With Week 1 just about in the books, here is a look at the top fantasy storylines.
Cam Newton's monster day
The Panthers rookie quarterback led all fantasy players with 30.68 points in his professional debut. Oh right, let's just say his NFL debut. The biggest question for fantasy owners is to determine if Newton is really this good or if the Cardinals defense is really that bad. Probably a little of column A, and a little of column B. But if you have been scrambling for a quarterback because you drafted Peyton Manning, Newton should be on your roster. The true test comes next week when the Panthers play host to the Packers. If Newton torches the Packers defense like he did the Cardinals, look out.
Injuries
A number of big-name players went down with injuries on Sunday, with St. Louis and the Chargers taking the brunt of it. St. Louis lost Sam Bradford, Steven Jackson and Danny Amendola in the Week 1 loss to the Eagles -- with Amendola being done for the year. X-rays for Bradford were negative, but coach Steve Spagnuolo is concerned that Bradford suffered nerve damage. Well that's comforting. Jackson's injury will be updated on Monday, but means that Cadillac Williams becomes an attractive target on the waiver wire. Other notable players with injuries included Arian Foster, Hakeem Nicks who had X-rays on his knee (they came back negative), Andy Dalton, Mike Tolbert and Nate Kaeding. The latter being a swift kick in the shorts to those who got no points from the Chargers kickers.
Don't bench your studs
How many times do you have to be told, do not bench your studs? Many fantasy enthusiasts benched Ray Rice because of his matchup with the Steelers. How did that turn out? Rice ripped through the Steel Curtain, and finished second among fantasy running backs with 26.90 points. Again, do not over-think fantasy football and stick with the guys you drafted highly.
Week 1 Fantasy Studs
It's no shock that
Drew Brees exploded in the season opener, but as
**Michael Fabiano** writes there were a few Week 1 studs that nobody saw coming.
**More ...**
More carries, please
Wait, stick with those guys you drafted highly unless you spent a high draft pick on LeGarrette Blount. Just what was that? Blount had five carries. And even the Titans' Chris Johnson had only nine carries in his return, to which coach Mike Munchak said that he needs to get his star running back some more touches. Yeah, good idea. The long-term prognosis for Johnson is favorable because, let's face it, the Titans have to go to him. But Blount? All of those receptions for Earnest Graham are rather disturbing. The only takeaway is that the Buccaneers got down and had to throw, so Blount should see more action when the matchups favor it.
Undrafted quarterbacks
Two of the top three fantasy quarterbacks over the weekend were Newton and Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (24.62). Rex Grossman (18.20), Mark Sanchez (17.70) and Matt Hasselbeck (17.42) also had good games. What is the common theme among all of these guys? Yes, they were mostly undrafted in fantasy leagues -- come on, I gave that away in the subhead of this section. But this once again shows that you do not have to use a high-round draft pick on a quarterback in most fantasy drafts. Of course, you will need the steely resolve to start Fitzpatrick in your fantasy league, but we can work on that later.
For the record, you can submit your fantasy questions to NFL.com Fantasy Live, Michael Fabiano or me on Twitter. But realize, NFL.com Fantasy has 18,000 followers, Fabiano has 30,000, me, I only have 1,500. So your odds are better that I will answer a question, just based on the numbers. So hit me up on both via Twitter or via Facebook. Be sure to catch the latest on the Dave Dameshek Football Program.
