Welcome to the SAF Awards! I’m your host, Eric Samulski, and this is our first regular season edition of a new weekly awards segment where we shine a light on the best performances, the disappointing performances, and the most misleading performances in the week of NFL action.
As the name states, the SAF Awards are totally arbitrary but no less valid and desirable awards given out by me based on the committee of voices in my head. Some awards will carry over every week while others will emerge from the ether based on my mood or the mercurial winds of pop culture trends.
While you will find plenty of actionable fantasy football information here, you’re not likely to get many of the fantasy football acronyms that make me feel like a real estate agent: EPA, aDOT, YACON, etc. Those are all valuable and have their place, but that place is not here. This is the place where we give out awards, talk some trash, and have some fun.
If you have players you believe are deserving of awards or want to suggest awards for the next week, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter (@SamskiNYC). This first edition will focus on the entire preseason, so it may have a few more awards than we’ll have on a regular weekly basis.
But without further ado, let’s hand out some hardware that doesn’t exist and people wouldn’t really want if it did!
Star of the Week: Tyreek Hill, WR Miami Dolphins
It’s really hard to choose anybody else. Tyreek Hill went off against the Chargers defense this Sunday to the tune of 11 catches (on 15 targets) for 215 yards and two touchdowns. He was the highest scoring player in fantasy in PPR and half-PPR formats. The Dolphins lined him up in the slot, they put him in motion, they worked him all over the field against an over-matched Chargers secondary and you’ll see Hill’s name pop up on the all the lists of fancy stats.
If Tua Tagovailoa can stay healthy, Tyreek has a good shot to be the top scoring wide receiver in football this year.
Ke Huy Quan Comeback Award: Calvin Ridley - WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
This is an award that almost certainly ages me, but if you’re not familiar with Ke Huy Quan, he was a child actor in some of the best movies of the ‘80s like “The Goonies” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Then he stopped making movies (or getting cast in movies) until last year’s “Everything Everywhere All At Once” for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Similarly, Calvin Ridley returned from a multi-year absence to crush Week 1. Now, Ridley was injured in 2021 and then suspended for all of last year for betting on NFL games, so we don’t want to draw too close of a parallel between him and Quan, who seems to have just been continuously passed over for roles. However, Ridley’s return was no less triumphant.
He was clearly the apple of Trevor Lawrence’s eye, putting up 101 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets. Which, honestly, shouldn’t come as a surprise since Ridley was sixth in the NFL in receiving yards with the Falcons in his last full season of NFL action. He’s still just 28-years-old and has proven to have elite upside, so a comeback of this caliber seemed like a given, just like with Ke Huy Quan. I mean, there are few characters as good as Data in “The Goonies.” It’s top notch stuff.
The trust and rapport that Trevor Lawrence built with Calvin Ridley over the offseason is going to make for a lot of fun highlights pic.twitter.com/AtjIBdcZQK
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) September 12, 2023
Breakout Performer: Puka Nacua - WR, Los Angeles Rams
By now you’ve probably read more than you ever thought you would about Rams rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua . The former BYU receiver who never put up more than 800 yards receiving in college exploded in Week 1 for 119 yards on 10 catches and 15 targets.
Is he fast? Well, no. He ran a 4.57 40-yard dash at his Pro Day, which is 26th-percentile. So he has short area quickness? Also no. His three cone drill was fifth-percentile and his shuttle was 20th-percentile. Is he explosive? Not really. His broad jump was 50th-percentile. So, he’s big? I mean, kind of. He’s 6'2" and 200 pounds. That’s not small.
The thing with Nacua is that he just understands how to get open. Cooper Kupp was also not an elite athlete coming out of college, but he put up eye-popping numbers in a much friendlier college offense. Sean McVay figured out how to get the most out of Kupp’s skillset and seems to have done the same with Nacua. While we have no idea if this has staying power, it’s a great story for Week 1.
Nicolas Cage Over-Actor Award: Jahmyr Gibbs, RB Detroit Lions
I’m a huge Nick Cage fan, so don’t take this award as a knock on him, but part of what’s so great about his performances is that they are so completely over-the-top.
However, even Nick Cage’s performances might not be as over-the-top as the reaction to Jahmyr Gibb’s Week 1 performance or lack thereof. Now, I know part of it had to do with the Lions playing the first game of the year on Thursday night and people were frothing at the mouth for some NFL action. But holy cow, some of you just lost your minds on Twitter.
Gibbs finished with 42 yards rushing on seven carries and then caught two passes for 18 yards. Meanwhile, his committee partner, David Montgomery rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. When I woke up, there were people posting videos of single blocking assignments where Montgomery wasn’t perfect as a way of criticizing the Lions for keeping him on the field over Gibbs. I get it, you drafted a lot of Jahmyr Gibbs , but we can’t let that override logic like Nicolas Cage after drinking an entire bottle of vodka in “Mandy.”
