Depth Chart Watch: Fallout From Week 1

You've been waiting all this time, football fans, and finally Week 1 has come. This is the part where the beautiful theory of your fantasy roster gives way to the brutal reality of the season -- the injuries, the unexpected promotions and demotions, and the big plays called back because of holding. Good thing you have me here to document all the twists and turns of fortune. Let's look at the fallout of pre-MNF action in Week 1.

Arizona RB -- The season's first week brought with it a knee injury for Andre Ellington, knocking him out of a game in which he'd been delivering a more-than-credible fantasy effort. Chris Johnson was something less than incredible in relief, rushing 10 times for 37 yards, while David Johnson didn't receiver a carry, but took off with his lone reception for 55 yards. Ellington's status is uncertain for Week 2, and David is the more intriguing add among the Johnsons. I'm done with Chris, and I think the Cards won't take long to reach that point too.

Arizona WR -- Michael Floyd did indeed return from his finger injury in Week 1, but was targeted only once, bringing it in for 18 yards, as the Cardinals appeared inclined to ease him back into action. Unsurprisingly, Larry Fitzgerald and John Brown saw the most targets -- eight and seven, respectively -- and Brown scored a touchdown while Fitz offered a respectable 87-yard effort.

Arizona TE -- Darren Fells established himself in two ways on Sunday -- not only as the surefire starter for the Cardinals, but also as person of interest in fantasy. Fells caught four of his five targets for 82 yards and a score against New Orleans, and owners who skimped at tight end in their drafts would do well to look toward the 6-foot-7, 281-pound behemoth.

Atlanta RB -- The Falcons enter Monday night's opener against the Eagles with Tevin Coleman occupying lead-back duties, but Devonta Freeman (hamstring) is expected to play. If one of these guys rips off a couple nice Week 1 runs, it'd go a long way toward helping him secure the top job. Coleman's talent is tantalizing, and Freeman's not a slouch either, but the carry breakdown remains uncertain.

Baltimore RB -- Javorius Allen took a surprisingly large share of the Week 1 action from Justin Forsett, with the rookie touching the ball 10 times (nine carries and a catch) to Forsett's 18 (14 carries and four catches on seven targets). Neither was particularly effective, but the primary job here is still Forsett's to lose.

Buffalo RB -- LeSean McCoy looked healthy, if not necessarily extremely productive, after being questionable with a hamstring ailment. He didn't find a lot of running room, with 17 carries for only 41 yards, but he did round it out with three catches for 46 yards. Karlos Williams appears to have indeed won backup duty, and it's hard to imagine he'll lose it anytime soon after he gained 55 yards on six carries, including a 26-yard end-zone dash. Anthony Dixon made an appearance in a goal-line situation, vulturing a touchdown, and that's a situation that could repeat itself.

Buffalo WR -- Sammy Watkins was nearly invisible in Week 1, failing to catch a pass on three targets, while Percy Harvin looked like Tyrod Taylor's favorite toy, snagging all five balls thrown his way for 79 yards and a score. This is shaping up to be a low-volume passing offense under new coach Rex Ryan, so it's going to be tough to sustain two fantasy-relevant receivers. That said, Watkins will surely have better games -- keep in mind that he barely played or practiced in the preseason.

Carolina WR -- The early returns do not look good. Of all people, Ted Ginn was Cam Newtons' favorite target in the opener, but he caught only two of seven balls, albeit for a team-leading 54 receiving yards. Jerricho Cotchery caught Newton's lone touchdown pass, but he's a 33-year-old possession receiver best used in a third-down role. Devin Funchess and Philly Brown -- the two players who figured to be most interesting coming in -- combined for five targets, three catches and 22 yards.

Chicago WR -- Alshon Jeffery was questionable coming into Week 1 with a calf injury, and though he led the Bears in targets with 11, he delivered a relatively quiet line of five catches for 78 yards. Eddie Royal was useless -- he had a five-yard day -- but Marquess Wilson showed a ton of promise, catching both of his targets for 59 yards, with one going for 50. Wilson has tremendous upside, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him surpass Royal on the depth chart even if the veteran receiver is one of Jay Cutler's long-time favorites.

Cincinnati RB -- Sunday brought some worry for Jeremy Hill owners, who saw their high-drafted back gain only 3.3 yards per carry and get roundly outproduced by Giovani Bernard, who gained as many yards (63) on eight carries as Hill did on his own 19. Fortunately, Hill punched in a pair of touchdowns in, so some inefficiency can be forgiven. As expected, Bernard saw all the receiving work (six catches on six targets for 25 yards in this one).

