The first week of fantasy is officially behind us, hopefully most of you started out with a nice victory to kick-start the season. If you didn’t, it’s not the end of the world. It’s a long season and the real work starts now as the all-important waiver wire comes into play. Like I’ve said in earlier posts, the draft is only the first part of the fantasy puzzle. In my experience, as long as you hover around .500 you will have a chance to get into the playoffs. No need to panic just yet fantasy owners, it was only one week. Now that we are officially underway with the season Shooting the Moon will have plenty of fantasy coverage under the “Reality of Fantasy” banner (it’ll make these posts easier to find as you’re scrolling through the site).

Before we can look forward to Week 2, let’s look back at the fantasy studs and duds of Week 1. A lot of big names disappointed in Week 1, but that is to be expected, it happens every season. It will help us shape our view of who to target and avoid as the season moves forward.

Studs: Drew Brees, Willie Snead, and Brandin Cooks

 

I have to put these three together because the production was off the charts this week and a very welcome sign of things to come from this trio. Brees (423 yards, 4 TDs) was able to pick apart the Oakland defense finding Snead and Cooks often for huge plays down the field. Cooks flashed that big play potential on a 98-yard touchdown in the third quarter that buoyed his fantasy output for the day (6 catches/9 targets, 143 yards, 2 TDs). Snead was the real surprise for me, showing he was more than just a one-hit wonder in 2015. It seemed like he was open all day long and the stats were flat-out incredible (9 catches/9 targets, 172 yards, and 1 TD). Snead is looking like an absolute steal if you got him in the middle of your draft.

Duds: Tyrod Taylor, Sammy Watkins, and Lesean McCoy

 

Just an ugly day for the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, there’s really no way around that. Granted, Baltimore looked great on defense. This doesn’t change the lack of any offensive output for this trio and the Bills offense as a whole. Taylor was a sleeper pick at quarterback by most fantasy experts and struggled all game long to a porous stat line by the Bills quarterback (111 yards passing, 11 yards rushing, 0 TDs). This offensive line didn’t help matters either. McCoy (16 attempts for 58 yards, 0 TDs; 4 catches/4 targets, 12 yards, 0 TDs) couldn’t find any room to run. The real concern here is Watkins (4 catches/6 targets, 43 yards, 0 TDs), who had a quiet day on Sunday. Yesterday’s news is the cause of the concern. The New York Daily News reported that the Bills may shut down Watkins for “several weeks” due to the lingering pain from his offseason foot surgery. Although the Bills denied the report, saying it’s a pain management situation for Watkins, this is not what you want to hear from a guy who has WR1 talent.

Stud: Andrew Luck

He’s back, folks. 2014’s #1 fantasy QB, Andrew Luck looked like the guy that garnered “all-time great” hype prior to entering the league four years ago. Luck shredded the Lions secondary on his way to the top quarterback performance in fantasy this week (385 passing yards, 21 rushing yards, 4 TDs). With the way his defense played, Luck will be throwing the ball a lot this season. Expect this to be just the beginning of a huge comeback season for Luck.

Duds: Ezekiel Elliot and Dez Bryant

 

All that preseason hype looked to be a little premature for Elliot (20 carries, 51 yards, 1 TD; 1 catch/2 targets, 1 yard, 0 TDs.). The Dallas offense as a whole was ineffective and looked a little gun-shy in Dak Prescott’s first career start. I still think that Elliot will be a great fantasy player, but this is far from what you expect from a potential top-five running back. Dez Bryant may have been the biggest victim of the conservative gameplan that Dallas deployed. Bryant was virtually non-existent on Sunday and the stat line is haunting for his owners (1 catch/5 targets, 8 yards, 0 TDs). I’m more concerned about Bryant than Elliot due to the usage of Jason Witten and Cole Beasley, who dominated the targets in the Dallas passing game.

Stud: Spencer Ware

 

I really hope some of you listened to my advice and scooped him up if he was available. Ware ran wild and played a massive role in Kansas City’s comeback win over San Diego. He was a stud for PPR leagues last week (11 attempts, 70 yards, 1 TD; 7 catches/8 targets, 129 yards, 0 TD). He’s clearly the main running back in the offense in the short-term until Jamaal Charles returns in a few weeks.

Duds: Devonta Freeman, Adrian Peterson

Ugly games from the top two running backs in fantasy last season. Neither could get anything going in the running game. The Titans sold out to stop Peterson holding him to just 31 yards rushing on 19 carries. Long-term Peterson will be fine once Sam Bradford takes over at quarterback and loosens up the box. Freeman was lost in the mix in the Atlanta offense. His stat line was pretty pedestrian (11 carries, 20 yards, 0 TDs; 4 catches/4 targets, 20 yards, 0 TDs). The real concern for Freeman owners is the resurgence of Tevin Coleman in the offense. The carries and targets were split between the two backs, but Coleman was definitely more effective.

 

Turning our attention to Week 2, and some waiver wire targets you should have on your radar when making roster moves tonight. Truthfully this is a weaker group and I would be hesitant to use a lower waiver priority (bottom-half of your league) because we’ll have a much better idea of the breakout players in the coming weeks. Here are the top-3 guys you should be looking at this week.

(1) Will Fuller, WR, Houston Texans

In deeper leagues he likely went in your draft, but for smaller leagues he may still be available (according to ESPN he is only owned in about 60% of leagues). Fuller shined in his rookie debut on Sunday and looks like a legitimate contributor in the new-look Houston offense. His stat line is very promising, especially for PPR (7 catches/11 targets, 107 yards, 1 TD), and will be one of the names to keep an eye on when we talk about breakout players.

(2) Tajae Sharpe, WR, Tennessee Titans

In a run-heavy offense, Sharpe had modest production in his rookie debut. His value is more suited for PPR (7 catches/11 targets, 76 yards, 0 TDs) but clearly he is the top target at receiver for the Titans. I like him as a flex-play once the bye weeks hit and Sharpe will be a great asset to bolster your bench for now.

(3) Eli Rogers, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

 

While his touchdown came on a freak play, Rogers saw plenty of looks from Ben Roethlisberger last night. Much like Sharpe, his value is in PPR leagues but this offense loves to throw and he had 6 catches on 7 targets for 59 yards and a touchdown. He is another asset to grab for depth purposes for later in the season.

 

Check back tomorrow as I look at some of the best and worst fantasy matchups for Week 2. Join the conversation in the comments section or social media. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.