Week 1 Observations

On a scale of 1 to 10, for me Week 1 was a 1. I got knocked out of Survivor, went 1-4 in the Circa Millions and the Giants not only lost, they looked lost. Danny Dimes is not a top-50 NFL QB right now — his offensive line still sucks, and his confidence is shot. Fantasy wise, my week was so-so pending tonight’s game. Starting to think maybe I should have taken Cooper Kupp at 2.2 instead of Marvin Harrison in my Primetime too.

• Maybe the Steelers defense is just really good, but Kurt Cousins couldn’t get out from under it. T.J. Watt had only one sack, but it seemed like he was in Cousins’ face every time they cut to that game.

• I had Jaylen Warren in my Primetime lineup initially then swapped him out for Brian Robinson at the last second thankfully. Maybe he’s not yet completely healthy.

• Justin Fields did enough to win — I think there’s a good chance we never see Russell Wilson again. Fields is a top-10 fantasy QB if he keeps the job.

• It looks like Bijan Robinson is a real bell cow now as Tyler Allgeier got only three carries.

• I’m assuming the Falcons passing game will wake up. I took Drake London in one league, so I would appreciate it.

• Where was Marvin Harrison? I saw that Kyler Murray missed him wide open on a play, but three targets all game? Why are you drafting a guy fourth overall if you’re not using him?

• James Conner is a top-10 RB when healthy and always has been.

• Josh Allen was kind of a boring 4th-round pick with so many quality QBs, but it’s not boring now. I still think Dalton Kincaid will get his, but basically no one else on that offense is reliable. James Cook will have to do it with only a handful of touchdowns.

• Who knew Tony Pollard was the clear starter over Tyjae Spears? What if Pollard is really good and was only held back by last year’s injury recovery?

• What a dud for Caleb Williams and the entire Chicago passing game.

• Part of the reason I took the Bengals in Survivor was I had read the Patriots had a terrible offensive line. But they played great Sunday, and Rhamondre Stevenson ran roughshod over the Bengals defense.

• It was always Zack Moss over Chase Brown.

• Ja’Marr Chase will have a monster year so long as he stays healthy. No idea why he saw only six targets because he was on the field most of the game.

• Anthony Richardson is such a physical freak — he threw a ball 66-yards in the air for a TD off his back foot. He’ll be a top-five fantasy QB as long as he stays healthy.

• Alec Pierce has always made plays, just never saw consistent targets. That probably won’t change, though, especially when Josh Downs comes back.

• Joe Mixon had a great game, did not look like a back drafted in 2017.

• CJ Stroud looked smooth — he didn’t have to do that much with Mixon gashing the defense though.

• Stefon Diggs was a mixed bag — only six short targets, but two TDs (first look in the red zone.) Nico Collins and Tank Dell got all the air yards.

• The Jaguars offense was a bit like last year’s — something isn’t quite right.

• De’Von Achane looks like the Dolphins No. 3 receiver after Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. He also saw the most carries.

• I know it was an easy matchup, but perhaps rumors of Alvin Kamara’s demise were exaggerated.

• All Rashid Shaheed does is catch long TDs. Chris Olave was quiet, but the gameflow wasn’t WR friendly.

• The Panthers seem like a total disaster again.

• I love Danny Dimes — he was actually good in 2022 — but his confidence is gone, and he has no feel now. Bring in Drew Lock, give the young wideouts a chance. The offensive line still sucks too, but some of that is Jones having zero feel.

• The Vikings didn’t encounter enough resistance to really evaluate. Aaron Jones is still good — lot of 2017 backs still relevant this week.

• Brock Bowers looks like a player out of the gate. Runs very smoothly with the ball in his hands.

• Antonio Pierce punted from the Chargers 43 on 4th-and-1 down six with 7:13 left. Oof.

• I actually saw Quentin Johnston make a nice play. Ladd McConkey looks like a player — I expect him to be Justin Herbert’s top target. Joshua Palmer barely registered on the stat sheet.

• I had JK Dobbins on two benches — that will surely change next week. Gus Edwards might steal some goal line, but Dobbins has top-10 upside on that run-heavy team.

• Of course Tyler Lockett still led the Seahawks in targets and yards when everyone took him a distant third behind DK Metcalf and JSN.

• Kenneth Walker would be a top-five back if he could ever stay healthy. He’s one of the quickest in the league, but he injured his abdomen late in the game.

• It was rough going for the entire Denver offense. Hard to say much except that Jaleel McLaughin and Courtland Sutton saw a lot of targets.

• Deshaun Watson is just bad now, no way to massage it. Losing David Njoku would be a blow too.

• The Cowboys offense looked good, but didn’t need to do much.

• Baker Mayfield played great, but it’s hilarious to watch him scramble as though he’s Lamar Jackson and then the defenders just catch up to him.

• Rachaad White isn’t a great runner, but he’s the No. 3 receiver. Bucky Irving did more on the ground with less.

• Chris Godwin looked sharp in his new (old) slot role. I’m glad I drafted him in the fifth round now. It’s a narrow tree in Tampa even though Jalen McMillan caught a long TD.

• Jayden Daniels will put up big fantasy numbers with his legs and probably score lots of points in garbage time. Brian Robinson is the clear early down back who also catches some passes, but he’ll lose some rushing TDs to Daniels. I’d be nervous if I had Terry McLaurin shares.

• Cooper Kupp is arguably the 1.1, especially if Puka Nacua has to miss any time. They got Kupp five catches in the first few minutes! They just get him open and throw to him all game long.

• Rare quiet game from Amon-Ra St. Brown as Jameson Williams went off. Williams looked fast and smooth. I expect he’s here to stay, and that will cut into ARSB and Sam LaPorta’s target share a bit. Maybe you should have taken Chase over St. Brown at pick six, but this isn’t anything to panic about.

• Both David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs looked good — I think the split from last night is probably what we should expect going forward.