10 BIGGEST Fantasy Football Takeaways from Week 1
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.
35 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 14, 2026
Published
Mon, September 14, 2026
18
Player insights
18
Players mentioned
Topics
Amon-Ra St. BrownBucky IrvingCaleb WilliamsChris OlaveChristian WatsonColston LovelandD.J. MooreD'Andre SwiftDavid MontgomeryDerrick HenryJalen CokerJustin JeffersonKenneth GainwellLamar Jackson
Player analysis
Player insights
Amon-Ra St. Brown
PositiveUsage33:09
Posted two touchdowns and 14 targets in Week 1, showcasing the high-volume role and red-zone involvement that establishes him as a focal point in Detroit's offense.
Insight pageBucky Irving
PositiveRole19:54
Seven catches on seven targets for 95 yards and one touchdown in Week 1; ran 22 routes versus Gainwell's 13; received seven targets to Gainwell's one despite game script (trailing 24-10 at halftime) that should have favored pass-catcher role. Kenneth Gainwell's threat to Irving's backfield has diminished significantly after offseason concerns about his 70+ catch year and goal-line work. Irving should be viewed as a near running back one and top-15 RB moving forward.
Insight pageCaleb Williams
PositiveProjection8:28
Elite quarterback running Ben Johnson's elite offensive system in a match made in fantasy football heaven. Williams is a different quarterback than Jared Goff; Ben Johnson is an elite play caller who wants to put it on opponents (similar to aggressive Big 12/SEC coaches), and the Bears already scored 59 points in Week 1, tied for fourth-most since 2000. Johnson has three 50-point games as an offensive coordinator/head coach and has already discussed breaking the Denver Broncos' Peyton Manning scoring record. Week 1 performance: 4 TDs (2 rushing, 2 passing) in the 59-point Bears offensive explosion; quarterback more comfortable in system with opportunistic scrambling opening running lanes; if drafted, fantasy managers feeling fantastic.
Insight pageChris Olave
PositiveBreakout13:03
Week 1 stats: 13 targets, 10 catches, 182 receiving yards, 27% target share; looks phenomenal; potential 2024 version of Jackson Smith-Njigba breakout; historical context: averaged 18.8 PPG in 8 games where Tyler Shook started last year with 29% target share; Saints offense showing year-two improvement under Kell Moore with career-high 410 passing yards from Shook; positioned as high-volume target who will be major factor in fantasy win rates if Saints offense maintains this pace.
Insight pageChristian Watson
PositiveProjection27:37
Elite alpha wide receiver performance in Week 1: 8 targets, 6 catches, 147 yards, 2 touchdowns. Expanded role materialized immediately post-injury with explosive ball-in-hand ability reminiscent of rookie form. Green Bay's massive contract investment and Jordan Love's willingness to target him multiple times per game suggest career-year trajectory with potential to lead the NFL in touchdown catches. Locked-and-loaded top-15 WR for rest of season with spike-week potential, especially with Josh Jacobs out of the backfield.
Insight pageColston Loveland
NegativeUsage8:28
Loveland had 90%+ route participation in Ben Johnson's Bears offense but produced a goose egg in Week 1 despite the team scoring 59 points (tied for fourth-most since 2000). The high route share without production is a concerning usage pattern. However, the speaker is actively buying low on Loveland, citing the Bears offense's capability to score 59 points and projecting smash weeks ahead, suggesting frustrated managers may sell low and create a buying opportunity.
Insight pageD.J. Moore
PositiveBreakout16:43
Week 1 stats: 5 catches, 100 yards; described as looking like a wide receiver one candidate; rose in ADP but potentially not high enough; positioned in conversation with traded wide receivers who finish as WR1s; made huge plays and looked the part in strong outing.
Insight pageD'Andre Swift
PositiveProjection11:07
Week 1 stats: 124 rushing yards, 3 rushing TDs, 30+ fantasy points; rewarded fantasy managers who drafted him after signing big contract before season; part of completely locked-in Bears offense running Ben Johnson's elite system that scored 59 points in Week 1, tied for fourth-most since 2000.
Insight pageDavid Montgomery
PositiveUsage16:16
Week 1 stats: 20 carries, 2 touchdowns; strong volume performance that demonstrates fantasy-relevant workload for the Lions running back.
Insight pageDerrick Henry
PositiveProjection0:37
Henry delivered a historically dominant Week 1 performance with 160 total yards, 3 touchdowns, and 25 touches for 35+ fantasy points. At age 32, he's on pace to set the NFL record for most fantasy points per game by a 32-year-old running back, surpassing Ricky Williams' 15+ PPG average with the Dolphins; he could also break Walter Payton's 1347 rushing yards record from 1986. Unlike some seasons when Henry starts slow, he looked awesome out of the gate and is already moving up the charts in touchdown scoring.
