What went well in the first week? Well, not much for this column. We had some high profile kicks that were taken off the board Lane Ja’Kobi AND Braelon Allen. We had a fast Pat Bryant start facing an offense that just couldn’t do anything. we had Mike Washington play well but Ashton Jeanty be much healthier than assumed since writing a column for Wednesday because the NFL opened the season early. It was a tough scene, as the kids say, for this column.
One thing I want to point out because I think it actually matters: The 13-man and 12-man trend (using multiple tight ends, in layman’s terms) will make it increasingly difficult for this lineup to hit. Only six teams in the league ran with 11 men more than 70 percent of the time in Week 1 for Sumer Sports: The Buccaneers, Colts, Titans, Eagles, Commanders and Cowboys. Most of these teams were behind with large deficits. Why does this matter? Because if we’re giving a tight end to the field whose job is (mostly) to block, we’re going to condense the path tree and output results. That’s great for fantasy football as a whole, but terrible for an article whose job it is to find sleep for the week.
Anyway, now that I’ve got some gripes out of the way:
Rules for this weekly article:
1) I will not recommend a quarterback – There are lots of good ones. You are alone there.
2) I will not recommend any pullback that costs more than $5,000, wide end that costs more than $4,500, or tight end that costs more than $4,000 DraftKings’ DFS slate — This was an easy break for what is actually a FLEX.
3) I consider any player who gains over 50 yards or scores a touchdown for the column – anything more you get from that, well, good for you. Let’s set our expectations low, because we’re looking for the suburbs.
▶ Running back
JK Dobbins, DEN – $5,000 – Bo Nix was pressured on 45.5 percent of his drops in Week 1, the fourth-highest rate in the league. Behind him is the Jaguars’ opponent in week one Deshaun Watsonin 44.8 percent. The Jaguars are well-coordinated, but they are not a team built to stop the run. Their main investments are reserve advantage players Josh Hines-Allen AND Travon Walker. (It should be noted that the Jags played Walker inside against the Browns more than usual, but still, he’s nominally an EDGE.) I think the main takeaway the Broncos will have from Week 1 is “uh oh, we need to run the ball more” and I think this game is set up well for that. Dobbins is still the head of the committee and RJ Harvey (hamstring) appeared on the injury report on Wednesday. The Broncos will try to take some pressure off Nix with their ground game here and then Sean Payton will forget this ever happened in Week 3.
Blake Corum, LAR – $4,900 – Corum had 10 carries for 54 yards in the Week 1 loss to the 49ers in Australia. He is more or less separated from her Kyren Williams at game time. The Giants, before Week 1, were not considered a strong opponent. I am open to the idea that John Harbaugh has changed things, but the talent on this defense doesn’t scare me and I’d also bet the Rams rely more on the running back Matthew Stafford was pressured on 44 percent of his downs in Week 1. Assuming the Rams are able to run out the clock against the Giants at some point, Corum has some real upside. And his floor is reasonable for this price too.
Rico Dowdle, PIT – $4,900 – The Seahawks ran over the Patriots as well Drew Lock at quarterback, averaged 4.5 yards a carry The Jadarian Prize AND George Holland. Dowdle got fewer touches against the Falcons than Jaylen Warrenbut he played 39 snaps to Warren’s 25 and they trusted him as a pass blocker. I wouldn’t expect things to go ahead of this season. I think the only reason we’re under $5,000 here is the poor Week 1 box office result, and I don’t necessarily believe there’s a reason to think that’s going to happen again.
Kaelon Black, SF – $4,500 – Black took 28 shots Christian McCaffrey’36 against the Rams in Week 1. The Dolphins just allowed one of the worst offenses of 2025 to put up 30 carries for 143 yards between Ashton Jeanty AND Mike Washington Jr. following the whole game. This Dolphins roster was born to be attacked on the ground and this appears to be a perfect opportunity assuming Jordan James it doesn’t magically activate and force a transport split. I really don’t think the 49ers will limit McCaffrey that much up front, but I doubt they’ll blow up the Dolphins enough that it won’t matter.
▶ Wide receiver
Dontayvion Wicks, PHI – $4,300 — The Eagles ended up playing Wicks on 91 percent of the snaps, putting him well ahead Police lemon. It’s not a passing offense I’d endorse often, but Wicks is a deep threat that plays with the Titans and generally tends to work pretty well. The Titans allowed three passing plays of 30 yards last week and generated zero sacks. Against the planes. Really.
Pat Bryant, DEN – $4,200 – Bringing it back from last week, Bryant went 4/42 and played 59 percent of Denver’s snaps as they mostly held Troy Franklin AND Marvin Mims on the sideline. (It didn’t help that Franklin drew an offensive pass interference penalty on one of his few touchdowns). Jaylen Waddle in an optimistic way.
KC Concepcion, CLE – $4,100 – The lie detector didn’t lie to the training camp hype that Concepcion would be the guy Cleveland would feed targets. He went for 4/43 in a failed passing offense and also added 3/15 on the ground. there are Deebo Samuel-kind of results here for Concepcion in the long run. In the short term, the Browns will throw a lot. Some of those shots won’t be good because of who the quarterback is, but that’s why Concepcion is available to play at this price in the first place. The Buccaneers are also not an entirely threatening defense to play against.
Devaughn Vele, JO – $4,200 – Bringing it back from last week for the second time, this time with one of the few receivers that actually worked for me. Vele is locked into a big role in the passing game, and the Saints may need to throw a lot to keep up with the Ravens. Don’t expect last week’s line – we’re not getting 60 Tyler Shough throw – but I think he’ll be a reasonable FLEX play and contribute 50 yards with a solid touchdown chance.
Caleb Douglas, MIA – $3,700 – Miami’s leading rusher in garbage time, Douglas was second on the team with seven targets and finished with a team-best 94 yards. We already know from the fact that Mike McDaniel he could not do such a thing Malik Washington it is unlikely to be a thing regardless of the target number. The 49ers will blow out the Dolphins — a lot of teams can blow out the Dolphins this year — and Douglas should continue to take advantage of that given the lack of a good secondary option for Malik Willis to throw in.
Does Bryant’s Week 1 fantasy consistency predict?
Patrick Daugherty and Denny Carter review Pat Bryant’s night for the Broncos after he led the team in targets, putting the brakes on him as a viable fantasy starter right now with low usage in Week 1.
▶ Narrow tops
Juwan Johnson, JO – $3,900 – The designated survivor of the Saints’ waiting room, as I wrote last week, got there again. His 3/54/1 line against the Lions probably doesn’t happen without falling into a big hole, but the Saints have a pretty crowded passing tree this year, and if the Ravens are going to recruit them like they did with the Colts, there should be plenty of garbage time work in Johnson’s future.
TJ Hockenson, MIN – $3,500 – We are not sure if Kyler Murray will go here, but Carson Wentz is told to do two things: throw balls at Justin Jeffersongeneral area and also if you want to get hit a little bit so we can get some penalties that would go up as well. However, one of his touchdown passes went to Hockenson, instead of the other two on the roster. I don’t care John Jennings ($3,800) play here, too, because the truth is, the Bears are going to put up some crazy point totals this year, and their opponents are going to have to catch up.
