Fantasy Football Preseason Fallout – Week 1

Football is finally back and a ton of storylines and narratives unfolded these past few days. We’re here to tell you what you need to know in our Fantasy Football Preseason Fallout for Week 1!

We finally saw a nice slate of NFL games that had plenty of ramifications for fantasy football drafts that are right around the corner! It’s so good to have football back and it’s important not to overreact to anything, especially box scores. Those can be very misleading at some points regardless of whether they’re good or bad. I wouldn’t pretend that I was able to watch every single snap. This article is about impressions from what we did see and rad afterwards. It’s more important to see who’s playing with the first string players as we move along and what roles they have on the offense.

Still, there were plenty of impressions to take from Week 1 so let’s jump in to just some quick hitting thoughts from each team. Since this is just the preseason, we’re going to have a little fun with everything. In the vein of Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and his People’s Eyebrow from back in his wrestling days, each team is going to get an Eyebrow Rating. It’s a scale of 1-5, with 1 Fantasy Eyebrow being the least and nothing super important came from it and 5 Fantasy Eyebrows meaning this was a big story.

Fantasy Football Preseason Fallout – Week 1 – AFC NORTH

Cleveland Browns – There is going to be a ton of fantasy goodness in Cleveland, just as I’ve been saying all offseason. If you’re just saying “well, it’s the Browns” you might be missing out. The quarterbacks looked excellent and Tyrod Taylor is a great target for any draft, but especially in 2QB leagues. He may not start the whole season but rookie Baker Mayfield showed very well.

He hung in the pocket to make a touchdown pass to tight end David Njoku(who’s a TE1 this year) and hooked up with Antonio Callaway later on. If you want to talk accuracy, that’s a prime example. He couldn’t have put the ball in a better spot if he had handed it off. Some folks are panicking over Nick Chubb, who had 15 yards on 11 carries. Chubb was also credited with 26 yards after contact, so that tells you how his offensive line played. The offensive future is bright, along with the present. Don’t miss out because of the stink of Cleveland.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 4, this offense is going to be good. They have a lot of talent, regardless of who the quarterback is. Cleveland is saying it will be Taylor, which I believe as long as they stay competitive.

Pittsburgh Steelers – There wasn’t a lot to see here and frankly, the Steelers are one of the teams where there’s very little questions about the offense. The positions are mostly set but two names to know are running back James Connor and wide receiver James Washington. If star running back Le’veon Bell gets hurt or doesn’t show up for the season, it appeared that Connor would shoulder the bulk of the carries. He saw some of the first string for the Eagles and looked decisive and full steam ahead. If Antonio Brown or Juju Smith-Schuster were to get hurt, Washington would be a vital waiver wire add. If the league is deep enough, he warrants a bench spot because his deep ball skills were already on display. It was also nice to see Smith-Schuster rip off a long touchdown as well.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, it’s just nice to know the backups here because they could be league winners off the waiver wire if things break certain ways.

Cincinnati Bengals – The biggest story from this game was the Joe Mixon touchdown that came in spectacular fashion. I’ve been basically anti-Mixon all offseason because I think the price is pretty steep in the draft for a running back that still has Gio Bernard there and wasn’t the most efficient last season. However, if the Bengals are going to line him up wide and give him reception opportunities like a receiver, that does help raise the floor. The Bengals offense ran the fewest amount of plays we had seen in years last season. They almost have to get better and quarterback Andy Dalton could be valuable in 2QB leagues this year.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 3, I’m trying to be open minded on Mixon. I still think you’re drafting him at his ceiling, but plays like his touchdown do ease my concerns a little bit. I want to see more the next couple of games.

Baltimore Ravens – I don’t think Joe Flacco‘s job is in any danger at the moment as rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson continues to be a work in progress as an actual passer. When he does take the job, he’s likely a top 10 fantasy quarterback for this exact reason.

He’s an insane athlete that is going to wreak havoc on defenses with the ball in his hands. Rushing from the quarterback position is the cheat code of fantasy football and Jackson has it in spades. Rookie tight end Hayden Hurst has been getting buzz as a sleeper and it does make sense. They finished seventh in tight end targets in 2017. Just keep in mind Baltimore added Michael Crabtree and John Brown to their receiving corps. Hurst will have to show a little more than his current 6.5 yards per reception to get me too excited.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, because I’m a Jackson fan and can’t wait to see him in a real game. I just don’t think that’s imminent.