Insight pageJalen Coker
PositiveBreakout11:48
Week 1 stats: 8 catches, 138 yards, 2 TDs on 9 targets; combined with 9 catches, 134 yards, 1 TD in prior game = 17 catches over last 2 games; similar trajectory to Parker Washington's playoff-season extrapolation; needs to be in lineups next week, not benches; looked really good despite comeback mode context.
Insight pageJustin Jefferson
PositiveProjection32:43
Fantastic start to 2024 season after being worst possible first-round pick in 2023. Delivered eight catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1, generating 30+ point scoring output. The gritty is back, signaling return to elite form and rebound from disappointing prior season.
Insight pageKenneth Gainwell
PositiveRole19:54
Only one target in Week 1 despite game script (trailing 24-10 at halftime) that should have favored pass-catcher role; ran 13 routes versus Irving's 22. Gainwell was a frightening offseason presence for Bucky Irving after coming off a 70+ catch year, but the threat has proven non-existent in actual game action.
Insight pageLamar Jackson
PositiveProjection0:50
Jackson provided a 'sigh of relief' game for fantasy managers who were concerned during the draft process. He looks fully back with 7 rush attempts for 40 yards and 1 TD, plus 324 passing yards on 25 attempts in a surgical passing performance. Jackson looks electric running the football and completely lit up the Colts as a passer, resembling his 2024 form. Baltimore's dominant Week 1 performance (31 points by halftime, complete annihilation of Indianapolis) validates the offensive scheme and Jackson's role in it.
Insight pageLuther Burden
NegativeUsage8:28
Burden did not produce in Week 1 despite playing in Ben Johnson's Bears offense that scored 59 points, tied for fourth-most since 2000. While there is some positive usage context to point to, Burden failed to capitalize on the high-scoring game.
Insight pageParker Washington
PositiveRole23:16
Led Jaguars receiving room in Week 1 with 83 receiving yards and one touchdown. Strong start validates draft investment for those who selected him early.
Insight pageTrey McBride
PositiveProjection29:50
Delivered league-leading 13 targets for tight ends in Week 1 with nine catches for 95 yards and one touchdown—no other TE reached double-digit targets. Performance mirrors last year's production profile, confirming locked-in status as TE2 asset. In tight-end premium leagues, McBride is the kind of asset that can overcome other bad draft picks due to his completely locked-in role. Cardinals' win over Chargers as huge underdogs bought head coach Jacobe Brassette time and ensured continued hyper-targeting of McBride. Reached inflection point where drafters who faded noise and got him when he fell are positioned well.
Insight pageZay Flowers
NegativeInjury0:55
Flowers had to leave Week 1 game early with a hamstring injury that requires monitoring. Before the injury, he looked electric with 5 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown, demonstrating the upside available in Baltimore's high-powered offense. However, hamstrings are noted as tricky injuries to manage, and the injury status needs close attention despite the fantastic pre-injury performance.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:10the Grim NFL games to react to. Uh, this is fun.
0:19We're back at it. And we had an electric week one. This was like a really fun week one for fantasy football. uh just a
0:26a ton of positivity when it [snorts] comes to week one scores for a lot of players. I mean, right off the top, Jir
0:33Gibbs, Bejian Robinson, both players just crushing right out the gate, putting up huge huge numbers. But there's a lot more to unpack here. Let's
0:42a lot more to unpack. The the first thing I want to talk about is the Ashton Genty discounts that a lot of drafters
0:51were able to get sort of late into the process when he had the ankle injury look like that could be what affects
0:58fantasy football this year. Right now Ashton Genty sort of looks like the league winner when we factor in cost and Genty had an unbelievable opening game.
1:08We get the Clint Kubak effect in full effect. We saw it two years ago with Alvin Kamara in New Orleans where he
1:15just crushed ADP and then last year we saw it sort of collectively when you had Kenneth Walker and Zack Charbanet stats
1:22sort of combining. But when you look at Ashton Genty today, 23 carries for 102 yards and then has six catches for 45
1:31yards. So any thought that like they were going to be slow playing him? Any thought that it was going to be like
1:37Ashton Genty mixing in a little bit? We want to take it easy on him just just out the gate like Ashton Genty looks
1:44like a player that we were drafting at 10 overall. Then you start to look at the drafters who were drafting in the
1:50last couple weeks at 19 20 or even later some early third round values. And then there was the period of time where we
1:58didn't know what was going on with the ankle and that was in peak draft season.
