Sunday Aftermath: Dolphins' crash out, Boutte's breakout, Etienne's triumph and more
When did this current Dolphins “crash out” begin? The moment it became clear the Mike McDaniel era would never work? Everyone will understandably point to the Wild Card game in Kansas City, but I believe you could argue it began as far back as Week 15, 2022, when the Dolphins went toe to toe with the Bills in the Buffalo snow only to not quite have it in the end. The final gear was simply missing for a team that did a lot of cool stuff, but “only” cool stuff. It wasn’t about fundamentals or physicality. Stuff only stays cool for so long without those other elements.
Whenever this slow-motion disaster began, something definitely ended on Sunday in Indianapolis. With a whole offseason to prepare, the Dolphins were not competitive in a dome against Daniel Jones. They got run out of the building on defense and didn’t compete on offense. The bells and whistles were all broken. Tyreek Hill, after an offseason of constant trade demands, was fuming on the sideline. Tua Tagovailoa was just hanging on for dear life, trying to avoid sacks and get rid of the ball as fast as humanly possible.
Where do they go from here? McDaniel hasn’t been fired yet, after all. I have no clue, but we know any hope of tamping down the negative drum beat begins with beating a Patriots team that was almost as flat as Miami in Week 1. It’s a very bad sign when your Waterloo moment arrives as early as Week 2, but that’s where the Dolphins find themselves. As for fantasy managers, you have to run all your 'Fins out there another week — what choice do you really have? — though it’s becoming less clear what the point of Jaylen Waddle is supposed to be. Tua and McDaniel can’t get him the ball. Week 2 is usually too early to panic. It’s arguably already too late in this instance.
Five Week 1 Storylines
Brian Daboll already declines to name Week 2 starter. Things you don’t want to hear after your Week 1 loss: Is your quarterback still the quarterback? That, of course, is where Brian Daboll found himself in Washington. He … did not answer. Russell Wilson will probably still be out there against the Cowboys, but it’s an awful sign for his short-term future that Daboll couldn’t bring himself to admit it out loud. And it confirms what had been growing obvious since mid-August: The Jaxson Dart countdown clock is already close to zero. Maybe it will be a “careful what you wish for” situation for Malik Nabers managers in fantasy. It’s just hard to believe anything could be worse than what we saw from “Russell Wilson being 36 years old and on his fourth team in five years” on Sunday.
Drake London suffers shoulder injury vs. Bucs. Listen, the PPR check cleared, but it was a horrid performance by London, who dropped one pass after another, including in the end zone. That was the bad news. Even worse is that he didn’t finish the game with a shoulder issue. Unlike Xavier Worthy, London’s didn’t immediately appear to be a multi-week or even month issue, but he is certainly questionable for Week 2 against the Vikings. It's not the start you needed to the fantasy season if you took London late in the first round or early in the second. London’s absence for Week 2 would not only remove Michael Penix Jr. from the streamer radar, but make him a shaky superflex option, as well. Ray-Ray McCloud beckons as a potential PPR scam if London can’t go.
Emeka Egbuka continues star-making run in Bucs receiver corps. Since the second his name was announced as the No. 19 overall pick in April, Egbuka has been generating praise. From fans, the media, the coaching staff. The positive drumbeat started in April and had yet to cease heading into Week 1. It’s going to keep going. Although the rookie still trailed Mike Evans in raw looks and target share, he slid seamlessly into Chris Godwin’s vacated role, and appears ready to both soak up attempts and score touchdowns. The No. 2 spot is a great place to be in this offense, and Godwin will miss at least three more games. After starting out as a fantasy WR4, Egbuka was ultimately drafted as a WR3. You might already have a WR2 on your hands.
Kayshon Boutte posts second straight 100-yard out. Yes, the streak spans two seasons, two coaching staffs, and even two quarterbacks — Drake Maye attempted one pass last Week 18 — but Boutte of all people has now reached the century mark in back-to-back contests. In between was an offseason where he was lauded for his “stunning” transformation. The Patriots’ targets and snaps leader on Sunday, Boutte is being given every opportunity to prove he is for real. Despite his questionable overall track record and Maye’s shaky play in the opener, Boutte must be treated as a WR3 for Week 2 against the Dolphins’ awful defense.
