Fantasy Football: Week one dudes, duds, and deceivers

Sammy Watkins, Wide Receiver, Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs lost Tyreek Hill to a collarbone injury opening the door for Sammy Watkins to be the team’s number one option at receiver. Boy did Watkins come sprinting through it. With nine receptions, 198 yards, and three touchdowns, Watkins is the highest-scoring player in fantasy with 46.8 fantasy points.

The Jaguars have two top corners in Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye, so to see them get burnt so easily and so often is eye-opening, even if it was the Chiefs. That really speaks to just how creative and effective Andy Reid‘s offense is, that the next man can step right in and still torch such a highly regarded secondary.

I admittedly wasn’t very high on Watkins coming into this season. He is typically the injury-ridden receiver, and with the addition of rookie Mecole Hardman I had sort of written off Watkins as a high-end fantasy receiver. But the Hill injury changes everything.

If Hill was just out for the game and was healthy enough to return this week, Watkins would likely headline my “deceivers” list. But with Hill expected to miss a good chunk of time, Watkins should be very productive while he’s out.

If he can stay healthy, Watkins has the talent to be a very sufficient fill in for Hill, who was taken in the second round in the majority of fantasy drafts. Patrick Mahomes was also hobbled in this game, so his health is important to Watkins’ production as well, but as the main part of this Kansas City offense, the sky is the limit for Watkins.

John Ross III, Wide Receiver, Cincinnati Bengals

What a relief his week one performance must have been for John Ross. A first-round pick out of college in 2017, injuries and underwhelming performances have characterized his career to this point. After just one week, it looks as though new head coach Zac Taylor’s offense may be just what the doctor ordered for Ross to get back on track and back to the receiver he showed to be at Washington.

With A.J. Green sidelined due to an ankle injury suffered in preseason, Ross appeared to be a top target for Andy Dalton with 12 balls thrown his way. Ross hauled in just seven of those targets but racked up 158 yards and scored two touchdowns. His 34.8 PPR fantasy points make him the second-ranked fantasy wide receiver after week one.

After star running back Joe Mixon went out due to injury, it was clear that the Bengals were employing a pass-first offense. Cincinnati running backs had just 13 total carries on the day, in a game that the Bengals lost by just one point.

It’s apparent that the Bengals are running a certain type of offense (one similar to that of the Rams who Taylor coached last season) that features many passes down the field. Ross should be the main beneficiary of this offense, particularly until Green returns. If Ross is a free agent snatch him up. If you drafted him in a deeper league, congrats on finding your diamond in the rough.

Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, Wide Receiver, Baltimore Ravens

What a debut from the first-round pick out of Oklahoma, as Hollywood Brown totaled 147 receiving yards and two touchdowns on just four catches in week one. 30.7 fantasy points makes him PPR WR4 after just one career NFL game.

Hollywood was a player that I loved coming into this season. The Ravens drafted the speedy cousin of Antonio Brown in the first round for a reason and was pretty clearly the number one receiver on the team all off-season. His ADP has WR61 in PPR was atrociously low and I was able to draft him in all three of my fantasy leagues.

Now I’m not tooting my own horn too much, as I didn’t start him in any of the three (but did take him in a DFS lineup that placed in the money, as he was dealing with a foot injury leading up to week one.

As I mentioned with Lamar Jackson, the Ravens had a very favorable week one match-up so don’t expect him to scorch every defense like that. But as I mentioned with DeSean Jackson, that big-play capability can be a very valuable quality for fantasy production, and I expect Brown to be a big part of the Ravens offense the rest of the season.