Waller had a short touchdown grab called back on offensive pass interference while rotating snaps and routes with Tommy Tremble. Both Panthers tight ends ran 19 routes on the day and saw two targets from Bryce Young. Waller will continue as a touchdown-reliant TE2 option in Week 2 against the Falcons.
Lance operated as the Saints’ No. 3 receiver in this game, but he was the wideout Kellen Moore subbed off the field for 12-personnel looks. In a game that doesn’t see Tyler Shough drop back over 60 times, Lance likely doesn’t make much of a mark in the box score. The good news for Lance is that the Saints could be in line for another high-scoring outing next week when they take on the Ravens. Lance will be a boom/bust WR5.
Miller operated as Travis Etienne’s backup with Alvin Kamara out this week. He surprisingly drew Etienne to a carries standstill at nine apiece. Etienne, however, saw nine targets. Miller was not targeted. Miller will be a thorn in the side of Etienne backers as long as Kamara is out, but he doesn’t have much standalone value headed into Week 2.
Burden overcame a first quarter fumble on a bubble screen to finish second on the team in targets behind Kalif Raymond, who saw nine looks from Caleb Williams, just as everyone had predicted. While Burden’s 17 percent targets per route run was well below his 2025 rate, he should be more involved going forward in a Bears offense that might be trying to break the NFL’s single season scoring record, as head coach Ben Johnson mentioned in an August interview. Burden will be a top-30 PPR option next week against the Vikings.
McConkey collided with an Arizona defender on an over-the-middle target in the third quarter and stayed down for a while before limping to the blue medical tent. A few minutes later he was being helped to the Chargers locker room. It would seem his day is over after catching five passes for 82 yards and a touchdown in his first regular season game under OC Mike McDaniel. Hopefully the oft-injured McConkey doesn’t miss extended time.
Pollard “added” a -1 yard reception. With the Titans spending the entire game in comeback script, Pollard was played to a snaps standstill by primary third-down back Tyjae Spears, though Pollard won the touches battle 8-5. Rookie Nicholas Singleton did not dress. As feared, this is looking like a near-even committee in an offense that could barely support even a bell-cow back. Pollard will be a barely-there FLEX for next week’s rough Eagles matchup.
Williams posted a semi-usable fantasy score, but the film was hard to watch. He dropped a perfectly thrown deep shot from Jared Goff early in the game and bungled a pitch later, resulting in a loss. Williams has had these types of games in the past and he generally rebounds well. Fantasy managers can keep him in their lineups for a likely shootout with the Bills next week.
Pro Football Focus charted Spears as playing just one fewer snap than Tony Pollard (26-25 for Pollard), though Pollard “won” the “touches battle” 8-5. There were no winners here, of course, as Cam Ward struggled to sustain drives in an ugly loss to a bad Jets team. Now things get much harder for Week 2 against the Eagles. The only good news for Spears and fantasy managers is that rookie Nicholas Singleton was healthy scratched this afternoon. Perhaps that will change seven days from now.
Javonte Williams should see all the volume he can handle with the Cowboys entering Week 1 with a recent signee and a practice squad elevation as depth behind their lead back. There weren’t any other surprises outside of the lack of backfield depth.
He did most of his work on the offense’s final drive, catching back-to-back targets for 26 yards. Schultz managed 52-of-79 snaps. If you were going to pick anyone in this offense besides David Montgomery and Nico Collins to return consistent fantasy value, it’s probably Schultz. It’s just, you know, there are not often three Texans worth starting in fantasy football. He’ll be a high-end TE2 against the Bengals in Week 2.
Strange operated as the Jaguars’ primary receiving tight end, seeing three targets on the day. In a loaded passing attack, he still found opportunity in what is a very fantasy friendly offense. Strange caught a 14-yard touchdown in the second quarter and was mostly quiet in a second half where the Jaguars were already up by four scores. The Jaguars wide receivers will take much of Lawrence’s targets but Strange has a role over the middle of the field; he profiles as TE2 for Week 2 against the Broncos.
He let two of the other three non-catches glance off his hands. Marie Kondo loves mess, so she’d love this Texans WR2 situation. Hutchinson led the four non-Collins receivers with 44 snaps. This should not be confused with him being a desirable fantasy football play.
