Week 1 Recap!

Week 1 Recap - For Reals Guys

You know, for a week 1 recap I have the least amount of injuries to talk about then I remember in a while.  Walker's leg snapped, which sucks as I think he's been one of the best TEs in the league since he was on the 49ers.  Fournette was found lying on the ground after doing nothing, it's to be seen how big of an injury that is.  Mariota can't feel his fingers, and probably can feel the Titans talking about starting Blaine Gabbert for the season.  Angry Doug Baldwin hurt his other knee, so at least now he has complete balance in what he feels.  

Tight Ends really sucked this week.  Sorry for Graham, Kelce, Ertz, Burton, etc.  WRs blew up in a few strange strange games.  RBs looked okay, and we had the longest game ever played in Tennessee versus Miami.  No ties happened so we should feel pretty good about that, half the teams won and half the teams lost.  Either you're starting in a hole or you're feeling good.  Let's take a look at the top players in each position.

Top 5 Players:

QB:

1. Ryan Fitzpatrick TB, 49 points.
• Almost dropped 50.  50 Points!  The beard, Fitzmagic showed up this week.  It's that Harvard education showing, he's smart enough to throw it to his WRs.  Everyone ate against what seemed to be a good defense before the season started.  If he keeps this up then maybe we don't see Winston popping his head back up this season, or maybe this is a sign that maybe someone should be rostering Winston to tap into those juicy TB points that apparently actually do exist.
2. Drew Brees NO, 37 points.
• Good ole Drew Brees really tried his best to keep up with Fitzmagic and he almost made it.  The Saints went way down very early and Brees was playing catch up the whole time afterwards.  How about his connection with Michael Thomas?  That dude caught 16 passes.  He made the most out of what he could and it really could keep up if some of those Kamara touches can continue being receptions.  This is Brees, I'm not surprised he is up here, I'm just surprised how that game went.
3. Patrick Mahomes KC, 36 points.
• Those shovel pass TDs are nasty and hardly fair.  They do exist though and Mahomes certainly took advantage of it.  Mahomes also took advantage of Tyreek Hill who... well he was ridiculous.  This is a great start from Mahomes, but the thing to remember here is that Andy Reid is really strong in his first games of the season and after his bye week.  I also wonder if he gets a little more reserved after throwing picks, because I can guarantee you he will.
4. Philip Rivers LAC, 34 points.
• As a quick aside, this top 4 definitely proves how important game flow is to the points you'll score.  The top 4 are the competing QBs in two different games with the losing team's QB scoring slightly less.  Rivers' team got off to a rough start in this game with two quick Tyreek Hill TDs putting them in a hole.  I've heard that the LAC defense is good and if that proves to be true Rivers probably won't throw up huge points like this often, but this week has to have shown that he can put up if he needs to.
5. Aaron Rodgers GB, 30 points.
• I thought for sure his game was over after that knee injury.  The Bears looked great in the beginning, and Aaron was playing okay.  Then of course in true Rodgers fashion he decided he needed to beat down the Bears in a heartbreaking fashion and threw up many many fantasy points during that.  Gutsy performance by a guy that just got paid, but watch out for how that knee fairs.

RB:

1. Alvin Kamara NO, 42 points. 
• Well it looks like Kamara can not get game scripted out of games.  For an RB it's usually pretty bad when your team goes down heavily.  I have to admit here that I believed Kamara was going to be CJ Spiller the second coming, and it appears I am absolutely wrong.  Kamara still put up huge points in a New Orleans loss and it doesn't appear that Ingram being out or in will determine his role either way.  40+ points is nasty, and if he can do this a couple more times than we could be looking at the start of the RB1 campaign for 2018.
2. James Conner PIT, 33 points.
• Nice trade for Yuriy.  I think this might really mean that Bell isn't a great talent but instead the Steelers have figured out how to run block nearly perfectly.  The Browns were a beast run defense last year and Conner put up points. Conner has shown has resilient he is by beating cancer, and now maybe he can beat Bell despite how insurmountable that sounds.  If Conner keeps this up I could see him keeping his job due to bad blood between Le'Veon and the Steelers.  He did fumble and almost lose the game for the Steelers, but you can't lose when you tie.
3. Melvin Gordon LAC, 27 points.
• So this guy really didn't have any TDs? 9 for 102 receiving line looks super nice, and with the way that Rivers threw the ball to his RBs I suspect it doesn't matter if they're up or down he'll probably get receiving work.  Maybe this was the thing that Gordon needed all along, who cares about YPC went you can get those sweet sweet YPR.  Yards per carry/Yards per reception for those of you confused.
4. Joe Mixon CIN, 25 points.
• I'll admit I was wrong about Mixon when he keeps doing this.  I will say it looks like Coach Marv might have finally understood that you can keep using players that are good and do not have to consistently mix it up.  I still won't trust a Bengals player that admittedly does look talented, but hasn't proven a single thing.  He looked real good.
5. Chris Thompson WAS, 24 points.
• HE'S BACK!  Thompson was the surprise that kept showing up in my recaps last year, and here he is again.  Thompson is something else, but this time not owned by Matt.  I'm curious to see how this goes if he can last the whole year, and he was started at the beginning of this year.  Alex Smith still looks good and a good offense can only help Thompson find the end zone more often.