2:03So you have drafters sitting there with like fourth fifth round Ashton Genty shares. Some of these big national contests are going to be affected by
2:12drafters who got exposure to Ashton Genty late in the process. But he looks completely locked in. Clint Kubak starts out the season with a win. Really big
2:22big one for the Raiders to start out that way. I mean it gets harder. We know they're playing the the Miami Dolphins,
2:26but they took care of business. They win 23-7 27-13 and it was pretty much domination. They were up 17-6 at halftime. Uh this was a
2:37game where Clint Kubak starts out well and Ashton Genty is really my main takeaway for the entire day. Start talking about the big dog. Let's talk
2:47about King Henry. And there's so many positive things we could talk about when it comes to the Baltimore Ravens. We could talk about how how Declan Doyle
2:55looks like he's unbelievable. This is like Ben Johnson light in Baltimore. We could talk about Zay Flowers who had to leave the game. We're going to keep an
3:03eye on that hamstring injury. Stick with us here at Rotoire. I'm going to be doing shows all week long, but we'll
3:09keep an eye on that hamstring for Z Flowers. Z Flowers looked electric. Z Flowers looked the part. Z Flowers had five catches for 150 yards and a
3:17touchdown. Could have been a massive scoring line. This could have been like the Z Flowers game, but that's those games are coming. Unless this is
3:24something serious with the hamstring, those games are coming because this Baltimore offense looks completely completely locked in. But let's talk about King Henry because when we look at
3:35the history of the NFL, we're looking at a historically good season potentially from Derrick Henry. And the age apex just keeps getting destroyed. Every time
3:45this guy steps on the field, the age apex takes another hit. We look at 32-year-old running backs. Okay, Walter Payton, somebody corrected me on this
3:55one a couple shows ago. I talked about this stat where the most fantasy points per game by a 32-year-old running back
4:03in the history of the NFL since we started playing fantasy football and we had like points per game averages, so let's call it the last 25 years was
4:10Ricky Williams. Ricky Williams when he played for the Dolphins averaged 15 plus points per game at age 32. That that's it. That's the list. Priest Holmes had
4:20like a 19 point per game average, but he did it in only like seven or eight games. Got injured, so that one doesn't
4:26count, but it should be noted. Then you go back to 1986.
4:30Here's the most rushing yards by a 32-year-old. Walter Payton. You ever heard of him? 1347 rushing yards in 1986. Well, King Henry looks like he's
4:41going to have the most points per game ever by a 32-year-old running back. And King Henry looks like he could break
4:47Walter Walter Payton's record. I mean, King Henry's already moving up the charts in terms of like most touchdowns scored, but what a game. What a game. I
4:55mean, the big dog usually gets better when we get into October, November, December. There's all these stats out there that when it gets colder, King
5:04Henry starts running for more yards and producing more fantasy points. Well, and we've seen seasons where Derrick Henry slow out the gate. This is not one of
5:12them. 160 total yards plus three touchdowns and 25 touches. That's 35 plus fantasy points in most scoring formats. I mean, Derrick Henry looks
5:24awesome. And then we talk about Declan Doyle's offense. We talk about Baltimore Ravens answering the the call going into to Indianapolis where you looked at it
5:33on paper and you're like, that's a tricky game for Baltimore. Indianapolis was redhot to start last season. That's a tricky game for Baltimore on paper.
5:42Well, a paper didn't matter. They had 31 points at halftime. Completely annihilated the Indianapolis Colts and Derrick Henry's not the only one. You
5:50got really the the big story is the sigh of relief game for for Lamar Jackson fantasy managers cuz we were drafting
5:58them. I remember going on the live stream the last main event we drafted here o over at Rotoire, you had the
6:04draft I did with Mike Schop and and uh Scott Barrett and we took Lamar Jackson in like the seventh round. And Lamar
6:11Jackson, even in round seven, people are like, "Let's wait for quarterback. Let's wait for quarterback." But Lamar Jackson fell enough. So if you got seventh round
6:17shares of Lamar Jackson, which a lot of you out there did, you're feeling fantastic because he looks like he's fully back. Seven rush attempts for 40
6:26yards and a touchdown. Uh Lamar Jackson just looks electric running the football right now. And then as a passer, he would just completely lit up these
6:36Colts. I mean, just like just surgical a surgical game for Lamar Jackson. 324 passing yards on 25 attempts. Looks
6:48great. And when then we factor in Jacobe Lane left the game early with a wrist injury. Zay Flowers left the game early
6:54with a hamstring injury and they just continued to roll. So Baltimore looks like they're fully back. Declan Doyle looks like he's that guy. Uh, this is a
7:02offense that I think we can bank on every single week, but it's really Lamar Jackson, King Henry. We're back. Looks like 2024 out there when it comes to
7:10Lamar Jackson with the start he had. And speaking of smart offensive coordinators, Ben Johnson is a king. Ben Johnson is a literal genius. Ask
7:20yourself a question. when you go about like your life and you [snorts] encounter people and it could be somebody you you know you encounter
7:26every single day in your job or it could be somebody that you just admire like out there in the world in something you
7:33follow besides fantasy football. Is there anybody you you follow that's like smarter and better at their job than Ben Johnson? Ben Johnson is a king. This guy
7:42is an elite play caller. And I remember years ago when I was writing for the Athletic, I would write about like Ben
7:49Johnson every week. He would do something else great. Another 40point game. Another like just put it on you type score. And then you get Ben Johnson
7:57and people were like, "Theo, you write about Ben Johnson all the time." Like we get it. He's smart. Because this guy's
8:02ridiculous. 59 points scored. This is tied for the fourth most since the year 2000. So Ben Johnson has three of these.