Cleveland QB -- Josh McCown checked out of Sunday's game early because of a concussion, leaving Johnny Manziel at the helm. It was going well early on, as he threw a long touchdown to put the Browns up 7-0 early in the second quarter, but things all went downhill from there, as the second-year passer threw a pick and lost two fumbles while his offense bumbled to only three more points on the day. McCown will have to pass through the concussion protocol to play in Week 2, so keep an eye out for news on that front if you have the misfortune of being invested in this offense.

Cleveland RB -- With Terrance West shipped off, Isaiah Crowell had a chance to put his stamp on the Cleveland backfield, but he was shut down completely in Week 1, managing all of 20 yards on a dozen carries, plus 13 yards on two catches. Duke Johnson was somewhat better, with seven rushes for 22 yards. The important thing for the Browns is that they won't have to face the Jets' stout defensive front again this year, so better times should be on the horizon, but their backs generated minimal RB fantasy value last year, and that doesn't appear set to change.

Cleveland WR -- Dwayne Bowe (hamstring/terribleness) was inactive in Week 1, which may have helped open things up for Travis Benjamin to have his moment in the sun - a 54-yard touchdown pass from Johnny Football helped propel him to a three-catch, 89-yard day. The most-targeted receivers, perhaps unsurprisingly, were the possession-oriented Andrew Hawkins (six) and Brian Hartline (five), but the two combined to gain just 44 yards.

Dallas RB -- If you were betting big on Darren McFadden, surprise! He's still terrible. McFadden gained only 16 yards on six carries and caught a 19-yard pass Sunday; meanwhile, Joseph Randle rushed 16 times for 65 yards and added another 42 on three catches, securing his place as the top dog in this backfield. Time to start giving him some respect -- the guy is pretty good. Lance Dunbar did some nice work in the passing game, as he caught all eight of his targets for 70 yards, but he didn't carry a single time. Christine Michael? Inactive.

Dallas WR -- Week 1 was a Dez-aster for the Cowboys, who lost Dez Byant for the next month or so to a broken foot. Tony Romo now essentially has no choice but to use Terrance Williams a lot, and he promises to a see a bump in targets while Bryant's out. Cole Beasley will see a good number too, but Romo mostly made up for his star wideout's injury by throwing to his tight ends and running backs plentifully in the opener. We'll see who steps up as the new No. 3 in this situation; this could be a time to pick up undrafted rookie Rodney Whitehead for nothing, as Devin Street has shown precious little.

Denver RB -- In a game that didn't feature a lot of offense, C.J. Anderson was near-silent to open the season, gaining only 29 yards on 12 carries and catching just four of his eight targets for 19 yards. You can blame Peyton Manning's failures in this one, but Ronnie Hillman at least managed to be a bit more credible, totaling 41 yards on the same number of carries. The Broncos rolling with the "hot hand," such as it is, represents a big red flag for those who used an early round pick on Anderson.

Detroit RB -- The Lions were quick to abandon the running game in Week 1, but first, Ameer Abdullah turned out 50 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries. Joique Bell carried six times, gaining 14 yards and making everyone who drafted him very sad. Abdullah added four catches for 44, adding up to a nice regular-season debut, but he'll need to see more touches to establish enough consistency for fantasy relevance. Theo Riddick made owners of both Abdullah and Bell angry by making a late touchdown catch.

Detroit WR -- All the pieces were in place for Calvin Johnson to have a huge Week 1. He came in healthy against a San Diego team with small cornerbacks who make him look even more giant than he already is. Yet Matthew Stafford threw the ball Megatron's way only four times in 30 pass attempts -- that's half as many targets as he distributed to Golden Tate, who nonetheless managed to have an even more disappointing day, gaining only 24 yards to Calvin's 39.

Detroit TE -- Eric Ebron emerged from the Lions' depth-chart mess to lead the team in receiving by reeling in four of five passes for 53 yards and a score. Brandon Pettigrew barely played in passing situations, while Tim Wright was inactive.

Green Bay WR -- We got our first look at the Jordy Nelson-less Packers offense in Week 1, and as expected, Davante Adams saw his role expand significantly, with a team-high eight targets sent his way. He caught four of those for 59 yards to lead the team in receiving. Randall Cobb caught all five of his targets, but they were all in the short game, as he gained only 38 yards. He did score a short touchdown, however. The surprise of the game, though, was James Jones, who emerged from obscurity to catch all four of his targets for 51 yards and two TDs. Other than that random 14-touchdown season in 2012, Jones has never generated much fantasy value, so don't get too worked up over Sunday's effort. Rookie Ty Montgomery and preseason man of intrigue Jeff Janis combined for zero targets.