WR:

1. Tyreek Hill KC, 41points.
• Within the first 10 minutes of that game Tyreek had two TDs.  I was happy he only ended with 41 points.  I very much don't like Tyreek because of his past and his current team but damn, he sure as hell blew right up.  So get rid of that KR TD and he still blew up.  I didn't watch this game because watching two divisional rivals sounds like torture, but I'm assuming he looked as good as the play-by-play made him sound.
2. Michael Thomas NO, 38 points.
• You guys want to talk about how Thomas got 16 receptions and still managed to be only the second highest scoring WR?  That's nuts, he had to be close to an NFL record.  He looked really really good, and having Drew Brees to throw it to you is helpful.  With Kamara on the team as well it's not exactly like teams can afford to double or triple him, so he probably can keep producing at a high level.  The receiver that has Brees locking directly onto him is a valuable player.
3. DeSean Jackson TB, 31 points.
• It's like McNabb never left the NFL and DeSean never left the Eagles.  Wow, blast from the past with DeSean doing amazingly.  Maybe he just really needs Fitzpatrick to play every week to keep this up.  He did get a nasty concussion so he might miss a week or so, but if I remember it right it seemed like no one actually wanted Jackson.  Oops.
4. Emmanuel Sanders DEN, Randall Cobb GB, 29 points.
• Case Keenum has a love connection with Sanders and it showed.  It also showed that the Seattle D is not nearly as good as it used to be. The team won and Sanders threw down a big stat line, you know the Broncos noticed that.  Can he continue being a better player than Demaryius Thomas?  I think with Keenum I'll say yes, but it remains to be seen.
• Cobb has some stat about how Rodgers throws to him ridiculously often out of shotgun.  Once Rodgers got injure they ran exclusively out of shotgun.  This bodes well for Cobb, and you know that the huge TD he had at the end of the game is going to have some fallout regarding how much Rodgers trusts him.  He is still behind Adams, but Rodgers is definitely good enough for two WRs as long as he is healthy.

TE:

1. Jared Cook OAK, 27 points.
• I like pretending that I knew this would happen and it wasn't just a homer pick.  Holy cow Carr only had eyes for Cook and Richard, which is funny considering the WRs on that team should actually be good.  Cook blows up from time to time, but if Carr keeps playing like he is terrified of holding the ball for more than 2 seconds Cook could keep it up, and he really does have the raw talent for it.
2. Rob Gronkowski NE, 23 points.
• There is no surprise here.  I guess the biggest part of him being here is that he isn't number 1.  He didn't let the Pats trade him, and that was cool.  
3. Will Dissly SEA, 19 points.
• So uh, I know that everyone is saying that this isn't a big deal (and I find it hard to completely argue) but does anyone remember when Barn Dog broke out?  That guy wasn't supposed to be anything either.  I did like watching Dissly play because he kinda looked like he was confused about why he was there.  I thought that was funny.
4. Eric Ebron IND, 15 points.
• The guy that is almost Lebrun, he had an okay game.  He caught a TD and a few other passes, which is really all it took for the top 5 of TEs.
5. George Kittle SF, Jordan Reed WAS, 14 points.
• One guy plays for SF, the other is getting thrown to by Alex Smith!  Whoa.
• Jordan Reed is healthy and when he is healthy he is good.  I'd suspect we see him on this list until he is no longer healthy.
• Kittle was a sleeper last season and it looks like he may be more than that this year.  Keep in mind before jumping ahead that Goodwin was injured early in the game so Kittle became a must target because Garçon forgot how to catch.

