It's only been one week folks. Take a deep breath with me, and come back from the ledge of trading Odell Beckham Jr. for Bishop Sankey.

Find that perfect balance of appropriate reaction. Be the zen master. Trying to be a perfectionist in fantasy sports will drive you insane, as you won't avoid all of the disappointments and injuries, and you might tinker yourself to death.

All we can do is try to identify some recent changes in players’ stocks, and aim to be the smartest owner in the league in identifying opportunity. The working assumption here is that saying Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady, Antonio Brown, and Travis Kelce types are trending up won't really help anyone. With most of the games from Week 1 in the books, we've got plenty of trends to analyze. We dive in now.

 

Post-Week 1 Fantasy Football Risers

Keenan Allen – WR, San Diego Chargers

This could be a spot to talk about Stevie Johnson as well, but Stevie was seeing his stock go up heading into Week 1, getting lots of (worthy) love on DFS breakdowns, but this buried Keenan Allen that much more. Allen hasn't really been talked up all that much, certainly less than most other WR1 types, despite the presence of a good quarterback in Philip Rivers, question marks in the running game, and a suspended Antonio Gates. Well it appears that he wants your attention. He certainly has Rivers' attention.

Now the Chargers-Lions game was a pretty high scoring affair, and Rivers won't throw for 400 yards every week, but Allen is a clearly a target monster, getting 17 to Stevie and Ladarius' six. Allen is a crisp route runner, and he stands at 6'2" so he's not a small guy who will disappear in the end zone. Keenan's stock has gone way up coming off of this great performance, and it seems all he's doing is bringing his perceived value back up to where it should be given his skills and chemistry with Rivers. Coming off of 15 reception games is usually not the time to "buy high", but take note that Allen is for real in his third year in the league, and he is definitely on the rise.

 

Tyler Eifert – TE, Cincinnati Bengals

Tyler Eifert was the target of lots of discussion in his rookie year. He was a big target who could stretch the field down the middle, giving Andy Dalton a big receiver to hit outside of just peppering A.J. Green. Unfortunately, he didn't see enough action to be relevant as Jermaine Gresham really cut into his potential snaps. Then last year he dislocated his elbow and his prospects for the year went down the drain. Come 2015, Gresham is gone and Eifert is healthy. He has another offseason and camp with Dalton and company under his belt, and he is ready to produce.

Produce he did. Okay okay, it was against the Raiders, I know, but the targets are telling. He was soaking up the looks from Dalton, and ended the game with 12 targets, turning them into a 9 rec-104 yds-2 TD line. If you were able to draft Eifert in those middle rounds after the big tight end guns were off the draft board, you are feeling very good today. While the Bengals won't face opponents as soft as the Raiders every week (sorry Oakland fans), it is very encouraging to see Eifert get this much work, even alongside a strong game from Jeremy Hill.

 

Kendall Wright – WR, Tennessee Titans

So everyone saw the dominance of Marcus Mariota and the Titans over Jameis Winston and the Buccaneers, and there are a ton of reactions swirling around. Yes, everyone is feeling good about Mariota, Wright, Bishop Sankey and company, but looking at many comments around the web and the RotoBaller chat room, many were pinning the success more on the Bucs' deficiencies rather than the Titans' skills. The answer lies somewhere in the middle, which might sound like a cop out, but the Bucs failed miserably on blown assignments and didn't adjust well, so there's no denying that this played a role. Here's the reality though, Kendall Wright still had to go up against a pretty darn good DB in Alterraun Verner plenty of the time, and he successfully caught all four targets his way (Mariota only attempted 16 passes).

The reasons why Mariota reportedly saw him as his favorite target during preseason became clear. When a rookie quarterback feels comfortable with you as their favorite, they will make sure you get opportunities one way or the other. If you have Kendall Wright as a WR3, you should pat yourself on the back and look for low-end WR2 production out of him moving forward, especially in PPR formats. If the Wright owner in your league isn't sold on the Titans, and you can talk them into how low the pass attempt amount was or that it was due to the Bucs being awful in coverage, do it. This Wright brother is cleared for takeoff.

 

Danny Woodhead – RB, San Diego Chargers

The Detroit Lions have a notably strong defensive front (although they were missing DeAndre Levy), so Danny Woodhead's success out of the RB position against them in Week 1 should raise eyebrows. That's a bit misleading, as he still only rushed for 42 yards on 12 carries for a "meh" 3.5 YPC (Melvin Gordon had 51 yards on 14 carries and a fumble lost, for context).

What is particular noteworthy is how Woodhead was given the rock near the end zone. Woodhead pounded in two touchdowns! He also had four receptions for 20 yards (seven targets). Philip Rivers meant it when he said that there would be a committee in the San Diego backfield, but now we really saw how much usage Danny Woodhead is going to get, and that he will indeed get red zone opportunities. You are feeling amazing if you snagged Woodhead five-six rounds after Gordon went, and you should. Woodhead is poised to provide a very nice return on your late investment in him.

