The first Sunday of the NFL season is in the books, and there are plenty of fantasy takeaways to digest. Here are the top-5 things to take note of moving forward to next week:
1. Running backs are getting more involved in the passing game
A consistent theme throughout Sunday was that running backs were getting more involved in the passing game than we've seen in prior years. Through Sunday's games, only one receiver pulled in double-digit receptions, despite multiple shootouts across the board. Meanwhile, ten running backs across the league pulled in five receptions or more. Kansas City Chiefs running backs Spencer Ware (7 rec) and Charcandrick West (6 rec) both made that list.
The league is becoming increasingly pass-heavy, as you probably knew, but it's interesting to note the uptick in check-downs to running backs with zone coverage seemingly becoming more en vogue. If this continues, we may end up looking back and realizing that pass-catching backs were undervalued in fantasy drafts.
2. Don't sleep on the overshadowed #2 receivers
Guys like Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins and A.J. Green were all top picks in your fantasy draft for a reason. They are total studs capable of breaking off huge plays at anytime, as we saw. But with defenses loading up against them and shading coverage their way, the overshadowed second receiver for all of those teams usually has a chance to put up viable fantasy scoring weeks.
We definitely saw that in Week 1. Mohamed Sanu (ATL) and Will Fuller (HOU) were both top-10 receivers this week, and Brandon LaFell had four catches for 91 yards. Jason Witten led all tight ends in receptions (9) with Dez drawing attention.
All four of those players were typically selected after round 10 of your draft. It's something to keep in mind when scouring the waiver wire this week -- maybe someone like Eli Rogers behind Antonio Brown can help you out moving forward.
3. Streaming still pays
Alex Smith, Matthew Stafford, Jameis Winston and Matt Ryan were all top-6 quarterbacks this week. In most drafts, they were being selected as QB2 types, if at all.
Philadelphia, Buffalo and Miami were top-5 defenses in Week 1. With the possible exception of Philadelphia, they most likely weren't taken in your fantasy draft, and certainly weren't taken with an early pick.
While you get some wackiness (Miami) thrown in there, the matchups were certainly favorable elsewhere. Load up on RB/WR/TE in the draft or through trades, and let someone else pay a premium on quarterbacks, defenses, and yes, kickers.
4. Keenan Allen's injury
Allen dominated the first half against the Chiefs (as did the Chargers), but then went down with a non-contact knee injury, which turned out to be a torn ACL. The Chargers absolutely fell apart after Allen's injury, which is probably a bad omen for what's to come.
Allen owners can cut bait, and look to upside rookies like Will Fuller (HOU), Tajae Sharpe (TEN) and Eli Rogers (PIT) to replace him.
You'll likely want to swing for the fences elsewhere instead of picking up his direct backups, as Dontrelle Inman and Tyrell Williams will likely split time and come close to canceling each other out. Williams is the more exciting pickup, as he has the raw size and speed combo to eventually become something substantial, but he's an incredible raw receiver in terms of route running and changes of pace. He'll be a better deep threat than a target hog. Inman should see more targets and is the safer PPR bet, but it's hard to imagine he'll be worth starting in non-bye weeks.
Meanwhile, Philip Rivers can be safely streamed for another QB, as he was awful last year once Allen went down with injury.
5. Adrian Peterson's downfall
I'm not going to write off Adrian Peterson after one week, especially when he's playing with a backup quarterback. Still, his Week 1 line in a plus matchup was absolutely concerning: 19 carries, 31 yards, 0 receptions, 0 TD. The Vikings are going to keep riding Peterson, but he looked awfully slow and unable to make anything happen in a way that we haven't typically seen from AP before.
He's going to get plenty of carries, but the Vikings may start mixing in Jerrick McKinnon a little more frequently if he remains this ineffective.
On the flip side of that, a new bellcow RB has emerged elsewhere. We knew Lamar Miller's workload would increase going from Miami, where he was criminally underused, to Houston, who has been top-5 in the league in rushing attempts the last two seasons. Week 1 was a nice indicator of what might follow, as Miller touched the ball a whopping 32 times in Week 1.
