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Week 1 Fantasy Football Recap (2021)

Jorge Edwards

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Fantasy Football Season. Is. Back.

Folks, it has been some time since I’ve done a weekly recap piece and I must say it feels great to be behind the keyboard for you once again!

Week 1 has come and gone and quite frankly it has left a lot of us scratching our heads, jumping for joy, and questioning our draft decisions. To be fair, that’s pretty much every other week during the fantasy football season. However, I cannot remember in recent years there being such an overwhelming amount of poor fantasy performances in half-PPR scoring from so many first and second-round picks in Week 1.

For example:

Saquon Barkley (NYG): 3.2 pts

Derrick Henry (TEN): 9.2 pts

Ezekiel Elliott (DAL): 4.9 pts

Aaron Jones (GB): 3.2 pts

Davante Adams (GB): 8.2 pts

Calvin Ridley (ATL): 7.6 pts

Allen Robinson (CHI): 6.5 pts

Mike Evans (TB): 5.9 pts

On the flip side, I was VERY happy to see so many productive IDP fantasy football performances in Week 1 for common and not-so-common names on defense.

In IDP123 scoring:

Chandler Jones (ARI): 62 pts

Maxx Crosby (LV): 31 pts

Dre Greenlaw (SF): 25 pts

Cole Holcomb (WAS): 20 pts

Tracy Walker (DET): 23 pts

Logan Ryan (NYG): 27 pts

At the end of the day, it’s just one week and we have 16 more games to go, so for those freaking out after just one week might I suggest the following:

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Now, my goal each week is to bring to your attention the storylines I found the most interesting at every position (minus kickers because…c’mon) in fantasy football. By bringing these storylines to your attention you should walk away with a better understanding, for better or for worse, of what you can expect from the players mentioned going forward.

So without further delay let me give you my recap from Week 1!

Quarterback: Matthew Stafford looks happy on a pro-football field….finally.

I mean did you see that man STRUT like he was the “Big Man on Campus” after throwing his first touchdown pass as a Ram?!

Good. Chances are you never saw him do anything like that in Detroit.

Finishing as the QB10 on the week, Stafford’s 24.3 fantasy points, 321 yards passing, and 3 TDs help set the standard of what you can expect out of the Rams this season. Behind an offensive line that was rated as the 7th best pass-blocking unit in the NFL this past week, Stafford should have a field day against opposing defenses over the next few weeks as he faces:

Week 2: Indianapolis (allowed 27.1 fantasy points to Carson Wentz in Week 1)

Week 3: Tampa Bay (allowed 28.4 fantasy points to the Dak in Week 1)

Week 5: Seattle (allowed 18.0 fantasy points to Carson Wentz in Week 1)

Week 6: New York Giants (allowed 20.5 fantasy points to Teddy Bridgewater in Week 1)

…..are you starting to get the picture here?

Honestly, get any piece of this Rams offense that you can because you should expect to see more of what you saw Sunday night in the coming weeks, especially from Stafford.

Running Back: No, it wasn’t an “easier schedule down the stretch” thing last season, it was a DAVID MONTGOMERY thing.

Against the league’s 9th best-rated run defensive unit from 2020 and #1 rated defense overall according to Pro Football Focus, David Montgomery put up 108 yards and 18.3 fantasy points while averaging 6.8 yards per carry on just SIXTEEN ATTEMPTS.

Let that soak in for a minute.

No, no take another minute.

The RB7 from Week 1 will look to continue his string of impressive performances going back from the end of last season through now against the Bengals (11th best against the run), Browns (1st against the run), Lions (31st against the run), Raiders (26th against the run), and the Packers (14th against the run) over the next few weeks. NOW, is the time to try and acquire David Montgomery as tough defensive matchups going forward might scare his current fantasy managers in terms of his predictive success. As for me, I’m not worried one bit about his upside whether he faces easy or tough defensive matchups. David Montgomery is the real deal!

Wide Receiver: Y’all were just ready to crown CeeDee as the top guy in Dallas and forget about Amari?! Shame!

Don’t be that hard on yourself folks, I was doing the exact same thing. Cooper’s WR1 performance this past week saw him post 32.4 fantasy points on a team-leading 16 targets with a completion percentage of 81.2%. That should tell you all you need to know about who the REAL WR1 is in “Big D”. Ceedee might be the heir-apparent at the wide receiver position for the Cowboys, but he isn’t that yet.

As for Cooper, he faces favorable matchups against the Chargers, Panthers, Giants, Patriots, and Vikings in the coming weeks. No fantasy manager, in redraft, is going to give up the WR1 on the season to ANYONE after just one week. Therefore, for those that kept the faith, congrats. To the rest of us,

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Tight End: Yay, Dallas Goedert finally did something productive for fantasy purposes.

Posting only his 4th double-digit fantasy point performance dating back to the beginning of 2020, Dallas Goedert was the 3rd most targeted receiving option on the day for Philadelphia against a hapless Falcons team. This Eagles team was fortunate to face this poor Falcons defense in Week 1 as the matchup allowed them to highlight ALL of their skill players on offense. Even Kenneth Gainwell got in on the action!

I don’t see that being the norm for Philadelphia down the stretch as they take on more difficult matchups. Given his track record, I wouldn’t put too much faith in this performance for Goedert. If I were you I would play the streaming game from week to week here and try and see if you can pawn Goedert over to league mate for something substantial after THIS performance.

Edge Rusher (DL/OLB): Chandler Jones, baby!

Did little old me make that fantastic call regarding Chandler Jones’ expected performance in Week 1?!

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Truth be told I had NO clue he would have THAT type of performance in Week 1. Five sacks and 62 fantasy points later in IDP123 scoring and all of a sudden we’re reminded of just how dominant he was as a pass-rusher in years past before tearing his biceps in 2020. If only someone could have brought that to your attention in the preseason…..hmmmm….who would have done that? Perhaps the writer of THIS beauty of an IDP article: 4-EYED IDP TEAM PREVIEW: ARIZONA CARDINALS (2021)

In any event, you can safely insert him into your DL/Edge Rusher spot on your IDP rosters and let him go do his thing for your fantasy football team. Trust me.

Defensive Back: Tracy Walker was more like Paul Walker as he was going all Fast and Furious all over the football field on Sunday.

And ball out he did.

Finishing as the #3 defensive back in IDP123 scoring with 23 fantasy points, Walker picked up right from where he left off in 2019 before a toe injury/change in schematic usage derailed his 2020 IDP fantasy football season. His 7 total tackles, tackle for a loss, QB hit, and sack were all examples of just how multi-faceted he can be on the defensive side of the ball. With fellow defensive back Jeff Okudah now lost for the season due to injury, look for Walker to pick up even more slack in the Lions’ secondary all of which should translate into steady production for Walker for the rest of the fantasy football season.

Defensive Lineman: Mad Maxx has become more like Zen Maxx off the field, however, don’t let that fool you as he is still a force to be reckowned with on the football field.

His DL2 fantasy performance of 31 IDP123 fantasy points notwithstanding, Maxx Crosby’s most impressive stats were the 5 QB hits on /2 sacks of Lamar Jackson on Monday Night Football.

If he could do that against a pretty good Ravens offensive line and Lamar Jackson, just what do you think he’s going to be able to do against other competition out there?! Seeing as he’s only 7.1% rostered on ESPN and Yahoo I would suggest picking him up off of waivers….now!

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