by Jared Smola

With week 1 in the books, here are some of my random reflections and rants:

- I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player being more hyped around these parts than Titans RB Chris Johnson. The funny (and amazing) thing is he actually lived up to it this week. We all knew he had unrivaled speed and acceleration, but I saw some serious power in those legs that I didn’t think he had. With a matchup against this defense, Johnson should be active in virtually all leagues next week.

- Speaking of rookie RBs, a bunch of them had impressive debuts this week. Chicago’s Matt Forte might have looked the best. He shredded the Colts defense for 141 total yards, highlighted by a 50-yard TD. He displayed excellent vision, quick feet, and nice speed. Felix Jones didn’t see much action early for the Cowboys, but he scored on his 1st pro carry on a draw play from 11 yards out. Jones picked up yardage in chunks after Marion Barber left with a rib injury and might have won himself 10-12 touches per game from here on out. Kevin Smith, Jonathan Stewart, and Darren McFadden weren’t quite as impressive in their debuts, but all 3 seem to have bright futures ahead. It should be a very interesting race for Rookie of the Year between these guys and WRs like DeSean Jackson and Eddie Royal.

- Torry Holt’s week 1 stat line: 2 targets, 1 reception, 9 yards. Meanwhile, Dane Looker was targeted 5 times. Are you kidding me? No wonder why the Rams only managed 166 yards of total offense. If this team wants to win more than the 3 games they won last year, they need to make Holt a focal point of their offense.
Disclaimer: I drafted Holt in all 3 of my big-money leagues, so I’m a little ticked off about this one.

- No one is a bigger Aaron Rodgers supporter than yours truly. In fact, I had butterflies at the beginning of last night’s game because I had been talking the guy up to everyone and their sister—I don’t want to be made to look like a fool! So you can imagine how happy I was when Rodgers hit Greg Jennings for that 56-yard bomb. That seemed to really calm him down and he was lights out after that. His 81.8 completion percentage was 3rd highest all time for a QB in his 1st start. This guy has superstar potential—just watch.

- Among all the notable performances in week 1, no team impressed me more than the Carolina Panthers. Best player suspended. Check. QB making 1st start since Tommy John Surgery. Check. 2,400-mile cross-country journey. Check. The Panthers overcame it all to defeat a Chargers team that many people (including myself) believe are good enough to win the Super Bowl this year. With a 2-headed ground attack featuring Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, an explosive WR like Steve Smith, and an athletic, play-making defense, the Panthers could make a serious run this year.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 7:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.