Fantasy Football Week 1: Sunday's Studs, Duds and More

Each week, I’m going to post my version of an All-Stud and All-Dud Fantasy Teams based on Sunday performances.

When it comes to these respective “teams,” expectations will be taken into consideration. As an example, three catches for 35 yards may be a solid performance for a team’s No. 4 receiver, it’s not going to be viewed the same way for a team’s No. 1 receiver.

Here is this week’s Fantasy All-Stud Team:

QB – Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: In an overtime shootout with the Saints, Ryan completed 31 of 43 pass attempts for a career-high and franchise-record 448 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. With a league-high 30 fantasy points so far, he’s one of just three quarterbacks with 20-plus fantasy points this week.

RB – Knowshon Moreno, Miami Dolphins: While Lamar Miller played well (78 YFS, 5.36 YPC and a TD), Moreno had a top-two performance at running back on Sunday. (Marshawn Lynch is still RB1 this week.) Only Arian Foster (27) has more carries, but Moreno rushed for a Sunday-high 134 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

RB – Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers: With nearly 200 yards from scrimmage, Bell got 27 touches — 21 carries for 109 yards and six catches for 88 yards — and a touchdown. It was Bell’s second 100-yard rushing game of his career and he now has 20-plus carries AND a touchdown in four consecutive games going back to last season.

WR – Allen Hurns, Jacksonville Jaguars: In his NFL debut, Hurns finished with four receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns and no receiver has more fantasy points than he does so far this week. Hurns led the NFL in receiving in the preseason and took advantage of a Cecil Shorts-less Jaguars receiving corps.

WR – Cordarrelle Patterson, Minnesota Vikings: Patterson had only 3/26/0 receiving on five targets, but he made up for a quiet receiving day with more than 100 rushing yards including an impressive 67-yard touchdown run. Along with A.J. Green and Hurns, Patterson is a top-three fantasy receiver so far this week.

WR – Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers: There were a few other options here, but it’s not too often a player on this list will drop kick a punter. And despite a matchup against Joe Haden, Brown had a line of 5/116/1 on his six targets. Brown now has at least five catches and 50 yards in 17 consecutive games.

TE – Julius Thomas, Denver Broncos: They say things happen in three’s and Orange Julius touchdowns did. Thomas caught all three of Peyton Manning‘s touchdowns, all in the first half, to finish with a line of 7/104/3 on eight targets.

Flex – DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys: While Mark Ingram scored one more fantasy point than Murray with two rushing scores, Murray had an all-around better day for an offense that otherwise struggled. Only Moreno rushed for more yards than Murray (118), who added three catches for 25 yards.

Here is this week’s Fantasy All-Dud Team:

QB – Tom Brady, New England Patriots: A case for Tony Romo could certainly be made here, but I had Brady ranked higher than Romo this week and Brady (56) threw it nearly 20 times more than Romo (37). Yet, they both finished with just nine fantasy points. Even with the return of Rob Gronkowski, who caught Brady’s only touchdown, Brady averaged just 4.47 yards per pass attempt and he lost two fumbles as well.

RB – Bernard Pierce, Baltimore Ravens: Was so bad (everyone say, “how bad was he?”) as a fantasy option that you would have been better off starting me than Pierce. Pierce gained 14 yards on six carries, but he wiped out all of those points and more with a lost fumble that landed him on the bench in favor of Justin Forsett for the rest of the game.

RB – Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs inexplicably gave Charles only only carries and four targets. Their other running backs had only four carries as the Chiefs lost by 16 points, but there is never a time that arguably the league’s most dynamic player should get only seven carries. That said, he didn’t do much with his touches: 2.71 yards per carry and 3.75 yards per reception.

WR – Kenny Britt, St. Louis Rams: It was a goose-egg performance for Britt, who was targeted three times. Meanwhile, third-year receiver Brian Quick paced the receivers with 7/99 on nine targets. It was a disappointing performance for all Rams players with Quick being the lone exception.

WR – Michael Crabtree, San Francisco 49ers: With a favorable matchup back where he grew up, Crabtree had a quiet game against the Cowboys. Crabtree was targeted only four times and finished with just two catches for 25 yards while teammate Anquan Boldin racked up 99 yards on eight receptions.

WR – Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos: Targeted 11 times, Thomas had only four receptions for 48 yards. DT had a few drops, but in a game with 55 points and 11 targets for one of the league’s most talented receivers, fantasy owners would expect more than four fantasy points.

TE – Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys: It was an all-around poor performance for the Cowboys’ passing offense and Witten finished with just two receptions for 14 yards on six targets.

Flex – Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: I wasn’t going to list Martin here since he left the game early with a knee injury, but he was ineffective before the injury with just nine yards on nine carries and one reception for seven yards. Martin says that we will have to “wait and see” on the severity of the injury.

Some more injury notes:

- Cleveland Browns TE Jordan Cameron left yesterday’s game after aggravating the AC joint injury he initially suffered in training camp. It’s unclear if he’ll miss Week 2, but it’s certainly a possibility.

- Teammate Ben Tate left yesterday’s game with a knee injury, and rookies Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell more than picked up the slack.

- Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery left yesterday’s game with a hamstring injury, but it sounds minor. Coach Marc Trestman said, “Alshon was prepared to go in there at specific times. I’ll just leave it at that.”

- Washington TE Jordan Reed was listed as questionable on the injury report with his thumb injury, but he left yesterday’s game with a hamstring injury. He’ll have an MRI, but Jay Gruden called the injury a “concern” and said that he could miss significant time, according to Mike Jones of the Washington Post.

- Cincinnati Bengals TE Tyler Eifert left yesterday’s game with a dislocated elbow. Jay Glazer said yesterday on Fox’s post-game show that the team was hopeful that he’d only miss a couple of weeks.

- Teammate Vontaze Burfict left yesterday’s game with a concussion.

- Kansas City Chiefs lost both Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito for the season with ruptured Achilles tendons.

- Houston Texans OLB Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, has a torn meniscus and could miss 4-6 weeks.

Our initial Week 2 rankings and projections will be released on Tuesday and our waiver-wire post will be up later tonight.

Follow me on Twitter (@EDSFootball) to keep track of our updates.