Wilson’s six targets tied him for second on the team and also don’t include a defensive pass interference penalty he drew on a deep ball in the first half. Wilson also had a near touchdown when a deep pass was broken up as he was going to the ground with the ball. Despite having so many more targets than Michael Pittman Jr., Wilson ran 29 routes to Pittman Jr.'s 42, so Wilson remains the clear WR3 in a potentially low-scoring offense.
Boerkircher was drafted to primarily be a blocking tight end. The 25-year-old played 38 snaps in his rookie debut, 26 of them coming for run blocking. With Brenton Strange operating as the receiving tight end, its unlikely Boerkircher achieves fantasy relevance within his role.
Allen did all of his damage in the short area of the field, as the veteran receiver never totaled more than nine yards on any of his six catches. Allen averaged fewer than four air yards per target on the day and will be hard to trust even in the deepest of fantasy leagues if this is the kind of production we will have to come to expect. It’s far too early to say Allen can be dropped from fantasy rosters, but there’s no need to jam him into your lineups in Week 2 against the Chiefs.
It was neither an efficient nor prolific day for the Bengals’ lead back, but he found the end zone and out-touched No. 2 Samaje Perine 21-8. It was a full “as expected” day in the Bengals’ backfield. Brown will remain in the RB10-14 range for Week 2 against the Texans. That’s a tough defensive matchup, albeit one the similarly offensive-minded Bills just handled with ease.
Warren’s underwhelming line can be blamed on the offense’s struggle to move the ball all afternoon. The second-year tight end tallied two receptions in the first half, both for two yards, with his longest play coming on a nine-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. His five targets were good for second-most on the team, but the Colts offense left a lot to be desired this week. The expected volume will keep Warren in the TE1 mix for Week 2 against the Chiefs.
Freiermuth had a down season last year, but the Steelers had talked about getting him more involved this year. The big tight end played on 49 of the team’s 67 snaps and ran a route on 36 of their 46 dropbacks. He was clearly the third option in the passing attack behind DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. and is a focal point in the red zone. Freiermuth is likely a solid TE2 option for the season who will flash TE1 weeks.
Williams was unstoppable in this one. His two rushing scores come after he had just four rushing touchdowns in 2025. Williams showed off his underrated speed time and again, including on an untouched 29-yard rushing score in the second half. Williams carved up the Carolina secondary, hitting the sort of intermediate passes that gave him trouble in 2025. He was 15 percent over his expected completion rate. To the surprise of folks who drafted Luther Burden and Colston Loveland, Williams targeted Kalif Raymond a team-leading nine times against the Panthers. Probably that won’t gold up going forward. Williams should remain in all lineups next week against the Vikings.
Boutte managed just 36-of-79 snaps, third-most among Texans wideouts, as they ran weird platoons that had Jared Wayne, Jaylin Noel, and Xavier Hutchinson all on the field for at least 24 snaps. Until someone conclusively wins this job, or at least we start getting some juice that someone might win the job, it’ll be hard to start any of these receivers in fantasy football.
Little was kicking extra points often, with the Jaguars jumping out to a 24-0 lead by half time. The 23-year-old sank both his field goals on the day and converted all four extra points for a good fantasy kicking day. Kicking for one of the best offenses in the league, Little will frequently be ranked among the top fantasy kickers this season.
The Saints got off to a slow start and it looked like Olave, along with the rest of the offense, was going to have a bust of a fantasy day. Instead, Tyler Shough turned the corner in the third quarter and started peppering Olave with intermediate and deep shots. Olave had two gains of 40+ yards and four of 20+ yards. Olave gets another potential shootout next week when he takes on the Ravens. He will be in the WR1 mix.
With the Jets in the unusual position of dominating a game from whistle to whistle, new QB Geno Smith dropped back just 24 times. Translation, Wilson coming away with seven targets was actually a pretty good outcome. The Jets’ blocking appeared much improved, but this was not a true test, even if it came on the road. That will come in Week 2 for the Jets’ home opener against the Packers. Wilson will remain a solid WR2 whose high floor will hopefully be accompanied by more ceiling efforts this season.