DEF/ST

1. Jets D, 25 points.
• Haha, this is all about Stafford just coming out and looking awful.  What a way to start a season though.
2. Vikings D, 18 points.
• They made Jimmy G look ugly.  Goodwin went out and then the SF offense just did not click.  Pettis did some good things but aside from that the Vikings just had Jimmy running all around the field and his WRs didn't help a whole lot.
3. Ravens D, 17 points.
• They played the Bills and holy crap Peterman really is that bad.  5 picks in his first start, 3 picks in his second start.  He's starting off his career super well.
4. Rams D, Jags D, Panthers D, Bears D, 13 points.
• They all did good!  Too many to really talk about in depth.

I'm not doing Kickers this year, but Greg the Leg is number 1.  Awesome.

Head-to-head Matchups!

Run N Hyde (Daniel Smith) versus Fresno Facecleaters (Chris Cone)

In a close matchup between two past champs Chris Cone comes out on top.  A very close game, the teams actually scored exactly the same amount of points if you get rid of their QBs.  That's right, the difference here was just the difference between Cam Newton's 17 points, and Russell Wilson's 25 points.  Cone wins 157-149.

Daniel: 149 is a strong game so don't feel too bad.  I know at this point you're sitting there staring at 0-1 and feeling bad but it is just week 1.  Here's the good news, I didn't believe your RBs would do any good, they did do good!  Dion Lewis flashed his same old self and looked good doing so, and Lynch dragged people with him which was just straight awesome. Antonio Brown and Gronk showed up which, trust me I know, is what you should expect.  The biggest problems I see here right now are Kelvin Benjamin and Sterling Shepard, one of which can be replaced by Ginn.  Don't trust the Snead, that might be chasing points very much.

Chris:  Check out that 1-0 dude!  Feels good right?  Don't rest on it man, you did good but you still very desperately need another RB. The RBs did fine, and your WRs actually do look capable of dragging them along but if one of them gets hurt you don't have a starter at all.  Go and get an RB. Other than that man, those WRs look particularly good. Keenan might not always do this good because of game flow but he is a strong target, and maybe Julio can supplement those huge stats with a TD.  Feel good with the second highest score in the league, but don't just sit on it.  Remember it is only week 1 and things change really quickly.

Mixon up her Face (Yuriy Yedinak) versus DonCobbs Underdogs (Jake Yorke)

The matchup won by the largest margin, Yuriy could rest easy going into Monday night knowing he had secured the win unless Stafford put up a career game (which he did, but not in the good fantasy starter sort of way). These teams appear to be completely opposite of each other this week. On one hand you have Yuriy's team that featured an incredibly solid output by all but a couple of players.  On the other hand you have Jake's team that outside of a few players all put up complete duds.  The highest differential in points with 70 we have Yuriy coming out victorious 169-99.

Yuriy: You tested out the new FAAB system early on by trading away 70 bucks for a player before the first week.  In a test to see if people would care if you traded FAAB and made Alex an early season waiver Goliath, I think you actually came out on top.  Now that's not to say your first round pick of Bell feels great now, but at least you're still getting similar output.  Aside from that, you made a trade!  And it worked out for you!  See man, no need to be afraid.  You played the wrong TE, but I don't blame you for that. Now on to the next few weeks to see if Evans and Green can keep up that production, and to find out that Peterson used up all his good runs in the first week of the season.

Jake: That's gotta hurt.  I know when I was texting you last night about Stafford you seemed calm cool and collected, but how about today? You lost Walker for the season ( :( ), Amari Cooper was almost completely invisible last night and Carr doesn't look capable of getting him involved, the Lions were the LOLIONS and it started with Stafford's problems, McCaffrey was vultured by Cam in what is a carryover from last year, Collins lost a fumble and was benched in a blowout, and Crowder wasn't seeing the targets you'd hope for.  Aside from that though it looked good.  Gordon was a baller and Ekeler still put out a good point total as well, and if Rodgers plays while hobbling then Cobb could have a bunch of solid games. Ajayi on your bench most look tasty for the upcoming weeks too.  Don't worry hugely, it is just week 1, but you had the second worst score of the week and if Amari doesn't show up then your WR corp could have some issues.

