By Dan O’Shea
Questions on Week 1’s fantasy football implications:
As anthem protests increase, will owners cut ties with fantasy-relevant players who take a knee?
I was part of at least one fantasy draft in which team owners dared one another to draft Colin Kaepernick, in the wake of his initial anthem protest.
Of course, it was Kaepernick’s lack of fantasy relevance that saved this particular bunch of social conservative suburban Republicans from having to make that choice.
As protests seem to be spreading, I’d like to see what happens when some of the NFL’s bigger stars take a knee.
Would fantasy team owners drop a WR who leads their teams in fantasy points?
People talk big about what the anthem means and supposedly requires of us all, and are more than happy to decide for the rest of us what should and shouldn’t be allowed, but their own greed can turn them into hypocrites pretty quickly.
Is Andrew Luck back?
He sure looked more like the Luck of 2014 than 2015 in Week 1, with 385 yards passing and four TDs, no INTs.
It all came in a losing cause, as Luck was forced to keep up with a freewheeling Lions offense that outscored the Colts 39-35.
Luck needs to string a few of these outputs together before we entirely believe, but he may make a lot of us wish we hadn’t passed on him when his name topped the list of remaining players in Rounds 4 and 5.
Is A.J. Green back?
He’s certainly back as the most frequent target of CIN QB Andy Dalton, as many preseason predictions suggested.
He collected 12 receptions, 180 yards and one TD in a week when he was supposed to be somewhat corralled by star NYJ CB Darrelle Revis.
The rest of the Bengal’s offense managed 11 catches to Green’s 12, and it’s clear Dalton trusts Green the most.
Does Le’Veon Bell need to fear for his starting job?
For the second straight season, Bell is sidelined by suspension and fellow RB DeAngelo Williams is stealing his thunder.
Williams ran for 143 yards and two TDs as the top overall fantasy RB in Week 1, though about 50 of those yards and the second TD came after Washington seemed to have surrendered to the Steelers.
Last year Williams was great, then disappeared in the weeks when Bell was active. How long with the Steelers let an injury-prone, often-suspended Bell be first in line for touches?
Does Jamaal Charles need to fear for his starting job?
In short, yes.
Spencer Ware collected 199 total yards, including 129 via air, and a TD, in Week 1, making him look an awful lot like Charles in his prime.
The frequently-injured Charles was out Week 1 and probably will miss another week.
KC need an RB who can handle QB Alex Smith’s most obvious talent – game management through short, safe passes spread all across the field.
Ware appears to be able to do that as well as anybody.
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Danny “Disco” O’Shea is our man in fantasyland. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on September 16, 2016