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Last week: 18-10-5, Season: 18-10-5 (64%)
Week 1 Picks Recap: Not a bad start to the season! I had some misses which I’ll get to below, but more wins than losses which is all I’m shooting for. Nobody is perfect right (except maybe Aaron Rodgers).
I struggled a bit with my start’em picks (8-9-1), especially with the wide receivers which I missed on five of six. Jarvis Landy (+8 over projected) was my only good call, while I missed big on Steve Smith Jr (-6), Nelson Agholor (-6), and Allen Robinson (-5). My only other significant miss was Ryan Tannehill (-6), who unfortunately was my headliner, but I hit big on Tyler Eifert (+21) and got all three of my tight end picks right.
*For those of you who have read this column the last two years, I apologize for my flip-flop on Doug Martin. It will never happen again.
My sit’em picks were much better (10-1-4) with Ameer Abdullah (+8) my only miss. As I mentioned in the initial post, I figured Abdullah would put up big numbers eventually I just didn’t think it would be this soon. My best sit’em calls were Sammy Watkins (-10), Isaiah Crowell (-8), Torrey Smith (-8), and as always Colin Kaepernick (-9).
Week 1 Fantasy Surprises:
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Carlos Hyde this season after all the dysfunction in San Fran and a somewhat lackluster rookie season, but he looked like a beast on Monday night with 31 fantasy points. QB Marcus Mariota was still probably the biggest surprise with an almost flawless 4 TD, 32 fantasy point performance. A pair of young TEs coming off injury plagues seasons, Tyler Eifert (27) and Austin Seferian-Jenkins (28), were the biggest surprises from the tight end position. Don’t expect those type of numbers every week, but they are both talented enough to be top-10 tight ends this season.
On the down side, I’ve already covered the under-producing players I missed on, but I think everyone expected more from Peyton Manning (4), Adrian Pederson (4), CJ Anderson (6), Odell Beckham Jr (6), and Greg Olsen (2). It’s only one game, don’t overreact and cut anyone you made a significant investment in.