Week 1 of the NFL season brought about tumultuous news for many fantasy teams. Many fantasy managers watched their championship hopes crumble in only the first week of the season. From injuries to outplaying, there were many surprises from Week 1 of the NFL.
During the first Thursday night football game of the year, the reigning champs, the Chiefs, beat the Lamar Jackson led Ravens 27-20. This game had many fantasy owners fearing for their team’s success this year. Mark Andrews, who was expected to be a top fantasy tight end this year, seemed to disappear this game. He had 2 catches for only 14 yards and no touchdowns. His presumed backup, Isaiah Likely, really showed out this game with 9 catches for 111 yards and 1 touchdown. Following this game, the Ravens could look to replace Andrews with Likely as the tight end 1. Andrews had only 3.40 points in a PPR league, while Likely had 26.10. This could upset many fantasy managers who may have drafted Andrews in the 4th round expecting a high production tight end. Likely could be a valuable waiver wire pickup for teams looking to improve their tight end room.
The Lions met the Rams in Detroit for the first primetime Sunday Night Football game. Detroit was able to squeak out a win against the Rams who suffered a massive loss midway through the second quarter when star receiver Puka Nacua went down with a MCL injury. This left Cooper Kupp to pick up the slack. With no other wide receiver taking up his targets, Kupp was targeted a league high 21 times. The next highest targeted receiver was Tyreek Hill, who was targeted 12 times. This reliance on Kupp for the Rams offense should stay this high as long as Nacua is injured. Kupp had 32 fantasy points last week on 14 receptions, 110 yards, and 1 touchdown. Even though he only had 7.9 yards per reception Stafford still fed him the rock all game long. If his production stays this high, we could see another year from Kupp similar to 2021, when he won the Triple Crown and was the offensive player of the year. I predict another high production year like this one from Cooper Kupp.
Another big surprise from the Rams game against the Lions was Jameson Williams’ performance. Williams had 24.4 fantasy points on 5 receptions, 121 receiving yards, and a touchdown. He led his team in yards, outperforming the Lions’ star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. Brown is coming off a career year and many people expected much of the same from him this year. He was one of the top wide receivers in yards last year. Brown had a dismal performance against the Rams though, with 3 catches for only 13 yards. This will worry many fantasy managers who expected a big game from Brown. I predict a breakout year from Williams this year. I think this will take away from the large production Brown was able to produce last year. Williams will be a valuable wide receiver 2 this season as I predict he and Brown will battle for the true wide receiver 1 spot all season.
While Week 1 was very stressful, many managers are hoping for Week 2 to disprove their doubts and worries about their team. The future looks bright for many of these breakout stars as they head into the season, while concerns continue to rise for older players as they are edged out by younger superstars. What will happen the rest of the season? Only time will tell.
