Let’s go over the good and bad fantasy players from week 1.

The Good:

QBs

  • Jameis Winston – Winston had all of his weapons available to him, throwing completions to 8 different receivers, including 4 touchdowns. He ends the week as the 5th ranked quarterback after this strong performance.
  • Andrew Luck – Luck had an extremely disappointing season last year and wasn’t able to stay healthy. His first week of 2016 saw him post the best fantasy points of any quarterback.
  • Alex Smith – Smith led the largest comeback in Chiefs franchise history as they came back from a score of 21-0.
  • Carson Wentz – the rook played well after missing 3 preseason games because of injury.

RBs

  • Deangelo Williams – as we’ve come to expect, Deangelo has been a beast when filling in for Le’Veon Bell. He is totally irrelevant in fantasy when Bell is playing, but the Steelers should definitely try to use this guy more when Bell is back to give themselves one of the best (if not the best) RB duos in the game.
  • CJ Anderson – He’s really building off of last year’s solid playoff performances and the Broncos have a lot of confidence that CJ can continue to play well throughout the season after they cut Hillman at the end of the preseason.
  • Spencer Ware – Another number two running back benefitting from the star being out week one, after his strong performance there has been talks that the Chiefs may use more of a committee approach when Charles does come back.
  • Melvin Gordon – After not getting into the end zone once in his rookie year, he starts year two with a bang, trying to prove that last year was a fluke and he’s the running back they thought he was when San Diego drafted him in the first round.

WRs

  • Antonio Brown – He’s the best in the game right now and he showed us why on Monday with Big Ben throwing to him early and often to blow out the Redskins. Expect more of the same throughout the season.
  • Saints Receivers – Cooks, Snead, and even the rookie Michael Thomas produced this week in the Saints pass heavy attack. Brees was as good as ever throwing for 400+ and 4tds, and he spread the ball around to all of his receivers.
  • Larry Fitzgerald – Fitz can’t retire with the way he played week one. He caught everything Palmer threw his way, including two touchdowns.
  • Jordan Matthews – Matthews was forgotten week one even after having a good year last year. A rookie quarterback and a new coach was thought to bring his production down, but we saw the exact opposite and Matthews had an awesome game on Sunday.

TEs

  • Jack Doyle – Who’s this guy? Just the number one tight end in fantasy right now with three catches and two touchdowns in week one. Can he keep playing at a high level? We’ll see.
  • Gronk – Gronk didn’t play this week but still benefitted. Why? Because Garappolo showed he could sling the ball around against a good defense and Bennett showed that he’s going to be used as more of a blocking tight end, leaving Gronk still as the clear #1 in that New England offense.
  • Jason Witten – We’ve seen in the past that Witten doesn’t always do well when any quarterback not named Romo is playing. This year though, eve though Romo is out, Dak has shown that he wants to rely on the old man when he’s starting to feel pressure.
  • Jesse James – With the presumed starter green out with an injury, James was able to step up and saw a good share of targets on a team that has a ton of offensive weapons to work with.

 

The Bad:

QBs

  • Russell Wilson – Was it the offensive line? An injury? Or was he just bad? We’ll see if he can bounce back in week 2.
  • Tyrod Taylor – Tyrod didn’t look comfortable in the pocket at all last week against the Ravens, and they put the pressure on him and the o-line as the Bills put up less than 150 yards through the air.
  • Case Keenum – The L.A. Rams starting quarterback looked bad. The defense knew they only needed to stop the run to win, and that’s what they did. Keenum can’t win with his arm, and the 49ers knew that.
  • Jared Goff – With how badly Keenum looked this week, it makes you wonder how bad Goff is considering he was the number one overall pick in the draft.

RBs

  • Todd Gurley – Gurley was the focus of the defense, and neither his quarterback or his line could help him get anything on the ground. The offense needs to open up for him to get going, but will it happen?
  • Adrian Peterson – AP was considered the top running back in the draft, but didn’t produce like one. He’ll be facing a tough Green Bay defense in week 2 but we’ll see how he does.
  • Devonta Freeman – Freeman really struggled in week one, and even worse for him, Coleman looked really good. Are they going to share the workload moving forward? That would really be bad for his fantasy outlook this season.
  • Thomas Rawls – Rawls was slowed down by injuries, and split the carries week one with Christine Michael. Michael started the game and had more touches and total yards. Will this trend continue or will Rawls become the workhorse back he was drafted as?

WRs

  • Demaryius Thomas – D Thomas was unlucky enough to play against a stout Panthers defense week one, and having a inexperienced quarterback didn’t help his case.
  • Sammy Watkins – Sammy wasn’t able to produce WR1 numbers week one with the entire offense falling on their face against an improved Baltimore defense. His foot seemed to bother him after the game so he may see reduced work on a short week.
  • Steve Smith Sr – The Ravens also didn’t have a great offensive game as the Buffalo defense held the opposing wide receivers in check throughout the game. Look for Smith to have a bounce back week.
  • Dez Bryant – Dez dropped the ball in the endzone. Again. He only caught one ball on Sunday for eight yards, which was disappointing to say the least for people who picked him in the first or second rounds. Can Dak get him the ball or is Dez destined for another disappointing year.

TEs

  • Coby Fleener – Brees threw for 400+ yards and 4 touchdowns, but Fleener ended with one catch for six yards, which nobody would’ve seen coming. Fleener was expected to jump into the role that Graham left two years ago when he was traded, but apparently the connection between Coby and Drew isn’t quite there yet.
  • Gary Barnidge – Gary put up 0 points with RGIII under center. RGIII was injured however, which could be very beneficial to Barnidge who had a career year last year with McCown throwing him the ball.
  • Martellus Bennett – Starting the game with Gronk out, Bennett wasn’t able to get very much production out of an offense that features the tight end usually. It doesn’t look like he’ll be able to replicate Gronk’s numbers and will mainly be used as a blocking tight end.
  • Jimmy Graham – Jimmy Graham only had one catch on one target. Luke Willson saw about 80 percent of the snaps in week 1 with Jimmy at 20. Seattle traded for him last year and haven’t figured out how tight ends work yet apparently.