Fantasy Thoughts, And Other Things, Following Preseason Week 1

Preseason Week 1 – Fantasy Football News and Notes

The NFL has returned!

…in the form of preseason, and if you are like me and had your fantasy draft (way too early) on July 28th, then this past weekend was a chance to see your players, to an extent, in the live action. What can we take away from Preseason Week 1 when looking at our Fantasy Football squads?

None of the bigger stars, or those with injury history, played much if at all, but the true pleasures came in the form of just watching the games themselves. There were some big plays and close games, which made for a fun opening weekend.

As a Marshawn Lynch owner, it was nice to see he could still go beast-mode, at least for a moment.

Three quarters into the Browns/Giants game, I was totally convinced Baker Mayfield was Joe Montana incarnate (I seriously considered dropping Tyrod Taylor– I have a problem).

A friend of mine couldn’t have been happier to see Saquon Barkley run for 39 yards his first play. He wasn’t so happy to see him run for 4 yards on his next 4 attempts.

Of course, there were less enjoyable things too. Darrius Guice’s injury was just further evidence in support of the case to hold fantasy drafts as late as possible.

While week 1 made some noise, it hasn’t answered any of our questions, but simply posed new ones. The biggest being the injury to Derrius Guice, which we will get into shortly. Outlooks for each team are still relatively foggy, but some tidbits of news have come out over the last couple days that are worth having a conversation over.

What will happen with the Redskins backfield?

Chris Thompson has been the overwhelming choice for top dog, but there should be some caution before making an impulse trade or draft selection. Early down and goal line work will still be split between Samaje Perine and Rob Kelly, but red zone touches are still up for grabs. Thompson had 13 touches in the red zone before getting injured-which is an issue by itself. He was targeted 54 times, catching 39 balls in 10 games last season, a number that should go up with Alex Smith under center and he could see increased work inside the red zone. As long as the volume is there and he stays healthy, he will be fine. My guess is that Thompson will stay healthy enough to play about 12-13 games, while scoring 7-8 total TD’s.

Will Alex Collins hold down his starting job?

When it comes to the Ravens, the running back position has been unstable to say the least. Since 2015, Baltimore running backs have participated in a strange pattern of one RB breaking out, only to be usurped in some way the following season.

Justin Forsett to Buck Allen in 2015, Buck Allen to Terrance West in 2016, Terrance West to Kenneth Dixon that same year, and then West fell (again) to Alex Collins in 2017.

Does the pattern have any reason to stop this year? Gus Edwards has been solid in two preseason games. Is HE the next one to steal the Baltimore backfield? I have to say, after 4 long years, this will finally end. Alex Collins will hold down this fort in 2017. Gus Edwards isn’t taking anyone’s job this year and Allen has found himself a nice spot as the 3rd down back. Kenneth Dixon, long thought to be the future at RB, has been far too inconsistent with nagging injuries. With another great year, Alex Collins will be the one to break the chain.

Is Duke Johnson converting to WR?

This one came a bit out of left field. This past week, after the Browns traded Corey Coleman, Duke Johnson brought up the idea of converting to WR, permanently. The reality is that even if he wanted to (he wants to) he just can’t do it. While Johnson is more than capable enough to shift over to the slot, he is needed much, much more at RB. He is simply far too talented of a runner to become a WR. Tom Kislingbury (@TomDegenerate) even pointed out that the few times Johnson did line up in the slot, he wasn’t very effective. As a matter of fact, Hue Jackson himself said he has no plans to change Johnson’s position. Could Johnson play more in the slot this year? Absolutely, yes. As a Duke Johnson owner myself, the idea of him receiving even more time on the field is great. However, I also recognize that he is better suited to continue playing, and spend most of his time, at the RB spot. Nick Chubb, as great as he could be, isn’t ready to be the #1 option and Carlos Hyde is, well, Carlos Hyde.

It would be fun to see Johnson get a WR/RB designation, though.

Albert Wilson, training camp star?

After trading Jarvis Landry to Cleveland this offseason, Miami signed up Albert Wilson (previously 4th option on the Chiefs) to a 3 year, 24 million dollar contract. I suppose the gamble is paying off, in training camp at least. Wilson is reportedly becoming quite the threat in a retooled Dolphins offense, with Adam Gase using him all over the field. I don’t how this will play out, but it’s more than likely Wilson will be just another training camp superstar that will fall off the earth come regular season. But hey, it was worth talking about.

Next. Fantasy Fallout: team by team from preseason week 1. dark

All stats and figures were compiled from pro-football-reference.com, fftoday.com, and player profiler.com

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Fantasy Football Notes Following Preseason Week 1

By Hunter Helms | Aug 14, 2018