Jimmy Garoppolo, Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan's Post-Week 1 Fantasy Advice

The New England Patriots beat the Arizona Cardinals 23-21 Sunday night in a potential Super Bowl preview, but fantasy football players were likely tuning in to see how the offensive playmakers performed.

New England’s passing attack made some waves, as quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo found Chris Hogan for a first-quarter touchdown and Julian Edelman for a number of sizable gains. Here is a look at their stats in the season-opening win:

Completions	Passing Yards	Passing Touchdowns	Interceptions	Rushing Yards	Rushing Touchdowns
24-of-33	264	1	0	12	0

Player	Catches	Targets	Receiving Yards	Touchdown Catches
Julian Edelman	7	7	66	0
Chris Hogan	3	4	60	1

Fantasy players relying on Garoppolo understand his long-term ceiling is severely limited by Tom Brady’s impending return in Week 5 after his Deflategate suspension. What’s more, the Eastern Illinois product had a mere 31 passing attempts in his career coming into Sunday’s game, which does not exactly scream established track record.

However, the Patriots proved on Sunday they weren’t afraid to air it out on the road against a team that went 13-3 last year. That mindset alone makes Garoppolo worthy as a short-term or daily fantasy play until Brady returns.

He will face the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills in the next three games, all of which come in the comfort of home in New England. Only the Texans (third in the league in passing yards allowed per game) were formidable against the pass last year, which means he could rack up big numbers against Miami (21st) and Buffalo (19th).

Garoppolo was also playing without tight end Rob Gronkowski in Week 1. When the tight end returns, he will give the signal-caller one of the most dangerous playmakers in the league and someone who opens up the field for the rest of the offense when he attracts double-teams and additional defensive attention.

That should be music to the ears of fantasy players relying on Edelman, especially since he was targeted early and often on Sunday. In theory, Gronkowski will cut into his targets, but Edelman will still be the No. 2 option and face easier coverage since he won’t be the primary receiver.

He tallied 151 targets in 2013 and 135 in 2014 and was well on his way to another triple-digit season last year before injuries limited him to nine games. He still posted 88 targets, which was second on the team to Gronkowski’s 120.

As long as he stays healthy (he played nine games in 2012 as well), he is a proven factor who has been a fantasy stalwart at times the last three seasons (1,056 receiving yards in 2013, 972 in 2014 and 692 in limited action last year). There is no reason to expect that to change this year, especially since Garoppolo looked his way a team-high seven times on Sunday.

As for Hogan, he hauled in a 37-yard touchdown catch from Garoppolo in the first quarter to open the scoring. He was wide-open after he exploded off the line of scrimmage in an encouraging move, via the NFL:

Hogan appeared to be the early beneficiary of Gronkowski’s absence. On one hand, he will also face lighter coverage with Gronkowski back, but he doesn’t have the proven track record of producing alongside No. 87 like Edelman does for New England.

There is a real chance the combination of Gronkowski and Edelman limits Hogan’s contributions moving forward, especially since last year’s 450 receiving yards marked a career high in three seasons with Buffalo. Plus, his four targets on Sunday were fewer than Edelman, James White, Malcolm Mitchell and Martellus Bennett. 

There is a silver lining with Hogan’s lack of a track record. He never played with a quarterback like Brady when he was in Buffalo and could take advantage of better throws and scoring opportunities with the talent that was on display during his touchdown on Sunday. He just needs to prove it past Sunday’s season opener.

For now, trust Garoppolo in the immediate future, make sure Edelman is in your lineup every week and adopt a wait-and-see approach with Hogan to make sure Sunday’s touchdown wasn’t a fluke.