NFL Opening Night: Fantasy Recap
View Highlights from the season opener Here
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
Well, we didn't have to wait long for the first upset of the year. Nor did we have to suffer through boring Thursday night game (which last year was full of). It almost feels like the curse of the boring Thursday night football has lifted. Last nights game was action packed and at times suspenseful, as Kansas City rallied in the second half to beat the reigning world champions at home, and handily at that finishing the game 42-27. You can watch the highlights in the link above. For now let's break down the fantasy implications from last night's game.
New England Patriots:
QB Tom Brady went 16 of 36 for 267 yards without a score or a turnover. He handed fantasy owners a lack luster 10.68 points.
Forge Analysis: Some more key injuries played a part in Brady's score this week, he handed off three goalline TDs to Mike Gillislee in the first half and was otherwise consumbed by the cheifs defense later in the game. Do not expect this to be a sign however. Unless this becomes an obvious trend in the following weeks, keep him in the lineup if you have him, even with key injuries to the offense I expect him to bounce back going forward. As much as I hate to admit it, he is Tom Brady and will probably have alot of strong showings the rest of the season.
TE Rob Gronkowski had a very disappointing fantasy showing last night with the superstar TE only putting up 3.30 points. He had several big third down catches but he also bobbled a TD catch that was eventually ruled an incomplete pass.
Forge Analysis: I will say this only once this season. If he's healthy start him. With all of the key injuries on offense this powerhouse TE will be getting even more targets than he's used to.
WR Danny Amendola was having one heck of a night before leaving the field with a head injury in the first half. The vetran wideout was by far Brady's favorite Target with the injury to Julian Edelman. Amendola caught 6 of 7 passes for 100 yards and a decent 10.00 fantasy points.
Forge Analysis: When/if Amendola comes back from his head injury he will make an intriguing flex player to watch for the year
WR Brandon Cooks' debut of regular season football in a Patriots uniform didn't go as well as he or fans were probably hoping. The young speedster took 3 of 7 targets for 88 yards and 8.8 fantasy points. He was the subject of a couple blatant Pass interference calls from cheifs DBs, without those it could be argued he would have also had two touchdowns last night.
Forge Analysis: Cooks is by far the Patriots best big play wideout. Brady took a handful of shots to Cooks last night and I would expect that to continue the throughout the year. Keep him in the line up.
RB Mike Gillislee was by far the best fantasy player the Patriots had in last night's game with 22.50 points to his name. Gillislee only rushed for 45 yards in last night's game but each yard was hard fought against a formidable Chiefs defense. He got all of the red zone love last night running in 3 TDs.
Forge Analysis: If you had Gillislee on your bench, I'm truly sorry. I would recommend putting him in next week. He ran hard and was one of the only bright spots on offense and they will probably look to him for a lot red zone action this year if last night performance is any indication.
Forge Deep Player Advice: WR Chris Hogan didn't get many looks last night but with both Edelman and Amendola out and the big play ability Hogan showed last year expect him to have great flex value in fantasy this year.
Kansas City Chiefs
QB Alex Smith had the best game of his life last night going 28 for 35, 368 yards, 4 TDs and a whopping 31.02 fantasy points. He was on fire taking more deep shots down field then I have ever seen him throw in his career.
Forge Analysis: Last night's performance was a huge surprise Alex Smith usually gets the job done for the Chiefs but he has (until last night) been known more as a game manager than a superstar QB. While it would certainly be a great turn of events if this was consistent throughout the year, I would suggest caution with starting him over some more consistent fantasy QBs until he proves he can continue this pace a few more games.
TE Travis Kelce another superstar TE that didn't have the role fans and fantasy owners hoped he would. He caught 5 of 7 targets for 40 yards and totaled 4.40 points. He was used mostly on short yardage situation, often the front end of an RB fake shovel pass play that KC ran multiple times throughout the game. And hurt himself and the team with a selfish cheap-shot to a pats defender last night after a nice gain that resulted in a taunting penalty.
Forge Analysis: Again a Tight End you do not want to remove from your starting line up with the exception of injury or bye week. His upside is just to high to ignore.
WR Tyreek Hill looked explosive lining up outside last night. He looks to have even greater confidence running routes and catching passes than he did last year (which is a scary thought). Before he limped off the field with pain in his thigh he turned in an impressive 7 of 8 for 133 yards and seventy five of those were capped of with a TD. He also rushed twice for 5 yards and ended up rewarding fantasy players with 19.80 points.
Forge Analysis: If his thigh wasn't injured and it was just cramping, then i would have him in your line up. If you are still weary that last nights game was a fluke for KC, Use him as a flex, Hill put up some nice numbers last year for fantasy owners, and he looks to be in a fine form to do so again this season.
RB Kareem Hunt. Bruh, this kid can PLAY! In my first post for football this season i mentioned that Hunt was going to have to do something to separate himself from the other backup RBs in KC in order to be the featured back as well as a strong Fantasy player for the year. Last night Hunt fumbled on his first ever carry in a regular season NFL game. But if anything i think this actually HELPED him separate himself from the pack. Any other rookie and even some vets might've never recovered from such a start, but Kareem hunt went on to have a legendary game. He broke the record for most yards from scrimmage in an NFL debut with 239 all purpose yards. Hunt pulled in all 5 of his targets for 98 yards, including a 78 yard TD catch, and a short yardage TD.He also made a statement on the ground rushing for 148 yards on 17 carries and a TD resulting in an incredible 40.60 points.
Forge Analysis: I already spelled it out. This kid needs to start. I am playing in five leagues this year, i have seen him on the bench, i have even seen him in free agency in a league. To my dismay i am playing a team that has him in at flex. After last night he is the featured back in KC of that i have no doubt. Pick him up, put him in.
Forge Deep Player Advice: If you are hurting for WR depth Chris Conley might be a good pick up, he was only targeted four times in the game, but he is also the only other player on the team (besides the 3 aforementioned players) that had a target at all. And if Tyreek Hill misses any action, that will leave Conley up for the number 1 spot in KC in his absence. I'm not saying start him, but he may add value if you lack depth.