The Falcons got edged out in a big divisional game in a heartbreaker against Tampa Bay in Week 1. Atlanta’s offense looked disjointed for much of the game but came alive late, and the roller coaster ride ended for the Birds on the downswing in the final moments after Younghoe Koo missed a field goal as time expired.
We’re back for another season with this article series, which takes into account fantasy football scenarios and consequences. Each week we will highlight one player who was a standout
in fantasy football and one player who was a disappointment. Because of average draft positioning, players who were drafted higher will be under more scrutiny as the expectations are higher for them — a running back taken early in fantasy drafts will not be under the same scrutiny as the last receiver on the depth chart.
There is a lot of great content available here at The Falcoholic, and I encourage you to check it out if you want some in-depth analysis. This article will look at things strictly from a fantasy football perspective (that means looking at nothing other than pure statistics). Here is Atlanta’s fantasy stud and fantasy dud from Week 1’s defeat against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Fantasy Stud/Dud 2024 History:
Past Studs: Bijan Robinson (9), Darnell Mooney (2), Younghoe Koo (2), Drake London, Kirk Cousins, Kyle Pitts
Past Duds: Kirk Cousins (5), Kyle Pitts (4), Darnell Mooney (3) Drake London (2), Tyler Allgeier, Younghoe Koo
Fantasy Stud – Bijan Robinson
Stat Line – 12 carries, 24 rushing yards, 6 catches, 100 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown: 18.4 standard league points; 24.4 PPR points
Bijan Robinson is a fantasy football star. He was highlighted as the team’s “fantasy stud” in more than half the team’s games last season, and he started out with a bang early again this year. By early, I mean the third play of the game, where he took a pass out of the backfield in the flat, beat the linebacker one on one and proceeded to take it to the house for 50 yards.
Through the air is where the former Texas Longhorn did most of his damage, as he tacked on another 50 receiving yards on five more catches throughout the afternoon, and that’s a good thing as he and Tyler Allgeier were both completely bottled up in the run game to the tune of 24 rushing yards each.
Robinson finished as the overall PPR RB2 this week, behind only the great Derrick Henry, and he will remain a huge part of everything the team wants to do on offense. He should be in the running for best running back in all of fantasy football season.
Dud
Tyler Allgeier: 10 carries, 24 rushing yards: 2.4 standard league/PPR points
The question will be asked here why not Younghoe Koo, and in the game the kicker looked shaky and failed to deliver at the end of the game, but in fantasy football he nonetheless had a very solid 8 points thanks to two made field goals and two extra points.
To be honest, all of Atlanta’s fantasy relevant players delivered at least solid days, especially in PPR with Kyle Pitts, Drake London and Ray Ray McCloud going for over 50 receiving yards, and Pitts and London each having at least seven catches. Michael Penix supplied them and he accounted for his own two touchdowns.
That leaves Allgeier as more of a default option, even though we understand he was not drafted very highly. Much like Bijan, Tyler was bottled up in the run game to the tune of 24 yards, but unlike Bijan he had no contribution in the air to salvage his day.
Allgeier had just two fewer carries than Robinson and was the preferred option in short yardage situations, indicating that he will have a role on this team. He’s a very worthy handcuff to possess if you have Bijan on your team but he won’t have standalone value as long as Number 7 remains healthy and in the lineup.
