Week 1 Fantasy Football Recap: Saquon Barkley’s Awesome Debut

Week 1 of the NFL season is officially over, and it was, as it always is, crazy. Let’s take a look at some of the best, worst, and most interesting fantasy performances of the week, plus a peek ahead to some DFS plays for Week 2. 

Top Performances

Saquon Barkley: 32.2 Half-PPR Points

Saquon’s debut as an Eagle could not have gone better, as he finished as the week’s top scorer. He carried the ball 24 times for 109 yards and two scores and also added two catches for 23 yards and another touchdown. 

Even better for Saquon going forward, the Eagles struggled to execute on the tush push, failing on a third and one attempt and fumbling the snap on a goal-line attempt. Barkley already looks set to deliver a top-five season in Philadelphia; a move away from the tush push at the goal line could make him the RB1.   

Isaiah Likely: 21.6 Half-PPR Points

I can’t not mention Likely, who stood alone in a Week full of terrible tight end performances with a monster outing in the season opener. This nine-catch, 111-yard performance was enough to earn Likely top billing in FantasyFootballBlueprint’s weekly waiver coverage. 

I’m not entirely sold that Likely will be able to keep this up, as he did post just a 60% route participation rate. But even that is a massive step up from in previous years with Mark Andrews healthy, and he obviously came through despite his limited snaps in Week 1. He is definitely worth adding, even if this week’s performance may be his best of the year when all is said and done.

Anthony Richardson: 26.08 Half-PPR Points

Richardson wasn’t actually the highest-scoring quarterback of the week, nor was he even in the top three. But no one produced more clip-worthy moments than he did in Week 1, both good and bad. The sophomore finished his 2024 debut with just nine completed passes and a 47.4% completion rate. He was generally inaccurate, threw an interception, and missed multiple chances at big plays. 

But he also threw two big touchdowns, including one of the most insane throws in NFL history, and rushed for 56 yards and one more TD on just six attempts. It won’t always be pretty, but Richardson’s superhuman abilities look set to make him an elite fantasy quarterback. If he ever gets his accuracy under control, watch out. 

Biggest Duds

Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals

For a normal rookie wide receiver, a 90% snap share and three targets is a very promising debut. But MHJ is no normal rookie. Hailed as a generation talent and being selected at the one/two turn in fantasy drafts, Harrison Jr. was expected to produce as soon as he stepped foot on the NFL field.

Instead, he … didn’t do that. Harrison finished his first game with one catch and one drop on just three targets for four yards. He looked sluggish running routes and posted the sixth-worst PFF Receiving Grade of any wide receiver in Week 1. Given that he is still a rookie, no one should give up on Harrison just yet, but his debut was about as bad as it could have been. 

Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

There were lots and lots of candidates for a dud at the quarterback position in a Week 1 filled with terrible QB play, but I’m giving the nod to Burrow. Drafted as a top-10 option at the position, Burrow finished with just over eight fantasy points in Week 1, the 27th-most in the league. 

There are lots of potential culprits for this disappointing outing. Burrow may still be dealing with lingering impacts from his 2023 wrist injury. Jerod Mayo may be cooking up a throwback-dominant defense in New England. Or maybe Burrow is just overrated and struggles to produce without both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. To a certain extent, all three of these theories are true. Burrow should perform better going forward, especially once Higgins returns. But the days of him putting up truly elite fantasy numbers may be over. 

Pretty Much Every Elite Tight End

Only three tight ends scored even double-digit Half-PPR points in Week 1: the aforementioned Likely, the Saints’ TE2 Foster Moreau, and Kyle Pitts. Meanwhile, highly drafted options at the position bombed nearly universally. Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, Sam LaPorta, Evan Engram, Trey McBride, George Kittle, and Dalton Kincaid all scored 6.5 or fewer Half-PPR points. Overall, this was the worst week of tight end production in the last five years. Obviously, things won’t remain this bad. But at least half of the so-called “elite” tight ends had some legitimately concerning metrics in Week 1. This season more than ever, it may be worth stashing backup or potential breakout tight ends. Guys like Hunter Henry, Theo Johnson, and Colby Parkinson could become valuable trade pieces … or you may find yourself needing them as your highly drafted TE continues to struggle.  