Fantasy Football Preseason Fallout – Week 1 – AFC East

New England Patriots – There had been some noise about receiver Riley McCarron possibly filling in for Julian Edelman during the first four games of the season with Edelman’s suspension. If that’s the case, coach Bill Belichick is keeping it under wraps. McCarron saw just two targets through the game. I think one of Mike Gillislee or Jeremy Hill could have some value as a late target but they both carried the ball over 10 times in this one. It’s a little tough to tell who’s in the goal line/short yardage hammer role.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 1, not much to see here

New York Jets – The rookie class of quarterbacks have looked pretty good in a very tiny sample size so far. Sam Darnold got a good chunk of the game and completed 13 passes and threw a touchdown with no picks. It’s not a perfect comparison, but Josh McCown finished as the QB21 last year in 13 games. If Darnold starts from Week 1, would a top 15 finish be out of the question? The touchdown was a veteran style play, moving the pocket and putting the ball where only his receiver would get it.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1028082337186115584

The biggest note to come out of this one past Darnold possibly being a starter was running back Bilal Powell got a lot of the work with the first team. The stat line looks gross, but if he’s getting playing time over Isaiah Crowell, the Crow is being overdrafted as a top 90 player. That’s something that we have to keep our eyes on moving forward. Powell is dirt cheap right now but that could change.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 3, there is value to be had even on the Jets if we have a clear idea of the roles of the running backs and Darnold.

Miami Dolphins – We were a few inches away from rookie tight end Mike Gesicki shooting up the board ADP-wise. He just missed having a spectacular touchdown catch(and a better throw should have been an easy touchdown) and he’s getting all sorts of buzz in camp. I’m really warming up to him as a tight end sleeper hearing that he and starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill are gaining chemistry. There’s also this –

The other big takeaway for me is the running back committee is going to be very frustrating. Kenyan Drake owners are going to curse Frank Gore and Kalen Ballage all season long. I’m all the way out on that three-headed monster. Ballage wasn’t perfect but he showed some flashes. All three guys should get a share.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 3, I’m falling in love with the cheap Dolphins passing game. They’re going to need it a lot this year.

Buffalo Bills – It was very popular to make fun of Josh Allen after he had one of the worst looking plays we’ve seen since the infamous Mark Sanchez Butt Fumble but even as an Allen detractor, I’m here to say he didn’t look too bad in his first NFL action. I think it was a little unfair to see people piling on him from that play. First, it’s 4th and 3. He can’t throw the ball away or he gets crushed for not having awareness. He’s got a defender in his face immediately. The end result was awful but he’s trying to make a play in a bad situation. It was overblown. The Twitter account QB Film Room has all of his throws if you want to look, but there were throws that very few QB’s in football can make. Allen also completed screen passes and even threw a couple of balls with some touch on it. I wasn’t the only one who thought he played reasonably well, even with the warts.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, the Bills offense is still going to struggle this season.

Fantasy Football Preseason Fallout – Week 1 – AFC West

Kansas City Chiefs – This was a pretty standard preseason effort with not much to be gleaned from it. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw seven passes but didn’t flash. That’s not a criticism, it’s just that nothing major happened. This early in the preseason, that’s not the worst thing ever.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 1, nothing to see here yet. I’m hoping we can see if Tyreek Hill or Sammy Watkins gets more of the targets at some point before the season starts.

San Diego Chargers – The Chargers drafted a running back named Justin Jackson and he was gaining some traction among some but I think that train might be dead at the station. He’s not been practicing lately with an injury and the Chargers have a running back behind star Melvin Gordon that can do this –

https://twitter.com/Chargers/status/1028481832344465408

Ekeler averaged 5.5 yards on 47 carries and ripped off 10.3 yards per reception on 27 catches last year. He’s got some talent and he’s the name to know other than Gordon in this backfield. He could be a deep league flex option and if Gordon does get hurt, Ekeler should see about 12-15 touches a game. Also, don’t forget about second year receiver Mike Williams. He could be in for a bigger role with tight end Hunter Henry lost for the season and is way underdrafted as the 128th player overall.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, but I was an Ekeler fan before this.