 

Other risers to be aware of:

• James Jones - WR, Green Bay Packers - Well, it happened. Much to the chagrin of Davante Adams owners, Jones came in and "vultured" the touchdowns that were supposed to go to Adams. While I'd have no problem writing this off as Jones' best game of the year (Chicago is very weak), it's clear that Jones still has something left in the tank, as well as the trust of Aaron Rodgers. Those will get you pretty far in fantasy football.
• Tyrod Taylor - QB, Buffalo Bills - The question was, could he throw? One bomb to Percy Harvin later and it sure looks like he can do this. I don't know how long he can pull this off, but he sure looked the part on Sunday. I'd feel very good about him in 2 QB leagues, and as a possible backup/matchup play in deep roster 1 QB leagues. Taylor flashed the legs a bit and looked in control.
• Martavis Bryant - WR, Pittsburgh Steelers - This is entirely because Thursday's game had people clamoring for Bryant, saying how if he were out there instead of Markus Wheaton and Darrius Heyward-Bey, Pittsburgh might have stood a chance. Very interesting for a guy who is suspended to be trending up, but here we are. Maybe a Bryant owner is panicking after a Week 1 loss and you can pry him away for some immediate relief.
• Jordan Reed - TE, Washington Redskins - The man is still upright, so the TE1 talent is there for you. He commanded 35% of Kirk Cousins' targets, and got a nice red zone fade look that he turned into a touchdown. He is a great talent that you want to have, just be sure to have a backup plan ready.
• Jason Witten - TE, Dallas Cowboys - Dez Bryant is going to be gone for a while. While Jason Witten does historically just lay waste to the Giants, what followed Bryant's exit last night was pretty telling. Terrance Williams is worth focusing on as well, but Jason Witten is now far and away Tony Romo's most reliable option out there.

 

Post-Week 1 Fantasy Football Fallers

Joique Bell – RB, Detroit Lions

This is sort of a backdoor way to also prop up Ameer Abdullah as a "riser", but I think most Abdullah owners are smitten with the guy and this is pretty much what they expected (hoped...dreamed of). Week 1 was really bad for Joique Bell owners though, as he only amassed 41 yards on six carries and two receptions. When you've got an electric rookie playing behind you, heck even a guy with some buzz like Zach Zenner is there as well, you need to play well enough to keep yourself on the field. Bell did not play well enough to keep himself on the field. Look, Detroit won't just move on from the guy, but people who were hoping that the Abdullah hype was overblown and that Joique wasn't going to look rusty a bit came away very disappointed. Week 2 will be very telling, but Joique's stock definitely took a big hit on Sunday.

 

Denver Broncos Offense – QB, RB, WR, TE, Denver Broncos

Cheeky right? Seriously though, people are freaking out. If this was a legitimate stock that you could observe traders dealing with, the bells would be ringing and tension would be high. Now, give credit to the Baltimore Ravens, they have a very good all around defense, even though they lost Terrell Suggs for the year to a torn ACL in this game. The Ravens defense made life very difficult for the Broncos, and it won't be like this forever for Denver. That said, Peyton panic was already hovering over owners heads with those arm strength reports which also affected owners of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, and C.J. Anderson owners were freaking out daily about the status of Ronnie Hillman (who is the one guy I'd say saw his stock go up for Denver). Peyton did horribly.

C.J. Anderson did horribly and is hurting (sprained/turf toe), Demaryius is getting his wrist looked at and was only able to get some underneath routes going really, Owen Daniels and Virgil Green did nothing. If I can get Demaryius off of their owner for 90 cents on the dollar, I take it, but other than that I am not liking what I'm seeing. Patience is a virtue, but the value of these guys clearly fell in Week 1.

 

Brandin Cooks – WR, New Orleans Saints

Let's try to find something a bit more helpful out of the fallers. Brandin Cooks only had four catches for 49 yards (he had a four yard rush as well), and it looked like Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu had him covered. Cooks actually tallied eight targets, though only half of them were able to be converted into receptions, but the attention from Brees is there. If Cooks' owner lost in Week 1 and is wondering what the heck gives with Cooks not even breaking 50 yards, try to buy Cooks before Brees and company go back home to the Superdome in Week 2 where they get to feast on the aforementioned terrible Buccaneers secondary, because the odds are good that he won't resemble a dud after that matchup.

 

Greg Olsen - TE, Carolina Panthers

Another window for buying low is open here. Week 1 was the week of the tight end, with a ton of insane performances getting turned in from top guys like Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce, as well as mid tier guys like Eifert and Austin Seferian-Jenkins. This leaves Olsen owners looking around feeling really crummy about their lot. Olsen did have a touchdown called back (because he pushed off), but he only saw three targets all game against a pretty soft Jaguars defense (one catch for 11 yards). If you can twist the knife on the Olsen owners and unleash some psychological warfare about the Panthers barren offense leading them to feel this way most weeks, maybe you can get Olsen at a low cost. His stock is down, but he is a great talent and this week will be an outlier when we look back at the year.

 

Other fallers to be aware of:

• Sammy Watkins - WR, Buffalo Bills - A fat goose egg is going to cause you to appear in this column. This is really discouraging. Percy Harvin won't be the dominant receiver every week, but the Rex Ryan led Bills gameplan might just be this. The same old Rex where they establish the run and then rely on play action when the situation calls for it. Now he even has a QB who can run! This is not good for anyone in the Bills receiving core, but Watkins is the only one people paid for.
• Isaiah Crowell - RB, Cleveland Browns - Running against the Jets is going to be tough sledding no matter how you look at it. That being said, Crowell was trending upwards not long ago, with the announcement coming down that he was going to start and Duke Johnson Jr. was still battling through concussion protocol. Duke ended up coming back in time for Week 1, and between that and Crowell's general ineffectiveness, confidence is very low in Crow.
• Eli Manning - QB, New York Giants - This game was supposed to be a shootout, but Dallas controlled the clock well (though turnovers nullified much of those effects). Eli and the Giants passing attack just looked weak. Eli missed Odell Beckham Jr. plenty of times, Reuben Randle wasn't much of a factor, Larry Donnell and Daniel Fells worked well on short routes which Dallas was giving them, but there were a lot of potential completions left on the table. The Giants should bounce back with matchups against Atlanta and Washington in the next couple of weeks, so if you can buy low I believe you should, but an undeniable blow was struck to Eli's stock with a primetime clunker.

 

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