Many people write off the NFL preseason as irrelevant, but in Fantasy Football, every little bit of knowledge can help. So let’s soak up every last drop of knowledge we can from preseason Week 1.
 
Preseason Game Recap: 

Saints at Patriots 

Drew Brees went 9-for-13 with just 55 yards before taking a seat. Tom Brady had a similar experience, going 5-for-8 with 67 yards.  With no passing touchdowns, their fate lay in their team’s running game.  The only problem is that these two teams are notoriously dependent on their passing game.  While the Saints bounced around from P.J. Hill, Reggie Bush, Chris Ivory to Pierre Thomas, the Patriots pounded the rock with Laurence Maroney. Scoring 2 touchdowns and rushing for 30 yards in the process, Maroney put up pretty good fantasy numbers.
 
Panthers at Ravens 

In last week’s game, Joe Flacco proved that the Ravens are now a passing team.  Flacco threw for 120 yards with a 30-yard touchdown bomb to Mark Clayton. New acquisitions Anquan Boldin and Donté Stallworth both only had one reception but combined for 38 receiving yards. Looking at the box score, it is impossible to tell who is the starting quarterback for the Panthers.  They all had horrible completion percentages, and Jimmy Clausen, who had the best percentage, threw an interception.  If Matt Moore is their guy, they need to create better protection for him to give him a chance.
 
Raiders at Cowboys 

It’s games like this one that make preseason difficult to judge. Romo was sacked three times in one drive, but does that mean that you should draft the Raiders defense? No, please don’t do that.  What you should take away from this game is that Romo connected very well with Miles Austin and Jason Witten.  These are his main targets and will continue to be and his offensive line will be blocking better come Week 1. Jason Campbell looked pretty rough, but the pressure was keeping him from doing anything with the ball.  Running backs Michael Bennett and Michael Bush both had decent games. The Raiders are going to be committed to the run unless Campbell can compose himself.
 
Bills at Redskins 

The revamped Redskins under new coach Mike Shanahan and new quarterback Donovan McNabb proved to be a winning combination as McNabb threw a TD to Anthony Armstrong in the first quarter. When Buffalo running back Fred Jackson got injured in the game, a dream scenario played out for the two eager rookies Joique Bell and C.J. Spiller.  Both were given a lot of touches and did quite well with what was given to them. Bell averaged 10 yards a carry and scored a TD. Spiller also played well, averaging 4 yards a carry.  Marshawn Lynch will be sidelined with an injury until the end of preseason. Keep an eye on this running back situations.
 
Jaguars at Eagles 

Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb had a lot of success in his first outing this season, hitting all of his offensive weapons. He connected with DeSean Jackson for 47 yards, Jeremy Maclin for 32 yards and Brent Celek for 18 yards. Michael Vick stepped in and had a nice game, but did turn the ball over twice.  He was reminiscent of “Vick Classic” as he amassed 50 rushing yards and 119 passing yards. Eagles running back LeSean McCoy performed well with 30 yards on 8 attempts. Very little went well for the Jaguars until Luke McCown went in and threw for 244 yards with 3 touchdowns.
 
Chiefs at Falcons 

Falcons running back Michael Turner ran very hard, averaging 7.25 yards a carry. Matt Ryan probably would have been more comfortable handing the ball off because he went 3-of-6 with just 34 yards. On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs starting QB, Matt Cassel, also struggled to gain any yards.  The Chiefs running game was very impressive, however. Jamaal Charles averaged 9.25 yards a carry and backup Javarris Williams gained 38 yards on just 7 carries.
 
Buccaneers at Dolphins

Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall was silent in his first game with the Dolphins, dropping the two passes thrown his way. QB Chad Henne struggled, only gaining 19 yards on his 5 completions. Bucs QB Josh Freeman was perfect on the night with zero incompletions, 53 yards and a TD pass to Sammie Stroughter.   

Lions at Steelers 

Without Ben, the Steelers started with Byron Leftwich who struggled to get anything done with Kyle Vanden Bosch breaking through the offensive line every other play. Dennis Dixon came in and had great success in the air and on the ground. Matt Stafford had a touchdown and an interception, but looked pretty good overa,ll going 8-for-11. Jahvid Best looked very promising with 29 yards on only six attempts.   

Browns at Packers 

Is Delhomme the answer for Cleveland?  He certainly looked the part; he went 6-for-7 on the drive that was capped off with a Jerome Harrison rushing TD. Aaron Rodgers was pristine with his 12-of-13 completion percentage, 159 yards total and 34-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings. However, the big news was the apparent concussion that Ryan Grant sustained. Grant doesn’t think it was a concussion, but is continuing tests.     

