NFL Preseason Week 1 Fantasy Football Takeaways: Jeremiyah Love, De’Zhaun Stribling among rookies to impress

There are things we can learn from grinding every single little detail in preseason action. I’ve done this for years, and on the whole, it’s very helpful to nitpick these things. I’ll do my best to cut through the noise, and also provide more context than just looking at the snap rates with the first team. Alignment, assignments and performance all matter as we project forward. Join us on YouTube as we debate these things each week.

Here are my observations from the 12 teams that played on Thursday. I’ll also continue to add takeaways from the remaining Week 1 preseason slate.

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Cardinals: Jeremiyah Love shines in debut

Love looked awesome. Spin move. Hurdle. Balance. More importantly, the rookie started over Tyler Allgeier and out-snapped him, 16:6, when both of them were mixing in throughout the first two drives. Love was also on the field for a 3rd-and-3 play-action rep from inside the 10-yard line. This coaching staff isn’t playing games. Love is going to play a ton right away. Round 2 is back on the table for me.

Playing all of those snaps comes with risk. Love has a minor ankle injury, and more importantly, second-round G Chase Bisontis (knee) went down. New coach Mike LaFleur said it does not look good. That’s a key injury in both the run and pass game.

Jacoby Brissett got the ball to his receivers, with Trey McBride only playing one snap. Michael Wilson had an underneath grab and an excellent out route against press man coverage, and then Marvin Harrison Jr. drew a slot fade DPI and scored a crossing route against man coverage on a great ball from Brissett. Harrison spent most of his time at X receiver and ran down field often, but a slot target is nice to see as a change up. In general, this skill group is so much better than their current No. 32 projected scoring offense. 

Raiders: Rookie RB steals the show

Kirk Cousins started ahead of Fernando Mendoza, but both played and had success, even without Brock Bowers playing beyond the first snap. The Klint Kubiak effect was felt right away. Their first drive included plays in 11, 12, 21 and 22 personnel with plenty of under center, motion, and play-action reps. Cousins moved around well. Mendoza nailed a signature 3rd-and-8 out route, like he did at Indiana all year long. Unlike college, Mendoza played under center and seemed to handle it well. His best play was a dot between four zone defenders over the middle.

At receiver, Tre Tucker played in the opening 1-WR set snap before Jalen Nailor and Jack Bech (slot) entered on 3-WR sets. Bech made a nice grab on an out route, encouraging all film sickos to celebrate on Twitter. Tucker was involved underneath. Backup TE Michael Mayer finished off the drive with a score.

Ashton Jeanty finished hard on his between-tackles carries, but it was fourth-round athletic specimen Mike Washington Jr. who stole the show by ripping off a huge run where a safety ate some turf with a big collision. There’s no debate that he’s Jeanty’s sidekick and insurance.

This isn’t fantasy related, but it was great to see fourth-round CB Jermod McCoy on the field after a knee injury caused a 90ish pick drop in his draft status. He allowed a touchdown on a jump fade in man coverage. It was just good that he’s cleared and participating.

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Packers: Offensive pace encouraging

Just like it was at the Family Night scrimmage last week, Matthew Golden (X) and Christian Watson (Z) were the starters in 2-WR sets, while Jayden Reed mixed in as the slot in 3-WR sets. Unlike last year, the Packers didn’t rotate their receivers much. Savion Williams only played one snap at the expense of Watson with the first-team. That’s encouraging for Golden’s and Reed’s sleeper odds.

Just as important as that was the continued intention of playing with more pace on offense. Their second snap of the game was extremely quick after breaking the huddle, and they did the same after picking up a first down later in their drive with the starters. It’s important because the Packers have been the slowest offense since 2022 in neutral situations. More pace = more plays = more fantasy points.

That’s another reason to tack on MarShawn Lloyd in the final round of drafts. He’s balled out in camp while staying healthy, then played all the snaps with the first-team offense tonight as Josh Jacobs remains out with a soft-tissue injury. Lloyd caught a swing pass, had a spin move between the tackles and was given a pitch right away.

For the true sickos, rookie K Trey Smack nailed a 58-yarder and the rest of his field goal attempts as a waiver wire option heading into Week 1.

49ers: De’Zhaun Stribling’s value on the rise

Stribling caught the first pass of the game (quick out) and didn’t slow down. He was missed on a slant route, handled a jet sweep, made a leaping grab at the sticks, won a whip route and came down with a sideline grab as LT Trent Williams was gushing over him. His alignment within the starting lineup isn’t set, as he moved from the slot to the boundary in his debut, but there’s no doubt that he should be ahead of Deebo Samuel Sr. early, if not right in Week 1. It’s possible he is THE sleeper of 2026. I’m chasing him up the board.

