Week One has come and gone. We must focus on the top takeaways now that we have film and statistics to study. No longer can we rest on our offseason takes of who will succeed and who will fail. We now have an entire week of NFL football to study. The fantasy season will move quickly, and in a dynasty, it is essential to acquire players before they break out or unload players before they falter. We can lead our team to a fantasy football title by focusing on weekly top takeaways!
Chase Edmonds Bellcow
Week One was ugly for this Dolphins offense as they struggled to produce much. The promising sign is that Edmonds has emerged as the lead running back and has a reasonably bellcow role in Miami. He had more than half of the team’s total carries. He couldn’t convert this to much production, but new offenses often take time to gel. Raheem Mostert has a clear breather-back role. If any of your league mates are sleeping on Edmonds, I will get him before this volume turns into production.
Devin Singletary, The Guy
Many dynasty managers were excited for James Cook after watching the Buffalo Bills spend a second-round pick on him in the 2022 NFL draft. However, Singletary still seems to be the lead back in this offense. Cook was out there for just three snaps last Thursday night in the season opener. Unfortunately, one of those snaps he fumbled on. This Bills team looks elite and does not need to rush the rookie onto the field. Especially if there are ball security issues, Cook may not be a usable fantasy asset for a while now.
Jets Timeshare
The New York Jets are another AFC East team that used Day Two draft capital to bring in a rookie running back. Unlike Cook, Breece Hall saw more of a 50/50 split with incumbent Michael Carter. Despite these worries, the promising sign was the running back usage in the passing game. Sixteen targets went to running backs, which may make both Carter and Hall’s fantasy viable in PPR leagues. This scheme may change when Zach Wilson returns, as Joe Flacco has historically targeted the running backs at a rate higher than the league average.
Patriots Doing Patriot Things
New England Patriots running backs may be the most annoying thing in fantasy football. The critical takeaway every season seems to be that you never know who the go-to guy is. 2022 appears to be much of the same. Damien Harris and Rhamodre Stevenson split both snaps and carry evenly. They also saw exactly two targets. Harris gets a minor edge because he was slightly more efficient with his volume than Stevenson was. Another year to avoid the New England backfield. The quicker dynasty managers learn this, the happier they will be.
Information is the most powerful tool any dynasty fantasy football manager possesses. If you can stay on top of the correct information and takeaways more than your league mates, you will come out on top. Be sure to check back with us, as we will be breaking down takeaways from every division this week. And be sure to come back next week, as we will be doing the same for all 18 weeks of the 2022 NFL season!
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I hope you enjoyed this piece in our Winning With Vegas series. For more content like this, follow me on Twitter @DanT_NFL. DMs are always open for any questions, comments, or craft beer recommendations!
