Week 1 of the preseason is just two games away from being in the books. What a ride it has been! That felt real right? Don’t worry, we are less than a month from meaningful win loss records. The football being played now IS meaningful. I wouldn’t be posting this if it wasn’t. There are always Easter eggs hidden in preseason games when it comes to position battles, snap shares, and performance. We also have to address a devastating injury so I’ll start there…
- Derrius Guice’s rookie season is over before it started. After originally being diagnosed with a sprained MCL, it was discovered that he actually tore his ACL. I really feel for the guy. He seemed like he was doing everything right since he signed the dotted line in Washington. In dynasty, there is a good chance that this is the cheapest that you will ever be able to get him, so like Smokey from Friday said, “Take advantage, man.”
- Peyton Barber was the running back in all but one snap with the first team. Ronald Jones II is struggling in pass protection, which is shocking considering that he’s barely 100 pounds soaking wet. Anyways, Peyton Barber is a cheap value in drafts right now and I think he will handle a lot of the first team reps early on in the season. If he hits the ground running, it could be tough for Jones to get on the field.
- Christian McCaffery saw all of the snaps in the backfield with the first team. This is a tough break for C.J. Anderson and my anti CMC takes from this spring. I’m starting to buy in on McCaffery. He wasn’t able to break off any big ones yesterday, but volume is a big part of fantasy. I think Christian McCaffery holds a lot of value in the second round of PPR leagues if he continues to see the snaps that he is.
- Saquon Barkley is the real deal. I’m going to have him at #5 in my rankings when I update them. I only value David Johnson, Le’Veon Bell, Todd Gurley, and Ezekiel Elliott more at this point.
- Isaiah Crowell caught a touchdown pass from Teddy Bridgewater. Crowell is way too cheap right now as it is. He’s going to be a big value in fantasy football. Shortly after I wrote this, I got a notification that he left with a head injury. I wish him a quick recovery.
- Lamar Jackson can’t read a defense yet. Flacco’s job is pretty safe this year.
- Alex Collins had a nice run for 23 yards. Business as usual, he’s an inexpensive volume guy.
- Josh Allen is such a wild card. He made good throws and he made very bad throws. This wasn’t the first team defense that he was playing against, either. I remain very weary of his career trajectory.
- Joe Mixon broke two tackles to find the end zone. You all know that I love Mixon this year. You should grab all of the shares that you can.
- Leonard Fournette had a solid outing. He had a nice 8 yard run. A breakout year is on the horizon, in my opinion.
- If Marlon Mack’s hamstring injury lingers, keep an eye on the snap counts of Jordan Wilkins and Robert Turbin. I believe that they really like Wilkins and this could be a big opportunity for him.
- I like what I saw out of Antonio Callaway in the second half. He struggled with drops in the first half but more than made up for it. He could be this season’s Galladay but with better results.
- Give me allllll of the Andrew Luck.
- Give me SOME Jarvis Landry, not all of it yet, we’ll see.
Thank you for checking out my preseason Week 1 tidbits. Let’s do it again next weekend, shall we?