Jauan Jennings, George Kittle both get hurt for snakebitten 49ers. The only difference between this 49ers disappointment and last year’s setbacks was that they actually won the game. Kittle injured his hamstring for what felt like the millionth time, and Jennings hurt his shoulder after barely practicing this summer. Kittle’s immediate sideline street clothes presence bodes very poorly for Week 2, while Jennings is undergoing an MRI. Neither player is likely to be out there for a Saints contest coach Kyle Shanahan will probably gamble he can win without further risking his pass catchers' health. That will eave Ricky Pearsall and … “Jake Tonges”? A skill corps that once felt too crowded is now shockingly thin. It leaves Brock Purdy as a shaky option on the QB1/2 borderline even as he prepares to face one of the league’s worst defenses in New Orleans.
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Five More Week 1 Storylines
Travis Etienne is the guy after all in Jaguars backfield. Etienne was one of the summer’s ultimate mystery men in fantasy drafts. Or maybe that’s just what we wanted to believe. Maybe it was Etienne all along. After the trade rumors went nowhere, Etienne quietly started amassing capital with his new coaching staff. He cashed it all in on Sunday. Rendering both Tank Bigsby and Bhayshul Tuten pure breather/change-of-pace options, Etienne produced the second most rushing yards of his career. 71 of those yards came on one carry, but 1. Mammoth carries are a good thing. And 2. Even if you remove the monster tote, Etienne still had 72 yards on 15 handles. That’s nearly five yards per pop. This was one game. Bigsby could still carve out a short-yardage role, and Tuten is an exciting rookie. But after a summer where no one wanted to draft him, Etienne is inarguably an RB2 for Week 2 against the Bengals.
Travis Hunter limited to short targets in NFL debut. If Etienne was a surprise in a good way, Hunter was a mild disappointment. Although he led the Jags in targets, he turned his eight looks into a middling 6/33. He was also strictly limited to three-receiver sets. He played all of six snaps on defense. There are alibis. Hunter is a unicorn, and it was his first game. The coaching staff is going to need time to get to the bottom of this one. Sunday was also a bizarre, disjointed contest, with a lengthy first half weather delay and 20-3 Jaguars halftime advantage. At no point did the Panthers appear they could actually win, lending the proceedings a sense of “extended preseason.” Jacksonville, who has endured so much football hardship the past few years, was mostly just goofing around. That will change in a hurry for Week 2, when a Bengals team smarting from yet another underwhelming opener welcomes Jacksonville to town for a likely shootout. There we should get a sense for how this is really going to unfold.
Daniel Jones experiences immediate “post-Giants” effect for Colts. So you’re not on the New York Giants anymore: A pamphlet. Freed from the morass of the G-Men’s eternal pain, Jones posted his most fantasy points in two years. It probably could have been more if the Dolphins offered any resistance whatsoever. Gifted a deep supporting cast, Jones struck up an immediate rapport with both Michael Pittman Jr. and Tyler Warren. He even found Alec Pierce for a 36-yard deep ball. Consider the first test passed. Jones has done this many times before. His problem has never been supplying the occasional spiked week, but sustaining them in any meaningful fashion. Whether this is any sort of “new Jones” will be put to the immediate test in Week 2 against the Broncos. For now, Jones remains best treated as a reluctant superflex option.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt mostly lives up to the modest hype.Adam Levitan laid it out perfectly with one of the summer’s biggest lightning rod players: “Jacory Croskey-Merritt only played 33 percent of the snaps, only got 50 percent of the RB carries, and only ran 19 percent of the routes in Week 1…” and generated 82 yards and a score on only 10 touches. If he was being tested, he passed with flying colors. “Bill” had already passed most of his other exams. He got Brian Robinson Jr. traded, and made Chris Rodriguez a Week 1 healthy scratch. If there’s a problem, it’s that he might not have a ton of room to grow. JCM could eventually exceed 50 percent of the Commanders’ snaps, but Austin Ekeler is the passing-down back and two-minute drill option. Jayden Daniels is going to keep calling his own number. But if Croskey-Merritt was overhyped for a brief August moment, he now appears to be flying a little too under the radar. He’s a solid FLEX who could contribute a touchdown roughly every other week.
