Shock and Awe.. Five Fantasy Football Surprises
It never fails. The world of football is completely unpredictable. Evidenced not just by the fact that the usually savvy TJI pick ‘em department went an abysmal 8-8, but also by the fact that, with one hit, thousands of fantasy owners watched their seasons come crashing down around them.
Every week, we’ll recap the things that suprised us most, from a unique TJI point of view, of course. So, following week one, here’s what shocked and awed us…
The Brady Injury
It’s what everyone is talking about, so there’s not much new to add to the conversation. It does, however, remind us of that trusted fantasy football adage (also applicable in myriad situations from bear attacks to stock market crashes): “Don’t Panic.” Unless you have Marc Bulger as your back up QB.
McNabb’s Return
Not many saw this coming. Well, TJI did recommend him as a “must start” (no comments on some of our other recommendations, please), but even our fine staffers didn’t envision an explosion like this. It speaks to the value of playing with a chip on your shoulder. McNabb obviously has something to prove and even without his top two wideouts, he’ll going to stop at nothing to prove it.
Three is Better than Two
After scoring all of 2 TD last season and then watching his team draft a highly touted running back in the first round, Willie Parker began the year with an aforementioned chip on his shoulder. When the dust settled, he had increased his season TD total of ‘07 by 150 percent. Wouldn’t be surprised if a good number of Parker owners had him stashed on the bench Sunday. That’s bound to change. By the way…pretty sure the leg is okay.
No First Game Jitters
Some rookie RBs had great games: Chris Johnson and Matt Forte had dynamic debuts. Their owners are going to be hard pressed to keep them on the bench in the coming weeks. Others did okay, like Johnathan Stewart and Kevin Smith. And others were so quiet, we won’t even mention them here.
Burner on Fire
Falcons RB Michael Turner is on top of the fantasy world, if only for a week. The Falcons shocked everyone with their dominating performance, but it was Turner who stood out. The only question is: “Is the Lions D that bad or is the Falcons’ O-Line not as bad as advertised?” We’ll find out in 5 days.
There you have it, five huge surprises from week one. Also on our list, but not cracking the top five, were Eddie Royal’s coming out party (TJI’s sleeper pick for week one, thank you very much), the huge number of studs who came up practically empty (Holt, Holmes, etc), the Panthers dominating road win, Seattle’s injury woes, and what happened to the Bengals…
Keep it tuned to This Just In for all your week 2 needs. Send an email today: 
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[...] that surprised fantasy owners in week one. [This Just [...]
Great post. I wouldn’t classify McNabb’s monster Week one as surprising for three reasons: 1) He’s healthy, 2) He’s always been an elite fantasy QB when healthy, and 3) the Rams are a god awful defensive team.
Other than that, you hit on some good points.
Eddie Royal had the best rookie WR debut since Anquan Boldin, and if you look at the people he’s keeping company with, there’s a better than 50/50 shot he’s going to be a stellar NFL receiver.
Here’s a list of the top rookie WR Week One performances dating back to 1995 if you’re interested:
Eddie Royal catches on quickly: http://blog.footballguys.com/2008/09/09/eddie-royal-catches-on-quickly/
Jason, you make some good points on McNabb. It will be interesting to see how he performs going forward, against real teams. Our surprise came from the fact that people have been so down on him. We weren’t necessarily surprised (we did recommend the start after all), but we’d guess that a majority of the people that own him were.
Thanks for the link, that’s good stuff, too. We’ll be following your blog from now on.