FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 1 1:00 GAMES WRAPUP

The 1:00 were jam-packed with notable actions and injuries so let's get it all out there for discussion.

-It is only one game but the Pittsburgh Steelers offense looked downright pathetic which calls into questions any of the players associated with the mess we saw against the Tennessee Titans.  Never a fantasy star to begin with, Ben Roethlisberger threw for only 191 yards and 1 TD with 1 INT against one of the worst defenses in football in 2012.  Once again Big Ben was running for his life behind an awful line which is the same story we have talked about for years.  Antonio Bronwn (5 catches for 71 yards) and especially Emmanuel Sanders (7 catches for 57 yards) did well enough for themselves in PPR formats but no scores by either.  Still looking forward to LeVeon Bell's return but the rest of the Steeler weaponry leaves a lot to be desired.

-As far as Tennessee was concerned, Chris Johnson was a non-factor with 70 yards on 25 carries with ZERO receptions.  The big story was the fact Jackie Battle was in for goal-line work, culminating in a rushing touchdown.  Battle did nicely around the goal-line for the Chiefs last season and so there is big time concern about Johnson's overall value if he is not going to be put in position to score touchdowns.  This needs to be watched very closely as Johnson's value could go tumbling.

-Geno Smith did all right in his first NFL start, throwing for 256 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT while also rushing for 47 yards in a shocking victory.  No need to go out and make an add though as the same questions regarding the lack of weapons for Smith continues.  They face a still uptick in quality of opposition next week versus New England.

-As predicted Bilal Powell did nothing in rushing for 29 yards on 12 carries.  Whether it is Powell or Chris Ivory, don't even think of adding a Jets running back.

-Disappointing day for Doug Martin who ran for only 65 yards but he did score.  The Jets defense is tough so no worries.  Martin will be just fine.

-Vincent Jackson was a terror in grabbing 7 passes for 154 yards, including what was looking like the catch that would clinch the game for the Buc's.  While Jackson has never been a PPR guy, he is still a fine WR 1 option.

-One Jets who could get a look is tight end Kellen Winslow who caught 7 passes for 79 yards and a score.  We are always on the lookout for tight end help and Winslow is a proven name who can still get it done as evidenced by his performance in this game.

-We learned a long time ago never to doubt Tom Brady no matter who his receivers are and the opener against Buffalo continued to show why this is the case.  Brady fought though an unexpectedly stiff challenge from the Bills defense in throwing for 288 yards and 2 scores with 1 pick.  He quickly got to work with new toy Danny Amendola, who shook off a slight groin injury to catch 10 passes for 104 yards.  Yup the comparisons to Wes Welker are spot on but the going issue is a reminder of how risky Amendola is to own.  However the upside is huge if he can somehow keep himself on the field.  100 catches is the upside.

Meanwhile, the much-hyped Kenbrell Thompkins was a non-story with 4 catches for 42 yards.  Hold onto him though for another week as you can't toss aside any Brady receiver that quickly.

-One guy we had a big time sleeper label attached to was Shane Vereen given his ability to catch the football and he did that and more Sunday.  Vereen replaced a benched Stevan Ridley by rushing for 101 yards on only 14 carries to go with 7 catches for 58 yards.  Depending on if Ridley stays in the doghouse, Vereen could be a HUGE player going forward,  At the very least Vereen needs to be used in PPR formats.

Speaking of Ridley, he was awful in losing a fumble while rushing for only 46 yards.   Since Ridley doesn't catch the football, he needs to put up nice rushing and touchdown numbers to be useful.  Watch this week to see if any news comes out of the benching.

-Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone vowed to use both Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller in the running game and he was true to his word.  Jackson actually outrushed Spiller 67 to 41 yards with four less carries.  Also Spiller didn't help matters by losing a fumble in the first half.  If Jackson continues to have this much work, than Spiller's value is negatively effected.  It was this uncertainty that had me questioning Spiller's worth as a first round pick.  So far my concerns are validated.

-Now let's get to rookie QB E.J. Manuel.  The rookie was exciting in preseason and he did nothing to quell that optimism Sunday in throwing for 150 yards with 2 touchdowns and no INT's.  He also ran for 23 yards in showing his rushing game.  While Manuel is not there yet as a fantasy football option, I wouldn't object if you made a sleeper add.

-Julian Edelman slipped through the cracks when it came to talking about the receivers on the Patriots this season.  The only holdover to make an impact other than Shane Vereen, Edelman caught 7 passed for 79 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He will be one of the biggest adds of the coming week and rightfully so.

-The shootout that was expected in the New Orleans-Atlanta game certainly materialized.  Drew Brees threw for 357 yards with 2 TD's and 1 INT which is standard operating procedure for him.  His counterpart Matt Ryan tossed two touchdowns of his own for 304 yards with 2 scores and a late second INT.  The only thing I could quibble about was the shoddy protection from the Atlanta offensive line which could negatively impact Ryan's passing numbers and leave him susceptible to injury.

