Fantasy Football Takeaways From Experience Down Under
In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Fire TV.
Our second game of the 2026 season is in the books, and we have plenty of things to (over?) react to.
In honor of Matthew’s 10 Facts For Week 1 Of The 2026 Fantasy Football Season, here are 10 takeaways from last night’s Niners win over the Rams …
1. Kaelon Black looks like a league winner. With Jordan James inactive last night, Black out-carried CMC 14 to 10 and played almost as many snaps (28 vs. 36). This wasn’t just a garbage-time thing either; he played five snaps on the first drive of the game. Hopefully you already added him because the price just went up.
2. CMC’s snaps take a hit. I think two things can be true here: 1) CMC is still going to be a high-value touch monster (aka receptions and goal-line TDs), but Black is going to take early-down carries off his plate to help preserve his health. Only time will tell if he was getting eased in here or if this is the new normal.
3. De’Zhaun Stribling is/was going to be a thing. The good news: Stribling was leading the San Francisco pass catchers after the first three drives. The bad news: he suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and was carted off the field. Hold him for now.
4. Put Demarcus Robinson on your Week 2 waiver wire list. Robinson finished second on the team in routes run and would likely be the biggest beneficiary if Stribling misses time.
5. George Kittle is getting eased in. Kittle got a ton of work on the first drive of the game, but then took a back seat for the rest of the game. I would expect his playing time to jump significantly next week with Jake Tonges suffering a season-ending knee injury.
6. The TFerg Dream is still alive … kind of. Everyone’s favorite sleeper TE did see more playing time (ran 56% of the routes) and played ahead of Tyler Higbee and Davis Allen, but he only earned a single target. I wouldn’t drop him, though. The entire Rams offense looked dysfunctional, and his looks should only increase from here.
7. Mike Evans is going to smash. He had a respectable stat line (6-49-1), but it’s clear that he’s going to be the focal point of the offense. Big weeks ahead.
8. The Kyren/Corum split was as expected. Zero surprises with the Blake Corum/Kyren Williams split. Corum (10-54) was more efficient on the ground than Kyren (11-41), but Williams got the rushing TD and the receiving work (3-24). Carry on.
9. The Davante Adams red zone role changed. Adams only played on only one of the team’s six snaps inside the 10-yard line. Who knows if that was a blip or not, but it is massively concerning for his fantasy value if it becomes a trend.
10. Maybe the Rams should have flown to Australia earlier? Rough start to the year.
Watch Your Fantasy Team In Action On Fire TV
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Find where the game’s playing and easily subscribe to that streaming service (as needed)—all from one tab on your home screen.
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Around the Watercooler
The latest fantasy and NFL gossip, news, memes and more from your favorite football nerds …
🍷 The OG regular from the FF Happy Hour returns. Nate Ravitz joins Matthew.
🤣 Mike Evans learns about the Rams’ travel plans. Oh dang!
👀 Your Week 1 start/sit guide is here … some SMASH starts at QB.
🔭 Front-row seats in Australia … aren’t like they are here!
🙌 Can anyone match up with Tetairoa McMillan? Bearing down Week 1.
🤑 Ryan Flournoy gets paid. Parker Washington next?
🔪 The floor is nice for this RB in Guillotine Leagues™. Put a star by him.
🐶 Go high with this RB before he breaks out. Know how to pick ‘em.
🔮 Can Michigan keep up with Oklahoma? CFB Week 2 predictions.
💰 Can the Saints cover against the Lions? Best bets for Week 1.
📬 Who is undervalued in Dynasty. Comes down to a pair of rookies.
🪿 Next will they measure neck length at the combine? This WR would be tops.
Matthew Berry’s 10 Facts For Week 1
DON’T PANIC.
That may be a quote from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but it also pertains to the first NFL games of the 2026 fantasy football season. Especially if you roster A.J. Brown or Sam Darnold. But one thing we know, the season isn’t gone after a single game. Not even a single week. Though Week 1 is still important.
That’s why Matthew dropped his first piece of content for the regular season. 10 Facts You Need to Know For Week 1 reminds us it does us no good to get too excited about a fast start, or too down about a tough open. He also drops important tidbits on players for this week. Here are some hints:
- A QB is spectacular with just the right protector.
- Another QB is like Dorothy: “There’s no place like home.”
- This RB has soared over this week’s opponent repeatedly
- One of the WR darlings of the offseason has a choice first matchup.
- a QB-WR duo could roar this Sunday
We could give you more, but that’s not as fun as actually reading the article. Enjoy!
Studs and Duds From The Week 1 Rankings
Hey! Cupps here. Every Friday this season, I’ll be dropping my overall strategy for the upcoming week of games—players I’m higher/lower on than consensus fantasy football rankings, and the biggest things I’ll be keeping my eye on.
As someone who primarily leverages data to make decisions in fantasy football, my rankings are created using a blend of several inputs:
- Our weekly fantasy football projections, adjusted using fantasy football DvP rankings
- Prediction market data (essentially taking the current prices on various yardage, touchdowns, receptions, etc., to create implied fantasy point projections)
- Vegas prop lines
Using these sources as a baseline, I create my own hybrid projection system for each position. Let’s get right into it!
Kyler Murray
- FL Consensus: QB13
- My Rank: QB5 (+8)
I’ve spent this entire offseason higher than consensus on Murray, so it’s only right to call him out in my Week 1 rankings.
There are a couple of things that stand out to me about Kyler in Week 1. First, he comes in as the QB5 on the week in our Fantasy Life projections. Additionally, he has a ‘Vegas base’ value—essentially, the combination of a player’s fantasy stats outside of touchdown points—of 11.2 points (QB10). High floor, high ceiling week for Murray (get used to hearing that one this season) to kick things off against Green Bay.
10 of 10 These Facts You Need to Know
Brothers and sisters, friends of the revolution, Matthew is kicking off a weekly video series. Here we have the 10 Facts You Need to Know for Week 1 … the video edition. Hear them straight from Matthew himself. And make sure to subscribe to the Fantasy Life YouTube channel so you don’t miss an episode.
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