Like the title says, the first round of games has wrapped and now we look back at the fantasy world to see how everyone produced.

NE vs. BUF

Boy was this game closer than anyone expected. Trendy sleeper EJ Manuel had an alright game slinging for a buck fifty and two TD’s. I hope you weren’t starting him but as a guy on your bench he should be a fine BYE week or matchup play if you waited too long on a QB.  You may remember in the last post I mentioned Robert Woods (who grabbed one of those TD’s) as a guy you should be watching. Woods is a superb talent who is a good compliment to Stevie Johnson who grabbed six points for himself as well. CJ Spiller had a mediocre performance for someone you drafted in the first with just 41 rushing and 14 receiving yards. Fred Jackson had better numbers than Spiller here but I wouldn’t pick him up unless you’re desperate for help at the flex.

This could be me panicking as i nabbed him in a big league as my primary but oh man did Zach Sudfeld lay a goose egg. Patriots TE’s on the whole didn’t get much done so if you started Sudfeld like I did you’re looking elsewhere for week 2 options. Staying with the bad Stevan Ridley didn’t see the field much after a fumble on a potential Patriots scoring drive. Shane Vereen should be owned in every league already but if Ridley finds himself in the doghouse again it could lead to Legarrete Blount being a sneaky pickup. Now the Pats good: their wideouts put up some great numbers for a group that supposedly had a lot of question marks. Julian Edelman took all of those middle of the field looks that typically went to Gronk turning in 79 yards and 2 touchdowns. Following that was Danny Amendola who racked up 104 yards even though he didn’t find paydirt at all in this game. it was still nice to see him battle through a groin injury that initially had him questionable to return. Last but not least it was my fantasy Superman Kenbrell Thompkins who logged 42 yards and got a ton of redzone looks from Brady. The chemistry needs to build a little more but the looks he was getting were encouraging. And more, even with Leodis McKelvin draped all over him on a 3rd and 8 it was Thompkins who got the look from Brady. I still see big things from this guy.

DET vs. MIN

Call this an odd day for the first wideout coming off the board in pretty much every draft as Calvin Johnson finishes second to teammate Nate Burleson having 37 yards, Nate grabbed 78. And anyone who grabbed Reggie bush due to his pass catching ability is looking like a genius after that long touchdown. and Stafford had a nice day throwing for 350+ and 2TD vs 1 INT. Last note on Lions, Brandon Pettigrew didnt do too much of anything and remains a player you start and cringe, my bigger worry way Joique Bell taking redzone looks from Bush and converting.

For the Vikings the fantasy and real game starts and ends with Adrian Peterson. And boy did he do his owners a solid grabbing 93 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. And oh wait that wasn’t all as he grabbed 4 passes for 18 yards and another TD. This is why he’s the first overall choice in drafts and the standout of your fantasy team. The only other fantasy force was Jerome Simpson who had a huge day for absolutely nobody. 7 for 140 is nice but if he isn’t in your lineup, and he wasn’t, it doesn’t mean much.

SEA vs. CAR

Not quite the fantasy gold game we were hoping for the Seahawks outside of Russel Wilson owners. throwing for 320 and a TD. His beneficiaries were Jermaine Kearse who had 2 for 49 and a score, Doug Baldwin who went 7 for 91 Golden Tate had 51 yards on 4 catches and Sidney Rice had two grabs for 35. Last Fantasy Force was Marshawn Lynch who wasn’t all that forceful with 17 carries for 43 yards and 2 receptions for 9 yards.

On to Carolina where DeAngelo Williams had a nice day. Outside of a fumble he had 16 attempts for 76 yards and worked out to be a solid flex play. Cam Newton gave you 38 yards on the ground and 125 in the air. The TD chipped in some extra points for Newton but a top-5 or 7 QB needs to have better days. The only WR we need to talk about from Carolina is Steve Smith, who had 51 yards and a TD for himself, solid numbers from a guy who just showed you his fantasy floor as far as bad days go.

CIN vs. CHI

The last game I’ll be covering in part one is the Hard Knocks darlings the Cincinnati Bengals taking on the new look Chicago Bears.

Cincy had a bit of a surprising day with Gio Bernard not seeing the field as much as I would have liked. He is still a solid stash in deeper leagues and keepers and 4 for 22 and a catch for 8 yards could have been worse for a Rookie who is behind an established starter. As I said in the first post I don’t see Bernard turning it on until late so there’s no need for alarm here. New things may be tried sooner than later with the law firm only going 25 yards on 14 carries (1.7 ypc). AJ Green showed us that all the offseason hype wasn’t wrong as he went off for  162 yards and two touchdowns. Andy Dalton finished well with 282 with 2 a piece for TDs and INTs.

Chicago came in with the QB whisperer Marc Trestman taking over and in a close game they pulled one out. Cutler had 242 with 2 TDs and 1 pick. And their leading receiver? None other than Alshon Jeffrey! Just kidding, it was Brandon Marshall, and you knew that. Marshall hauled in 8 catches for 104 and a TD and his counterpart Jeffrey had 5 for 42 and if you have a crazy BYE week at some point you could do worse. and our last player of analysis goes to Matt Forte. With 19 attempts for 50 yards it doesn’t look like he had a great game but chalk up a rushing TD and 4 catches for 41 yards and you have a really solid day. Even better was that the rushing TD came from the redzone where many assumed Michael Bush would do all of his damage.

There you have it, the first set of the first games recapped, and as always, may the fantasy force be with you.