key factor to point out here.
The Texans’ offensive line is an absolute disaster. C.J. Stroud was constantly under duress against an imposing Rams pass rush, which made it difficult to find Collins downfield.
Expect the team to figure it out as the season progresses — at least to a point where they can manage the pass protection issues a bit better — but it’s hard to see a complete fix.
I’m not panicking on Collins to the point where I’m downgrading his value, but if you could swap him for another wideout like Brian Thomas Jr. or Malik Nabers, I’d make the move. At least Thomas doesn’t have to deal with an abysmal offensive line, while Nabers likely has Jaxson Dart coming soon.
Verdict: 3 out of 10 on the Panic Meter
Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR – DET)
The early results for the Lions’ offense without Ben Johnson aren’t good, as the Packers completely shut them down. This resulted in a poor outing from Amon-Ra St. Brown, where he hauled in four out of six targets for 45 yards.
Better days are ahead for the Lions, but we have to acknowledge that there could be growing pains here.
As with Collins, expect the Lions’ offense to improve as the season goes along, but it’s hard to view this as a potential ceiling year for St. Brown given the circumstances.
I’m slightly more concerned with St. Brown compared to Collins because there are more mouths to feed in this offense, so any downgrade in efficiency could hurt his value. Since you paid a late-first/early-second-round pick to acquire St. Brown, you may be underwhelmed this year. I’d look to move St. Brown for Jaxon Smith-Njigba and another piece, perhaps Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
Verdict: 5 out of 10 on the Panic Meter
A.J. Brown (WR – PHI)
A.J. Brown put up a dud in Week 1, catching his lone target for eight yards. He was clearly impacted by his hamstring injury.
However, it’s worrisome that the Eagles still went extremely run-heavy despite playing in a neutral game script (tied or within seven points) for the entire game.
You also can’t be impressed with new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who ran a vanilla offense with a lot less motion compared to his predecessor, Kellen Moore.
Brown has too much of a track record to sell low on, but it’s hard to see a lot of upside on this second-rounder in fantasy given his team context. As with St. Brown, I’d try to use Brown’s big name to trade him for Jaxon Smith-Njigba and another key piece.
Verdict: 6 out of 10 on the Panic Meter
Kenneth Walker (RB – SEA)
Kenneth Walker split carries with Zach Charbonnet, so the Seahawks ended up doing what they said they would. (I had my doubts, but I can’t ignore this now.)
We all know Charbonnet is a capable back who deserved more playing time, so the fact it finally happened is quite concerning, especially since Walker had a third- or fourth-round average draft position (ADP).
You’re likely looking at an injury-prone back in a committee all year for the rest of the season.
While it’s not a good idea to sell low on Walker, I’m still panicking on him for the remainder of the year. If you want to make a trade, maybe you can try to use Walker’s bigger name to get Travis Etienne (who was pretty much a bell-cow back for the Jaguars in Week 1) and another piece, maybe a handcuff like Ollie Gordon.
Verdict: 8 out of 10 on the Panic Meter
Isiah Pacheco (RB – KC)
Isiah Pacheco had only five carries in the Chiefs’ loss on Friday. Kareem Hunt came in on short-yardage plays and long-distance downs. Brashard Smith was also mixed in at times.
In Pacheco, we have a committee back without red-zone carries, who comes off the field on passing downs.
I advised being patient with Pacheco, and I maintain that stance. But I’d be lying if I wasn’t panicking about him.
You have to downgrade Pacheco based on what we saw on Friday. Personally, in leagues where I have him, I’m holding. His value is rock bottom right now. There’s no point looking for a trade because no one is high on him. Hopefully, the Chiefs can give their more efficient runner some more touches.
Verdict: 9 out of 10 on the Panic Meter
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn
