FFB WEEK 1 - TWELVE TAKEAWAYS


Football.

WELCOME BACK.

I've missed y’all, I really have. My loyal readers.

I sincerely hope everyone's been doing VERY good and prospering in our time away from one another. 

Enough small talk. 

Who's ready?


Let's get into it.

1.  Scene: How damn dumb are the Giants?  

26 total touches, 132 scrimmage yards, 3 touchdowns. Your week one RB1. A casual 30+ fantasy points scored in his Eagles debut.

2. If Anthony Richardson activates “freak-nasty mode” this year, then batten down the hatches. If he does achieve true “freak-nasty” status then he will finish the year as QB1, the ceiling is that high. 

NFL players are big sweaty men that run fast, this much we know. It's gotta be an unbelievable feeling to be even bigger and faster than a lot of your peers in the NFL as a quarterback. 

Anthony Richardson is the one who knocks, basically a linebacker with a cannon for an arm. 

Does he have any sense of self-preservation? TBD, I’m leaning “no”. But he does make some otherworldly plays and ultimately, that's what we're here for.

He didn’t even play good and scored 27 fantasy points! He was just 9/19 passing for 212 yards, 2 TDs and an INT! He had deep completions for 50 and 60 yards to Alec Pierce and a 54-yard TD pass to Ashton Dulin, so a good chunk of his production through the air came on 3 plays and there were some accuracy issues. Howeva, he carried 6 times for 56 yards and a rushing touchdown so it was a top-shelf QB4 performance despite a sicko passing line.
3. Patrick Mahomes is not a top fantasy quarterback. 

Hear me out. 

I was vocal in my disdain for Mahomes last season, especially down the stretch. He scored 20+ fantasy points in just four games all last year. He threw >2 passing TDs just twice. He was QB15 in the second half of last season from weeks 11-18. Sure, they won the Super Bowl, but this is fantasy we're talkin' about here. 

Travis Kelce won't ever replicate the 2022 season where he went for 1338 yards and 12 TDs. There's not a running back on their roster that will catch 9 TDs like Jerick McKinnon did that year. He's slippery enough if he has to be, but he's not known for being overly mobile. It's just different, and I have no doubt Mahomes will absolutely do everything required to help his team win in real life - he's the best quarterback in the league - but he's vastly overrated in fantasy terms and it'll be sporadic.  

His start to 2024 was supremely underwhelming as he gave fantasy owners just a 20/28, 291 yards, 1 TD/1 INT stat line. Was it horrible? No. Is he the best quarterback in the NFL? Yes. Is he a top-5 fantasy quarterback? Not for the money. Nowhere close. 

The Chiefs might three-peat and win another Super Bowl, I dunno. It wouldn't surprise me. What I do know is there'll be a lot of broken hearts for fantasy owners that are banking on Mahomes giving them consistent top-10 production, and week one was no exception (QB14). 

4. Josh Allen is already doing (very dangerous) Josh Allen things. He was efficient through the air, 18-for-23 for 232 yards and 2 TDs, and had 9 carries for 39 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. Four total touchdowns, QB1 output, but holy shit. Be more careful out there!

His non-throwing hand was wrapped up following this touchdown run, but he appears to have avoided serious injury. 

Speaking of...

5. There were some early, consequential injuries to digest and adapt to. 

Some biggies to keep an eye on: 

Christian McCaffrey missed Monday night's game and is questionable for Sunday's game against Minnesota. 

Jordan Love is out for 3-6 weeks with a knee injury, Puka Nacua is week-to-week after he aggravated the right knee injury that lingered all through camp and preseason, and Jordan Addison's nagging ankle was re-injured. 

Jake Ferguson has an MCL sprain and David Njoku went down with an ankle injury, so keep an eye on their status the rest of this week. Finally, Rome Odunze is week-to-week with an MCL sprain. 

While we're here, there's no way Joe Burrow is healthy, right? Losing to first-time head coach Jerod Mayo and the Patriots was inexcusable, so I'll throw it out there. 

Anyways, make sure you're monitoring these developing situations because it's never too early to gird up your loins early and win the waiver wire (see below). 

6. The Panthers stink. Probably not a great idea to talk a single shred of of shit when you’re down 37-10 and the guy you’re talking trash to completed 83% of his passes and threw 3 touchdowns right in your face.  

The Panthers are objectively the worst team in the league and the countdown can begin. T-minus 3 games before David Tepper is yanking hats off and throwing drinks on fans. This organization is a mess.

7. The Jaguars ejagulated in their pants, shot their wad early before second half collapse. 
That second half was atrocious and losing to the Dolphins 20-17 was a huge miss, going scoreless in the second half. They abandoned the run after a Travis Etienne red zone fumble, and Trevor Lawrence was just 12/21 for 162 yards and a TD. 

