5 Week 1 NFL Performances That Should Alarm Fantasy Football Managers

Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season saw many of the league's biggest names put up heaps of fantasy points. While these stars delivered on the immense hype surrounding them, there were also some concerningly poor performances from players who entered the new campaign with lofty expectations.

These players were projected to play sizable roles and ring up plenty of fantasy points, but wound up costing their teams dearly. They also put their managers in a tight spot, as they now need to determine whether these unsightly outings were flukes or indicative of more rough days ahead.

Although it's not time to drop these duds just yet—especially those potential stars who were selected early in fantasy drafts—it is worth scouring waivers and having a contingency plan in place in case Week 2 brings more of the same. Managers shouldn't hesitate to turn to their bench for a boost or to start exploring trades either.

With that in mind, here are five Week 1 performances that should alarm fantasy football managers.

Fantasy points, rankings, average draft position (ADP) and other fantasy data courtesy of FantasyPros using PPR metrics.

The Denver Broncos had a chance to make a statement in their 2026 season opener. That wouldn't come to fruition as the defense cratered and quarterback Bo Nix collapsed in an embarrassing 31-10 Monday Night Football defeat to the rival Kansas City Chiefs.

Nix made his first appearance since going down with an ankle injury in last year's playoffs and looked extremely rusty. Denver's opening offensive drive began with Nix getting sacked and ended with rookie corner Monsoor Delane picking the signal-caller off, the first of three turnovers the Broncos' QB had on the night.

Those turnovers, along with a modest 131 yards and one touchdown through the air and just two yards on three rushing attempts, led Nix to finish Week 1 with just 6.4 fantasy points. It marked the lowest scoring total of the passer's career, while his QB31 ranking was also his worst since taking over as Denver's starter in 2024.

After finishing as the QB7 in back-to-back seasons, there was optimism that Nix would once again rate as a top-10 QB and potentially even make a leap into the top-five performers of his position. Monday's performance, along with a brutally tough schedule—one that will see the Broncos take on a slew of top defenses over the coming two months—should have tempered those expectations.

While Nix shouldn't be discarded quite yet, Denver's passing offense is clearly still a work in progress. The quarterback has to show improvement before he can be safely started in standard leagues again, so consider Nix nothing more than a decent backup option for the time being.

The Cleveland Browns' 2026 season is off to a brutal start after the team fell 34-10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in its opener. New head coach Todd Monken's offense was abysmal, leading to an especially forgettable day from starting running back Quinshon Judkins.

Cleveland's lead back generated just seven fantasy points, needing 12 carries to gain a meager 33 yards on the ground and adding 17 yards on his two catches. Judkins' performance was concerning given his fourth-round ADP and RB21 status coming into the campaign.

Although some of the blame for Judkins' struggles can be placed on game scripting—the Browns were trailing 24-0 by halftime—the Jags had little reason to respect a Deshaun Watson-led passing attack and were able to handily keep the ground game at bay. Watson finished the day with 205 yards and a touchdown on 16-of-22 passing, but much of that production—including a 46-yard scoring strike—came in garbage time.

While Judkins' RB39 finish wasn't the worst of his fledgling career, he only placed outside the top-30 in four of his first 14 career games. He'll hope to do better in Week 2 when Cleveland takes on a softer Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense, but there's not much reason to expect massive improvements. Running backs on bad offenses tend to struggle and Judkins is facing an uphill battle to become a rare exception.

Even with Judkins being the lone Cleveland back to log a carry (rookie wideout KC Concepion was the team's second-leading rusher with 15 yards on three carries), there simply won't be enough room to churn consistent rushing yardage most weeks. Unless Watson shows rapid improvement—or gets replaced by Shedeur Sanders—the Bucs and other future opponents will be able to load the box and keep Judkins contained.

MarShawn Lloyd shot up draft boards after it was revealed that starting Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs would open the 2026 season on the Commissioner's Exempt list. Some managers believed that the longtime backup might be able to seamlessly replace a three-time Pro Bowler, but that would not come to fruition in Week 1.

Although Lloyd did serve as Green Bay's RB1 and saw the lion's share of offensive snaps and touches, he wasn't able to spark the ground game in an ugly 39-22 defeat to the rival Minnesota Vikings.

