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By: Matt Morrison (@dynastyjerk)
This is the week, everyone. It may have seemed like it took forever to get here, but now that it’s here, we look back and say, “where did the time go?” Yes, the beginning of September means the beginning of football. This year, I will be bringing you new content all throughout the middle of the week. Here is my schedule for the next 17 weeks…
Tuesday: My weekly rankings will be submitted for publication. I will be debuting rankings that will take into account only the current week. This will be a fun change of pace for me, and something that I haven’t done much of since starting writing content for Dynasty Owner. In fact, check the Dynasty Owner website, because my Week 1 rankings should be published by now.
Wednesday: If you’re reading this then you know that my weekly articles are being released on Wednesdays. These articles will be similar to my 2021 articles where I focus on certain series. Included in these Wednesday articles will be player breakdowns, blind comparisons and my yearly “Don’t Tilt” series.
Thursday: Like last year, I will be writing the Thursday Night Preview articles. Honestly, I think I enjoyed writing those articles the most last year. It is a very structured format where I discuss the Thursday Night Football game for every week. Those articles are where you will see my Value of the Game picks.
For now, let’s get into my first Wednesday article of the year. Today, I will be giving you my Week 1 Watchlist. I will be presenting the top five players and/or events that I’m looking forward to seeing this weekend.
Week 1 Watchlist
Russell Wilson
The number one player I want to see this week is Russell Wilson ($35,000,000). Everyone is aware of his transition to the Denver Broncos. There has been much hype about what Wilson can bring to this offense but also what this Broncos offense can bring to Russ. I am focusing on the latter. I want to see what Wilson can do with a longer leash than Pete Carroll has ever given him. I want to see what he can do with the most complete and talented backfield he’s ever played with. I want to see what he can do when competing for a title in the best division in the NFL. And finally, I want to see what he can do against his former team on Monday night.
That’s right, the Broncos play the Seahawks in Seattle on Monday. I expect a double digit victory for Denver on the back of a spectacular performance by Wilson.
49ers Receivers
The San Francisco 49ers will play the Chicago Bears in the early slate of games on Sunday. I am watching the 49ers offensive weapons for one single reason…Trey Lance ($8,526,319). I have no lack of faith in Deebo Samuel ($1,811,869), Brandon Aiyuk ($3,132,835), and George Kittle ($15,000,000) as fantasy producers. What I have a lack of faith in is Trey Lance’s ability to support all three of these players for fantasy. Think about it like this…
Do you think Trey Lance will be a better or worse passing quarterback than Jimmy Garoppolo ($7,000,000) was last year? I think the answer is that he will be quite a bit worse. Lance may take more deep shots than Garoppolo, but I don’t see how he can support as many Dynasty Owner fantasy points for his receivers. This isn’t a knock on Lance’s fantasy value either. If he becomes a top tier fantasy quarterback, it will largely be based on his rushing production. I hope that I’m wrong and that Lance will take a big step forward, and that’s why the 49ers receivers are appearing in this section.
Michael Thomas
I want to see if Michael Thomas ($19,250,000) is able to get anywhere close to returning a productive fantasy season. He hasn’t played an NFL snap since 2020, and he really hasn’t been fantasy relevant since 2019. I don’t expect him to immediately become the alpha receiver that he once was, but I hope to see flashes of that dominance as the season progresses. To be honest, I am just looking for an above average game on Sunday. Something like 6 receptions for 70 yards would be a very fine stat line, and it would give me much more confidence for Week 2.
I would have a tough time trusting him with a starting wide receiver slot, but a Bench spot should be a fine position for him at least for the first week.
Detroit Lions Team
If you haven’t watched Hard Knocks this season, I suggest you do so. It seems like every season; I almost get caught up in the hype of whatever team is being broadcast. There is so much happening during each episode. There is a lot of talk, hype, player spotlights, rookie breakouts, and above all, hope. Hope is my main takeaway from this season of Hard Knocks and the Lions. Dan Campbell is a great coach. He is a players’ coach, but I still struggle to see how the Lions are going to win 7+ games this season.
I hope I am wrong as I’d love to see some joy for that heartbroken franchise, but they will have an uphill battle. That battle starts with one of my favorite teams this season, the Philadelphia Eagles. I’m looking to see how the Lions play as a team, but also how relevant fantasy players (D’Andre Swift – $2,134,728, Amon-Ra St. Brown – $1,066,313, T.J. Hockenson – $4,955,306) start their season. I have these three players as RB9, WR22 and TE6 for Week 1. Catch this game in the early set of games on Sunday.
A Beatdown
And finally, I want to see a beatdown. We have been waiting for meaningful NFL games for seven months. I want to see a team win by more than 14 and score more than 30. That’s what I predict the Colts are going to do to the Texans on Sunday.
I have Jonathan Taylor ($1,957,287) going for 100 total yards and two scores. I have Michael Pittman ($2,153,212) going for 80 yards and a score. I have Matt Ryan ($30,000,000) going for 250 yards and two scores. This will be a high scoring game at least for the Colts. I want to start just about every player I can for Indy.
On the other side, I would still be more than happy to start Brandin Cooks ($16,200,000). He will be needed if the Texans have any hope of keeping up with the eight point favorite (the biggest point spread of the week).
Thanks for reading. Next week I will bring you the first half of my “Don’t Tilt” series. If there is any player that you want me to talk about more, just message me on Twitter (@dynastyjerk) and let me know.
I would appreciate it if you followed @Dynasty_Owner on Twitter as well as subscribed to Dynasty Owner on YouTube. Take care everyone and be safe.
TheJerk