8:12He's got three 50pointers as an offensive coordinator or head coach, but the Bears win 59-37.
8:20I mean, we could talk about Carolina putting up 37. Just awesome stuff right there from them. But it's really Ben Johnson and you know, if you you woke up
8:28tomorrow and and maybe you slept through Sunday, you'd be like, "Oh man, Luther Burden, Roma Dunce, Coloulston Lovelin, those guys must have gone insane." But
8:36those guys didn't do anything. Like we have some usage that we could point out that would be positive. Like there's some usage that can be positive from
8:43those guys. Obviously Lovelin, you don't want to hear me say that he had 90% plus routes run. Like you don't want to hear
8:48that. You you I I took goose eggs with Lovelin. Lovelin will be fine. But the story of the day is Ben Johnson and
8:55Caleb Williams and the match made in fantasy football heaven. And potentially this is going to be the offense that does break the scoring record. And we
9:03hate to get hyperbolic, but Ben Johnson cares about putting it on people. You get college football coaches like this over the years where, you know, there's
9:11college football coaches, they've got the top 25 and all this kind of stuff, and they got boosters out there, and they love putting up 40s, they love
9:19putting up 50s. You know, these guys, you you if you watch college football, you know there's certain coaches that like to take the air out of the football
9:26and just get get the game over. And then you got coaches that want to put it on you and really run that number up. Ben
9:32Johnson is the NFL equivalent to like an old school Big 12 or SEC coach who wants to rip your throat out. Ben Johnson
9:38wants to put it on you and he did. 59 points in game one. He's already talked about the Denver Broncos Pton Manning
9:45year wants to break that record. And we're talking about an elite play caller with an elite quarterback running his offense. Look at what Ben Johnson was
9:52able to accomplish. And I'm this is no disrespect because you guys who pay attention to my coh content, you understand how much respect that I
10:00have for Jared Goff as a fantasy asset and as a football player, but Caleb Williams is a different quarterback than Jared Goff. There's a potential that
10:08this offense takes an incredible leap forward. I don't think this is some aberration. Now, Carolina is not exactly the Denver Broncos. It is not some team
10:17that's got a defense that's going to put the fear into you or anything like that.
10:20like some solid players back there. But 59 points on the road, Chicago rolling.
10:27And let's talk about those Bears. Let's talk about Caleb Williams because Caleb Williams awesome. Four touchdowns. He has two rushing scores, two passing
10:35scores. Caleb looks unbelievable. Talk about the explosiveness and the vision as a runner. To me, that's a quarterback who's more comfortable in the system in
10:44year two. And it's the opportunistic scrambling for Caleb Williams. These are not like designed carries. This is him taking off and running when it's
10:53presented to him. And it's an offensive coordinator putting so much pressure on an opposing defense that it's opening up running lanes for a quarterback who's
11:01just locked in and knows how to run this offense. So, Caleb Williams, if you drafted him, you're feeling fantastic.
11:07And then talk about DeAndre Swift who got the bag uh got the big contract right before the season started and then
11:14just rewarded uh fantasy managers who drafted him as well as of course the Chicago Bears franchise who drafted him as well. But you look at DeAndre Swift,
11:25124 rushing yards. He has three rushing scores. Uh just just great stuff. 30 plus uh points scored for for DeAndre Swift. The Bears are completely locked
11:36in. So you got Ben Johnson and then you got his former assistant Declan Doyle both looking like absolute kings as as
11:43play callers. And we got to put a shout out to Jaylen Coker. Like you know a lot of people heard me saying a lot of
11:50positive stuff about Tedaro McMillan and I certainly drafted a ton of Tedaro McMillan. I've got Jaylen Coker exposure unfortunately on a couple of benches of
12:00teams I drafted this year. Started in some dynasty leagues. You know, I wasn't without Jaylen Coker, but my enthusiasm was for Ted McMillan for the last month
12:09or so. I still think Ted positive start.
12:12Some great stuff there, but really looking what Jaylen Coker is Jaylen Coker is able to do uh these last two games played. So, he has eight catches
12:23or 138 yards and two touchdowns on nine targets today. And obviously, they're in comeback mode. This is not necessarily indicative of how they're going to
12:30continually run their offense, but when you look at that combined with nine catches for 134 yards and a touchdown the last time we saw him play, that's 17
12:40catches over his last two games. So, people love talking about Parker Washington and extrapolating the stats from the end of last season and the
12:49fantasy playoffs or excuse me, the NFL playoffs into this season. Got to do the same with Jaylen Coker. I think Jaylen
12:54Coker needs to be in our lineups next week uh and not on benches. He he looked really really good today. Uh Carolina
13:01offense, a lot of positivity there.