Denver Broncos – Not to be a jerk to running back Devontae Booker, but he has no chance at being the starter. Even if the Broncos want to make rookie Royce Freeman “earn” the starting gig, he’s the most talented player in the running back corps. Freeman is going in the fifth round right now in .5 PPR leagues but that’s going to keep jumping up if he’s making runs like this. If you start heavy on wide receivers, Freeman might be a really great option as you catch up on running backs.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 3, they won’t be able to hold Freeman down as a backup for long.

Oakland Raiders – Coach Jon Gruden has taken quite a bit of (deserved) flack for some of his comments about how he’s going to run the team this year. No matter what, I’m begging Gruden to fed Beast Mode as much as he can handle. Marshawn Lynch is still nimble and he’s got the wheels to make things happen.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1028114248205983745

The run got called back but that doesn’t change what Lynch did. The veteran finished as the RB20 in half point leagues last year on 207 carries, needing the first few weeks to get back into football shape. He’s going behind Tarik Cohen, Tevin Coleman and Marlon Mack. Much like Freeman, he’s a perfect target for a receiver heavy team.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, it would be more if we knew that Gruden wouldn’t try to shoehorn Doug Martin into the mix.

Fantasy Football Preseason Fallout – Week 1 – AFC South

Indianpolis Colts – A lot of football fans have to be ecstatic to see quarterback Andrew Luck back in action and this sums it up –

He didn’t do anything overwhelming but he took a hit and got back up. Indy isn’t a good team and they’re going to need Luck to play at a very high level. He might come right back and finish as a top five quarterback this season.

It wasn’t a good night for the running backs. Marlon Mack hurt his hamstring and could be out for a couple weeks. In his absence, the job is up for grabs. Robert Turbin is suspended the first four games. Nyheim Hines put the ball on the ground twice. If rookie Jordan Wilkins can’t seize the job, we could be looking at another shot of the enigma that is Christine Michael.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 3, it was great to see Luck back and we had some shifts in the backfield.

Houston Texans – We may want to keep an eye on rookie tight end Jordan Atkins. He caught two touchdowns in this game and the Texans need a reliable receiving threat from that position. He’s a big body of 6’5″ and 250 pounds that could really prove difficult to cover in the passing game next to DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller. It was pretty quiet other than that. Quarterback Deshaun Watson only threw one pass.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, Atkins is mildly intriguing. I want to see hime with the full first team offense before we go crazy.

Jacksonville Jaguars – In the past three seasons, quarterback Blake Bortles has finished as the QB4, QB9 and QB13. Right now on fantasyfootballcalculator.com he is the QB27 in drafts, going behind Nick Foles, Baker Mayfield and Case Keenum. Nick Foles might not even be a starter this year if Carson Went is ready to roll. Even if Foles starts six weeks, his time is limited. nobody is a threat to Bortles. There’s just no reason for it and he even fell into the end zone for a rushing touchdown. If Jacksonville calls that in the preseason, they’ll happily call it in the regular season. We didn’t get to see many hints about the receiving corps yet. If Leonard Fournette gets hurt again, Jacksonville is in good hands with T.J. Yeldon and Corey Grant.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, Bortles has always been undervalued because everyone uses him as fodder for jokes in real life.

Tennessee Titans – Nothing much happened in the game but fans of second year receiver Corey Davis have to start to be growing a little concerned. He’s been in and out of practice again this season and he needs the reps to hone his game in a new offense. File away the name Taywan Taylor as a sleeper receiver. Davis is in and out at the moment and veteran Rishard Matthews has had a mysterious injury for basically all of training camp.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, Taylor is just a name to know right now

Fantasy Football Preseason Fallout – Week 1 – NFC North

Minnesota Vikings – Receiver Stefon Diggs is one of my favorite players in the NFL that doesn’t wear the Steelers uniform. I’m biased, but pairing him with quarterback Kirk Cousins is going to be a fantasy gold mine if Diggs can stay healthy.

I had my own fantasy site a couple of seasons ago and I made the comparison of Diggs and Steelers wideout Antonio Brown. Some of their measurable are startlingly similar in some respects and Diggs is a serious route technician.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1028449882795696129

I’m taking Diggs over teammate Adam Thielen every single draft. Even though the Vikings could be winning late in quite a few games this year, they have to score points to get there. It could be the year Diggs puts everything together.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 1, it’s just nice to see Cousins and Diggs on the same page early.

