Week 1

Well Week 1 is in the books and boy was it wild.  Apologize for the delay in getting this up.  It was a busy week with me in Vegas from Sunday – Thursday and then I am down in Havelock with my Dad this weekend. I was also trying to hold off to not post the first column until Florida State got their first win, but well that didn’t really work out so I couldn’t wait any longer.

Let’s go ahead and take a spin around the league:

• What happened to the top Tight Ends? Heck what happened to Tight Ends period? Only 5 Tight Ends scored a touchdown in the entire NFL in Week 1. Only 2 Tight Ends scored double digits in Week 1, and neither one of them were rostered on a team in Week 1.

• It wasn’t just the Tight Ends either. It was the lowest number of passing touchdowns in the NFL since Week 1. Which is pretty wild when you think about it and everything the NFL has done to increase scoring and passing.

• Who was the highest scoring player of the week? Baker Mayfield with 35 points.  Who was the highest rostered scoring player? Josh Allen. Shocking. In case you were curious, #2 was Saquon Barkley. You know what Allen and Barkley have in common? They both have vowels in their names.

• Running QBs really made a statement in Week 1. And who believes in the Running QB? Clearly Brent Cozart does. Because he has not one, but two QBs that looked lost in trying to navigate a defense, but electric taking off running from behind the line. I mean let’s look at Anthony Richardson’s stat line. He scored 28 Fantasy Points. But he was 9 for 19 throwing the ball. He completed 3 passes over 50 yards which represented 81% of his passing yards. If he doesn’t complete these three passes he is 6 for 19 with 41 passing yards, zero touchdowns, 1 Interception, 56 rushing yards, and 1 TD. That’s 10 Fantasy Points. But boy was this one throw majestic.

• And I would be remiss not to bring up the Tyreek Hill incident. Fairly concerning from multiple angles, but who would have had that Tyreek Hill and Scottie Scheffler would have a great story to tell their grand kids together. Tyreek may have to repeat the story a few more times than Scottie though.

• Could JK Dobbins be the steal of the draft? Once considered one of the top young talents in the league, everything went south in a hurry when he shredded his knee in that Preseason game (I know every one of you remember it). Forgotten in the league he signed a 1 year prove it deal with the Chargers and was a 10th round draft pick. We all know how much Harbough loves to build teams around the running game and it was on full display in Week 1 with Dobbins being the 4th highest scoring RB with 19 points.

• It’s only been one week, but Billy has to be a little concerned about what has happened so far. It is literally the walking wounded. He lost Puka Nacua for at least 4 weeks in the first half of Sunday Night Football. Jake Ferguson & David Nijoku were both injured and will not play in Week 2. Tua is now out for who knows how long. Keenan Allen is a game time decision for SNF in Week 2. And apparently AJ Brown didn’t practice today. But hey Amari Cooper is OK.  For now.

• And speaking of injuries, Christian McCaffery going on IR is just brutal. But I have to just laugh with Jordan Mason. If you don’t remember, Chris Umphlett first drafted Jordan Mason in 2022, in the 15th round. The first overall pick in the 2022 draft? Christian McCaffery. Chris Umphlett must see something in Jordan Mason, or else he is extremely persistent. He went to Ga Tech though.

• Finally, there was so many things going on in Week 1 that I couldn't get this in an award, but it was certainly impressive that Cozart won by 1 point over The Institute after getting just enough points from the Cowboys defense and Brock Bowers. He clearly was listening during The Commissioner's Address.

  
  

Before we get to this week’s awards, check out this week’s episode of Gridiron Heights.  It’s a double week to start the year! The Wavier Villa on Fantasy Island is a nice touch.  Although in our league Alec Pierce is still stuck there apparently.

Episode 1:

Episode 2:

Manager of the Weak

While JK Dobbins did well, Joe Burrow did not. Joe may have a cool new haircut, but boy was it ugly in Week 1. Burrow had 164 passing yards and no touchdowns and it was so bad that he is now being benched in Week 2 for (wait for it) … Baker Mayfield. That’s a bold move Cotton. Brent is hoping for a better showing from Olave and St. Brown in Week 2 because if they can’t get more than a combined 2 points its going to be a long season.

Move of the Week

Somewhere Brent Woodcox is probably rolling his eyes at this. Why? Because while Olave and St. Brown can’t get anything going, Aaron is picking up Allen Lazard after McCaffery is shockingly declared inactive and Lazard scores… 20 Fantasy Points? I mean I guess I would rather be lucky than good, but man what do you say about this. Just unbelievable.

MVP

Saquon Barkley, Jayden Reed, Dallas Defense, Jake Moody, Allen Lazard

If you remember, the last time we talked a different kicker was making a statement in the 2023 Fantasy Bowl. Harrison Butker had 24 Fantasy Points hitting 6 Field Goals to help Billy beat Jeff Smith for the Championship. Jeff Smith decided he was going to take a play out of that playbook rolling out Jake Moody in Week 1 who managed to ALSO hit 6 Field Goals for a whopping 26 Fantasy Points. And let’s be honest, this wasn’t just a big game by a kicker, it was a massive game by a kicker that helped propel Jeff to a huge Week 1 come from behind victory. I mean honestly this was inconceivable that he would find a way to win and Jake Moody said … hold my milk. There may be much gnashing of teeth in the Smith household over the blatant disrespect of Daniel’s NFL knowledge, but what apparently everyone is aligned on is the power of the Kicker.

Congrats to Jake Moody and the Kayak Pirates for the Week 1 MVP award!

Manager Of The Week

While Kris Norris may tolerate the ritualist sacrifice of cats, we know that KRABS would never put up with that crap. And he made his point clear with the ritualistic demolition of The Commish in Week 1 driven by the top scoring weeks of Allen and Barkley mentioned earlier in this column. I mean when was the last time KRABS was in first place in the league? I certainly don’t remember. He needs to certainly hope he can get some more differentiation from his team because he can’t rely on Allen and Barkley scoring 62 points every week. But if they don’t maybe he can slaughter some Geese for good luck.

Congrats to KRABS for winning the Week 1 Manager of the Week!

Until Week 2…

- The Commish