As far as the rest of the cast of characters, Tony Gonzalez caught a touchdown pass but otherwise was quiet 3 catches for 36 yards.  Roddy White was a guy I told you to be careful with due to his high ankle sprain that has kept him from practicing.  The result was only 2 catches for 19 yards in a no-show game.  I did say to pick up Harry Douglas and he caught 4 passes for 93 yards.  Julio Jones was the most productive wideout for the Falcons with 7 catches for 76 yards and a score.  Not a good start for White who is on the wrong side of 30 amid worries he is on the decline.

-On the flip side, Marques Colston did his thing:  5 catches for 68 yards and a touchdown.  Jimmy Graham got the other score on 4 receptions for 45 yards.  Truth be told I expected more out of Graham in this one but at least he hit paydirt.  Finally both running games did little but Steven Jackson is still a solid RB 2 while Mark Ingram should be left on the wire.

-Scary day for Jamaal Charles owners.  The electric running back was terrific with 77 rushing yards on only 16 carries and a score while also catching 3 passes for 23.  The bigger story however was Charles leaving with a quad injury which is very scary for running backs.  However Charles did return and had one more carry before he called it a day so he seems like he dodged a bullet.  Big exhale for Charles owners who would have been beyond devastated for any game he would potentially miss.

As far as Maurice Jones-Drew is concerned, he did nothing to dispel the notion he was a bad investment for 2013 given his age, the fact he is coming off injury, and is on a truly horrendous offense by rushing for 45 yards on 15 carries.  MJD looked slow and hesitant.  Very bad signs.

-As great as Russell Wilson was as a rookie in 2012 which paved the way for him being a top ten fantasy football passer this season, he had never thrown for 300 yards before.  That is until Sunday when Wilson threw for 320 yards and a touchdown.  Seattle is a run first and second offensive unit but Wilson is looking like a safe commodity.

Cam Newton meanwhile once again had a slow start to a season, throwing for only 125 yards but he did toss a touchdown to salvage things some.  Newton has proven to be a volatile guy who goes up and down as the season goes on.  You like more consistency but the bottom line numbers should be nice.

-How about Doug Baldwin?  He led Seattle with 7 catches for 91 yards with both Golden Tate and Sidney Rice active.  Steve Smith meanwhile scored on 6 catches for 51 yards.

-What a disaster if you owned any Miami Dolphins fantasy football-worthy player.  Flat out the two biggest busts for the day were WR Mike Wallace and RB Lamar Miller.  I spoke loudly about how I wouldn't touch Wallace as I think he is grossly overrated and the one catch he had Sunday with shaky QB Ryan Tannehill showed why.  Ever the professional, Wallace popped off after the game.  He is being paid like a WR 1 but in my view Wallace is nothing more than a WR 3.

Than you have Miller who will likely cause me to be 0-1 barring a miracle in the Experts League.  So confident in my belief Miller would take off as a starter, I went with him over Ryan Matthews to fill the second RB slot on my squad.  Miller's grand rushing total however was 3 yards on 10 carries.  Clearly he earned the most curse words attached to his name this week.

-Jordan Cameron was a must have sleeper due to the fact his head coach is Rob Chudzinski who helped develop Antonio Gates and Kellen Winslow into stars.  Well Cameron went along with the script in catching 9 passes for 108 yards and a score.  Yes Brandon Weeden is awful but young QB's like him always look towards the tight end.  We could be looking at a Jason Witten-like season out of Cameron.

-I told you that Matthew Stafford was looking like a terrific bargain guy at QB off his hard to explain bad 2012.  With a tremendous collection of receivers, Stafford was in line for a major rebound.  Stafford looked ready to make good on that promise in throwing for 357 yard with 2 TD and 1 INT.

-How about the one-two punch of Reggie Bush and Joquie Bell?  Both guys were monsters Sundays, with Bush rushing for 90 yards and catching 4 passed for 101 yards and a score.  Meanwhile Bell scored TWICE with 25 yards on the ground and another 5 receptions for 67 yards.  By the looks of things, Bell is shaping up to be the goal-line back which is a negative for Bush.  However the Lions want to throw to the running back as much as any other offense so both guys have very solid value.

-Only Adrian Peterson can score on his first carry, going 78 yards.  Still Peterson failed to rush for 100 yards, netting 93 with two scores.  He remains the top player in the game by a decent margin.

-Terrell Pryor played a like running back, rushing for 112 yards.  His passing was another story however as he threw for 217 yards with a TD and 2 INT.  Leave him on the wire.

Andrew Luck meanwhile got his first two touchdown passes on the season, along with a rushing score.  Luck's ability to run is very underrated and as long as he gets decent protection, a 30-TD season is looking like a lock.  The sky is still the limit.

