Ja'Marr Chase, David Montgomery & Surprising Fantasy Box Score Player Stats from NFL Week 1 Games

There were some eye-opening performances during the early slate of Sunday's NFL games from a fantasy football perspective, both good and bad.

Below, we'll review a few of them keeping PPR scoring in mind. It was a wacky and fun start to the fantasy football season.

Quarterbacks

Player	YDS	TD	INT	Fantasy Points
Bryce Young, CAR	361	3	1	31.4
Tyler Shough, NO	410	3	2	23.2
Joe Burrow, CIN	254	1	1	14.1

Bryce Young was largely considered a backup option coming into the 2026 season for fantasy players, so his massive season debut came as a surprise and may have folks reconsidering his upside (especially in superflex formats).

Meanwhile, on a day that saw the Bengals score 33 points, Burrow only managed 14 fantasy points. Traditionally, if Cincinnati has a big offensive day it's because Burrow was thriving through the air. He was solid in Week 1, but perhaps not to the level fantasy players would have expected.

And sorry, 410 yards from Tyler Shough? You didn't have that on your Week 1 bingo card. Perhaps that Detroit pass defense wasn't fixed.

Running Backs

Player	Total Yards	Total TD	REC	FantasyPoints
Chuba Hubbard, CAR	87	2	3	23.7
David Montgomery, HOU	79	3	3	28.9
Kyle Monangai, CHI	124	1	2	20.4

Chuba Hubbard finished with eight more touches than Jonathon Brooks in Carolina's backfield and certainly made the most of them. If you rocked with him in your flex spot, congratulations.

Monangai, meanwhile, earned most of his fantasy points from a 61-yard touchdown run, making up for the fact that he touched the ball eight less times than D'Andre Swift. Both players were electric on Sunday, however (Swift finished with a whopping 32.4 fantasy points).

And Montgomery remains a touchdown merchant, even if his three scores on Sunday aren't sustainable. His 20 carries and three receptions might be, however.

Wide Receivers

Player	REC	YDS	TD	FantasyPoints
Jalen Coker, CAR	8	138	2	33.8
Ja'Marr Chase, CIN	2	12	0	3.2

We apologize, Jalen Coker, we weren't familiar with your game (OK we were, we just weren't expecting THIS).

On the other hand, somebody find Ja'Marr Chase, he seems to have gone missing.

And then there was Marvin Harrison Jr., who was trending in the wrong direction for fantasy enthusiasts after the first half:

Tight Ends

Player	REC	YDS	TD	FantasyPoints
Mike Gesicki, CIN	5	78	1	18.8
Pat Freiermuth, PIT	5	46	1	15.6

Mike Gesicki leading Cincinnati's passing game, Pat Freiermuth leading Pittsburgh's in Week 1?

Sure.

Fantasy football, you never fail to surprise.