Houston QB -- Well, that was quick. Brian Hoyer couldn't even get through Week 1 without losing his job, as he went 18-for-34 for 236 yards, a touchdown, an interception and a fumble before being pulled for Ryan Mallett, who delivered a solid end-of-game relief effort (8-for-13 for 98 yards and a TD). This situation is back up in the air, and there's a reasonable possibility that Mallett's the one under center when Week 2 kicks off.

Houston RB -- Alfred Blue's first week as the ostensible stand-in for Arian Foster didn't go badly -- he averaged 4.7 yards per carry, after all -- but he rushed only nine times, adding a seven-yard catch. Jonathan Grimes was right on his tail, rushing six times for 28 yards -- an identical YPC to Blue's -- and Chris Polk delivered credible work on five rushes of his own. It looks like the Texans aren't totally sold on Blue as a starter and are thus going with a committee-oriented approach, which promises to be murder on his already temporary fantasy value.

Indianapolis WR -- T.Y. Hilton caught only half of his team-leading 14 targets Sunday, and to add injury to insult, he sustained what's apparently a rather serious knee bruise that may hold him out of action for multiple weeks. Supposedly the No. 3 or 4 receiver, Donte Moncrief finished second on the Colts in targets, with Andrew Luck looking his way 11 times and the second-year man hauling in six catches for 46 yards and a score. The line isn't amazing, but this was a rough first go overall for the Indianapolis offense, with Andre Johnson (four catches on 10 targets, 24 yards) struggling and Phillip Dorsett losing a fumble one of the two times he touched the ball. If Hilton is indeed forced to miss time, Moncrief and Johnson project to see a consistently high target count in the near term.

Jacksonville RB -- T.J. Yeldon didn't exactly have a big day in Week 1, but he ran well and pretty well dominated the backfield touches, such as they were, with Denard Robinson toting the ball just five times to his dozen. That'll do as confirmation that Yeldon does indeed hold the No. 1 role all by himself, but it's questionable what sort of production that'll yield in this offense.

Jacksonville WR -- For two years in a row now, someone else has gotten the love, and yet come Week 1, it's Allen Hurns out there leading the Jags in receiving yardage. However, he didn't exactly have a big day, with 60 yards and a fumble lost. Fifth-round rookie Rashad Greene was stunningly targeted 13 times by Blake Bortles -- that's as many times as Hurns and Allen Robinson put together -- but he only managed to turn all those looks into seven catches for 28 yards, though he did score Jacksonville's only touchdown. (Greene also suffered a concussion.) Speaking of Robinson, he managed to reel in just one of his six targets for 27 yards.

Miami WR -- It should come as no surprise that Jarvis Landry dominated the targets (12) in Week 1, but it was surprisingly Rishard Matthews who saw the second-most balls come his way, as he caught four of six targets for 34 yards and a score. Greg Jennings and Kenny Stills were targeted just three times each, and DeVante Parker is still awaiting his first NFL target.

New England RB -- Bill Belichick reached into his never-ending bag of tricks and pulled out Dion Lewis, a 25-year-old washout from the Eagles organization who hadn't appeared in an NFL game in three years, and Lewis proceeded to collect 120 total yards (69 rushing, 51 receiving) in Thursday's season-opening tilt. Unfortunately for Lewis, LeGarrette Blount is back with the Pats after his one-game suspension and will probably draw the majority of the backfield touches, though it seems reasonable that Lewis might hold onto passing-down work.

New Orleans RB -- Khiry Robinson drew a nearly even rushing load to that of Mark Ingram -- nine carries to eight -- but Ingram surprisingly was deployed as a pass-catcher out of the backfield on Sunday, catching eight of his nine targets for a team-leading 98 receiving yards to go with his 24 unremarkable yards on the ground. Robinson, too, was used as a pass-catcher, as he reeled in five of six for 51 yards. It probably shouldn't be surprising to see the Saints be unwilling to commit to one back, but it's going to be awfully frustrating for Ingram owners if Robinson keeps drawing 40 percent of the touches.