The Jags’ lone win dating back to November 26th of 2023 is over the Panthers. They’re on quite the winless skid and the jury is out.

It was ugly, Trevor Lawrence was QB23, but this throw to Brian Thomas Jr. was insane.

8. Tyreek Hill is the early leader in the clubhouse for the best touchdown celebration of 2024.

After being yanked out of his car and detained by some heroic police for what appeared to be a basic traffic violation, he scored on an 80-yard play and had some fun with it. Tyreek was unflapped, the WR4 on the week putting up 7/130/1. 

9. #DROPDESHAUN. If not for his garbage play, then for his scumbag behavior. 

As if it wasn't enough that he STINKS, the proverbial cherry on top of the failed $230 million experiment for the Browns was Monday when it was reported that he has again been accused of heinous sexual deviance.

There's just no excuse for him to be a paid NFL employee at this point. 


 10. Will Levis was a charity draft pick. When the Titans took him early in the second round last year, it was apparent that they felt bad for him, traveling all the way to New York to sit with his girlfriend and fall out of the first round. 

 

He singlehandedly lost the game for the Titans and bailed out Caleb Williams who was pathetic in his debut. The whole "mayonnaise" shtick seems a little bit fucked up and lame when you're not doing your job on the football field. It's never a positive to be closely grouped in with Bryce Young on an efficiency chart, all things considered. 

11. Sequel: How damn dumb are the Giants? I ranked Daniel Jones 29th in this year's QB Rankings and he didn't disappoint en route to a QB30 week, good enough for DEAD LAST in fantasy points scored among eligible quarterbacks in week one. 6.9 points, QB30. $47.85 million cap hit this year just to score no touchdowns and watch Saquon ball out in Sao Paolo while their investment priority flicks his bean in those ghastly throwback uniforms. Giants fans are officially in hell. It took less than 24 hours after their first loss for Daboll to have to come out and reassure everyone that, yes, Daniel Jones is still the Giants' quarterback. Fade all skill players in that offense (yes, that includes Malik Nabers) because the Giants are wretched.

12. It was a tough day for Caleb Williams (14/29, 93 yards, 0 TD 0 INT)...

... but Jayden Daniels moved the needle.

Daniels finished with 184 yards on 17/24 passing and ran 16 times for 88 yards and 2 scores in what was an encouraging debut. Meanwhile, Caleb Williams has some habits to break and the Bears offense was considerably less fun than anticipated. 

Not every NFL debut can follow the fairytale script and I'm guessing Caleb is happy to have been part of a win (he's the first quarterback drafted #1 overall to win his opener since 2002), but it'd be nice to see the Bears offense score a touchdown next week. 

WEEK 1 WIN THE WAIVER WIRE sponsored by Olive Garden:

Thank you to our new sponsor, Olive Garden, for believing in us here at the Fantasy Football Boys Fantasy Football Department. 

"When you're here, you're family™"
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  • Isaiah Likely - 12 targets and Mark Andrews was nowhere to be seen. He’s a must-add, especially if you’re weak at tight end.  
  • JK Dobbins - Finally healthy and clearly the most explosive option in that backfield. Maybe some TDs are vultured by Gus Edwards, but he could very well be the RB1 in LA. 
  • Tyler Johnson - If Nacua is to miss time, Johnson should be next in line to take over Puka’s routes.   
  • Tank Bigsby - An Etienne fumble derailed the Jaguars’ second half, and Tank Bigsby outpaced him in carries after that going for 73 yards on 12 carries. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more goal line work for Bigsby in his near future as well. 
  • Bucky Irving - As much I hate to say it, Rachaad White is still fighting the same efficiency battles he struggled with last year. He carries 15 times for just 31 yards, and if Irving can stabilize the ypc he could encroach on early downs. 
  • Baker Mayfield - QB2 on the week, don’t overlook.
  • Justin Fields - He’s just been announced the starter again for Week 2, and I love his running upside. It wasn’t a strong offensive showing for the Steelers, but if he gets his legs going he’s worth a bench flier if you’re thin. 
  • Jordan Mason - Merely a short term solution, but damn was he good filling in for CMC in week 1.
  • Adonai Mitchell - They’re not all gonna be Hail Mary’s to Alec Pierce, and Anthony Richardson overthrew AD Mitchell twice on Sunday. It should’ve been a monstrous game for the rookie and he was second in targets.
  • Rashid Shaheed - Sneaky deep threat for the Saints, Olave was brutal, and Shaheed got things started early with a 59-yard TD on his first target.
  • Greg Dortch - It was a slow start for Marvin Harrison Jr. and Dortch is the shifty hobbit that Kyler likes to lean on if needed. He caught 6 passes on 8 targets for 47 yards on Sunday.

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