Week 1 of the NFL season is nearly done and there was a lot of offense around the league. An offensive explosion is good for business for fantasy football players, but not all of the league's top stars joined in the party.
It is a bit early to overreact to one week of action, but given the relatively short nature of the fantasy season owners who are in an 0-1 hole may start to weigh some rash decisions to get back in the win column in Week 2. Every Monday in this space we will look at some of the biggest fantasy busts of the week and figure out how to approach them in the following week among the following options: start them, bench them or drop them.
Let's get started in Week 1 with a pair of big name receivers who didn't live up to their fantasy hype levels. First up is Cincinnati Bengals' star Ja'Marr Chase, who was undoubtedly a first-round pick in most fantasy leagues.
Ja'Marr Chase
The Bengals had some fun in Week 1, racking up 33 points in a tight win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Chase was a surprising non-factor in the contest. Joe Burrow looked Chase's way only four times in the game and Chase caught two passes for 12 yards, delivering a big fantasy dud to start his year.
Chase was likely a victim of being the focus of the Bucs' pass coverage as he ranked fourth in targets on the team behind Mike Gesicki, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown. Burrow isn't going to force the issue when he has plentiful targets to work with and even though next week could be dicey against Derek Stingley and the Texans it's far too early to sit Chase.
Verdict: Start
Davante Adams
The Melbourne game was a disaster for the Rams as they looked like they hopped right off a plane to play against the 49ers. The entire offense was out of sync and the biggest victim was Adams, who caught just three passes for 26 yards in the 27-7 loss.
There was certainly a case for regression in the cards for Adams, who caught 14 touchdown passes last season after averaging about seven most of his career, but a drop off to 3-26 is a bit dramatic. Matthew Stafford looked Adams' way six times in the game, second only to Puka Nacua in target volume, so brighter days are ahead as the Rams take on the Giants in Week 2.
Verdict: Start
Drake Maye
A strong 2025 season put Maye into the QB1 ranks in fantasy circles even though he drew a tough Week 1 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. Maye predictably struggled against the Dark Side, throwing only one touchdown against three interceptions and was sacked three times in the loss.
Making matters worse for Maye is the fact that big offseason acquisition A.J. Brown is now on IR with a high-ankle sprain, making Romeo Doubs his go-to-guy for the near future. Pittsburgh's strong pass rush awaits Maye in Week 2 so there's a good chance Josh McDaniels draws up a run-heavy game plan to try and get the offense back on track, which could diminish Maye's fantasy profile for a bit.
Verdict: Bench
Jaylen Warren
One of the more complicated running back rooms in the league is in Pittsburgh, where Warren was rewarded for an RB2 campaign a year ago with increased competition in the form of Rico Dowdle. The workload was split pretty evenly between Warren and Dowdle in Week 1, with Warren getting 15 touches compared to 10 for Dowdle, and he lost a fumble as well.
Even though Warren was the more effective runner, Pittsburgh's investment in Dowdle this offseason means this timeshare arrangement will continue for a while. The Steelers will play New England in Week 2 and the Patriots' struggles against between the tackles runners in Week 1 plays more to Dowdle's skill set, which could mean Warren takes a bit of a back seat this week.
Verdict: Bench
Kyle Pitts
The Kyle Pitts roller coaster hit rock bottom in Week 1 as he was the biggest victim of the quarterback downgrade from Tua Tagovailoa to Cooper Rush due to Tagovailoa's oblique injury. Rush went full checkdown Charlie in Atlanta's 20-13 loss to Pittsburgh, funneling 10 of his 19 targets to Bijan Robinson, leaving Drake London with only four targets and Pitts with one he failed to secure.
Getting a donut out of the tight end position makes it quite difficult to win and the quarterback uncertainty in Atlanta makes it very hard to trust Pitts right now. Getting Tagovailoa back in Week 2 would be massive for Pitts but the smart play would be to bench him for now and wait for confirmation of how much work he will actually receive in Kevin Stefanski's offense going forward.
Verdict: Bench
Add us as a preferred source on Google