Aaron Rodgers, Quarterback, Green Bay Packers
Thursday night football was cruel to Rodgers as he fell victim to the Seattle Seahawks defense. Rodgers couldn’t break through Seattle’s brutal secondary to get much of anything accomplished and managed his only touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Rodgers finished the evening with only 189 passing yards, one touchdown, and an interception.
Likely if you owned Rodgers, you started what would normally be a stud quarterback in your fantasy lineup. Unfortunately for that mistake, he rewarded a disappointing 9.56 fantasy points in his Week 1 performance. The lesson to be learned here, is that if your quarterback is facing the Seahawks’ defense in Seattle, you might want to plan for a backup.
Robert Griffin III, Quarterback, Washington Redskins
If you dared to start RGIII, awkward slides and all, as your fantasy quarterback playing against the Houston Texans, it definitely didn’t pay off. While his passing yards ranked into the acceptable column with 267, RGIII only racked up two rushing yards, which was highly unusual for the mobile quarterback. A fumble, along with zero touchdowns also contributed to RGIII’s lack of fantasy production as he finished the day rewarding those who entrusted in him a whopping 8.88 fantasy points.
While RGIII shakes off the offseason dust, alternative quarterback options such as Titans’ Jake Locker, who totaled 20.04 fantasy points may need to be explored in the near future.
Tony Romo, Quarterback, Dallas Cowboys
We can no longer ignore the massive elephant in the room, which is Romo who was downright horrific at home against the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers’ defense had their way all day long with Romo, who threw three interceptions within the first half of the game.
While Romo miraculously pulled 281 passing yards and a touchdown out of his back pocket, his three interceptions cost fantasy owners dearly as he managed to scrape up just 9.24 fantasy points by the end of the game. Anyone watching that game who started Romo in their lineups was probably tearing their hair out or using inappropriate language during the whole grueling affair.
Romo faces Tennessee next week, so he should bounce back against a not-so-threatening defense. If he stumbles again this badly, Romo might be spending a long season on your fantasy bench.
Eli Manning, Quarterback, New York Giants
In true nightmare form, Eli did not disappoint if you were counting on him to not score many fantasy points in Week 1. Manning made sure of that by passing for just 163 yards, scoring only one touchdown and of course coughing up a couple of his classic interceptions.
If you actually had some reason to play Manning, perhaps in a dual quarterback league this week, he offered very little value scoring 6.52 fantasy points. Struggling all evening long, and enduring two sacks really should not surprise anyone. However, Manning is and will continue to impact the fantasy value of his top receiver, Victor Cruz, who only managed 24 yards on two catches this week.
Manning, really isn’t even a fantasy option at this point, unless you have absolutely no other quarterback to start. He has a huge uphill climb to conquer before he even should be considered fantasy-relevant in future weeks.
Stevan Ridley, Running Back, New England Patriots
If you plugged Ridley in as your flex against the Miami Dolphins yesterday, you started a running back who struggled to move the ball on the ground, coughing up a mere 2.80 fantasy points. With only eight carries for 21 rushing yards and no score, Ridley was outplayed by fellow back Shane Vereen, who was able to produce more from his touches, and squeaked in a rushing score.
Ridley is a difficult fantasy player to line up because his opportunities with the Patriots are never guaranteed with Vereen in the picture. It also didn’t help that the Patriots were playing from behind, finding themselves in dire need of passing the ball rather than handing it off. At this time, Ridley shouldn’t be used for anything more than a flex play when a suitable matchup is on the schedule.
Ben Tate, Running Back, Cleveland Browns
So much for the injury-prone Tate dominating the carries for the Browns as he rightfully earned his reputation in that department, exiting in the second quarter of the game with a bum knee. Tallying up only 41 yards on six touches left fantasy owners of Tate with 4.10 lousy fantasy points.
If you had the premonition to play Isaiah Crowell in your lineup anticipating Tate’s injury, you would be sitting on 15.20 fantasy points. These are the type of points owners of Tate would have enjoyed having, but that obviously wasn’t in the cards yesterday in a tight matchup against Pittsburgh.
Tate’s status will need to be monitored next week because of his knee injury, so plan to pick up Crowell off the waivers or stash Terrance West if you can. Surely this won’t be the only time Tate goes down this season.
Jamaal Charles, Running Back, Kansas City Chiefs
Charles by far, was one of the most disappointing fantasy players to have in your Week 1 lineup. Held back by the Titans all day, Charles only managed 19 yards on seven attempts with 15 receiving yards. The grand total for Charles’ fantasy points at the end of the game was a miserable 3.40.
This was highly unusual for the top-targeted draft pick, Charles who everyone obviously started in their fantasy lineups this past Sunday. We can only hope Charles bounces back next week against Denver and makes up for his disastrous performance. Typically, Charles should earn high-end, double-digit fantasy points weekly, which should be the norm moving forward for the former No. 1 ranked running back of 2013.
Dez Bryant, Wide Receiver, Dallas Cowboys
Bryant was a hot mess in Sunday’s matchup against San Francisco dealing with dehydration issues to a sore arm, which caused him to exit the game a couple of times to regroup. Romo’s awful signal calling and game play, certainly didn’t help Bryant’s fantasy outcome either.
At the end of that painstaking game, Bryant only had 55 receiving yards off of four catches, finishing scoreless. Let’s look for Bryant to rebound against Tennessee next week, as he has some serious making up to do for his fantasy owners, who don’t want to want to see another 5.50 fantasy point offering from this stud wideout.
Demaryius Thomas, Wide Receiver, Denver Broncos
If you started Thomas in your lineup in Sunday’s game against the Colts, blame tight end Julius Thomas for sniping all of Peyton Manning’s passing touchdowns, leaving Demaryius scoreless and nearly stripped of all fantasy points.
Ending the evening with just 48 yards on four catches earned owners of Thomas just 4.80 fantasy points, which is a sad result considering Thomas was targeted 11 times. Unfortunately, due to double coverage and a holding call that could have resulted in a touchdown, those who started Thomas were nonetheless frustrated in such a pittance in fantasy points.
Thomas should hopefully turn things around next week against Kansas City, as the thought of benching him due to one poor performance really shouldn’t be an option.
Sammy Watkins, Wide Receiver, Buffalo Bills
Making his NFL regular season debut, Watkins, if you braved starting him on your fantasy team, didn’t make a very remarkable first impression. Overshadowed by fellow receiver, Robert Woods, Watkins ended his day with only 31 receiving yards on three caches, totaling 3.10 fantasy points.
Even though the Bills pulled off a win in overtime, 23-20 over Chicago, Watkins hardly contributed to that result. As the first rookie wide receiver typically drafted by fantasy players, Watkins looks to a gamble to start in future lineups due to the inconsistency of his quarterback, E.J. Manuel. Having the capable running back duo of Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller to get the work done on the ground, also could present Watkins with less opportunities.
At best, Watkins should be started only as a flex, until he gets into the groove and we see more progress.
Jason Witten, Tight End, Dallas Cowboys
I hate to keep picking on the Cowboys, but Witten must make this list of worst fantasy performances with his disappointing 1.40 fantasy points he rewarded in the Week 1 disaster against San Francisco. Typically, Witten can be relied upon to produce top-five fantasy points nearly every week. However, this week, Witten ranked 36th among his fellow tight ends, likely causing the difference between a win and a loss for your fantasy team. Even though Romo ended up passing for 281 yards, only 14 landed in the hands of Witten.
Fortunately for Witten owners, he frequently is a favorite target of Romo’s, so let’s just sweep this messy week under the rug, as Witten should be considered a reliable tight end play as he gets back on track in Week 2.