Week 1 of fantasy football brought some of the expected—Christian McCaffrey and DeAndre Hopkins went off. But it also brought plenty of the unexpected.
Sammy Watkins, Austin Ekeler, Lamar Jackson—where did that come from?!
One of the most important lessons to remember when playing fantasy is to never overreact to one week. For example, here are some players who erupted in Week 1 of the 2018 season: Ryan Fitzpatrick, T.J. Yeldon, Will Dissly, and Randall Cobb. Conversely, here are some players who really struggled in Week 1 last year: Ben Roethlisberger, Deshaun Watson, and Travis Kelce.
So, you may want to think twice before throwing all your waiver dollars at someone like D.J. Chark or Phillip Dorsett. You definitely don’t want to cut a guy like Baker Mayfield or Matt Ryan. When it comes to making a massive deal out of Week 1 of the NFL season, Just Say No!
That said, there are always some rather valuable takeaways from the first weekend of NFL action. For example, maybe the Cleveland offense will take some time to ramp up, and maybe Malcolm Brown will siphon red zone touches from Todd Gurley. Most importantly, a number of under-the-radar-fantasy stars, who may be free agents in your league, always emerge through the first week—like Eric Ebron in 2018 and Alvin Kamara in 2017. Bid on the waiver market accordingly.
As we start tinkering with our lineups for Week 2, take a look at the Complex team’s take on the players you should activate and the players you should bench this weekend.