Every new Football season induces so many great feelings. Everyone has high hopes for their fantasy team. Everyone has aspirations of claiming their main leagues title. For glory. For bragging rights and yes even for some cold hard cash. The anticipation for week 1 of the NFL season is indescribable as the insatiable desire to see your players are as good or even better than you thought. When that magical week finally arrives it never fails to bring chaos. Half of us feel our fantasy prowess and summer preparation vindicated while the other half feels like Kevin Malone after losing to Phyllis in poker. Allow me to examine what that looks like in PWS specifically.
THE HAVES
The Dirty Birds
Who is feeling better than the guy to execute the first true Zero RB strategy in league history and escape week 1 with a victory despite his QB getting ZERO points? Soliz avoided RBs in the draft like a plague. For the outsiders reading this you may be thinking zero RB has been a common strategy for years and we are behind the times. you could not be more wrong. This league is still standard scoring and although there have been many strategies investing very little in RBs there has never been someone to walk away from a draft without a starting RB. After receiving much criticism Soliz was content to ride into week 1 without making any moves. He refuted every bit of criticism with boasts of "BOOM" weeks by his WRs. Tyreek Hill fulfilled the prophecy week 1. The only question that remains is will Soliz look to double down on his squad or will he be looking to spend some early FAAB on the likes of Kelly, Kyren, or even Justice Hill ?
KHH
Speaking of BOOM weeks, how about Aaron Jones and CMC ? Stepping up in a big BIG way for Lamar and the rest of the hoes roster. Did the win come at the cost of Aaron Jones for multiple weeks or will Jones fight through it for his most loyal of managers, George Bradley? Does George trust Lamar ROS ? Will George jump back aboard the Titanic? In the midst of all these burning questions will George simply stop at a gas station on his way to work and pick up the latest fantasy magazine for answers ? Only time will tell.
The Papa Burgundys
He may have lost dobbins, but that didn't stop him from leading the league in scoring. In a week that begged the question "are QBs dead" Tua stood tall amongst his peers with a statement game. Is this the beginning of the next great QB, or just another flash in the pan like last year ? Will Holeman look to break the bank for one of the available RBs on waivers ? We will know shortly. Either way the outlook is great for the 4 time Champ.
Sunday Scaries
What more can you say that hasn't already been said about the man quickly becoming "Mr. Consistent" aka The defense whisperer aka All I do is win Drew Jones ? He took a goose egg from Higgins on the chin and still finished 2nd in scoring thanks to the tyrannical and utterly terrifying Dallas Defense and Aiyuk. The lack of goaline carries for Bijan are concerning, but he looked better than advertised in his NFL debut. With no holes on his roster Drew might be the early betting favorite to capture the 2023 Championship.
DraftJoshAllen.com
The winner of a surprisingly dramatic match up must have a lot of mixed feelings. On the one hand Branch escaped with a victory. On the other Josh Allen might have ran his patience thin. Pollard is a stud and should be in tons of positive game scripts thanks to the dominant Dallas Defense. Carr wants to take shots and it should just be a matter of time before he starts connecting with Olave. Puka might be the darling of September. Possibly even the season if Kupp can't get healthy. All in all I'd say Branch is in good shape.
Agg Swaggg
The Swagggies somehow come out of week 1 with a victory despite starting multiple players that would have even a 16 man league manager scratching their heads. Right now it might not matter as long as Watson is putting up 20+ paired with Jefferson and Chubb, but when bye weeks and injuries start to take place it's hard to imagine being able to fall back on Adam Thielen, Allen Lazard, Courtland Sutton and Hollywood. With 8 players on the roster worthy of immediately dropping will the Swagggies look to utilize their FAAB, or will they be drunk off a week 1 win ? I can't wait to find out.
THE HAVE NOTS
Miller Gold Agency
If there was anyone more depressed than myself after week 1 it would be Dylan. Watching his golden stack of Burrow to Chase get completely neutralized by rust and bad weather must have been miserable. Jonathan Taylor can't come back soon enough. The silver lining for the Agency is without question Calvin Ridley. He looked ungaurdable in the first half of week 1. Should prove to be a common thing rest of season. Dylan will need to find a way to topgrade Tyler Boyd and Swift. Perhaps we will see Dylan active in the early waiver bidding. I'm excited to see.
The Peoples Champ
That says it all. After all the hype we won't get to see a potential meteoric year 2 rise from baby Jefferson. The Chargers "aggressive" "downfiled throwing" "pass heavy" offense we heard about all summer long left a lot to be desired. The Hawks face planted week 1 against an opponent many of us thought to be a bottom dweller this year and on top of that lost 2 lineman. Not an ideal start, but if the Chargers offense can start to resemble the one they claimed to be this summer many of these deficiencies can be masked.
WelkersemoahM
Kupp on IR. Bad. Mahomes without Kelce, not ideal. After week 1 Mike needed to make a move and he nailed it. Perfectly selling high on Pittman after what could prove to be a fools gold performance week 1. Also getting value in return for an injured player on an offense with an already decimated O-line is probably a smart move as well. Still there's much to be desired and more moves needed without the good health of Kupp and a full complement of weapons for Mahomes in order for the squad to make a special run.
The Cream Team
The Cream Team was true to their name week one and got creamed thanks to duds by their studs. Sam had the misery of witnessing Pacheco in a 3 way committee. Cam Akers do his best Dionte Johnson efficiency impersonation while also getting wally pipped by Kyren Williams twice at the goaline. Scary Terry is not at full strength and Travis Kelce is hurt. All that being said the silver linings to week 1 for the cream team come in the form of Gainwells usage and the Gus bus. With new RB blood in the mix for week 2 will it HURT SO GOOD again ?
Little Giants
The highest scorer of the losers saw the Hawks and Steelers both implode. Both squads had good outlooks coming into the season so we should see brighter days for Geno and Najee, but week 1 was definitely concerning. What wasn't concerning was Breece Hall. He looks better than ever and could be a top 5 back in just a couple weeks if Zach Wilson can prove to have any competency at all running the offense.
The Straight haired Pimps
I must admit this was one of my most embarrassing losses. At least in recent memory. When I saw my opponent was starting not only Allen Lazard but Adam Thielen as well I thought it was a joke. The joke turned out to be my week 1 performance. So many dark and negative thoughts building. Threatening to consume my very soul, but I've looked at my team countless times since Sunday. Reviewing the stats. Looking back at the film. Looking ahead to see how it all projects for week 2. We will be making changes and we will be spending FAAB. I cannot live with my own failure. We will be aggressive in making changes to better position ourselves.
See you boys in week 2!
