The first week of the NFL season is officially behind us. The long-awaited day has come and gone in a blink of an eye. After countless hours of only moving from the couch to use the bathroom, we look ahead to week two. With everyone scrambling to the waiver wire and going week one panic mode, this article will look beyond that.
This is the first installment of the weekly series, One Week Ahead. We will use our fantasy football crystal ball to look ahead to future weeks and try to predict players who will emerge with fantasy relevance. We will try to get a leg up on our opponents by picking up potential fantasy assets before they become a major waiver wire pick-up.
Khalil Herbert – RB Chicago Bears
Khalil Herbert is a sixth-round rookie and the current third-string running back on the Chicago Bears. He is behind David Montgomery and Damien Williams on the depth chart and managed to only see one snap last night. Furthermore, Montgomery looked sharp and capable to handle the load, while Williams was on the field for 30 snaps and recorded 10 touches of his own.
So, why stash Herbert? To start, he was in charge of returning kicks last night. This was a great opportunity to show his team and coaching staff what he’s got in a limited role. The opening kickoff was received deep in the endzone by Herbert and taken out for a 50-yard gain. That will open some eyes. He ended up returning a total of four kicks for an average of 26.5 yards. The speed and vision are evident.
In addition, current backup running back Williams was able to garner 10 touches behind Montgomery. Six of these touches were carries in which he managed a mere 12 yards. Not great. The 29-year-old backup sat out last season and may not have the stamina to maintain his current role throughout the year. He could easily cede touches to Herbert as the year goes on.
Moreover, we saw Montgomery exit last night’s game for an extended period. He ended up returning, but if he were to go down and miss multiple weeks, Herbert would jump into a much bigger role to produce for fantasy.
K.J. Osborn – WR Minnesota Vikings
The second-year, fifth-round wide receiver made some noise in the first game of the 2021 season. K.J. Osborn logged seven catches for 76 yards on nine targets. This was tied for the second-most targets on his team, just behind Adam Thielen.
Do I expect this every week? No. This was a wild game where running back Dalvin Cook could not get much going. Quarterback Kirk Cousins threw for over 300 yards on nearly 50 pass attempts. Pair this with the fact that Osborn is at best the fourth option on the Minnesota Vikings and I don’t see him putting up this good of numbers every week.
However, the Vikings were running a lot of three wide receiver sets, and because of this, Osborn was on the field for about 80% of the offensive plays. While it may be hard to trust him at the moment, with more work and opportunities, Osborn could prove his worth and climb his way into a flex-worthy option.
Larry Rountree – RB Los Angeles Chargers
Heading into the season, the backup job behind Austin Ekeler was unclear. While it is only one week, we may have found our answer. Sixth-round rookie running back, Larry Rountree. In his NFL debut, he finished with eight carries for 27 yards. This was seven fewer carries than Ekeler, however, the next closest behind Rountree was Justin Jackson who recorded only one carry.
Rountree out-snapped Jackson 25 to 11. This is encouraging news for Rountree as many people thought the backup job was going to be given to Jackson. Ekeler will still dominate the backfield, but with his hamstring issue, he may be more susceptible to ceding some snaps to the backups. If he were to miss an extended amount of time, Rountree would see an immediate spike in playing time and touches.
Even if Ekeler is healthy, the Chargers may elect to utilize Rountree to spell Ekeler and preserve him for the entire season. This would surely give Rountree some standalone value in deeper leagues. If you have the bench space for someone, Rountree may be worth considering.
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