13:03We'll unpack it throughout the week. And maybe we found this year's version of Jackson Smith and Jigba as well. And it's a player that it's not like a shock
13:11because we were talking about him all offseason long. Uh and a lot of us here at Rotoire and a lot of you who who
13:18listen to these shows, your Chris Aves are packed. Chris Olave looks phenomenal. Could he be this year's version of Jackson Smith and Jigba? We
13:27hate to get hyperbolic, but have to put some respect into the New Orleans Saints as a team. They lose by a point in
13:37overtime. They get uh they get turned down when they go for two. So, they end up losing the game by one point. But, it
13:44was a really like impressive game to go into Detroit. I mean, this is a game where New Orleans doesn't challenge the
13:51Lions like this. The the the New Orleans doesn't go in and challenge the Detroit Lions like this in previous seasons.
13:58This is just doesn't happen. So, New Orleans goes in year two, Kell Moore, big step forward. We talk about Ben Johnson year two. Got to talk about Kell
14:06Moore year two. Tyler Shuck of course has a big game uh in terms of his overall counting stats. 410 passing yards. That's a careerhigh for Tyler
14:16Shuck. But got to talk about Chris Ave because Chris Ave looked phenomenal. 13 targets, 10 catches, 182 receiving yards. And when we look at last year,
14:27what Chris Ave was able to do in games where Tyler Shuck started, he averaged 18.8 points per game in eight games last
14:35year where Tyler Shuck started. Had a 29% target share for the year. And then in this game, a game where Devon Vele
14:44caught a lot of passes, Travis ETN caught a bunch of passes, Jawan Johnson makes some big big plays, Chris still dominated. He had nearly a 27% target
14:53share, but he goes for 182 uh yards on 10 catches. It was just an easy player for a lot of fantasy managers to draft
15:02all summer. Now, when Jordan Tyson went down, he rose up in ADP. But we talk about Genty. A lot of you out there have
15:08Chris Alav third round exposure, shares of Chris Ave in the third round, some late third round shares. Ave is going to
15:15have a big factor in fantasy football win rates if this Saints offense continues to look like this. And I don't see why they wouldn't hyperarget
15:25every single week. He looks really, really good right now. Speaking of pass catchers, let's talk about the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo Bills got a pair of pass
15:33catchers and I think we got to talk about it. This was a huge win for the Bills. Josh Allen, uh, a lot of people
15:41talked about Josh Allen's record in Houston as a pro. And Josh Allen is was 0 for4 playing against Houston on the
15:51road throughout his career. No wins.
15:53Couple of them got ugly. One, one of them he got knocked out, but 0 for four Josh Allen heading into today. And now
16:00he wins his first game as a pro in Houston.
16:04This is a program win for Buffalo. You get Joe Brady, his first his first win as a head coach there. A huge sort of
16:11sigh of relief for Joe Brady to win that game because Buffalo has Detroit on Thursday, which is going to be an
16:19unbelievable game for fantasy football potentially Buffalo Detroit this Thursday. But you don't want to be 0 and one against that that machine that
16:29Detroit Lions offense machine with Jir Gibbs running at you and and the sun god and everything they they can do putting
16:35pressure on your defense. You want to get that win in Houston today and they do it 3631 Buffalo Bills. Houston goes
16:43down. David Montgomery great volume 20 carries two touchdowns. The volume was fantastic for David Montgomery. But the story of the day is the pair of pass
16:53catchers and DJ Moore looked the part.
16:56DJ Moore really really looked the part.
16:59Uh really really strong strong outing for for DJ Moore. Um gets five catches for 100 yards and then we had Daltton
17:09Kaid who had five catches for 130 yards.
17:14and King Kaid notably played about 75% of snaps, which is what we want to see when it comes to Daltton King. So, King
17:23Kaid really, it's been a continual player where the metrics always support him where it's always like Daltton Concaid, you know, this this is a player
17:34that that could do a lot if we could get the snap share up and now it looks like it's going to be that way. So, Daltton
17:41Concaid looks like he could be an absolute steal when it comes to tight ends. And DJ Moore looks like a player
17:49that could end up becoming a wide receiver one. I mean, we talk about traded wide receivers finishing as wide receiver ones. Got to put DJ Moore into
18:00that conversation. I know that he rose up in ADP, but maybe not high enough.
18:04looked the part, made some huge plays.
