Last week we had the Hall of Fame Game and while it was preseason football, it wasn't the real deal. This week it was the real deal for the preseason with over half of them playing starters in some facet, even if it was just a drive or two for most. The first week of preseason football is always the time of the most adverse overreactions, so let's recap what we truly learned (and what not to get overwhelmed by) from this week's games:
QBs (Mostly) Thrive in Debuts With New Teams
Caleb Williams got two drives of action in his preseason debut, sitting out the Hall of Fame Game, and looked like a seasoned pro, going 4/7 for 95 yards and adding 13 yards on the ground. He looked very comfortable in the tough situations that rookies typically don't thrive in (3rd and long conversion, pressured screen to Swift, smooth rollout pass to Kmet). It's not the end-all-be-all but it was a comforting performance for those hopeful Williams can finish as a top-12 QB as a rookie.
Jayden Daniels looked exactly as anticipated. He missed a rather routine dump-off early but immediately responded with a perfect deep ball and showed off his versatility with a designed run for the TD. He showed the flashes that are garnering the noise of a potential top-10 (or even top-5) finish as a rookie for fantasy.
Drake Maye didn't get the start and didn't get much action (just one drive), but did get some work with the starting O-Line. He looked pretty decent in the limited work (2 for 3, 19 yards), and while he didn't do anything to stand out, Jacoby Brissett (0/3) may have bridged the gap a bit between them for the starting gig.
J.J. McCarthy got the majority of the work for the Vikings' preseason opener, following up Sam Darnold's start with a pretty solid showing, going 11/17 for 2 TDs and an INT while adding another 18 yards on the ground. Granted the work came against the Raiders' backups, McCarthy showed off some resilience after an opening-drive INT and showed off the deep ball a bit with 4 of 11 completions going for 20+ yards (including 33 and 45-yard TDs), both aspects of his game we didn't have to see much of at Michigan.
Michael Penix Jr. got the start and a good chunk of work with Kirk Cousins resting, playing into the 2nd quarter. He looked pretty decent, especially with nearly every other quality weapon (Robinson, Allgeier, London, Mooney, Pitts) sitting, going 9/16 for 104 yards. It didn't really seem to move the needle on when to expect him to get regular-season action, so we'll hope that the starters get some work with Penix at some point this preseason.
Bo Nix looked very solid in his preseason debut, going 15/21 for 125 yards and a TD while adding 17 more yards via the ground. Zach Wilson did get the start and went a solid 5/6 for 52 yards but HC Sean Payton's point to specifically leave the starters in for an extended period for Nix to get work with them suggests the rookie could very easily get work early in 2024, if not the Week 1 starter.
Justin Fields got the start with Russell Wilson sidelined and looked comfortable in his Steelers' debut, going 5/6 for 67 yards. He did end up with two signature drive-ending sacks, but outside that he looked very comfortable and solid within the Steelers' new Arthur Smith offense. We haven't seen Russell Wilson in game action yet, but Fields appears to be making a push to potentially start Week 1 if he continues his form from camp and the preseason opener.
Chicago Bears RB Situation Becomes Tricky
D'Andre Swift signed with the Bears to open free agency and the assumption from most was he'd take on the lead duties, or at the very least be a defintiive number 1 with a change-of-pace back to spell him. The preseason opener didn't give any comfort to that assumption. Swift started the game, got the first carry, but ultimately was part of a rotation. Khalil Herbert took the 2nd carry of the game while Travis Homer took the opening 3rd down play. Granted Swift returned and took a screen 42 yards, but it still gives some concern of a true committee-based approach in Chicago given the split of work among the starters, especially with Roschon Johnson not receiving any work this week.
It's not the point to overreact, but the split among the starters is definitely something to watch throughout the rest of the preseason in Chicago.
Josh Allen & Bills Receiving Corps Get Full Quarter of Action
It was preseason but the Bills' lack of significant receiving threats looked apparent for Josh Allen. It's not enough to warrant panicking or avoiding the perennial elite QB1, but it does give a little bit of doubt about his potential upside following the departures of Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis.
The WR corps was a bit more defined: Keon Coleman had a 100% route participation with Josh Allen at QB while Curtis Samuel (69% route participation) and Khalil Shakir (50% route participation) were also notably involved with Allen at QB. The rookie (Coleman) appears penciled in for a starting job while Samuel and Shakir appear to be battling it out for the slot role. Reports from camp suggested Samuel was going to be outside more but he ended up playing 67% of his snaps from the slot in the preseason opener; this will definitely be something to watch throughout the rest of camp and the preseason, especially once Mack Hollins (didn't play) returns.
Picking Up Where They Left Off
C.J. Stroud, Jordan Love, and Joe Burrow are all part of that 2nd/3rd tier grouping of fantasy QBs heading into the season and all three of them picked right back up where they left off last year.
Stroud only played two drives but looked comfortable, going 2/4 for 41 yards and a TD to Tank Dell.
Love only got three snaps but went 2/2 and hit Dontayvion Wicks on a 65-yard TD.
Burrow got one drive of work and went 5/7 for 51 yards with a TD to Tee Higgins.
All three played little. All three looked as advertised. Not much to worry about here.
Pollard, Spears Split in Tennessee Becomes Reality
It was widely anticipated throughout camp that the backfield split between free agent acquisition Tony Pollard and 2nd-year RB Tyjae Spears would be a true split and not a definitive 1-2 duo. The preseason opener backed that up.
Pollard got 57% of the snaps and 50% of the designed runs (4 for 35) with the starters while drawing some work (2 targets, 2 catches, 11 yards) in the receiving game. Spears got 43% of the snaps and 38% of the designed runs with the starters, struggling on the stat sheet due to defenders in the backfield (3 for 2 yards) but found the endzone. It looks like a true 1A-1B situation with Pollard getting the slight edge in utilization, but one should expect very inconsistent utilization and production from these two with the Titans likely favoring the hot hand throughout the season.
Raiders QB Competition Heats Up
The question about the Raiders all offseason has been who the starter will be for Week 1. It's been a hotly-contested competition throughout camp and that carried into the team's preseason opener against the Vikings.
Aidan O'Connell got the start, going 7/9 for 76 yards on 1 drive, looking very comfortable in a drive that ended in a field goal. Gardner Minshew then got a look at QB, going 6/12 for 117 yards and a TD in 3 drives (and one very abbreviated one before the end of the half).
There appears very little separating the two, but it would seem that O'Connell has a very narrow edge at the moment. HC Antonio Pierce wouldn't name a starter for the Raiders' next preseason game against the Cowboys but did note that he hopes to have a decision on the Week 1 starter following the second week of preseason football.
Marquise Brown Exits With Shoulder Injury, Status For Week 1 In Doubt
We nearly got through the opening weekend of preseason without any significant injuries...
Unfortunately, Chiefs' WR Marquise Brown suffered a dislocated sternoclavicular shoulder joint in the preseason opener vs Jacksonville and was forced to spend the night in a Jacksonville-area hospital. He was discharged from the hospital Sunday morning, but the timeline puts a Week 1 return in question (though if he does miss Week 1, he should be active shortly thereafter).
The injury does complicate things in Kansas City a bit with everyone awaiting a potential Rashee Rice suspension to open up the season. Now with Brown banged up and Rice potentially suspended, it may be a heavy dosage of TE Travis Kelce and rookie WR Xavier Worthy to start the season.