Tampa Bay at New Orleans 1:00 PM
The presence of veteran RB Warrick Dunn was an issue entering the game given the fantasy expectatios that RB Earnest Graham would be an every down back. If Dunn took time away from Graham, then obviously graham's value would be hurt. Graham gained 91 yards to Dunn's 54. With just 10 carries to nine, though, Graham didn't dominate the touches to a point of easing my concerns.
The Saints are expected to throw the ball all over the place. Brees threw for 343 yards, and the team rushed the ball 24 times versus 32 passes. (NOTE: Brees had three carries for -2 yards in the boxscore but two were knees and the third was a fumble. None are included.) The question is whether or not the Saints continue to give double digit carries to Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas.
Fantasy Player To Watch: RB Reggie Bush. Is this the year he rushes for 800-1000 yards with 90 catches?
St. Louis at Philadelphia 1:00 PM
Was Stephen Jackson ineffective due to his holdout or was he ineffective because he team stinks? I'm leaning towards the latter, but Week Two will help calibrate that answer.
Wow. Normally, the Eagles have a different 100-yard WR each week. This week they had three led by rookie WR DeSean Jackson's six receptions and 106 yards. Expect to see that number run to at least seven by season's end - Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown, Jason Avant and Brian Westbrook.
Fantasy Player To Watch: WR DeSean Jackson.
Houston at Pittsburgh 1:00 PM
For the Texans, I wanted to see how the carries were distributed in the backfield. In a blow out loss, rookie Steve Slaton recieved 13 hand-offs to veteran Ahman Green's five. He also caught three passes to green's four but managed twice as many receiving yards (6 to 3). If Slaton remains in the free agent pool, don't expect it to last much longer.
In Pittsburgh, the RB concerns were slightly different. No one thought veteran Willie parker wouldn't get the majority of touches. Most figured rookie 1st round pick Rashard Mendenhall would vulture TDs. Not quite. Parker rushed for TDs of 7, 13 and 4 yards. Mendenhall did get ten carries and just one of Parker's TDs was from inside the five. Another game like this - Parker getting inside the ten carries, and he becomes one of the draft's better bargains.
Fantasy Player To Watch: RB Steve Slaton