The Week in Review: Week 1

13 Sep The Week in Review: Week 1

Posted at 09:40h in Articles, Fantasy Football, Redraft by
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The Week in Review: Week 1

Sunday’s Games

I forgot how great it felt to sit in front of your TV screen for 10+ straight hours on a Sunday. Yesterday morning we all woke up with a sense of excitement that has been missing for far too long. From last-minute start/sit decisions prior to kickoff to making absurd overreactions after one drive, yesterday was a beautiful day that we will get to replicate for 17 more weeks. In this article, I will highlight the players I liked, disliked and my reactions to your overreaction. Welcome to The Week in Review: Week 1

Things I Liked

Kyler Murray looks like he’s taking that desired next step so far this season. He looked like Houdini in the pocket, making several defenders miss as he slipped through tackle after tackle. His chemistry with DeAndre Hopkins already looked improved in this game, connecting for 83 yards and two of Murray’s four touchdowns on the day. 

If you had any doubt at all after last year, Christian McCaffrey is still the most valuable player in fantasy football. He had 98 yards on the ground on 21 carries and added 89 yards through the air on 9 catches. He didn’t even need to score a touchdown to have an absolutely monster day. Don’t worry, those touchdowns are coming.

It’s almost pointless to talk about at this point but the Chiefs’ offense looks lethal once again. Mahomes looked to be in mid-season form hitting Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce all over the field all afternoon. 

Call him inconsistent all you want, but Tyler Lockett had himself a week. Russell Wilson was cooking in this game connecting with Lockett for 100 yards and 2 TDs. After a slow first half, D.K. Metcalf ended up with a productive fantasy statline as well. 

Adam Thielen looks to be exceeding expectations like he has done every season of his career. If you drafted him this year, congratulations. It looks like you once again got an absolute steal. He finished the game with 9 receptions for 89 yards and 2 TDs. The man is simply a magnet in the end zone. 

The whole Eagles’ offense looked magnificent vs. Atlanta. The opposition could not have been better for Jalen Hurts but he proved to be more than just a rushing-quarterback, supporting big games from DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor and Dallas Goedert. Miles Sanders had a great showing as well but I am more skeptical of his consistency moving forward. 

I am far from a Jared Goff-truther, but I have been saying all offseason, that he is solid enough to support fantasy assets. The one I’ve been most excited for is T.J. Hockenson and man, did he have himself a day. I wrote in my 5 Bold Predictions article how I felt a 1,000 yard/ TE4 fantasy season was in the realm of possibilities and this was an impressive start to a hopefully lucrative season. D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams were both very productive in this game as well. It was surprising, yet encouraging, to see the two be so successful against a stout San Francisco defense. 

Deebo Samuel was amazing today. It is remarkable how special this guy can be when he is healthy. He finished the game with 9 catches on 12 targets for 189 yards and a TD. Video game numbers. 

Raise your hand if you doubted Joe Mixon heading into this season? I bet there’s a lot less people raising their hands now. He received a ludicrous amount of work in this game, totaling 29 carries for 127 yards and a TD. This can very well be the year he puts it all together. Pat yourself on the back if you took the “risk” on draft day because the juice looks to be worth the squeeze on this one.

The Sunday night game did not disappoint in terms of fantasy production. Sure it was not the most entertaining or competitive game, but if you had some of the fantasy players in your lineup, odds are you went to sleep happy. The players from this game I was most impressed with were Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, David Montgomery, Tyler Higbee and Van Jefferson.

Stinkers

Najee Harris was rather unimpressive in his first career start. Do not freak out, things are about to get a whole better for the stud RB. Although, it wasn’t his best game, he still received 100% of the team’s carries, which is nothing to scoff at for a rookie. 

James Robinson had a strange, strange game. On paper, the matchup against Houston could not have looked more appetizing. It was discouraging to see him only receive five carries in this game, but the game script did not provide any favors, either. Jacksonville surprisingly found themselves down big early in this game after several key turnovers. It will be interesting to see how they come out in the next game. 

Derrick Henry, Aaron Jones and Saquon Barkley all had quiet games. I am not one bit concerned about any of them moving forward. 

Brandon Aiyuk put up a pretty surprising goose egg. The assumption is that this performance was due to a lingering hamstring injury. It would be admirable to give the young, stud receiver a pass on this showing and give him a clean slate moving forward. 

Mike Gesicki produced a big, fat zero as well. This is a performance that I am a bit more concerned about. I could see Gesicki being outshined by the Dolphins’ new shiny toys. There are a lot of receivers to target in this offense and due to this, I think Gesicki might get the short-end of the stick more times than not. 

Instant Reactions:

That was not as fun to write about as the first part. Although there are many things from yesterday’s games that we liked and disliked, the most imperative aspect to fixate on in Week 1 is not overreacting. Here is my reaction/advice to a few overreactions that I have seen after this week’s games: 

1) Najee Harris is not “trash”. As stated previously, there is a solid chance that we just witnessed the worst start of his season. He will make those who chose to draft him very happy sooner rather than later. 
2) Ezekiel Elliott will be just fine moving forward. Blame it on the absence of OG Zack Martin or negative game script but a great game was just not in the cards for Zeke in this one.
3) The same goes for Derrick Henry.
4) The Packers weapons will be just fine. Their track record does not need further explanation. 
5) Do not drop Trey Sermon. Seems crazy, but I have seen many teams already considering it.
6) Be patient with Kyle Pitts. Being a rookie is difficult enough but a rookie tight end has a lot to adjust to. He might get off to a slow start but it is a marathon with him, not a sprint.
7) Do not give up on Brandon Aiyuk. This was almost definitely his worst performance of the season. 
8) Do not put your whole team on the trading block after one loss. The fantasy football season is quite long and you will have more than enough time to make up for a Week 1 loss. 

Here’s a potential overreaction from me: we should have been drafting Nick Chubb where we were drafting Derrick Henry. With that being said, I think Henry is going to be just fine this season but Chubb is entering his prime and is an absolute bowling ball when he gets a head of steam. If he gets a carry inside the 10-yard line you can pretty much book it for six points.

Whether you won or lost in your Week 1 matchup, I think we can all agree how glorious it feels to have NFL Sundays back in our lives. We have not seen the sunlight for 24 hours, our significant others are mad at us because of the lack of attention we have provided and we all probably have to catch up on sleep, but it was well worth it. Although there is no feeling quite like the first Sunday of the season, it is pretty damn awesome that we have a whole new slate of games to look forward to next week.