Well, the season has finally kicked off, and fantasy owners everywhere have begun their bragging and collected their money. Week 1 is always crucial to determine how your current team and draft picks will perform throughout the rest of the season.

It is a little early to pick too many play­ers for this category, but I must say that if you benched players like Wes Welker or Ste­vie Johnson, hopefully you learned to trust them in your starting lineups from here on out. Still, the biggest surprise of Week 1 has to come from Mike Tolbert. There were many question marks about the Chargers and their run game prior to the season, but his three- TD performance tells me he might be the guy to get looks in the red zone almost in­definitely this season, and that means points. If he’s available in your league or on your bench, pick him up for sure.

Look to pick up someone like Robert Meachem, with Marques Colston and Lance Moore out, if he is avail­able, as well. Players like Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers defi­nitely had their way with the ball and are looking to be solid picks for the whole year. Matt Schaub and Matt Ryan didn’t have the best games this past week – even with Arian Foster out for Schaub – but it is too soon to fret. If you are worried, though, try to pick up a solid backup QB, like Matt Stafford or Ryan Fitzpatrick who both had unexpectedly great games this past week. Other notables include Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower, who seem to be doing much better now that they are separated and Reggie Wayne who will undoubtedly get his points.

There were several injuries, so here is who to keep an eye on going forward: Arian Fos­ter should be back this week and firing on all cylinders. He is a definite start. Hakeem Nicks said he tweaked his knee this week but it shouldn’t be an issue. Don’t be too con­cerned, but track his health status. Steven Jackson will likely be out with his quad in­jury and Marques Colston should be out for four weeks.

Even with all of that said, it is only Week 1, so don’t worry if one of your early draft picks had a bad game. Also, no need to get into crazy trade situations just yet. Patience is fine at this point in the season and if you are 0-1, you’re still in the same boat as half of the teams in your league. Good luck.

Contact Albert Raminfard at [email protected].