The first week of the fantasy football season is always a rollercoaster of emotions, and Week 1 of 2025 was no different.
From surprising rookie breakouts to disappointing performances from established stars, the landscape of fantasy football has already shifted dramatically.
It’s time to separate the one-game wonders from the true game-changers and figure out which players you should be targeting and which ones you should be panicking about.
Week 1 Fantasy Football Winners
Quarterbacks
Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills): Allen kicked off the season with a dominant performance, finishing as the top fantasy quarterback with nearly 40 fantasy points.
Daniel Jones (Indianapolis Colts): In his debut with the Colts, Jones surprised many by finishing as a top-3 QB, looking more like the second coming of Peyton Manning than the middling quarterback from his Giants days.
Justin Fields (New York Jets): Fields had a strong start to his Jets career, finishing as a top performer and showing his dual-threat ability.
Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens): Jackson delivered a typical high-scoring performance, reminding fantasy owners why he is consistently drafted as a top-tier QB.
Aaron Rodgers (Pittsburgh Steelers): The veteran QB had a revenge game against his former team, tossing four touchdowns and looking comfortable in his new Steelers uniform.
Running Backs
Bijan Robinson (Atlanta Falcons): Despite a poor rushing performance from the Falcons’ backfield as a whole, Robinson salvaged his fantasy day with a massive performance in the passing game, including a touchdown.
Javonte Williams (Dallas Cowboys): Williams had a great Week 1, punching in two short touchdowns and looking like a strong RB2 option.
Travis Etienne (Jacksonville Jaguars): Etienne had a big day on the ground, separating himself from his backfield mates with a 143-yard performance.
Trey Benson (Arizona Cardinals): Benson had a very productive day in a shared backfield, rushing for 69 yards and looking more explosive than his teammate James Conner.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt (Washington Commanders): Croskey-Merritt had a strong NFL debut, leading the Commanders in rushing with 82 yards on 10 attempts and scoring a touchdown.
Wide Receivers
Jakobi Meyers (Las Vegas Raiders): Meyers was a standout performer for the Raiders, with an impressive 8 catches for 97 yards.
Quentin Johnston (Los Angeles Chargers): Johnston looked like a legitimate threat for the Chargers, solidifying his role as a potential flex play.
Marquise Brown (Kansas City Chiefs): Brown led all NFL wide receivers with 16 targets, catching 10 of them for 99 yards in the Chiefs’ game against the Chargers.
Emeka Egbuka (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): The rookie had a strong debut for the Buccaneers, stepping up in the absence of Chris Godwin.
Deebo Samuel (Washington Commanders): In his debut with the Commanders, Samuel looked like his old self, leading the team in targets and adding a rushing touchdown.
Tight Ends
Harold Fannin Jr. (Cleveland Browns): The rookie tight end was a huge surprise, outshining veteran David Njoku with 7 catches and a productive day.
Brock Bowers (Las Vegas Raiders): The sophomore tight end was a high-end TE1 before leaving with an injury.
Kyle Pitts (Atlanta Falcons): Despite the Falcons’ struggles, Pitts had a productive day with 7 catches and a clear role in the passing game, looking like a solid TE option.
Juwan Johnson (New Orleans Saints): Johnson had a breakout performance, leading the Saints in receptions and receiving yards with eight catches for 76 yards on 11 targets.
Tyler Warren (Indianapolis Colts): Warren, in his NFL debut, was a clear focal point of the Colts’ passing game, catching seven of nine targets for 76 yards and immediately establishing himself as a potential fantasy TE1.
Week 1 Fantasy Football Losers
Quarterbacks
C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans): Stroud had a disappointing start to the season, finishing with 188 passing yards and no touchdowns. He struggled to connect with his receivers, including star Nico Collins, also a loser this week.
Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins): The Dolphins offense as a whole was anemic, and Tua was a major disappointment, turning the ball over multiple times and failing to get his star receivers involved.
Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals): Continuing a trend of slow starts, Burrow had a poor fantasy outing in Week 1, throwing for only 113 yards and one touchdown.
Bryce Young (Carolina Panthers): Young and the Panthers’ offense were abysmal, with Young throwing for 154 yards and 2 interceptions.
Russell Wilson (New York Giants): Wilson had a dreadful start to his Giants career, failing to lead the offense to a single touchdown.
Running Backs
Tyrone Tracy (New York Giants): Tracy was part of a Giants running back group that was simply awful, gaining only 24 yards on 10 carries and failing to produce a touchdown.
Kenneth Walker (Seattle Seahawks): Walker had a poor outing and looks to be in a frustrating timeshare with Zach Charbonnet, hurting his fantasy value.
Ashton Jeanty (Las Vegas Raiders): Jeanty had a disappointing fantasy performance, gaining only 38 yards on 19 carries for a dismal average of 2.0 yards per carry.
Tank Bigsby (Philadelphia Eagles): Bigsby was largely outshined by Travis Etienne, who dominated the rushing workload for the Jaguars. Then Bigsby got traded to a full Eagles backfield.
Isiah Pacheco (Kansas City Chiefs): Pacheco was limited to just five carries for 25 yards and had a total of only 28 scrimmage yards, in a game where the Chiefs trailed throughout.
Wide Receivers
Ja’Marr Chase & Tee Higgins (Cincinnati Bengals): The Bengals’ passing attack was a huge disappointment, and both Chase and Higgins were fantasy busts, recording very few catches and yards.
Jerry Jeudy (Cleveland Browns): Jeudy had a disappointing Week 1, dropping a key fourth-down target and having a pass deflect off his hands for an interception, leading to a largely unimpressive performance despite decent target volume.
Mike Evans (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): Despite leading his team in targets and receptions, Mike Evans was a Week 1 loser because he only managed 51 receiving yards and was outshined by rookie Emeka Egbuka, who scored two touchdowns.
Brian Thomas Jr. (Jacksonville Jaguars): Brian Thomas Jr. was a Week 1 loser after a dismal performance where he was a culprit in multiple drops and only recorded 11 yards and one catch despite being targeted by his quarterback.
Terry McLaurin (Washington Commanders): McLaurin had a slow start, with only 2 catches on 4 targets, and the presence of Deebo Samuel could hurt his fantasy value.
Tight Ends
David Njoku (Cleveland Browns): Njoku was outplayed by rookie Harold Fannin Jr., and he finished with a disappointing stat line.
Dalton Schultz (Houston Texans): The entire Texans’ offense struggled, and Schultz was a non-factor in a game where his team couldn’t get anything going.
Pat Freiermuth (Pittsburgh Steelers): Freiermuth was overshadowed by teammate Jonnu Smith, and he had a poor fantasy day.
Evan Engram (Denver Broncos):Â Engram left the game against the Titans with a calf injury, finishing with a meager 21 yards and putting his availability for Week 2 in doubt.
T.J. Hockenson (Minnesota Vikings):Â Hockenson had a disappointing fantasy performance in his season debut, catching only three of four targets for 15 yards in the Vikings’ victory.