New Orleans WR -- We got our first look at the Saints' receiving corps in regular-season action Sunday, and each of their wideouts got out-targeted and outgained by Ingram. Brandin Cooks and Marques Colston were both quiet, as was Brandon Coleman outside of his touchdown. Willie Snead ripped off a 63-yarder, but it was his only catch of the day. Cooks, Coleman and Colston were all targeted about the same number of times by Drew Brees (eight, seven and seven, respectively), and that's something we should expect to hold roughly true on a week-to-week basis.

New York Giants WR -- Eli Manning didn't get much going to his receivers against Dallas in Week 1, with Shane Vereen ending up as the team's leader in air yardage after outgaining Odell Beckham by two yards (46 to 44). Preston Parker was surprisingly the second-most targeted receiver (six to Beckham's eight), but he caught only two, while Rueben Randle caught three of his five, but neither was able to clear 30 yards. Victor Cruz was inactive, and that projects to be the case for the next couple weeks.

New York Jets RB -- Bilal Powell ended up with 12 carries for 62 yards as Chris Ivory's backup Sunday, as the Jets mostly benched their starter while they ran the ball late in the game with a big lead against the Browns. Still, Ivory turned out a big day, running 20 times for 91 yards and two scores -- a portent of a strong season to come if he can stay healthy.

New York Jets WR -- Eric Decker (three targets) was surprisingly used far less than Chris Owusu (six) in Week 1, with Brandon Marshall (nine) unsurprisingly leading the pack. Owusu looks like he's going to have a legitimate role in this passing game, but expect Decker to get open more frequently and see a more typical target total. Jeremy Kerley pretty much wasn't used as a receiver at all.

Oakland QB -- Derek Carr hurt his hand Sunday, allowing Matt McGloin to get some action in, but X-rays came back negative and thus Carr seems to have a reasonable chance to be back out there in Week 2. Despite a couple turnovers, McGloin actually played decently in his place, going 23-for-31 for 142 yards and a couple late touchdowns.

Pittsburgh WR -- With Martavis Bryant suspended for the first four weeks, the Steelers appear set to lean heavily on both Markus Wheaton and Darrius Heyward-Bey to fill the role of No. 2 receiver, as both were targeted by Ben Roethlisberger in key situations during Thursday's loss to the Patriots, finishing with seven targets apiece and a minimal difference in production (55 yards for Wheaton, 58 for DHB). Antonio Brown led the way, of course, just as we always knew he would.

San Diego RB -- Melvin Gordon's NFL debut wasn't one he'll want to remember, as he gained a modest 51 yards on 14 carries (plus three catches for 16) and lost a fumble while Danny Woodhead carried nearly as many times (12) and punched in two touchdowns. At 6-1, 215, Gordon appears to be a natural candidate for goal-line work, but Woodhead scored on a nine-yard scamper in the second quarter and was called upon for a one-yard plunge in the fourth. This has all the makings of a frustrating situation.

St. Louis RB -- With the Rams shorthanded at running back, Benny Cunningham took a big Week 1 role, and though he averaged only 2.8 yards per carry, his four receptions for 77 yards helped him to a delightful 122-yard day. Tre Mason (hamstring) and Todd Gurley (knee) were inactive; Gurley projects to remain so for the next couple weeks, while Mason may return next week.

Tampa Bay WR -- With Mike Evans (hamstring) unable to go in Week 1, Jameis Winston didn't have much to work with at wide receiver outside of Vincent Jackson, whom he hit only four times on 11 targets for 51 yards. Jackson and the rest of the Tampa wideouts (the nondescript trio of Adam Humphries, Russell Shepard and Louis Murphy) were roundly outproduced by tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who had a breakout effort with 110 yards and two scores. Evans may yet miss another week to his injury, and the Bucs can only hope that Winston and Jackson get on the same page over the next six days.

Washington RB -- While my preseason favorite (OK, second favorite) Matt Jones looked good Sunday, he enjoyed only six carries behind Alfred Morris, who toted the ball 25 times with great authority, rolling up 121 yards. Surprisingly, Jones didn't see any action in the receiving game, which is particularly unusual when you consider that the Skins were shorthanded at receiver for much of Week 1.

Washington WR -- DeSean Jackson departed early Sunday, suffering a hamstring strain on his first target of the season. That left Kirk Cousins turning to Pierre Garcon and tight end Jordan Reed plenty, with Garcon leading the way in yardage (74 on six catches) while Reed drew the most targets (11 to Garcon's eight) and the only receiving touchdown. It doesn't look like this run-heavy offense can support two receivers if one of them isn't Jackson, who has the wheels to produce big-time efforts even on only a handful of targets. He's slated for an MRI this week.