Lloyd finished the game with a pedestrian 3.7 fantasy points, gaining just 37 yards on 13 carries and failing to reel in his lone target. His RB51 finish was below projections for a player who was on average being taken as the RB32 in fantasy drafts.

While Lloyd was highly inefficient, he should get a few more opportunities to jump-start what has been a disappointing, injury-plagued career. While backup Chris Brooks was slightly more efficient with his seven carries, his 29 rushing yards won't do much to help him usurp Lloyd on the depth chart. Both players figure to remain locked into a similar timeshare when Green Bay travels to face the New York Jets in Week 2.

Lloyd will maintain a modicum of flex appeal given his projected volume, but managers who were expecting the third-year veteran to work as their RB2 should be making alternative arrangements to shore up the position. The Packers led for much of Sunday's contest and still opted to throw the ball more than twice as much as running it, a strong indicator that the coaching staff trusts quarterback Jordan Love far more than Lloyd and the rest of this backfield.

WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals opened their 2026 season with a shocking victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, but Marvin Harrison Jr. still managed to let his fantasy managers down during a 26-14 win.

Harrison ended Week 1 with 3.3 fantasy points and a WR78 ranking, catching only one of his three targets for 33 yards.

Considering the third-year wideout came into the year with an ADP of 70 (WR31), it simply wasn't enough production to warrant that draft status. That has largely been the story of Harrison's career, who entered the league with tons of hype as the No. 4 overall pick in 2024. He finished an up-and-down rookie campaign as the WR30 before regressing significantly as a sophomore, posting a WR49 finish after missing five games with injury.

Harrison wasn't able to build rapport with Jacoby Brissett after the QB took over for Kyler Murray early last season. Despite a regime change and schematic shift this offseason, it seems more of the same is in store this year.

When speakers to reporters on Monday, first-year head coach Mike LaFleur didn't seem concerned about Harrison's lack of involvement (per Arizona Sports' David Veenstra ):

"I wouldn't look too much into the targets and all that kind of stuff. It was just kind of how the game unfolded. We're always gonna do what we think is best in terms of putting our players in position to be successful that makes sense against the coverages and scheme that we're going against."

Although Harrison did command defensive attention, star tight end Trey McBride (13/95/1 on 13 targets) still thrived as the focal point of Arizona's passing attack while fellow wideouts Kendrick Bourne (8/75/0 on eight targets) and Michael Wilson (5/56/0 on five targets) both fared far better than their WR1 teammate.

Considering he's now recorded just two catches on seven targets across his past three games combined, Harrison is becoming borderline unplayable in fantasy. Things aren't likely to get better when the Cardinals host the defending champion Seattle Seahawks in Week 2, so don't be afraid to send MHJ to the bench if you have better options available.

Kyle Pitts has been one of the most polarizing players in the NFL, but he seemed to finally put together health and on-field production to finish 2025 as fantasy's second-highest scoring tight end. Any hope that he could match or even build on that performance quickly dissipated during a highly concerning showing in the Atlanta Falcons' season-opener.

Pitts posted a goose egg on Sunday, failing to secure the lone target that came his way during the team's 20-13 defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Things already looked somewhat bleak heading into Week 1 when it was revealed that recently-named starter Tua Tagovailoa would be sidelined with a back injury. While third-string QB Cooper Rush wasn't projected to oversee a high-flying offensive attack, it was still disappointing that he failed to link up with Pitts even once during the contest. Rush showed a startling lack of chemistry with not only his feature tight end, but also top wideout Drake London (2/29/0 on 4 targets) during a game in which Atlanta only mustered 143 passing yards.

While the situation could improve slightly when Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr.—who was also out while recovering from a knee injury suffered late last season—are available, it's difficult to envision either QB moving the needle enough for Pitts to return to elite form.

Pitts managed to fare well with a healthier Penix and Kirk Cousins throwing him the ball last year, but Atlanta's quarterback situation has devolved to a point where none of its signal-callers can be trusted to keep the team's pass-catchers fantasy-relevant. Bijan Robinson is the lone Falcons skill position player who can be trusted right now.

A slight regression was baked into Pitts' ADP of 72 (TE7), but it now seems that the 25-year-old could plummet into the TE2 range. He's already a risky start for Week 2's clash with the Carolina Panthers—a team that allowed 59 points this past weekend—and needs a big day to regain the trust of his fantasy managers.