Week 1 Fantasy Football

The first week of the NFL season is in the books. That also means that the first fantasy football games have also been played. There were some big surprises this week that could have large implications for fantasy this year. 

I am going to go over some good waiver pickups and trade options you could make that could win your league after Week 1.

Waiver Pickups

One of the most important things a fantasy owner can do is dominate the waiver wire and the Week 1 waivers are some of the most crucial pickups of the season. After the Week 1 injuries and surprise standout players, there are a lot of good players to pick up.

The first player that I would recommend picking up if you can is 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell, who will be taking over as the lead running back after Raheem Mostert had a season ending knee injury. Mitchell looked very strong once he came into the game and the 49ers always have a strong run attack. Look for Mitchell to become an immediate RB2 or Flex in your league.

Another good pickup  this week would be the Saints quarterback Jamis Winston, who put up a strong performance against the Packers in Week 1 throwing for five touchdowns and putting up 28 fantasy points. Winston was a top quarterback in fantasy when he was a starter last and it looks like he could be getting back to that form.

A wide receiver that could add a lot of value to your bench is Cardinals wide receiver Christian Kirk, who is only rostered  in 22 percent of leagues but was targeted five times and twice for touchdowns. I wouldn’t recommend that Kirk be placed in your starting lineup until he proves he can produce consistently, but this is a good sign for things to come especially if the Cardinals’ offense continues to be dominant.

If you are looking for some long term depth at the running back position, Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell might be the best play. Gainwell is the backup to Miles Sanders, who has a history of getting hurt. If that happens again, Gainwell, who had nine carries and a touchdown in Week 1, could be a very strong option at running back.

Trades

With Week 1 in the books, now also is a great time to make trades because of how players performed way above or below expectations results in shifting values based on
Week 1 panic. 

One of the biggest examples of this would be Cowboys running back Ezekiell Elliott, who had a rough season last year but was expected to bounce back in a big way. After a tough matchup against defending champion Tampa Bay in Week 1, when he was only given the ball nine times, some fantasy managers are panicking. This could be a great time to buy low on Zeke and potentially get a league winning running back for cheap.

If you are looking to trade players away for great value, look to sell high on 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who is coming off of the best game of his career and has a lot of hype around him. Throughout his career he has dealt with injuries, so fantasy owners shouldn’t expect this year to be any different.  Right now Samuel is as valuable as ever and he could be traded for some big starters, so if you want to get rid of him before possibly losing him to injury then now is the time to do it.

Another player to trade for a great value is Pittsburgh rookie running back Najee Harris, who had a very disappointing week one when he struggled to get any yards against the tough Bills defense. This could panic fantasy owners but if you look at the stats you see that Harris was on the field for 100 percent of the offensive snaps. If he continues to get this workload he is bound for some big games.

Look for advice on your fantasy lineup just like this every week.