Green Bay Packers – Running back Jamaal Williams is going to try to stake his claim to the number one role in the offense. He caught a touchdown pass and he could be a very valuable fantasy asset this season. The Packers backfield is unsettled and Williams won’t see 70 percent or more of the carries. However, he’s being drafted in the eighth round currently. I’ll take my chances on that since Aaron Jones is suspended for two weeks and may be on the outside looking in, especially if the coaches still prefer Williams in pass protection.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, properly deciphering the puzzle of the Green Bay running backs could be huge for this upcoming season.

Detroit Lions – Speaking of backfields that we’re hoping for clarity on, rookie Kerryon Johnson did his best to make a case for being the main running back for the Lions this year. LeGarrette Blount will likely still be involved in short yardage situations and goal line downs, but Johnson tacked on four receptions. He’s the more talented all-around back, and will hopefully earn a good chunk of the carries by the starter of the season. He’s in the sixth round now but could get up to the early fifth shortly. Blount is better and more efficient than he’s given credit for by some but this could be Johnson’s backfield early in the year.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 3, Johnson flashed everything fans could have wanted to see. Now let’s see how he fits on the first string offense.

Chicago Bears – If you drafted Trey Burton to be your starting tight end, you’re going to spend some time this year cursing at Adam Shaheen. He’s the tight end that the John Fox regime drafted last year. He’s also a mountain of a man that is agile and can make some plays in the passing game. From Warren Sharp, he illustrates why double tight end sets are important to the Chicago offense.I would tend to put Burton on the back end of the TE1 tier as opposed to the front end that I was thinking earlier in the offseason. It’s going to be fun seeing Chicago run a modern offense with some of the talent they’ve added. Also, there were reports of running back Jordan Howard catching 200-300 balls from a JUGS machine after practice. If he improves in the passing game, the sky really is the limit.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 3, I underestimated the role Shaheen might wind up with in the offense. We still need to see the whole group together before huge judgements are made.

Fantasy Football Preseason Fallout – Week 1 – NFC EAST

New York Giants – If you’re on Twitter, you probably felt the quake that went through the fantasy football community when rookie running back Saquon Barkley touched the ball for the first time in an NFL game.Barkley only managed four yards on three other carries and I’m just going to point out he did try to bounce at least one other carry outside when it wasn’t there. If there was a small nitpick of Barkley coming out, that was one of them. He sometimes tried to hit a home run on plays where it might have been better to get what was blocked instead of dancing, trying for me. It’s not a huge cause for concern but something I want to see how it goes the rest of the preseason. Barkley is still locked into an RB1 role and is a first round pick. The only other note I had was they still can’t cover the tight end position. The Giants allowed an average of 15.8 points per game last season to the position and Week 1 they play the Jaguars. Take not DFS players and mark Austin Seferian-Jenkins on your player pool.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, there was nothing that was totally unexpected.

Philadelphia Eagles – If something happens to tight end Zach Ertz, rookie Dallas Goedert could be a waiver wire warrior. He looked very solid in his first NFL action, even though the offense wasn’t comprised of the first string. Rookie tight ends don’t always have the best record for producing early but Philly is so loaded with talent, they can condense down his responsibilities on the field. I don’t think the Steelers defense will be that good under any circumstances but it had to be nice to see Goedert showing up on the field.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, rookie tight ends are a little dicey but Goedert looked very solid.

Dallas Cowboys – Rookie receiver Michael Gallup was the story here. Not only did he catch a touchdown, he was on the bad end of throws that cost him probably at least another 40ish yards and a second touchdown. Like we said at the start, it’s not the stats that we’re too hooked into. It’s what the Dallas coaches asked him to do.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 3, there was a lot of noise for Allen Hurns but Gallup might have the early leg up.

Washington Redskins – Sadly, the big story was rookie running back Derius Guice tearing his ACL. We hope he gets better and is back stronger than ever next year but for now, it might be a mix of Samaje Perine and Rob Kelly. That’s a little gross and we may want to wait and see if Washington adds anyone before the season starts.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 5, sad to say it but was perhaps the biggest story that came out of Week 1 of the preseason.