-Want to know what Reggie Wayne eats for breakfast since he doesn't get old.  He caught 8 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown Sunday and looks like he is ready to repeat his shockingly great 2012 campaign.

-Yes Matt Forte got the goal-line carries Sunday, resulting in his first touchdown of the season.  This takes his value to its highest level, making Forte a RB 1 in both standard and PPR leagues.

-Nothing doing yet for Giovani Bernard who got only 4 carries. This is still the Law Firm's show.

-A.J. Green looks ready to try and challenge Calvin Johnson for the title of best receiver in football as he caught 2 touchdowns on 9 catches for 162 yards.  Tremendous player.

There you have it.  As always let us hear what you think.

FANTASY FOOTBALL STATUS REPORT: ARIAN FOSTER RB HOUSTON TEXANS

Big decisions on tap for a number of prime fantasy football commodities and one comes right at the top of the running back heap with the Houston Texans' Arian Foster who missed virtually all preseason with calf and back injuries. Foster failed to play in any preseason games and only this past week returned to the practice field fully which prompted head coach Gary Kubiak to speak of how great he looked. However Kubiak reiterated his plan to play Ben Tate quite a bit as well in a concession to Foster not being totally in shape for a full load of work. So what do Foster's fantasy football owners do for the all-important week 1? Do they sit him and use a more stable workload back? How effective will he be after missing so much time? Well the answer to that in my opinion is to grade Foster as a RB 2 and nothing more. He can't qualify as a RB 1 since Tate will get as much as half of the carries. Sure Foster could have a big day against a shoddy San Diego defense but the opportunities will be limited which cuts down on his margin for error. Ultimately you should still start him unless you got top end RB 3.

FANTASY FOOTBALL STATUS REPORT: JULIUS THOMAS TIGHT END DENVER BRONCOS

    

I mean you knew this column was going to be written before you even logged on.  The race to the waiver wire to run and claim Julius Thomas likely made Usain Bolt envious as fantasy football owners reacted with the double expression of "who is Julius Thomas?" which was quickly followed by "damn I got to get him stat."  Thomas caught 4 passes in the first half of the Broncos' opener against the Baltimore Ravens for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns which got to the frenzy going in full force and it never let up as he finished with 5 catches overall for 100.  As fantasy football players, we react to the numbers and ask questions later.  Hence why Thomas overnight will be the most accesses played in the entire game Friday.  So with that said who the hell is Julius Thomas and where did he come from?  Allow me to answer those questions as always.

The first point that needs to be made is that Julius Thomas is no rookie.  He was actually a fourth round pick by the team out of renowned power Portland State (enter sarcasm) back in 2011 and came into the 2013 season with one career catch.  Of course Thomas was just the latest ATHLETE drafted for the position as a former basketball player which was his first love.  Hence Thomas joins trailblazer Antonio Gates and than later Kellen Winslow and others whose freakish athleticism honed on the hardwood eventually transitioned into the tight end spot in football.  At 6-6 and 250 pounds, Thomas runs like the wind for his size which makes him a nightmare to contain by smallish defensive backs and slower linebackers.  His blocking leaves a lot to be desired but we don't have a category for that in our game.  Overall Thomas needed a few seasons to understand the intricacies of pro football but clearly he has figured some things given what he did on Thursday night.  The Broncos surely helped the cause by playing Thomas more than any other offensive player during the preseason, where he caught everything thrown his way and where he first began to generate buzz.  Now the buzz has exploded into overdrive hysteria and with Peyton Manning throwing him the football, Thomas could very well have the type of bustout season Gates had over 10 years ago.

FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 1 QUARTERBACK RANKINGS

Here are the quarterback rankings for Week 1 fantasy football based on opposing matchups.

1. Drew Brees
2.  Peyton Manning
3.  Tom Brady
4.  Matt Ryan
5.  Aaron Rodgers
6.  Colin Kaepernick
7.  Tony Romo
8.  Matthew Stafford
9.  Andrew Luck
10. Russell Wilson
11. Michael Vick
12. Robert Griffin III
13. Joe Flacco
14. Eli Manning
15. Cam Newton
16. Ben Roethlisberger
17. Alex Smith
18. Sam Bradford
19. Matt Schaub
20. Andy Dalton
21. Carson Palmer
22. Jay Cutler
23. Brandon Weeden
24. Ryan Tannehill
25. Philip Rivers
26. Josh Freeman
27. Terrell Pryor
28. Christian Ponder

FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 1 RUNNING BACK RANKINGS

Let's take a look at the fantasy football Week 1 running back rankings based on opposing matchups.

