Fantasy Football Week 1 Reaction: Winners, Losers, Surprises

The season opener for fantasy football managers brought both the expected and the unexpected given a number of crazy outcomes around the NFL.

And while it’s a long campaign ahead, there’s nothing like starting with a Week 1 victory and early-season bragging rights. Of course, you needed the production of players to help you earn that outcome and while some stars might have done that, others might have let you down.

Here are some fantasy football Week 1 winners, losers and surprises with statistics compiled by Sportradar.

Winners
Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
We’re starting with a stunner here, right? Well, so what if Jefferson was Yahoo’s top-ranked wideout entering Week 1 or if he was among a two-horse race for the first receiver drafted within the last few weeks. The bottom line is Jefferson recorded a career-high 184 receiving yards while catching nine of the 11 balls thrown his way en route to finishing as the top-scoring wideout with 39.40 points in full-point leagues. Jefferson finished with 4.38 points per touch after compiling a league-best 101 air yards on his nine receptions. There are fantasy football managers out there who won in Week 1 because of Jefferson and Jefferson alone.

Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants
Barkley certainly isn’t an under-the-radar honoree, but considering last season and how the Giants have looked in recent memory, there were some questions of his production. Barkley, who entered the opener as Yahoo’s RB12, answered those in a big way as he finished with 33.40 points in full-point leagues, the most of any running back. Barkley came away with four explosive plays — 12-yard runs or 16-yard receptions — en route to 1.39 points per touch on 24 touches. Barkley looked explosive and dynamic in the season opener, and it’s fair to think he won’t be ranked outside the top 10 much more this season.

Younghoe Koo, K, Atlanta Falcons
Really? A kicker?! That’s what happens when said kicker goes off for 19 points with two 50-plus-yard makes among his four field goals and one extra point. The crazy part is Koo, who nearly tripled his projection while outscoring a number of high-end running backs and receivers, still is available on the waiver wire as he’s owned in just 28% of Yahoo leagues. He was ranked Yahoo’s K19 entering Week 1.

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Losers
Mike Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
Given the early injury to Keenan Allen, one might have thought Williams was in for a big day alongside quarterback Justin Herbert. Williams, however, saw just four targets even though Herbert threw the ball 34 times. Williams probably was viewed as some owner’s second wideout or flex given his WR17 ranking on Yahoo, but he finished as the 94th player at the position. He recorded a laughable 1.5 points per touch on just two touches with only 14 total air yards on his four targets.

Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Harris left a lot to be desired for owners who drafted him as their top running back as he was stuffed on 30% of his rushing attempts against the Cincinnati Bengals — third-worst percentage among ball carriers. Harris, who was Yahoo’s RB10 entering the slate, finished 28th in total scoring after turning 10 rushing attempts into a mere 23 yards. His 0.88 points per touch on 12 touches would have looked far worse if not for finding the end zone once in Pittsburgh’s overtime win.

Surprises
Carson Wentz, QB, Washington Commanders
Wentz isn’t about to have a career resurgence, right? The Commanders quarterback, who was Yahoo’s QB24 entering the week while being rostered in just 13% of leagues, put on a showing which made him the third-highest scoring signal-caller behind only Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Not bad! Wentz did so while leading a comeback win with his six passes of 20-plus yards ranking second and 38% of his throws going for first downs. The four touchdown passes certainly helped Wentz’ fantasy outcome, too.

Devin Duvernay, WR, Baltimore Ravens
If you weren’t one of the fantasy football managers to include Duvernay in your starting lineup in Week 1, you might want to reconsider going forward. The Ravens wideout, who was ranked Yahoo’s WR82 entering the week, finished among the top 10 receivers. Even more shocking was the fact he did so despite seeing just four targets from Lamar Jackson. Duvernay turned those targets into four receptions for 71 yards and a pair of touchdowns to finish with 21.40 points in full-point leagues.

Dameon Pierce, RB, Houston Texans
Hopefully you let Week 1 pass you by without including the rookie running back in your starting lineup, despite the preseason production and hype that followed him. Pierce’s big obstacle was the fact veteran Rex Burkhead out-snapped him 71% to 29% in Houston’s Week 1 tie against the Indianapolis Colts. It limited Pierce, who was Yahoo’s RB20 entering his NFL debut, to just 12 touches for 39 yards of offense. He concluded as RB51 in full-point leagues behind merely 4.90 points.