Gibbs is 5'9" and 200 pounds. He never rushed for over 925 yards while being part of a committee at Alabama. Is he talented? Yes, but the idea that he was going to step in on Day One and push aside a 26-year-old running back who the Lions just signed to a three-year deal was always foolish. Then when the Lions talked about using Gibbs, again a 5'9" running back, as a deep threat in the passing game, people talked themselves into that being a good thing instead of a warning sign that he wouldn’t be rushing the ball all that much.
Can Gibbs provide good fantasy value this year? Absolutely, but I think we need to temper our expectations a bit, especially in the early going. We can’t have these kinds of freak outs again on Sunday. OK?
Friend Zone Award: Isaiah Likely - TE, Baltimore Ravens
Have you ever been led on by somebody you liked? You thought things were going well. Perhaps a relationship was blossoming or at least a mutual attraction that could lead to a period of happiness and fulfillment. And then all of the sudden you get hit with the reality that the person you’re interested in just doesn’t have the same idea about your connection and you get left in the friend zone with absolutely nothing?
Welcome to rostering Isaiah Likely in Week 1.
With Mark Andrews out, the entire fantasy football industry talked itself into Likely as a top five or ten tight end option. It didn’t matter that the Ravens had signed Odell Beckham Jr., drafted Zay Flowers , and had a healthy Rashod Bateman . Everybody saw what Likely did last year when Andrews missed time and envisioned him carrying them to Week 1 victories. Instead, he gave you one catch for four yards on just one target.
Maybe he just wasn’t that into you.
David Blane Illusion Award: Tyjae Spears - RB, Tennessee Titans
The David Blane Award will be one of our weekly awards to highlight stats that are misleading. Since I watched the entire Titans-Saints game for my Rotoworld blurb coverage, I wanted to point out that Tyjae Spears ’ box score is not an accurate reflection of his role in this game.
The stats will say he had 27 rushing yards on three carries and just one catch for one yard. What they don’t say is that Spears played 54% of the team’s snaps, which was more than Derrick Henry . Now, that doesn’t mean that Spears is taking over this backfield or even sharing it as some inflammatory personalities on Twitter want you to believe. However, it does mean that the Titans want to get Spears on the field, which is why they lined him up in the backfield and also often out wide at receiver.
When Tennessee had the ball down four in the final minutes of the game, they started the drive with a six yard run by Spears and then brought Henry in the game, moving Spears over to receiver. He broke away from a linebacker and was open 40 yards down the field but Ryan Tannehill just missed him. The point here is that The Titans want to manufacture touches for Spears which makes him an elite handcuff to Henry and a worthwhile bench stash in deeper leagues in case he can carve out some standalone value amidst a pretty mediocre wide receiver corps in Tennessee.
Honestly, Spears is about the same size as Gibbs, had much more explosive results in college, and is seeing just as much time on the field as part of a committee. I’m not saying Spears will outperform Gibbs, but I’m saying we shouldn’t be so quick to believe Gibbs is a top 10 RB if we don’t also believe Spears can have fantasy value.
Milk Carton Award: Joe Burrow - QB, Cincinnati Bengals
Help! Have you seen Joe Burrow ? The NFL’s highest paid quarterback has not been seen since signing his lucrative contract. Some Burrow impersonator took the field on Sunday, completing just 14-of-31 passes for 82 yards against the Browns defense . Perhaps Burrow is still hampered by his offseason calf injury or maybe the lack of preseason reps hurt him or the weather impacted his play, but Week 1 was atrocious.
We should expect Burrow to be found in time for Week 2 as authorities and all of the fantasy managers who drafted him are working furiously to scour every inch of Ohio to locate the star quarterback.
Stubbed Toe Award: Tyler Allgeier - RB, Atlanta Falcons
Have you ever been walking along, minding your own business and having a wonderful time and then you stubbed your toe on a doorframe or the leg of a chair? It sucks and just comes out of nowhere. That’s how many people feel about the Week 1 performance of Tyler Allgeier .
When people drafted Bijan Robinson with a top five or six overall pick, they expected him to dominate the Falcons’ backfield. They were coming into Sunday feeling good about their dynamic young running back and then - OUCH! - Allgeier had 60% of the team’s rushes and - OUCH! again - Allgeier also took all of the carries inside the five-yard line and then - REALLY! again? - Allgeier had nine of the Falcons’ 10 rushing attempts as they tried to seal to game in the fourth quarter.
Now, Bijan Robinson got his fantasy points due to his receiving work and looked really good doing it, but Allgeier being this much of a factor was certainly an obstacle that few people really saw coming. Will you still enjoy rostering Robinson? Absolutely, but there will likely also be a few more stubbed toe moments along the way as Allgeier steals red zone work or late fourth quarter touches.