Fantasy Football Preseason Fallout – Week 1 – NFC West

San Francisco 49ers – This was another team that got bit fairly hard by the injury bug these past few days. They lost both running back Matt Breida and tight end George Kittle to injuries for some time. That was bad enough but then fellow running back Jerick McKinnon had to get an MRI on his knee. It showed just a muscle strain but these are big blows for the San Francisco offense. Hopefully these players can get on the mend quickly. Second year running back Joe Williams got some love last year before he lost his season to injury. He may get to show what he can do in the next game.

Fantasy Eyebrows –4, injuries that are costing players signigficant time now are usually not great in the long run.

Seattle Seahawks – I don’t think the backfield battle between Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny is even close to resolved at this point. If receiver Doug Baldwin isn’t going to be there or becomes in danger of losing regular season playing time, it’s hard to get excited about this offense overall. Quarterback Russell Wilson is a master of making something from nothing, but this offense seems like it could be in for a long year.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 3, the running back battle and Baldwin’s health are major stories to follow

Los Angeles Rams – If you don’t know the name John Kelly, running back for the Rams, you had better write it down and know where to find him if (fantasy gods forbid) Todd Gurley gets hurt this year. He showed plenty in his first NFL game, enough to be viewed as a serious asset if he’s pushed into service. I’m sure coach Sean McVay will be able to figure out how to use him if the need arises.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 3, we have a clearer picture of Gurley’s backup.

Arizona Cardinals – There’s plenty of questions about the Cardinals offense but one thing that isn’t questionable is the sheer talent running back David Johnson has. He looked like he had some serious juice when he was on the field and it had to feel good for him, considering he missed all of last season. I have no reservations about taking Johnson anywhere in the top four picks, including number one overall. Rookie Josh Rosen had a rough night in the box score but he wasn’t helped by a lot of the players around him. I wouldn’t read much into it right now.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 2, it didn’t take long for Johnson to remind everyone just how good he is. They’re going to need him in all facets of the game this year.

Fantasy Football Preseason Fallout – Week 1 – NFC South

Carolina Panthers – Other than quarterback Cam Newton looking like he wanted to throw a punch at Kelvin Benjamin, there was a massive story that unfolded for the Panthers. Running back Christian McCaffrey was handled like a workhorse back. In the 16 years Norv Turner has been a part of an offense, the running back has finished outside RB24 three times. They have also enjoyed nine top 10 finishes. They have been saying CMC was getting 25-30 touches a game. I’m still not buying that but he was off to a good start.

The big thing here is McCaffrey had 15 total red zone rushing attempts last year. If he’s getting carries from two yards out in the preseason combined with that snap count, he could vault into the top eight at his position. Keep an eye on rookie receiver D.J. Moore as well.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 5, this could be a major development for an elite fantasy running back

New Orleans Saints – It was a pretty quiet night for the Saints. The most notable thing might have been Mark Ingram playing in the second quarter, but that can be brushed off by his four game suspension. New Orleans just wants to get him some work now. Hopefully in Week 2, we can see receiver Cam Meredith

Fantasy Eyebrows – 1, nothing too important happened here

Atlanta Falcons – We’re just going to skip over this one. It may have been the most uneventful game of the entire bunch. It would have been nice to see rookie receiver Calvin Ridley make some sort of impact but it’s not a big deal it didn’t happen.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 0, nothing worthwhile to report

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – There are plenty of people are really overlooking running back Peyton Barber. Rookie Ronald Jones has been anointed by some and while that easily still could happen, he clearly hasn’t earned it with the Tampa coaches yet.The one way you don’t gain favor as a rookie is dropping a pass when you have a chance to put points on the board. Jones is sitting around the back of the fifth round right now and Barber is at the back end of the 13th. That gap needs to start closing in a hurry, even if you believe that Jones takes over at some point. For now, the Tamps coaches are saying Barber is the starting back. Drafting Jones in the fifth looks like a disaster at the moment.

Fantasy Eyebrows – 4, this would be a pretty major shakeup if Jones doesn’t take the job before the end of camp. He’s been drafted like he’s the main man in this backfield so far.

Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR each and every day for all the latest DFS news and analysis and fantasy football coverage as we lead you to the start of the NFL season!