It’s Sunday Morning in New Orleans. 4:27 A.M. to be exact. A 35 year-old journey quarterback awakens with a groan on the couch in his hotel room. He prefers a bed most nights but this specific hotel has mattresses that are too stiff for his back.
He strokes his beard to make sure that it is sitting the way that he prefers. He’d hate to have to waste time on a game day combing his life’s work instead of studying his second love, football. He looks down and discovers that he fell asleep in his favorite Carhartt flannel shirt while watching reruns of M.A.S.H. Times were much simpler back then.
After brushing his teeth with charcoal and applying odorless deodorant, it’s time to pack his lunch pail with pre-game nutrition that has treated him well since he joined his 11th(ish) NFL team a few years ago. He starts by brewing coffee so strong that it can be mistaken for motor oil and he grabs 3 hard boiled eggs out of hotel’s mini fridge. Ryan used to love his eggs over easy until teammates started making fun of the leftover egg yoke left in his beard. Ryan prefers as little attention as possible. The only thing that he wants is to continue to perfect his craft.
Ryan hops on the team bus with his pail and coffee thermos. He doesn’t sit next to anyone. He’d like to be alone with his thoughts and Keith Urban playing at a moderate volume in his stock iPhone headphones. Ryan snaps out of his daze as the team arrives at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. He is the only person who knows what he is about to accomplish at this place on this day. He is the only man who has visualized the deep missiles that he is going to navigate to Mike Evans and Desean Jackson. The savior has arrived. Some quarterbacks eat W’s while others achieve them.
Sunday Quick Hits
- Sticking with Tampa, I’m surprised at how well Mike Evans played. I faded him in my rankings. I didn’t see any of this coming. I’m sorry, Mike Evans.
- Congratulations to Hue Jackson. It is a lock that the Browns will not finish 0-16. Progress is progress. There wasn’t much to take away from this game. The weather was awful. Ben Roethlisberger continued his tradition of looking absolutely awful on the road. Jarvis Landry is going to do very well in this offense. Josh Gordon will see better days. At least he found the end zone.
- Alex Collins found the end zone but didn’t do much else. Once again, this was more about the weather than anything. Collins will be fine.
- Joe Mixon is starting to show what he is capable of. He looked really relaxed. It was great to see his play making abilities.
- Speaking of play-making abilities, just when it looked like Saquon Barkley was going to put up a stinker in his debut, he busted off a huge touchdown run and finished as one of the top performing running backs of week 1.
- Andrew Luck looked great in his return. Kirk Cousins looked good in his debut with the Vikings. He is clicking with both Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.
- I’m still going to start Chris Hogan next week. It seemed fluky that he wasn’t that involved. It is true what they say about starting any Patriot besides Brady and Gronkowski is a gamble.
- I think Deshaun Watson will be fine too. The Patriots are a tough team to play on the road.
- Tyfreak is at it again. The season that he could have with Pat Mahomes under center might be legendary. Tyreek can beat any secondary and now he has a quarterback that can let it fly.
- Business as usual on Sunday for elite wide receivers such as Keenan Allen and A.J. Green,
- Austin Ekeler looks like he is going to be a big part of the Charger’s offense.
- Matt Breida and Alfred Morris split carries this week and neither took the running back job by the horns. Alfred didn’t help himself by fumbling.
- Dion Lewis looks to be a huge part of what the Titans are doing. That is not good for Derrick Henry owners.
- Kenny Stills is a stud. This is just the beginning of a big year for him.
- Kenyan Drake didn’t have the best game but the weather was awful in Miami. I expect the 17 touches that he saw on Sunday to be lower than the standard.
- Last but not least, be sure to check out Rudy’s 7-day free trial on his premium tools. It includes weekly projections, DFSbot and much more!
I’ll talk to you all in the comment section or on Wednesday for my Week 2 rankings.
