NFL Week 1 Fantasy Football Game Recap: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts

• Travis Etienne Jr.: 18 carries, 77 yards, 1 touchdown, 5 receptions, 27 receiving yards

• Calvin Ridley: 8 receptions, 101 yards, 1 touchdown• 

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Indianapolis Colts

Tank Bigsby has a shaky NFL debut: Bigsby scored a touchdown in his NFL debut but dropped a pass leading to an interception and lost a fumble.

• Travis Etienne Jr. dominated offensive snaps over the first three drives, playing 15-of-16 snaps, but the two split snaps on the fourth and fifth drives.
• At that point in time, the two backs were at a near-even split in terms of opportunities.
• Etienne dominated snaps after the turnovers, but Bigsby did take the goalline snaps as anticipated, leading to his first NFL touchdown.
• This meant the two running backs were relatively close together in terms of fantasy points until Etienne broke a 26-yard touchdown run less than a minute later.
• Etienne remains a safe start at the moment, but it will be worth seeing how many opportunities Bigsby receives in future weeks.

Christian Kirk is reduced to a slot receiver: It appeared Kirk would be losing playing time based on preseason usage, which played out in this game.

• Kirk played in 37 of a possible 38 snaps in 11 personnel, but only 6-of-21 in 12 personnel and none of the 11 snaps in 13 or 22 personnel.
• This meant Kirk played in a lower percentage of snaps than he did in any week last season because he was consistently playing in 12 personnel last season.
• We can expect Jacksonville to continue employing this strategy as long as Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones are both healthy.
• Kirk caught one pass for nine yards.
• We can expect Kirk to bounce back from the bad stat line, but his ceiling is notably lower this season than it was last season.

Deon Jackson doesn’t make the most of his start: Jackson was the Colts' clear starter but any fantasy manager who started him wasn’t happy.

• Jackson gained 14 yards on 13 carries and caught five passes for 14 receiving yards.
• He completely dominated first-half snaps, playing in 28 of a possible 31 snaps with Evan Hull taking the other three snaps.
• Jackson’s lead in snaps started to decline in the third quarter, only playing in 10-of-17 snaps.
• Hull suffered a knee injury and was ruled out for the rest of the game, leading to Jake Funk getting involved in the offense.
• Jackson and Funk split snaps in the fourth quarter.
• Zack Moss was questionable for this game at one point in the week, so there is at least a chance Moss will be ready for next week. We can expect Moss to be the starter if he’s healthy.

Monitor Drew Ogletree‘s health: The 2022 sixth-round pick suffered a concussion in the second quarter and was ruled out.

• Ogletree was leading the Colts' tight end room in offensive snaps over the first six drives with 15 snaps compared to Kylen Granson‘s 12 and Mo Alie-Cox‘s 11.
• The Colts have continued to use their three-man tight end rotation despite the new coaching staff, with all three playing significantly in 11 personnel and no strong tendencies for which player would be on the field.
• Even if Ogletree misses a game due to a concussion, this is a situation to avoid. Will Mallory was a gameday inactive and would likely play into the rotation next week if Ogletree misses time.
• Jelani Woods is on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury and will miss at least two more games. He is the best hope for someone on this team to emerge as a fantasy-relevant tight end, but he doesn’t have much experience with the new coaching staff.

Miscellaneous Notes

• The preseason made it clear Josh Downs would be the Colts' primary slot receiver with Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. playing out wide. The distribution of Colts wide receiver snaps went exactly as expected in this game.
• Calvin Ridley was also utilized exactly as we expected — an every-down outside receiver who rarely lines up in the slot with a high target share. To no one’s surprise, he is a must-start regardless of matchup going forward.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.