Fantasy Football Week 1: Don’t Overreact to These Players

Week 1 of the NFL season is over and boy was it a fun one! That also means 1 week of fantasy football is in the books and week 2 is fast approaching. To help prepare you for week 2 and the remainder of the season, we’re looking at the players you should not overreact to if they had a poor start to your season and which players you should look at moving on from.

Players You Should Not Overreact to:

Najee Harris – The Steelers went up against the Bills. This game was back and forth to the wire. The Steelers came out on top, but the key thing we saw was the Steelers offensive line did look better. They also gave Harris handoffs when they were in the red zone which he was only a matter of yards short of getting in the end zone. Harris should bounce back when the Steelers have an easier matchup.

Marquez Callaway – The Saints absolutely demolished the Packers with a final score of 38-3. One would think that of the 38 points, Marquez Callaway would at least have one of those scores or be a factor inputting to that point. This was not the case, but to Callaway’s credit, Winston only threw the ball 20 times with 5 of those throws being touchdowns. Winston looks legit and Callaway is a top option on this offense until Michael Thomas returns. Callaway is worth a roster spot still. 

Russell Gage and Kyle Pitts – This was not a pretty game for the Falcons from start to finish. Gage ended up with a big goose egg and Pitts didn’t have the start to his pro career that he was looking for. The Falcons are in a weird spot in the franchise, but we know they’ll revert back to their pass-heavy offense sooner than later which is why we aren’t worried about either. 

Derrick Henry – The Titans just had a bad offensive showing in this game and Kyler Murray looked like a MVP candidate. The Titans are adjusting with the loss of Corey Davis and Jonnu Smith with Julio filling the gap for the 2. Derrick Henry is a workhorse and didn’t get as many carries as he’s used to in week 1. 

Baker Mayfield – The Browns looked good against the Chiefs and surprisingly held a lead for a significant portion of the game until their 4th quarter collapse. They played that well even with top receiver Odell Beckham Jr. not playing. Baker put up the yards, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt were just the ones who got the ball in the endzone. We know the Browns are going to lean heavily on their two top running backs and this could lead to potential short routes to these two that give Baker touchdowns and them as well in the process. 

Players You Need to React To:

James Robinson – If you were wondering where Robinson was in the first half, we were too. The Urban Meyer experiment does not look good. Trevor Lawrence was handed his first regular season loss of his career – high school, collegiate, and professional in his pro debut. Carlos Hyde had more touches than Robinson and we don’t know why when Robinson just had the season he had. This is due to poor coaching to not trust Robinson for fantasy. 

Ronald Jones II – Ronald Jones failed to rush for 1,000 yards last season and does not look like he’ll come close to that this season. The Buccaneers are going pass heavy with Antonio Brown, Rob Grownkoski, Chris Godwin, and Mike Evans as phenomenal options for Brady to have. The Buccaneers also added Giovanni Bernard who will take away a chunk of time from both Jones and Fournette as Bernard is the best receiving back of the 3. Fournette and Jones will split starting duties which limits both of their productions, but we give the edge to Fournette for the season as Jones has already started with his fumble woes. 

Tyler Boyd – Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase picked up right where they left off at LSU with a strong connection in week 1 against the Vikings. Chase looked like he was the favorite target of Burrow with Tee Higgins even being shoved aside. Higgins falls to number 2 and Boyd gets the short end of the stick as Burrow opts for the younger wideouts. 

Robert Tonyan – That was by far one of the worst performances we’ve ever seen from the Packers and Aaron Rodgers in his entire career. It was a bloodbath from start to finish as they lost 38-3. Jordan Love was able to get some action in as Rodgers got benched. We know Davante Adams and Aaron Jones will still find some success regardless of quarterback, but we can’t say the same for Tonyan. We think he’ll see one of the biggest impacts in fantasy value with Rodgers poor play or Love starting. 

Mecole Hardman – With the Chiefs parting ways with both Sammy Watkins and Le’Veon Bell, this was the perfect opportunity for Hardman to get the touches that they had and become a bigger part of the offense. Unfortunately that did not appear to be the case in week 1 as Kelce, Hill, and CEH are putting more on their plate as they dominate the Chiefs offense. Hardman was essentially a non-factor.