What a way to kick off the NFL season.
And since this is a fantasy site, let’s focus on hits, misses, and what
we can learn from Thursday night:
Cam Newton did a little better than I expected against a tough Broncos
D, racking up 20 points in standard-scoring leagues. That he did so much damage despite collecting
under 250 total yards is remarkable. He
was my preseason #1 QB (no surprise), and he’ll remain a good-to-dominant
weekly starter going forward.
Trevor Siemian was lacking, as expected. I wrote about him a few days ago—that his ascension
to the starting QB job would undercut Demaryius Thomas’s and Emmanuel Sanders’
fantasy upside. He’ll be an adequate
game manager at best, and will lose his job in 2-3 weeks at worst.
As subscribers to my preseason top 300 rankings know, C.J. Anderson was
my 6th-ranked fantasy RB (compared to an RB average draft position
of 13th). He looked dominant,
while backup Devontae Booker lost a fumble on three carries. My mistake was not thinking C.J. would dominate
this week; I tagged him as a Week 1 RB2, behind guys like Spencer Ware and
Jeremy Hill. The good news is that those
who joined me in foreseeing a rebound season (so far) are looking good at their
RB1/2 slot.
Jonathan Stewart was ineffective as expected. I viewed him as an unstartable RB3/4 heading
into this week and tagged him as one of the most overrated top 30 RBs in
fantasy. Expect a few good games and
enough mediocre games to warrant occasional benchings in 10-12 team leagues—that
is, if the oft-injured RB is able to stay healthy.
Skimming through WRs, you already know my views on DT and Sanders. I claimed the former wouldn’t be a top 25 WR
(despite his WR-16 ADP), while the latter was my 40th—that’s right,
40th—ranked WR (despite his WR-29 ADP). Surely they’ll each have some good games this
season. But those who rejected their
universal value are (so far) looking good.
On the other side of the ball, my thoughts on Kelvin Benjamin hit,
while my views on Devin Funchess missed—a very big miss. Funchess played one less snap than Corey
Brown, suggesting I was very off in believing the second-year receiver would be
strong out of the gate.
Greg Olsen was great from a football perspective (seven catches for 73
yards), but fantasy managers want more out of the universal top 3 TE. He was outside my top 5 for a reason: Cam has
more good options than ever before, meaning Olsen will be a hit-or-miss TE1 all
year.
Jumping quickly into a new segment called “Free Agent Friday.” Which little-owned (based on ESPN leagues,
though they generally translate across all leagues) players should be on your waiver
/ free agent acquisition radar?
Marcus Wheaton (40% unowned) should be Pittsburgh’s #2 receiver all
year. While he’s underperformed in the
past, he’s worth a flier in most leagues if you want a WR3-upside guy.
Eli Rogers (88% unowned) has similar upside to Wheaton, but is more of
a dart throw based on limited experience, and the fact that Sammie Coates could
re-emerge in the slot sometime this season.
Jerick McKinnon (69% unowned) is one of the top RB handcuffs out
there. In any league where you can
afford a non-startable stash, stash him.
Charles Sims (31% unowned) enjoyed many RB2/3 weeks last season in
standard leagues—and much better than that in PPR. Similar to McKinnon, but with a more
immediate impact.
Finally, Ryan Tannehill. 76%
unowned? I realize his first two games
will be tough. But I remain bullish on a
guy who posted QB1 numbers in two of the past three seasons.