18:07But I think when you look at Daltton Concaid getting this sort of a snapshare, this sort of trust and and if
18:14you watch this game, you saw Josh Allen really going towards King Kaid, trusting in Kade, and King Kaid really looking like that first round pick that he was a
18:23few years back. Buffalo was chasing their Travis Kelce, their own Travis Kelce when they drafted King Kaid, and he made a couple Kelsey like plays with
18:32this one. The yakab ability was really strong from King Kade today as well. But when you look at DJ Moore and King Kaid
18:40get two, you get Josh Allen running the ball so effectively with this sort of presence at wide receiver and tight end. It's the best set of of
18:52receivers that he's had since Stefon Diggs and peak Gabe Davis. That's really what we're looking at. So Josh Allen, just another terrific game for him. Uh,
19:03two rushing scores for for Josh Allen as well. The Bills get a huge win on the road in Houston. Really appreciate all
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19:48consider giving us a fivestar review.
19:52But we talked about the the big win for the Bills. Let's talk about a team that lost, but we get a lot of information in
19:58week one and we got a lot of clarity here with Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell situation where Gainwell was sort of a frightening presence for Bucky
20:09Irving throughout the offseason. Bucky Irving had the banged up shoulder to start out the offseason and then you factor in Kenneth Gainwell coming over
20:16there coming off a 70 plus catch year.
20:19Gainwell had way more carries inside the 10 yard line than Bucky Irving did last year. Irving was sort of non-existent inside the 10 and really invisible
20:29inside the five last year. So Gainwell put pressure on him with a number of highv value touches. It's sort of the
20:36targets and then the goal line work. And those two things alone made it so it was a little bit shaky for sort of Bucky
20:44Irving Faders to sort of make a big argument. And I certainly talked up Kenneth Gainwell at times this offseason, but it looks like this is a
20:51Bucky Irving backfield and we had a perfect game flow for Gainwell to come out there and make a big dent as a pass
21:00catcher. Uh the Bucks were trailing in this one for a majority of the game. It was 24-10 at halftime for Cincinnati. So you had
21:09this, you know, if we're going to come be in comeback mode, let's get the dump downs to Kenneth Gainwell. that sort of
21:14narrative could have taken place, but it was anything but that. Anything but that at all. Bucky Irving has seven catches on seven targets, scores 20 fantasy
21:24points, and had way more routes run than Gainwell. 22 to 13 on routes run. And he had seven uh targets to Gainwell's
21:34single target. 95 combined yards for Bucky Irving and a touchdown. And the Bengals defense looked good. They forced turnovers. But got to make a note here
21:44that this is not the first time we've seen Baker Mayfield coughing up the football with untimely fumbles. Baker Mayfield has led the NFL in fumbles
21:56since 2023. He had 32 heading into today. And now that's up to 34 after two bad fumbles. So the Bengals win by six,
22:05but there was two untimely fumbles. One of them was a touchdown for the Bengals defense or excuse me, it was Baker um
22:13Baker uh fumbled three times, excuse me, on that one. So, the Bengals defense looked opportunistic, but this is one that I think the Bucks wish that they
22:21could get back. Some positivity for sure when it comes to uh Bucky Irving, but a little bit of question marks in terms of
22:30what we saw from Baker with the fumbles, but I think moving forward, we've got to move Bucky Irving up. He's got to be
22:37viewed sort of as a near running back one. Let's call him a top 15 running back moving forward because the threat
22:44of Kenneth Gainwell was sort of non-existent. So it's another player that not quite the same skeleton key level player as a guy like a Genty. But
22:53if you had a sixthround share of Bucky Irving, you feel like you got something potentially special because if the game flow was going to dictate Kenneth
23:02Gainwell was going to be a big factor as a pass catcher, it would have been been a game like this one. I think in neutral
23:08game scripts, Bucky Irving will continue to dominate. Um, and when trailing, he's shown that he's also very very valuable.
23:16Let's talk about a flawless start for Trevor Lawrence. 245 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, and he has nearly
23:2580% completion rate. Parker Washington led the room. If you drafted Parker Washington, you feel great about how the season starts. Gets 83 receiving yards,
23:35gets a touchdown, touchdowns to Brenton Strange, touchdown to Jacobe Meyers. I mean, really, really strong stuff when it comes to uh Trevor Lawrence. And the
23:46the Jaguars just looked the part of a contender. We talked about like I talked about with a couple of gambling people
23:52how this was a huge line. This was a huge line for uh for the for the Jacksonville Jaguars going into the game
24:02where they're like more than a touchdown favorite. And it's a respect type line where you have a team that was in the
24:08playoffs last year against a hapless Cleveland Browns team. But Jacksonville delivered. The defense did exactly what you want. They turned over Deshun
24:15Watson. That Deshun Watson looked really bad. Um I wonder if we're going to see some Chadur Sanders starts down the line. I'm not sure. But the story of
24:23today is the Jacksonville Jaguars. How Trevor Lawrence looks like a locked in, locked and loaded quarterback. And I think this is a trend that we need to
24:31pay attention to. We always get head over heels over year one offensive coordinators like Mike McDaniel who was a huge disappointment today. Um
24:41certainly it's a long season and I think the Chargers will get things right eventually. Too much talent there.