QB3 Kurtis Rourke is big (6-foot-4/220 pounds) and made a few nice plays in both phases, enough for me to want to track him long term. 

Titans: Cam Ward struggles in sloppy performance

Ward looked awful. He had a retreating intentional grounding that was nearly a fumble (something that popped up on his rookie film way too often). He had a dropped interception over the middle into traffic. He also missed three to five underneath throws with poor accuracy and loose mechanics. That did not look like a former first overall pick. Sloppy.

The first play of the game was in 11-personnel, with Calvin Ridley at X, fourth-overall pick Carnell Tate at Z and Wan’Dale Robinson in the slot. A few plays later, it was Ridley and Tate in a 2-WR set, as expected. Ridley was moving well to me in limited action. After Ridley left, the offense rotated their receivers all around. I’m not sure what to buy into, but it wasn’t textbook usage for Tate or Robinson, as both Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike played with the first-team offense here. I doubt it would hold into the regular season, but you never know.

Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears rotated in stints of about five plays, instead of by situation. Spears had a great run at one point, spinning out of an A-gap run. Pollard scored nearly untouched. 

Bengals: Tinkering with offense

The starters played, and their first four plays were under center. Run to Chase Brown, play-action dig first-down to Ja’Marr Chase, run to Brown and a sack. This matches training camp reports of the offense tinkering with more balance and away from strict shotgun. I don’t think we need to nitpick that transition for fantasy purposes, other than it could mean even more Brown and arguably a little less Tee Higgins. The last things to note were Samaje Perine spelled Brown on 3rd-and-15, and Andrei Iosivas remains the WR3. This was the same as last year and was expected.

Steelers: Rookie Germie Bernard impresses

The starters didn’t play, but Germie Bernard and Roman Wilson were out there to extend their competition for the No. 3 receiver role in the slot. Bernard had an on-brand game as a physical underneath and intermediate option. He broke three tackles, caught the ball cleanly, created quick separation on a slant and nearly scored a touchdown on a broken play. Bernard is the more promising starting option. You can do worse in the deepest of fantasy leagues. More on him from my YouTube channel here.

Rookie returner Kaden Wetjen put on the afterburners on a reception for a 75-yard gain. He was flying.

2025 third-rounder Kaleb Johnson might be fifth in line as a cut candidate.

Fantasy football position previews

• Quarterbacks

• Running Backs

• Wide Receivers

• Tight Ends

Chargers: WR usage still coming into focus

The starters were held out, including training camp stand outs RB Keaton Mitchell and TE Charlie Kolar. That’s great news for their sleeper appeal. Meanwhile, Kimani Vidal and Oronde Gadsden II played with the Trey Lance offense.

The Mike McDaniel offense featured a ton of FB Scott Matlock, to the point that they only used 3-WR sets on 10-of-15 plays to start the game. We don’t have answers to how often Tre’ Harris and other WRs will mix in at the expense of Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston, but McDaniel’s offenses tend to rotate. That particularly could be true with the state of this deep depth chart that lacks true star power. Hopefully we get some answers here later this month. 

Patriots: Strong outing for Pop Douglas

The starters rested, but they trotted out trade-candidate WR Kayshon Boutte. Training camp reports suggest it’ll mostly be slot Pop Douglas in 3-WR sets with Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams, and Efton Chism rounding out that group. Williams had a nice outing, drawing a DPI on a hook versus man coverage before catching a go-ball TD versus man coverage after shaking the defender at the line of scrimmage. This is a reason why Boutte will very likely be traded before Week 1.

K Andy Borregales only went 2-of-5 on field goal attempts. Mike Vrabel was not happy after the game.

Rookie TE Eli Raridon had a nice yards-after-the-catch moment. He has received positive notes all camp long as a clear starter in 2-TE sets. I’d buy him in dynasty as quickly as possible. He was a great prospect to me. 

Colts: Anthony Richardson posts solid film

Richardson played quite well with the backups, after speculation he may be released by the time the season kicks off. His “interception” really was a dropped pass. He ran the ball to the half-inch line later on. It’s interesting to see him play ahead of presumed long-term QB2 Riley Leonard. 

Lions: Isaac TeSlaa being pushed

They rested their starters, but perceived WR3 Isaac TeSlaa was forced into snaps. He had a drop that turned into an interception, which continues a trend of having a disappointing second offseason. He’s being pushed by Greg Dortch and others in camp per their local beat reporters. He’s no longer an interesting dart throw with his snaps up for grabs.

Texans: See you next week

They rested their starters. I learned nothing.