1.  Adrian Peterson
2.  Doug Martin
3.  Jamaal Charles
4.  Stevan Ridley
5.  C.J. Spiller
6.  LeSean McCoy
7.  Alfred Morris
8.  Steven Jackson
9.  Marshawn Lynch
10. Trent Richardson
11. Ray Rice
12. David Wilson
13. Matt Forte
14. Maurice Jones-Drew
15. Arian Foster
16. Reggie Bush
17. Frank Gore
18. Chris Johnson
19. Lamar Miller
20. DeMarco Murray
21. Darren Sproles
22. Darren McFadden
23. Ahmad Bradshaw
24. Eddie Lacy
25. Ryan Matthews
26. Giovani Bernard
27. Ben Tate
28. Shane Vereen
29. Daryl Richardson
30. DeAngelo Williams
31. Mark Ingram
32. Issac Redman
33. BenJarvus Green-Ellis
34. Rashard Mendenhall
35. Vick Ballard

FANTASY FOOTBALL START/SIT: RAVENS/BRONCOS THURSDAY NIGHT

Finally the wait is over.  The 2013 fantasy football season kicks off tonight with the Denver Broncos hosting the Baltimore Ravens.  Let's take a closer look at the START/SIT candidates for tonight's game.

START:  

Peyton Manning:  Duh!  Manning is looking like the top quarterback in fantasy football based on offensive weaponry alone as he has a Pro Bowl threesome of Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, and Wes Welker.  With CB Jimmy Smith out for Baltimore and Ed Reed no longer patrolling the middle of the field, Manning is looking at a 300-yard/3TD game.

Joe Flacco:  Flacco has been a borderline every week starter throughout his career that doesn't change after winning the Super Bowl despite how awesome he was.  However he deserves a look tonight, especially in two QB leagues.  The Broncos will be without Pro Bowl CB Champ Bailey which will open things up in the passing game.  Plus the immobile Flacco won't have to deal with either Von Miller (suspension) or Elvis Dumervil (defection).

Ray Rice:  Bernard Pierce is likely to eat into some more Rice work which is the reason he was not the consensus number two back behind Adrian Peterson this season.  However with the Denver defense decimated, he will have plenty of room to operate.  Don't start Pierce however.

Wes Welker/Demaryuis Thomas/Eric Decker:  This is looking like a shootout so all hands on deck with the Denver receivers.

Torrey Smith:  Smith is looking squarely at a career-year now that he is the number 1 guy due to the departure of Anquan Boldin.  With Champ Bailey on the bench, look for Smith to name his stat line.

Matt Prater:  Prater should be considered one of the top kickers in fantasy football on opportunity alone.  His accuracy is also a big bonus.

FANTASY FOOTBALL DAILY DISH: E.J. MANUEL ERA BEGINS IN BUFFALO

       

By Eric C. Wright

Lots of news to get to in the Daily Dish so let's begin:

-The E.J. Manuel era is set to start in Buffalo in Week 1 versus the New England Patriots as the rookie out of Florida State has fully recovered from the knee scope that originally had his status in doubt.  After lighting things up in his two preseason starts, showing a better passing ability than expected, Manuel became an overnight fantasy football sleeper candidate.  However the knee issue dulled things until he returned to practice on Monday.  Now Manuel is set to go and once again he is back to sleeper status given he is just the latest in the new NFL craze of the read option passer.  Manuel should be picked up in leagues where available due to that potential but don't even think of starting him until we see how he does when the bullets start to fly.

-Amazing recovery for Pittsburgh Steelers rookie RB LeVeon Bell who head coach Mike Tomlin shockingly said Tuesday that he would miss Week 1 due to not practicing and not due to the foot injury he suffered in the preseason.  After originally being told he would miss between 4-6 weeks which had Bell's return sometime in October, the player himself admitted he was almost fully healthy and ready to return.  Of course now that Tomlin has seconded this notion means that the rookie could return as soon as Week 2 which is tremendous news for those who got Bell on the cheap in drafts the last few weeks.  He could very well fulfill almost all of the hype he had when training camp began.


-New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez is likely out until Week 3 due to the shoulder injury he suffered in the team's third preseason game.  Rookie Geno Smith will draw the start and could run with the job if he shows even a modicum of positive signs.  The fact Brady Quinn was brought in to be the backup is also leading to speculation Sanchez will be released outright.

-Good signs for Green Bay Packers WR Jordy Nelson who has been cleared to practice after knee surgery last month.  While Nelson has not officially been named to start Sunday, a team source says he "will be out there."  Nelson remains a better standard league receiver due to his ability to get into the end zone as opposed to PPR where he never has caught 80 passes.

-The Giants worked out Beanie Wells and Jonathan Dwyer and are expected to sign a veteran back to complement second-year speedster David Wilson.

-Denver Broncos star CB Champ Bailey is looking doubtful for the team's season opener which is good news for Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco and WR Torrey Smith.

That's all for now.  Check back for more later.