Saquon Barkley Is All The Way Back And The Packers Have A New Lead Back - What Fantasy Lessons We Learned After A Wild Week 1

*The following is based off of 4-point passing TDs and 0.5 points per reception.

Quarterbacks

Patrick Mahomes looked every bit of his MVP form back in 2018 when he threw for 5,097 and 50 TDs to just 12 INTs. On Sunday in Arizona in his first game without Tyreek Hill on the team, Mahomes went 30/39 for 360 yards and a whopping 5 TDs. 

Caron Wentz finished the week as QB3 going 27/41 with 4 TDs and 2 INTs. But how much of that was just because he was playing the Jaguars?

Jalen Hurts got it done through the air and with his legs. My knock on Hurts going into the year was that he was averaging 187 yards passing/game once they changed the Offense to be run-first. Hurts threw if 32 times for 243 yards which is definitely encouraging. Even more encouraging were his 17 rushing attempts for 90 yards, including a Touchdown.

Marcus Mariota's legs make him a legitimate fantasy weapon. He ran it 12 times for 72 yards and 1 TD on Sunday, so that's 13.2 fantasy points without throwing the ball! And even though he only threw for 215 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs, that's the type of rushing floor you can live with because he will eventually throw some tuddies.

Runningbacks

Saquon Barkley is all the way back. He carried it 18 times for 164 yards (9.11 YPC) with 1 TD and caught 6 of his 7 targets for 30 yards. He threw in a 2-point conversion for good measure and finished as RB1 with 30.40 points. The question with Saquon has never been talent, but health. Hopefully he can stay healthy this year because he put on a show and is now firmly an RB1 in fantasy.

Jonathan Taylor would still be my RB1 overall. He carried the ball 31 freakin times on Sunday going for 161 and 1 TD. He also was targeted 7 times in the passing game which is a huge win for JT drafters. 

Cordarrelle Patterson picked up right where he left off. 22 carries for 120 yards and 1 TDs with a couple catches is the type of RB1 production you want. And he was had in the late middle rounds this year!

AJ Dillon is the back to own in Green Bay. Aaron Jones came in with more hype and a much higher ADP, but he finished with only 5 carries and 5 targets in the passing game that he turned into 3 catches for 27 yards. 9.10 points wasn't what you were hoping for with his ADP. They called me crazy when I had AJ Dillon as RB12, but he finished as RB10 in Week 1 doubling up Aaron Jones carries and producing 7 catches for 72 yards on 8 targets. The arrow is firmly pointed to up and I'd try and make a play for him to see if you can still buy while the price is relatively low.

Jets Runningbacks are looked to A LOT in the passing game. 10 targets for Breece Hall and 9 targets for Michael Carter Jr. Both are great options in PPR leagues. 

Some other sneaky PPR plays at RB if you're looking to stream someone because you either went Zero RB strategy or an RB got hurt: Nyheim Hines (6 targets, 6 catches, 50 yards) and Rex Burkhead (8 targets, 5 catches, 30 yards) and Jeff Wilson Jr. who appears in line to take over for the injured Elijah Mitchell.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire finished the week as RB6, but I'm not buying it. He had 10 total touches with 7 carries and 3 catches. You'll need more volume than that to be a legitimate every week fantasy start.

Older Runningbacks underwhelmed. Something to watch out for: Age 27 is when RBs tend to fall off a cliff. Some notable guys that underwhelmed on Sunday that fit into that category: Derrick Henry (28), Aaron Jones (27), Alvin Kamara (27) Dalvin Cook (27), Austin Ekeler (27) to name a few.

Wide Receiver

The cream rises to the top and Justin Jefferson, Cooper Kupp, Davante Adams, and Ja'Marr Chase finished as WR1 - WR4, respectively. 

Michael Pittman Jr. had a day finishing as WR5 with 13 targets, 9 catches, 121 yards and 1 TD.

A.J. Brown is a target machine and will maybe reset the target share machine. 13 targets produced 10 catches for 155 yards.

Michael Thomas might be back converting 8 of his targets to 5 catches for 57 yards with 2 TDs.

This Amon-Ra St. Brown guy is still getting a ton of targets. That makes it 7 straight games with double digit targets. He converted 12 targets into 8 catches for 64 yards and 1 TD.

Christian Kirk might be a factor in Jacksonville. He collected 12 targets and converted half of them for 117 yards. 

CeeDee Lamb had a rough game with only 2 catches for 29 yards, but don't panic just yet. I know Dak Prescott is out, but the guy still had 11 targets, so don't be so quick to throw him on the scrap heap.

Allen Robinson is still bad, even with a good Quarteraback. The guy had 1 catch.

Tight Ends

Travis Kelce was worth every penny. Old reliable just outscored every other TE by at least 5.30.

Taysom Hill at QB/TE is a cheat code. Much like Cordarrelle Pattesron and previously Marques Colston, he's listed as a dual threat. He only had 1 catches on 1 target for 2 yards, but it was his rushing which accounted for 81 yards and 1 TD (on only 4 carries). The volume is worrisome, but he's a decent pickup if you're using him as a TE.

Tyler Higbee and Pat Freiermuth both had double digit targets Week 1. 

And lastly, a fun punishment that came across my timeline. Having the last place finisher in your fantasy league wear an I Suck At Fantasy shirt weekly when you guys are hanging out watching football.

And if you're a scum of the Earth guy and auto-drafted, your league should force you to wear this every Sunday: