Week 1 of the NFL regular season is usually among the most anomalous weeks of the year. For many teams, it is the first time their offense plays a snap together and the first real drives their defense gets as a full unit. A number of players are coming back for their first games after long spells out with injury, and even the players who were healthy have had six full months without full-speed game reps. While it’s difficult to make any meaningful predictions on the outcome of the season after just one week, here are five fantasy football storylines to track heading into Week 2:
Tight Ends Will Be A Toss-Up .….. Unless You Have Trey McBride
Week 1 followed a familiar trajectory to last year’s fantasy season when it comes to tight ends. Four standout performers had weeks that would put them in borderline WR1/RB1 territory – Dallas Goedert, Isaiah Likely, Trey McBride, and Dalton Kincaid – and the rest of the pack was touchdown-dependent. Of the top ten tight end scorers in Week 1, half were rostered by less than 25% of fantasy users across all platforms (Pat Freiermuth, Mike Gesicki, Juwan Johnson, Noah Fant, and Kenyon Sadiq). Two of those players are teammates (Johnson and Fant), and all of them had touchdowns.
It will be hard to trust most tight ends on a week-in-and-week-out basis. For every Kincaid and Goedert breakout, there will be a five-catch, 35-yard dud that brings them back down to earth. Neither Coleston Loveland nor Kyle Pitts registered a catch this week; perhaps that will be one of the top ten finishers’ fate next week.
There is one outlier, however: McBride. The Arizona Cardinals tight end had just three games with under 50 receiving yards last season, and was last year’s TE1 by a wide margin. He churned out another great fantasy week in the Cards’ Week 1 victory over the Chargers, catching 9 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. With the same quarterback as last season in Jacoby Brissett and no offseason target competition, it appears that users who secured McBride early will have a huge advantage over their leaguemates.
Patience Required With Rookie Running Backs
Rookie running backs do not usually light it up right out of the gate, but there was hope first round picks (and Notre Dame teammates) Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price might be able to buck that trend. Price was the beneficiary of a large Seattle backfield vacancy, and Love was taken by the Cardinals with the third pick in the draft. It appeared both might take command of their respective rooms early.
Week 1 dampened those hopes. Price received just 10 carries (50% of the share), while Love received 11 (40%). Love saved his fantasy week with a 5-yard rushing touchdown, however, finishing his first game with double-digit points.
There is reason for optimism for both young backs. Price was the victim of a poor Seahawks offensive performance that saw the reigning champs rush just 20 times and score 13 points, but he showed promise with 5.2 yards per carry against a tough Pats’ run defense. Better days from the offense and easier opponents will improve Price’s point production. Additionally, Love was questionable with an ankle injury heading into Week 1; the Cardinals likely wanted to ease their rookie into the offense instead of burdening him with a large workload.
The two talented rookies will square off in Week 2 in what should be a challenging week for both. Love and the Cards take on one of the league’s best defenses, while the Seahawks and Price will be without starting QB Sam Darnold.
It may take a few weeks for both to cement themselves as reliable, week-in-week-out starters, but their talent is undeniable. That usually wins out in the end, both on the field and in the fantasy world.
Bell Cows Prove Their Worth
While many teams have begun turning to running back rotations to keep their backfield fresh, there are still a few who use one workhorse. Those rushers were taken at a premium in fantasy drafts, and most proved their worth in Week 1.
Bijan Robinson, Derrick Henry, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Jonathan Taylor – who all had excellent fantasy weeks – were high draft picks not only because they are talented runners, but also because they have little competition in their respective backfields. All four received their teams’ red zone carries and all caught at least one pass in Week 1. That combination of pass game involvement, rushing volume, and red zone touches puts them in rare company in a league transitioning to specialized backfields. Getting one of these kinds of backs seems non-negotiable to building a successful fantasy team.
What is Going On With the Bears Passing Game?
The Chicago Bears’ offense put up one of the greatest Week 1 performances in the history of the NFL with eight touchdowns, 270 yards through the air, and 291 yards on the ground. Their 59 Week 1 points were the most of any team in NFL history.
Fantasy owners of the Bears’ premier passing weapons may have been surprised to learn that. Exciting young receivers Luther Burden III and Rome Odunze both failed to top 65 receiving yards or catch a touchdown, and 2025 first-round pick Colston Loveland went catchless. It was instead the 9-year veteran Kalif Raymond who led Chicago in targets and receiving yards, and Cole Kmet who paced the Bears tight ends.
A combination of injury context and snap counts provides some nuance to this seemingly random stat line. Burden III led Bears receivers with 55 snaps and 27 routes run, and Loveland outsnapped Kmet by 22 and ran 16 more routes. Odunze’s questionable injury designation heading into the opener was the likely cause of his distant-third 36 snaps, though he ran the same amount of routes as Raymond.
The snap/route counts paint a clearer picture of who Bears playcaller Ben Johnson wants to get the ball to in the passing game. Until this passing distribution is repeated, Week 1 can be chalked up as a game-specific anomaly. For now, Odunze and Burden owners shouldn’t be worried about either receiver’s role in the offense.
Is Jaxson Dart the Next Star Fantasy Quarterback?
Jaxson Dart was a polarizing prospect in NFL draft rooms and fantasy draft rooms alike. Some believed him to be a potential league winner for fantasy users bold enough to take him, while others were turned off by injury concerns and the forecast of the New York Giants’ offense.
Week 1 was a huge step in the right direction for Dart and his supporters. The Ole Miss QB delivered a near-perfect performance, throwing for 230 yards and three touchdowns while adding 54 yards on the ground. His 11 carries were an encouraging sign for his rushing upside this season.
Dart will have to continue proving himself against better defenses, but Week 1 was about as good as anyone could ask the second-year QB to play in his first game with a new offense. Fortunately for fantasy owners, even when Dart inevitably shows the growing pains of a young QB in a new offense, his ability as a runner and offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s willingness to run him will help buoy fantasy prospects even if he struggles through the air.