Mustard Tigers (Orest Yaslinskiy) versus Rip Lips (Gary Meyer)

The war of the first drafted D/St versus the first drafted Kicker.  How I miss both those players.  For a bit it was looking like it would be closer than the score ended up.  When Rodgers went down with 8 points and before Kupp played it looked like Gary might not have the strongest outlook.  However it very quickly changed once Rodgers came back and lit up Da Bears 🐻.  Ory never really stood a chance, even with that first Kicker off the board, Gary wins 155 - 115.

Ory: I do see a lot of good with this team.  No one absolutely blew up and had amazing stats, but players did show up.   Your RBs all did just fine, and while none of them were game winners, it is certainly not on them that you lost.  Thielen even had a good game and what must have been a great showing for you, backing your confidence in his season long chances even with a new QB.  You know that I have to tell you that Matt Ryan was exactly what I imagined he would be, awful.  Hell it was even worse than that.  Good thing you drafted... Bortles?  Hah.  Davis and Wilson I can't say would be my favorite WR corp, especially if Davis is getting passes from Gabbert and not Mariota.  Wilson might have had a problem with the rain delays but still, he didn't really help prove himself much.

Gary: How about that Michael Thomas?  16 catches is absurd and I can't remember ever seeing something like that outside of maybe once from Brandon Marshall.  Pair that up with Rodgers playing a hatred game against the Bears and you've got yourself cooking.  Now I know that you have to be worried about Rodgers' knee, but if he plays you better keep him in no matter what.  I'd be most worried about Greg Olsen though and replacing him with a new TE. Austin Hooper doesn't appear to be the answer at all either, so I don't think your backup should get significant play.  You do have some competition for Free Agent TEs so don't be shy, try and get the guy you want.  Overall it was a good week for you finishing with the third best score of any team in the league.

Rivers Football Cream (Alex Gomez) versus Dog Don't Mind (Chris Pender)

The oft-changed name versus the never changed name and a constant reminder that sometimes, the dog do mind.  Alex completed the first trade and then won despite getting nothing but numbers back in exchange.  Let's be super clear here, Chris would have won if he had just NOT played a D/ST. This game went into the late hours of Monday with Chris hoping that Gurley could somehow be bottled up by a Raiders defense that couldn't bottle water without a funnel.  Much like the Chargers versus Kansas City these two teams scored large and featured Rivers and Mahomes, but ultimately the script was switched and Alex won 154-148.

Alex: Hope that 70 FAAB bucks were worth it.  You lost out on the second highest score for an RB this week, not that it mattered much as you still won. Gurley still looked fantastic and Mixon had, by my estimation, his best game he'll have all season.  Jamaal Williams certainly didn't impress though, wouldn't it have been nice to have one shiny James Conner in that space?  Williams probably won't continue to be the starter for the Packers all season, but I guess it's fun while it lasts right?  Maybe next week he can get you 5 points.  So I'll say realistically you can't expect Kelce to only score 1 point many times this season, but also you can't really expect Kenny Stills to be that fantastic all season.  That 75 yard TD looked good, but by the 5th hour of that game both teams were giving up huge play after huge play.  Your bench looks pretty good too.  Rivers probably won't have that large of a game again, but if Mixon continues looking good your team appears solid. 

Chris: I mean, you should have won.  The Saints D killed you, like literally lost you this week.  They were a good play beforehand too so don't feel devastated but I'd understand if you felt somewhat bad about it.  So Kamara is the real deal, Mahomes looks like the real deal, and if Sanders and Landry can throw up points for you this bodes well.  Now McCoy as your RB2 looked really painful, he might have better days ahead, and won't go down legally, but the Bills need to start Josh Allen and he needs to be able to hook up with someone downfield to win, and for Shady to get some running lanes.  Adams almost lost Rodgers, and while he put up with Hundley, can he put up with Kizer the turnover machine?  It's hard to get TDs if you're throwing to the other team. Finally I'd say just enjoy this team, it looks pretty solid and could be a contender.

