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Football is back and all is right in the world. We kicked off the week with nearly 800 yards of passing offense from the Cowboys and Buccaneers on Thursday night football and pushed through to some stellar performances (headlined by Kyler Murray) during Sunday’s slate of games. It is far too early to make any sweeping declarations about teams, but we did see some offenses that looked explosive early in the year.
Aside from the potential Ryan Fitzpatrick injury, most quarterback situations should be stable heading into Week 2. All of the rookie quarterbacks who played in Week 1 showed definite flashes of their long-term ability in the NFL, including Trey Lance who had some defined packages and threw a touchdown. In all, there was one 400-yard passer (Dak Prescott), seven 300-yard passers, and eight quarterbacks who threw at least three touchdowns.
In this article, I will be focusing on players who are under 65% rostered in fantasy leagues while adding a couple of deep sleepers for two-quarterback leagues (less than 20% rostered).
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Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
Yahoo: 65% rostered ESPN: 24% rostered
Here we are again. Another start of the year and another season where Kirk Cousins is undervalued by the fantasy community. Cousins scored 22.04 fantasy points against a rough Bengals secondary in Week 1, completing 36 of 49 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns. The Vikings may have lost Irv Smith Jr. before the season, but Cousins still has excellent pass catches at his disposal with Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and Dalvin Cook. Cousins will be in a shootout against the Cardinals’ high octane offense next week, so he has definite fantasy appeal if your lineup needs a jolt next week.
Jameis Winston, New Orleans Saints
Yahoo: 42% rostered ESPN: 26% rostered
Winston didn’t have the most impressive performance based on pure counting stats, completing only 14 of 20 attempts for 148 yards. But, he did throw for five touchdowns and showed that he could take care of the ball, throwing zero interceptions. Jameis only had one big throw on the day, but was extremely accurate throughout the day, especially in the red zone. There will be games where Jameis has to open up the deep ball and potentially put the ball at risk, Week 1 just wasn’t one of them. He has an interesting upside in New Orleans and is worth a roster spot at this point.
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Yahoo: 30% rostered ESPN: 50% rostered
It wasn’t the best performance from Tua Tagovailoa in his first game of 2021, but he moved the ball effectively and was able to get a win in New England. The second-year quarterback completed 16 of 27 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown with a tipped interception. He also added a rushing touchdown and looked much more comfortable moving around the pocket two years removed from his hip injury. Miami still looks content utilizing a run-first offense, but Tua showed he could make some plays under duress against a much improved New England defense. Tagovailoa also gets Will Fuller back as his suspension finally ends.
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Zach Wilson, New York Jets
Yahoo: 18% rostered ESPN: 15% rostered
Zach Wilson started slowly in his NFL debut but found his stride by the end of the game. The rookie signal-caller finished his first start completing 20 of 37 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns with one interception while also rushing in a two-point conversion. Wilson is going to have growing pains, but the upside is there thanks to unquestioned NFL-level arm strength. The Jets also have a terrible secondary, which means Wilson will be throwing to keep up with opponents for most of his rookie season. He’s probably more of a matchup-based QB2 at this point, but if he gets comfortable he can find his way into starting lineups in a hurry.
Teddy Bridgewater, Denver Broncos
Yahoo: 11% rostered ESPN: 4% rostered
Teddy Bridgewater had his first start in Denver and showed that he could run the offense well while beating the New York Giants on the road. Bridgewater completed 28 of 36 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns while throwing zero interceptions. Bridgewater also just missed on another deep touchdown pass after KJ Hamer dropped a wide-open deep shot. Bridgewater is just a game manager, but he has two amazing matchups the next two weeks against the Jaguars and Jets and their porous secondaries.
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