Texans at Cardinals 

“Once a fumbler, always a fumbler”. Steve Slaton’s fumbling continues as he coughed the ball up right before crossing into the end zone. Luckily, the Texans can get things done in the air.  Schaub went 5-for-6, hooking up with Andre Johnson for a TD. Though the Cardinal reserves got them the win, the starters all performed pretty well.   

Vikings at Rams  

Welcome to the NFL.  The Vikings abused No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford, sacking him 4 times and hurrying him a lot.  Bradford did have a few nice passes, one of which was to Laurent Robinson. I don’t even want to get into the Vikings’ quarterback situation.  Sage Rosenfels was given the majority of the attempts, and the Rams defense made him look like a stud. Rosenfels amassed 310 yards and 3 touchdowns.   

Bears at Chargers 

Phillip Rivers threw only a few passes, but looked very good as usual. Rivers left the game with 62 yards and a touchdown. Matt Forte struggled rushing for the Bears. Chargers rookie Ryan Matthews was the star running back of the night, racking up 50 yards on just 9 attempts. Continue to keep Matthews at the top of your draft board. Despite a sloppy quarterback outing for the Bears, the wide receivers looked very good. Devin Aromashodu impressed the crowd with 4 receptions for 78 yards with 1 touchdown.   

Titans at Seahawks  

How long until Charlie Whitehurst becomes the starter in Seattle? Pete Carroll let him sling the ball for 214 yards with two touchdowns leading the Seahawks to a win. Chris Johnson had a touchdown, what else is new? Everyone will dwell on Vince Young’s unfortunate interception, but that was actually his first incompletion of the game.   

49ers at Colts 

Peyton Manning looked exactly like he always does, picking apart the defense and only missing the mark on two passes. Colts running back Joseph Addai struggled to produce until he scrambled in for a 7-yard touchdown. He averaged 2.2 yards per carry. That seems to be Addai’s style. Now, I’m regretting placing Alex Smith so high on my quarterback-ranking list. Smith struggled with a completion percentage of just 33 percent and an interception.  However, the Colts’ backup quarterback Curtis Painter was much worse as he threw 3 picks. As predicted, the 49ers defense looked extremely tough and shut down the Colts after Manning left the game. They grabbed 4 interceptions and forced a fumble, scoring a defensive TD in the process.   

Broncos at Bengals 

The quarterback situation seems to be sorting itself out in Denver.  Kyle Orton looked to seal up his starting spot by throwing two touchdowns while going 8-for-13. Brady Quinn had a rough game, going 6-for-16 and throwing a pick. In the third quarter, Tebow came in and actually performed pretty well.  He took some hits and threw a couple of bad passes, but actually looked not to shabby, throwing for 105 yards and scoring a rushing touchdown. Carson Palmer looked very good on Sunday night.  He threw for 105 yards with only three incomplete passes.  Four of his completed passes were to new addition, Terrell Owens. Owens made some nice catches, but only had 23 yards and no trips to the end zone.
 
Giants at Jets 

The Jets starters struggled as Sanchez threw a pick. However, Shonn Green ran hard, averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Eli Manning received 12 stitches for a head wound after taking a huge hit on Monday night. He should be fine to start next week.
 
 
Big performances from little guys: 

Giants WR Victor Cruz: Monday night as the Giants crushed the Jets, Victor Cruz caught a miraculous one-handed TD catch adding to his total of 3 touchdowns and a whopping 145-yard total. Keep a close eye on Cruz through the rest of the preseason to see if he is the real deal or not. 

With names like Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco in your receiving corps, it’s hard to remember that the Bengals drafted Jordan Shipley in the 2010 draft.  Shipley hauled in the most passes on Sunday night against the Broncos, averaging 10 yards a reception. However, Shipley remains buried in the depth chart. 

49er running back Frank Gore’s starting spot is a lock, but rookie Anthony Dixon cracked the century mark, scoring a TD in his first NFL appearance.  If Gore goes down, Dixon is worth looking at. 

Two words: Charlie Whitehurst.  Hasselbeck’s days are numbered in Seattle. Whitehurst threw for 214 yards with 2 touchdowns. 

Seneca Wallace doesn’t appear to be the starter in Cleveland, but he did throw for 2 touchdowns as the Browns beat the Packers at home. Delhomme has been benched before, and Wallace is the next best option. 

Kansas City rookie wide receiver Dexter McCluster had a great game, rushing the ball 5 times for 25 yards and leading the Chiefs in receiving with 23 yards.  He has a lot of raw skill and showed off a few of his moves already. 

Stepping in after David Garrard’s horrible performance, Luke McCown went 11-for-15 with 244 yards and 3 TD passes.
 
I hope you enjoyed my first installment of Preseason wrap up, check back next week for more preseason fantasy knowledge.