Sneaky Storylines

Bucky Irving is Coming For Rachaad White’s Job

This one isn’t too sneaky, as I’ve seen plenty of fantasy analysts mention Irving’s impressive NFL debut. But, as far as I’ve seen, Irving isn’t headlining Week 1 waiver columns, and he should be. 

What separates Irving from someone like Tank Bigsby, who also outperformed his team’s RB1 in Week 1, is simple: Rachaad White is a bad rusher. According to NextGenStats, White ranked dead last in rush yards vs. expected in 2023, picking up 110 fewer yards than expected. In Week 1 of this season, White continued that trend, ranking easily worst in the league with 32 yards below expected on just 15 attempts. Irving, meanwhile, finished a totally acceptable three yards below expected, finishing with just as many yards as White on six fewer attempts. If this trend keeps up, we have to hope that Irving will eventually take over as Tampa Bay’s lead RB, at least on early downs.

The Commanders Are Going to Play Fast

In 2023, the Colts led the league with 18.2% of their snaps coming in no-huddle. In Week 1, the Commanders posted a 46.4% no-huddle rate. This could be dismissed as a Week 1 anomaly, but we know this is how Kliff Kingsbury likes to run his offenses. The last time he was in the NFL, his 2022 Cardinals averaged a 32.9% no-huddle rate to go with just 25.7 seconds per snap in neutral situations, both easily the fastest in the league. 

As long as this continues, this is a huge boost to the value of all Commanders. More plays means more chances to rack up fantasy points. As he showed this week with 28.16 fantasy points, Jayden Daniels has a huge ceiling thanks to his dual-threat ability. Having a few extra plays each game should boost his floor enough to make him a weekly QB1.    

Keon Coleman is Already the Bills’ WR1

This one is going relatively unnoticed because Coleman’s statistical performance was just okay: four catches on five targets for 51 yards. But the rookie led the Bills with an 86.7% route participation rate, a 21.7% target share, and a 28.1% air yards share. A rookie in his NFL debut putting up that kind of numbers in a Josh Allen offense is a huge deal. If the manager in your league who drafted Coleman doesn’t realize what they have, now is the time to trade for the 33rd overall pick. 

Early DFS Plays

Demarcus Robinson, Los Angeles Rams

With Puka Nacua out, someone aside from Cooper Kupp is going to have to catch passes for the Rams. Robinson, who was quietly consistently productive down the stretch of last season, should be that guy. He was out-produced by Tyler Johnson in Week 1 but was easily second behind Kupp with a very healthy 86.3% route participation rate. At just $4,000 on DraftKings, he is looking like a great value play for the Week 2 slate. 

J.K. Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers

Given what he just did in Week 1, Dobbins’ price is far too low heading into a juicy matchup with the Panthers. This is a guy who just recorded 135 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, not to mention three receptions. It is worth noting that Gus Edwards was still heavily involved, actually recording one more carry than Dobbins. But Dobbins was clearly the better back on Sunday, and there should be more than enough work to go around in a matchup in which the Chargers are already favored by nearly a full touchdown.

Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints

This is a classic bounce-back play. Despite the Saints running riot all over the aforementioned terrible Panthers defense, Olave finished Week 1 with just two catches for 11 yards. Now, heading into a much tougher matchup with the Cowboys, his DFS prices actually haven’t fallen by much. This presents an opportunity to grab a talented player at what should be a low roster percentage. Additionally, this is just a bet on the Saints’ new-look offense, which dropped 47 points on the Panthers. Even in the blowout, Klint Kubiak had the Saints using pre-snap motion on pass plays at the highest rate in the league. Assuming that continues into Week 2, and the Saints have to lean on their No. 1 receiver more in a tougher matchup, Olave could be due for a big week.

Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football die-hard and expert. To ask him questions or complain about his takes, find him on Twitter @Tchmyz.