Yes, I lost by ten points. However, it was fair-and-square. I never want to jinx anything, but Week One is in the books and my roster sustained no major nor even minor injuries. Astounding!
I took
Justin Herbert as the second QB off the board - between Josh Allen who went first and Mahomes who went third - with my third pick. He is the QB I most wanted this season. His first campaign of the year did not disappoint. I expect him to give me a steady diet of 29-point performances. I had Lamar Jackson last year and his 40-point ceilings were often negated by his nine-point floors. I'll take steady at the helm.
I tried to build a stable of workhorse RBs, and I think I succeeded. But the weird footing of Week One in the NFL did not yield immediate results.
Derek Henry rushed for eighty-two yards, but he did not find the end zone in the surprise loss to the Giants. No panic, obviously Tennessee wants and needs him to be their main scorer. He'll look to rebound on MNF against Buffalo.
Chase Edmonds is one of the many new faces in Miami, and though he wasn't needed much in their 20-7 dismantling of The Patriots, he did get the most carries in the backfield and he also caught four passes.
Rashaad Penny is now the Man in Seattle, and with Geno Smith at QB I figured Carroll and Co. are gonna try to protect him by running as much as they can. Geno had a very good first game in upsetting Russell Wilson and Denver, but Penny did have 12 of the 13 designed runs, caught two passes, and had a couple of big plays called back for penalties. Longterm I am still happy with the prospect of all three runners, but for Week One they only yielded 8.20, 8.50, and 7.70 points which absolutely sank my chances to win. Had even one of them scored a TD and I am right there.
I wasn't sure what I was going to get from my WRs. I burned my second pick with
Deebo Samuel hoping his mix of running and catching that was magic in a bottle last year would continue into 2022. Frisco had a weird and hopefully off game in the rain of Soldier Field, but Deebo still saved his Fantasy day with a TD. He also had a fumble, but it does look like they are still going to use him as that funky WR/RB hybrid. We'll see if the rest of the NFL has come up with a stop for it. Other than wet grass. There was some pre-season Fantasy hype for what
Christian Kirk may be able to do in Jacksonville, and I bought into it, reaching down the board a bit to secure him. Week One was pretty darn good with a dozen targets and six catches for 117 yards in the loss to The Commanders. Start adding some TDs to that mix and I'll be super stoked and competitive. That pair's 11.60 and 14.70 points would have been enough if my RBs had pulled their weight.
My bench has Hunter Renfrow, who looked like a very distant third as a Raiders passing option behind Davante Adams, who looked just as great in Black & Silver as he did in Packer Green, and tight end
Darren Waller - who is my TE and should continue to be more than solid. I have Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but I was waiting to see who Mahomes is going to throw to now that Hill is gone. I actually went back-and-forth all week if I should start Renfrow or Penny. A player I didn't consider for starting but who would have won me the week was Baltimore's WR
Devin Duvernay. He had himself a day with a pair of TDs from Lamar and 19.40 Fantasy points! Ugh. There was no way to know who Jackson's favored WR target was going to be now that Hollywood Brown went to Arizona, but if this sample expands I may have gotten a serious steal with my SIXTEENTH pick. Ya never know.
I'll try to get to .500 next week with hopefully better numbers from King Henry.