Kaleb Johnson largely absent for NFL debut. “Thanks for playing, Kaleb Johnson” is what we would say if he, you know … played. The third-round rookie saw all of two snaps against the Jets. One game, etc. but it has the third-rounder looking like an immediate drop candidate. This time of year it’s best to be prudent — coaches have a long history of barely playing rookies in the opener only to immediately reverse course — so I would hold onto Johnson for one more week if you can. Just be prepared to cut your losses if Week 2 against the Seahawks looks anything like Week 1.
Questions
1. Do the Ravens know NFL football games are 60 minutes long?
2. Did the Saints ever actually look at these Vanderbilt uniforms before wearing them?
3. Has Jake Moody considered just making a kick?
Early Waivers Look (Players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)
QB: Michael Penix Jr. (@MIN), Matthew Stafford (@TEN), Geno Smith (vs. LAC), Daniel Jones (vs. DEN), Aaron Rodgers (vs. SEA), Tua Tagovailoa (vs. NE)
RB: Dylan Sampson, Trey Benson, Kyle Monangai, Jaydon Blue, DJ Giddens, Kenneth Gainwell
WR: Keenan Allen, Hollywood Brown, Kayshon Boutte, Josh Palmer, Cedric Tillman, Luther Burden III, Quentin Johnston, Wan'Dale Robinson, Elic Ayomanor, Calvin Austin III, Ray-Ray McCloud
TE: Brenton Strange, Harold Fannin, Chig Okonkwo, Jonnu Smith, Juwan Johnson, Pat Freiermuth, Dalton Schultz
DEF: 49ers (@NO), Rams (@TEN), Seahawks (@PIT), Patriots (@MIA), Cowboys (vs. NYG)
Stats of the Week
Daniel Oyefusi lays out just how absurd the Bengals’ Week 1 performance was: “From ESPN Research: The Browns held the Bengals to seven yards in the second half. It's the fewest yards in the second half by a winning team in the last 25 years.”
Nine. That was Harold Fannin’s team-leading target total for the Browns. It’s possible this was something of a one-game aberration. But it’s impossible to believe Fannin isn’t already a weekly staple of this offense.
Aaron Rodgers has posted back-to-back four-touchdown performances after previously not having one since Dec. 12, 2021.
Via Ian Hartitz: "Ashton Jeanty only had 38 rushing yards in Week 1 ... but he had 44 rushing yards *after* contact.” The Raiders, uhh, might need to clean up their blocking.
Opposite Jeanty was TreVeyon Henderson, who got out-snapped 41-24 by Rhamondre Stevenson. The rookie nevertheless out-gained Stevenson on the ground (27-15), out-caught him (6-2) and just played flat better. Coach Mike Vrabel has pledged a more balanced attack going forward after Drake Maye dropped back 50 times, while OC Josh McDaniels should get more creative with Henderson’s passing-game usage.
Nathan Jahnke charted Brock Bowers as playing “just” 32-of-45 snaps in three quarters before suffering a minor knee injury. Eye-brow raising, though Bowers still cleared the 100-yard mark. New coach Pete Carroll wants to get Michael Mayer more involved, but for now, fantasy managers should believe Bowers will be out there when it matters most. (Third downs, etc.)
Awards Section
Week 1 Fantasy All-Pro Team: QB Josh Allen, RB Derrick Henry, RB Bijan Robinson, WR Zay Flowers, WR Keon Coleman, WR Puka Nacua, TE Brock Bowers
Week 1 All Bank Examiner Squad: QB Joe Burrow, RB Kenneth Walker, RB Omarion Hampton, WR A.J. Brown, WR Ja’Marr Chase, WR Nico Collins, TE Mark Andrews
Tweet of the Week, from Kevin Clark on Cam Ward’s Titans situation: Potential “what if Mahomes was drafted by the Bears” event in the works.
Most Inevitable Future Power Struggle Award: Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels.
The Bobby Slowik Did Nothing Wrong Award: The Texans, apparently, in Week 1.
Bank Examiner Lifetime Achievement Award: Calvin Ridley.