Week 1 was a special occasion for football fans around the country.

There were tears (both of joy and of sorrow), there were screams, jeers, smiles, high fives and excitement. But, most of all, there were questions, especially for all you fantasy owners out there.

So, I”m here to attempt to answer one of the biggest questions of the inaugural week of the 2010 NFL season: which receivers to grab and start on the Chicago Bears and the San Diego Chargers.

These two teams kicked off their preseason by playing each other on the West Coast, and exactly one month and one day later, both teams are still struggling to solve their receiving issues.

Chicago Bears

Johnny Knox. Earl Bennett. Greg Olsen. Matt Forte. Chester Taylor. Devins (both Aromashodu and Hester). Desmond Clark.

With all those names and nobody really standing out from the crowd, how do you know who to grab and store on your roster or, better yet, who to start?

For one, keep track of the targets. This is the best indicator of who is a focal point of the gameplan for that day and who is doing the best job of getting open.

Sunday against the Lions, Aromashodu led all Bears players with 10 targets. Hester, on the other hand, had just 1 single target.

Everybody was all gung-ho on Aromashodu after the last four games of the 2009 season when he quickly became Jay Cutler’s favorite target. And, after Sunday’s game, it clearly looks like he has maintained that post in the ’10 season.

Hester appears to be lost in the shuffle. Cutler goes for 372 yards on 35 attempts and the supposed No. 1 receiver gets just one measly target?! That does NOT bode well for the rest of the season. It’s not like anybody in the Detroit Lions’ secondary will be getting their own island named after them anytime soon.

Forte looked incredible as a receiver out of the backfield, even if the offense stubbornly refused to open any holes for him in the rushing game. As the preseason showed, he was as explosive and dynamic as his 2008 rookie season, if not more so. Forte’s fantasy value doesn’t just lie in his ability to run the ball with effectiveness (because let’s face it, with that Bears O-line, he’s got a better chance of trying to get Rex Ryan and the New York Jets to stay out of the news), and his receiving prowess makes him a must-start each and every week, as Sunday proved.

It has been made very public that Mike Martz doesn’t enjoy gameplanning around his tight ends, but Cutler did manage six targets Olsen’s way. It’s only been one game, but I think it’s safe to say that expecting a repeat of Olsen’s 2009 numbers (60 rec, 612 yds, 8 TDs) is not too outlandish.

Knox had his ups and downs Sunday (7 targets is good, but only 3 receptions in those targets is bad, but one of those catches went for 32 yards) and is still also a popular target of the Bears’ enigmatic franchise QB. He may not be a week-in, week-out starter at this point, but he will be by season’s end and should slide in as the Bears’ most consistent receiver.

Hester won’t always have as bad of a game, and Aromashodu likely won’t get 10 targets every game, so figure a regression to the mean for both. Until both start showing consistency, I would say neither deserves a start in fantasy lineups. However, keep an eye on this situation as the season progresses.

San Diego Chargers

This truly West Coast offense had an exceptional passing game last season with Philip Rivers at the helm. But, that was with future Hall of Famer LaDanian Tomlinson (maybe the best receiving RB in the history of the game) and Vincent Jackson on the squad. This season, though Antonio Gates is still in the mix, things look a lot different in SD.

Somebody still has to catch all those passes from one of the league’s best QBs. But, who’s it going to be?

Lege-who?

Legedu Naanee turned in the best performance of all the Chargers’ receiving options with his 110 yards and a tuddie, but who the heck is he?

Well, to know Naanee, you need to first know how to pronounce his name so you don’t have any embarrassing moments in your league (it’s pronounced LEG-a-doo Nah-NAY, by the way).

Secondly, you need to know that most of Naanee’s yards and his score came on a terrible, terrible lapse in coverage by the Chiefs in which they put three players on Gates and zero on Naanee sitting downfield, who could have jumproped to the endzone. So, temper your expectations.

But, Naanee is a 6-2, 220-pound physical receiver who could easily be the best fill-in for the absent V-Jax. Nobody has emerged as the unquestioned No. 1 receiver yet, but Naanee has to have the leg up after Monday night’s performance.

Malcom in the Middle

Malcom Floyd had a whopping 12 targets, but only 3 receptions. Conditions were wet, but Floyd looked a little tentative going for balls in the middle of the field. And he was only playing the Chiefs. It’s not like KC hits like the Jets or the Ravens out there.

Floyd is massive (6-5, 225) and with his physical tools, could easily be a Terrell Owens-like option for Philip Rivers, catching balls in between the hash marks and providing a great endzone target.

However, that all means nothing if he continues to let 9 balls fall to the turf each game. Floyd HAS to make good on his potential before he can become a viable week-in and week-out starter. However, he will be a good matchup play and is worth a spot on your bench until he becomes more consistent.

Davis or Bust(er)

Buster Davis looks like he is going to be the slot option for Rivers and the Chargers, but with the way SD utilizes their RBs (Mike Tolbert, Jacob Hester, Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles), he won’t have many chances to get on the field. Throw in the fact that Gates never leaves the field and Randy McMichael is also a receiving threat and you have yourself a guy that doesn’t even deserve to be a bye-week roster replacement. Stay away from Buster Davis. He won’t be worthwhile fantasywise, barring injury to any of the receivers ahead of him.

The Flood’Gates’ are Open

KC showed exactly how the 2010 season will go for Antonio Gates–he will definitely be the focal point of the defense on passing plays. However, even as the focal point, he still had 5 receptions on 6 targets for 76 yards and a score. So, he can fight through the double teams and still be a productive fantasy option. He also might get more scores with Jackson sidelined.

Running Back Roundabout

Let’s face reality–Mathews is no Tomlinson. At least not yet. But, how could he be? Not everybody is going to be LT. Heck, maybe nobody ever will be like LT for the rest of the history of the NFL. So, give the kid a break.

That said, Mathews did not look like a receiver out there. He dropped a couple of easy passes and didn’t show anything on the balls he did catch. Again, it was wet and poor conditions for hanging on to the ball and making moves and cuts, so toss Week 1 behind and see how Week 2 plays out. He wasn’t much of a receiver in college (just 19 career receptions at Fresno State), so do know that he may never be a receiving option.

Sproles, however, is a talented receiver, and is a pretty good handcuff to Mathews. Hester and Tolbert are going to vulture carries (and subsequently touchdowns) from both Mathews and Sproles, but Sproles is the best receiver of the bunch. He’ll be a great screen option for Rivers the rest of the season and in PPR leagues, he could be a pretty good spot starter.

In Closing…

Problems don’t get solved after one game or one week. These things will take time to even out, and even then, injuries and matchups will be the predominant factor unless somebody emerges as a surefire, stable go-to option.

Tune in to the box score each week and pay particular attention to the targets column. You can learn a lot by studying box scores.