Dickson Bells (Matt Burke) versus Greenbowl Packers (Valeriy Shishkin)

In one of those odd ways this always seems to happen, the two teams that look the worst go against each other and somehow one of them gets the win.  This is what we like to call the featherweight fight, or basically two people with missing legs going against each other in a foot race.  Or maybe a drag race in which both cars don't have transmissions.  Or maybe a baking competition done without a kitchen.  Something like one of those at least. Valeriy ended up being the best at being the worst though and came out ahead 114-80.

Matt: So Matt has been unable to access his ESPN.  We're not certain why, but he is having an issue with his team not showing up.  If this has happened to anyone else let him know how to fix it.  Really his team isn't too bad, but losing Baldwin hurts when coupled with the Jeffery that he drafted.  To have both in the lineup makes it feel even more harsh. Kareem Hunt joins Kelce in the "can't happen super often" category of Chiefs players who seem very negatively affected by what happens with Tyreek Hill.  Dalvin Cook has a much better game than his score would suggest, and looked really good overall.  Tom Brady is Tom Brady, you know what you're getting even when you don't know the names of anyone he is throwing it to.  Jordan Reed is healthy right now, but I'd jump on TE free agents while they still exist so when he does get hurt you are ready to go.

Val: Well lets see.  Chris Thompson, your D, and Luck scored some points.  I'm not sure anyone else did though.  Hopkins suffered from a bad game by Watson, and at least if he's suffering you seem to score 15 points anyhow.  Henry was involved in that bad game that took 7 hours to complete and wasn't in any rhythm but he did have a 60 yard TD called back by holding that didn't seem to affect the play much.  Freeman will certainly get more usage if he's healthy, Matt Ryan doesn't look like he should pass the ball more than 15 times a game. Woods was close to breaking a few, and Watkins I imagine is the left behind player on the Chiefs who is really just playing decoy.  But he's got potential!  As always.  You missed the big DeSean Jackson game on your bench, bet when you play him next he'll drop 5 points.  

12 Bar Bruisers (Nic Meyer) versus 1 'Tree Hills (Andrew Gomez)

This is the game of the week for me personally, because it's my team.  Somehow Andrew lost a silly ass game where Tyreek Hill scored 41 points and Goodwin on my team scored a big fat 0.  But what matters is the point total at the end and it went down to the 4th quarter of the Monday night football game.  Andrew's team just couldn't keep up, and I won 146-134.

Andrew: Man I told you Big Ben was frustrating as all hell to own.  I went through his 5 int week last year, and this year he made it up to me by playing for your team and throwing 4.  I appreciate that.  David Johnson had arguably a bad game despite his 17 points.  The dude did not do well until garbage time, getting a TD that meant absolutely nothing.  If Sammy Sleeves is going to play so awful all the time then what hope do you have for DJ to blow up?  Hogan absolutely disappeared and instead Brady fell in love with Dorsett, to absolutely no ones surprise (/s). TY Hilton is back I bet, that was a good pick up.  Honestly Hilton and Hill I wanted to draft but they didn't make it back to me, I think that's a strong start.  Carson split evenly with Penny but looked absolutely better than Penny in every facet minus the fumble.  I dunno if Crabtree is going to do well, or if Snead is going to do well, or if John Brown is going to do well, hope you made the right choice.

Me: I've got my worries sure.  I recognized this problem with Fournette and honestly Yeldon didn't look that good when he was in.  When Yeldon entered the game every single drive afterwards ended with a punt.  Before Yeldon entered the game every drive was a TD or field goal.  Ugh.  I don't know what happened with Drake, that Miami game was an outlier I don't think can be relied upon.  John Ross caught a TD! Hell yeah!  Goodwin smacked his knee against a Viking, something a bit silly looking but his problem is a deep bruise.  Bruises hurt though, but he also now fits my name sake.  Drew Brees threw the ball a lot, I hope their defense really is that bad. I hope I hope.

Power Rankings Week 1:

1. Yuriy Yedinak (169 PF)
2. Chris Cone (157 PF)
3. Gary Meyer (155 PF)
4. Alex Gomez (154 PF)
5. Daniel Smith (149 PF)
6. Chris Pender (148 PF)
7. Nic Meyer (146 PF)
8. Andrew Gomez (134 PF)
9. Orest Yaslinskiy (115 PF)
10. Valeriy Shishkin (114 PF)
11. Jake Yorke (99 PF)
12. Matt Burke (80 PF)

GOOD LUCK IN WEEK 2!