The first Sunday afternoon of the 2024 NFL season came with plenty of surprises for all of us fantasy fans, both good and bad.
I would remind everyone, however, that it’s just one week, so don’t go nuts and overreact to a player’s performance regardless of if he was “rizz” or “cringe.” (If you don’t know what that means, just ask your teenagers!)
With that said, here’s my Fabs’ Five Storylines from Week 1 that stood out the most. We'll go over that and plenty more on the Fantasy Dirt podcast, which airs live five days a week on the SI YouTube page, so make sure you subscribe here: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
Bears QB Caleb Williams has brutal first start
Williams came into this week with a ton of hype, but it didn’t equate to fantasy points. In fact, the rookie was downright bad. He completed fewer than 50% of his passes, threw for just 93 yards with no touchdowns, and scored 7.2 fantasy points.
Maybe more of a concern is none of his top three wideouts, DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, or Rome Odunze, had more than 36 receiving yards. What’s worse, Moore’s 10 fantasy points were the most any Chicago offensive player scored in the game.
If nothing else, this is a reminder most rookie quarterbacks don’t come into the NFL and light the world on fire. Give Williams time.
Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr. is non-existent
Williams wasn’t the only rookie to post a stink bomb on Sunday, as Harrison Jr. stunk up Buffalo with one catch on four targets. Yeah, that’s 1.4 points.
I wouldn’t lose faith in the talented wideout, however, as no one in the Cardinals offense had more than 47 receiving against the Bills. Harrison Jr. also played a team-high 55 offensive snaps, missing just six snaps in the contest. I’d also remind you that Amon-Ra St. Brown had just 4.3 points in his first NFL game. Justin Jefferson had just 4.6 points. Tyreek Hill had 7.9 points. CeeDee Lamb had 10.9 points. It’ll come for Harrison Jr., so don’t rage bench him next week.
The tight end position went belly up
The week started off badly at the position, with Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews both being held under seven points and scoring fewer points than their backups. It got worse, too, as top-end players like Trey McBride (8 points), Dalton Kincaid (2.1 points) and Evan Engram (1.5 points) all pooped the bed on Sunday.
Based on ADP data, five of the top seven tight ends picked in most drafts combined to score 21.4 points (4.3 points on average). Things will inevitably get better (they can’t get much worse), but it was not a great start for many of the top players at what is the thinnest position in fantasy football.
Texans' WR's Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs both shine
One of the questions fantasy managers had about the Houston offense going into drafts surrounded the wide receiver rotation between Collins, Diggs and Tank Dell. If this week was an indication, there should be plenty of points to go around.
Collins led the trio with 117 yards on eight targets, scoring 17.7 points. Diggs saw six targets, hauled in two scores and led in points (21.9). Dell saw seven targets.
The matchup against the Indianapolis Colts was favorable, and it’ll get tougher in Week 2 against the Bears, but at this point, I’d suggest all three are startable assets with big-number potential each week.
Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins looks electric vs. Raiders
We all knew the Chargers were going to run the ball, but we weren’t sure who would be the best back. In Week 1, it was Dobbins … and it wasn’t even close.
He rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown, averaging a bananas 13.5 yards per rush. It should be noted he did share the workload with Gus Edwards, who saw 12 touches compared to Dobbins’ 13, but the latter looked healthy and far more explosive in the backfield.
With a matchup against the hapless Carolina Panthers up next, Dobbins is going to be a flex starter in Week 1.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fabs' Five: Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr. Struggle in Fantasy Football Week 1.