24:47Justin Herbert too good a quarterback.
24:49Harbaugh's won too many games and McDaniel scored too many points for that offense to look this hapless every single week. But we get all excited
24:56about these year one coordinators and certainly some guys like Declan Doyle looked fantastic today. Mike McDaniel slow start. But I think today's trend
25:05was the guys in year two the year 2 systems. These guys were looking great.
25:11You talk about you talk about Kell Moore, you talk about Ben Johnson, and then we we've certainly certainly got to talk about Liam Cohen because this
25:21Jacksonville Jaguars team plays a bad team and they completely smoke them.
25:26They look good on both sides of the ball and Trevor Lawrence looks like a locked and loaded fantasy football highlevel quarterback. So really strong start for
25:34Trevor Lawrence. We talked about Baltimore. We talked about the Colts and the Colts get smoked, but it's a generational touchdown run for Jonathan
25:42Taylor. And I think it really needs to be noted how impactful Taylor's game was. And sort of the game script was not
25:49there for a smash week for Jonathan Taylor. When you're trailing this much, usually teams go a little more pass happy and all that kind of stuff, but
25:58they still lean into Jonathan Taylor in the second half. Taylor, if you had him at the end of the 2024 season, Jonathan
26:06Taylor was the league winner. The the playoffs, the fantasy football playoffs in 2024, Taylor goes nuts. Then last year, he was the RB1 for a good portion
26:17of the season, trailed off at the end when you had like Philip Rivers starting. But if you look at Jonathan Taylor really over now uh the end of the
26:282024 season, all of 2025, and now the start of 2026, ridiculous numbers from him. 29 touchdowns in his last 23 regular season
26:38games for Jonathan Taylor. 19 carries for 98 yards and two touchdowns today.
26:44And he also adds three catches for 23 yards. Taylor is a locked and loaded bellcow. I mean, there's nothing surprising, but it just should be noted
26:53that Taylor is what we thought he was, and it doesn't matter the game script.
26:58This is this is the franchise. One other notable thing coming out of this Indianapolis Colts loss is Josh DS did in fact play in two wide receiver sets,
27:08which is something that we need to keep an eye on moving forward. Uh, this was, according to PFF, I'll give PFF credit
27:14for this one for sure, I believe it was 10 out of 11 um, snaps in in 12 personnel for Josh DS. So, that's a big
27:22change for him. We'll keep an eye on that uh, in the upcoming weeks.
27:27Talking about I guess the next one we'll talk about, I mean, this is pretty much it. Got to throw out Christian Watson. Christian
27:37Watson, awesome, awesome game as well. I mean, that's a notable one. Uh, we could have talked more about Christian Watson, but Christian Watson lost the game. Uh,
27:46this was one where the Christian Watson, I mean, lost the game, but it does everything that you want to see. Uh,
27:54this was like the alpha wide receiver game that we wanted to see from Chris Chris W Christian Watson to start out
28:00the season. Eight targets, six catches, 147 yards, and two touchdowns.
28:07Really, this was a disappointing one for Green Bay who gave up the lead. And if you're Green Bay and you know you end up
28:15losing the game to Carson Wentz, uh when when Kyler Murray gets knocked out of the game with a concussion, I mean, this
28:21is one that they're definitely going to wish that they had back. Green Bay loses 39 to22. But we sort of got a glimpse of
28:29what the offensive focal point's going to be, especially without Josh Jacobs.
28:33And I think this was a slow drip throughout the off season where we heard about the expanded role for Christian Watson and then we saw it right out the
28:40gate where he puts up this massive scoring number with two touchdown catches. Really, really strong stuff right there. Um Christian Watson is a
28:50locked and loaded top 15 wide receiver for the rest of the year with spike with spike week potential like we saw today.
28:57I mean, looks like so explosive with the ball in his hands and it looks like we're really post injury with with
29:04Christian Watson where this is Christian Watson that we saw as like a rookie and we saw it times last year. We know Green
29:12Bay invested heavily in him with this massive contract and I think this is going to be something where we're going to see a career year from Christian
29:18Watson.
29:20He's potentially going to lead the NFL in touchdown catches. I think that's really the bold take I'd have from watching today. It's the connection he
29:28has with with Jordan Love and the willingness Green Bay has to go to him in during multiple times of the game.
29:35And I think we're going to see this throughout the year. And eight targets is a good starting number for him. I
29:41think Watson is going to have careerhigh target share in terms of total targets and then all numbers should be really really high for him as well. We also had
29:50sort of the the f around and find out game for Trey McBride. I mean, anybody who watched my live drafts in FFPC,
29:58I ended up drafting a bunch of Trey McBride. And it was one of those things where he just sort of reached a tipping
30:05point where it was like too big to fail in tight end premium, it wasn't like some genius move on my part, but if I'm
30:13sitting there at like the 206, the 207 in a tight end premium league and Trey McBride is is sitting there on the
30:20clock, I was just pulling the trigger.
