Big Surprises From Week 1
In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Sleeper, we recap Week 1's good, bad, and ugly, fantasy fallout, and more.
Week 1 of the NFL season is an intense, pressure cooker of emotions.
There are the things we got right (why hello there, Jayden Daniels).
There are the things we got wrong (um, can the TEs do anything?).
There are the things that come seemingly out of left field (the Bengals lost to who?! Whatever, I didn’t even want to play Survivor!).
And then, of course, there is the injury heartbreak (please be OK Jake Ferguson and David Njoku).
It’s a lot to process and we should all allow ourselves the cathartic opportunity to tilt and overreact (I’ll do exactly that below in my Pick 6 piece) … but let’s also remember that it’s just Week 1.
We have a looooong way to go until championships are decided.
Over the next couple days, we’ll be digging into the utilization data to help us quickly course correct our teams in the right direction.
So deep breaths. The kids are gonna be alright (except Deshaun Watson) …
What else is in today’s newsletter?
- Pete’s Pick 6: From Tyreek Hill to J.K. Dobbins
- Watercooler: Injuries to monitor
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The Good, The Bad & The Ugly From Week 1
Welcome to Pete's Pick 6—a new weekly recap column where I'll pick a grab bag of topics that caught my eye from Sunday's action.
Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly for yesterday's games…
👮 From handcuffs to WR1—The Tyreek Hill story.
At 10:30am ET Sunday morning, Tyreek Hill was literally in handcuffs after being detained by police in the morning for a traffic violation. This is a fantasy column so we won't belabor how excessive this response seems (plenty of comparisons to the Scottie Scheffler incidents were made), but Reek didn't let the incident derail his day.
In fact, six hours later he was sitting atop the Week 1 main slate as the top WR scorer after turning 7 catches into 130 yards and 1 TD.
He celebrated his TD in the only way you could possibly celebrate a TD after being put in handcuffs earlier that day.
That's quite the day at the office.
🏃 The Konami Code hack is alive & well.
There is no bigger cheat code in fantasy football than QBs who run and that dynamic was on full display yesterday:
- Josh Allen (QB1): 9 attempts for 39 yards and 2 TDs
- Jayden Daniels (QB3): 16 attempts for 88 yards and 2 TDs
- Anthony Richardson (QB4): 6 attempts for 56 yards and 1 TD
Allen's lone rushing TD was absurd—he literally jumped over Budda Baker to find the endzone.
Richardson had one of the more hilarious passing charts you'll ever see. It was all rushing and deep balls, nothing underneath. This is honestly sharp by the Colts. Play to your QB’s strengths.
Daniels is going to absolutely smash his ADP if he keeps this up. He became the first QB in NFL history to go for 80+ rushing yards and 2 rushing TDs in his NFL debut. Please, please, please stay healthy.
📈 J.K. Dobbins is the early comeback story of the year.
What Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins did yesterday should not be possible.
Over the past eight years, he has broken his leg, torn his ACL, and tore his Achilles.
Then in his 2024 debut he rushed 10 times for 135 yards and 1 TD.
He had multiple explosive runs and deserves the lion's share of the touches going forward (Gus Edwards: 11 for 26).
Justin Herbert threw the ball only 26 times yesterday, so the upside here is massive if the Chargers continue to lean on the run. Wait, did I say if? Who am I kidding? This is Jim Harbaugh.
Dobbins is about to feast.
RELATED CONTENT:
- Anthony Richardson, Sam Darnold, and more QB stocks on the move.
Sleeper Picks
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The latest analysis and insights from our merry band of football nerds:
📺️ A full Week 1 recap show. Ian and Dwain have you covered.
🚑️ Injuries to monitor. Could be better, could be worse.
🧠 Maybe keep throwing the ball to Malik Nabers? Seems like a good idea.
🔥 Speaking of which … Giants fans seem fed up with Daniel Jones.
🖐️ This Mike Evans TD catch was absurd. A grown ass man.
⚡️ Who’s the Chargers RB1? J.K. Dobbins steps with a big Week 1 to make his case.
😬 What’s going on with Marvin Harrison Jr.? Exercise patience with talented rookie WRs.
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