30:22So Brock Bowers is Brock Bowers is like my guy. Everybody knows Brock Bowers is my tight end one. We'll see Brock Bowers
30:30soon enough, but Trey McBride remained my tight end, too. And I was sort of ahead of ADP with him in my rankings
30:37throughout the summer. And I end up with a kind of a lot of them in FFPC leagues.
30:41And Trey McBride in tight end premium is the kind of asset that can overcome other bad picks because he's completely locked in. Um, and what we saw from Trey
30:50McBride today looked a lot like what we saw from Trey McBride last year. Huge, huge win for Mike Laflur in game one.
30:57They beat the the Chargers as huge dogs.
31:00And a lot of people sitting there in in uh in suicide pools are eliminated today because this was like the Chargers game.
31:08This was a surefire win. And the Cardinals just knocked out a lot of people in those ones. But Trey McBride 13 targets sounds like last year. nine
31:17catches for 95 yards and a touchdown and sounds like last year. And really the the greatest thing about this one is it
31:24was a win for Jacobe Brassette against the Chargers. This has bought him a ton of time where you talked about the
31:33pressure that let's face it the Arizona Beat reporters were putting on Jacobe Brassette where if Brassette started out the year like one and five 0 and4 there
31:42was going to be calls for him to be replaced. BC goes and gets the win and he hyperargets hyperargets Trey McBride just like just
31:52like he always did last year. So we are feeling great. We're feeling absolutely great about the way Trey McBride looks and this is sort of like drafters who
32:03faded the noise and got the Trey McBride inflection point where they sort of got him when he fell. Just great stuff
32:11there. Uh Trey McBride looks completely locked in. And just to point out, 13 targets for Trey McBride. No other tight end this week hit 10. So he's the only
32:22only one with double- digit targets and he gets 13 of them. We mentioned the Z Flowers injury. That's a big one we want
32:29to keep an eye on just because he looks so fantastic. Hamstrings are tricky.
32:33We'll cover that all week here at Rotoire. And then got to talk about Justin Jefferson because it's another player where last year Justin Jefferson
32:43it was like the worst possible pick you could have made in fantasy football last year was first round Justin Jefferson.
32:50Justin Jefferson fantastic start to the year. Kyler Murray gets knocked out of the game. Justin Jefferson ends up with eight catches for 92 yards and two
33:00touchdowns. The gritty is back. We're seeing Justin Jefferson, week one of the fantasy football season, dropping two gritties. Unbelievable stuff for
33:09Jefferson, 30 plus point uh scoring output in week one. Really, really strong stuff for Justin Jefferson. Uh and really when we talk about Detroit,
33:19we should have probably mentioned the Sun God. Two touchdowns, 14 targets for Aman Ross St. Brown. Just fantastic, fantastic stuff there. Uh and we're
33:30going to find out about Sunday night.
33:31I'm recording this right before the Giants Cowboys game.
33:36Unbelievable. Uh like if you're following social media today, Malik Neighbors is like slow getting to the facility. Then we worried Malik
33:44Neighbors is not going to play.
33:46Announces he's going to play. We'll cover sort of how he performs tomorrow.
33:50I'll be back here tomorrow and every single day this week right here on on the podcast and right here on RotoWire
33:57YouTube. If you're not already subscribed, this is a channel that's going to help you win. not going to waste a second of your time and we are
34:04going to deliver shows that are going to give you fantasy football information that can help you crush your leagues.
34:09Big shout out. I'll take one thing from the from the chat. Am I buying low on Colston Lovelin? I'm buying low on
34:15Colston Lovelin. Absolutely. Coloulston Lovelin, this is one we'll cover this week, but Lovelin, we saw it last year in the playoffs. This is an offense
34:23that's capable of scoring 59 points.
34:25There's going to be some smash weeks coming up for Coulson Lovelin and I think you are going to get a lot of
34:29frustrated managers. That's a game we're going to break down a little bit more throughout the week. Um, and big shout out to the guys from Roster Watch who
34:36are in the chat here tonight. Shout out to Alex and Cody. Those are my guys over there. Enjoy Sunday Night Football.
34:42We'll see you back here tomorrow. We're going to be crushing all the Waverwire content. Uh, we're going to drop that show on Mondays. So, look for my
34:50takeaway show every single Sunday night right here on RotoWire YouTube. And make sure you're subscribing to RotoWire Fantasy Football with Theo Griminger
34:59anywhere you get your podcasts. There's probably going to be a couple shows that are not on both channels. There might be
35:04some special ones for YouTube, some special ones for the podcast. So, make sure you're subscribed to both. And stick with us here at Rotoire. We're
35:10going to help you crush your leagues this season.
