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Buffalo Bills Fantasy Football: Top 3 Performers vs. Ravens

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sep 11, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan (C) looks on from the sidelines during the second half against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens won 13-7. Buffalo Bills fantasy football. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Buffalo Bills Fantasy Football: With Week 1 behind us, let’s take a look at which Bills’ players performed the best in fantasy football — although options were scarce.

There was certainly a lot of hype heading into Week 1 surrounding several Buffalo Bills‘ players — in regards to fantasy production. A lot was expected, but none of those expectations were met vs. the Baltimore Ravens.

Whether the team was just a little rusty with this being the first week of regular season action or if the Ravens’ defense was just that good, the team will have to bounce back on Thursday vs. the New York Jets with a strong performance. With essentially an entire week to make up in fantasy numbers, they will have their work cut out for them.

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I, personally, drafted a couple of Bills’ players onto my fantasy football team with high expectations — although some of them are currently sitting on my bench in case needed. However, even though they are on my bench, I still want them to produce at a high rate. It stings my opponent even more knowing no matter what lineup I go with, there’s nothing they can do.

For now, all we can do is hope for better performances and continue to root for the players that represent the city of Buffalo. It was a tough night all-around for fantasy owners that had Bills’ players in their starting lineup, but everyone has a bad night. Luckily, much like the NFL regular season, the fantasy football season is 17 weeks long.

Although we all hope for that perfect undefeated season, we know it’s not necessarily needed to take home the championship.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the Buffalo Bills’ top three fantasy football performers during their season opener vs. the Baltimore Ravens — starting with the player who had the third highest fantasy points.

All fantasy stats come from ESPN.

Sep 11, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor (5) lays upside down after being tackled against the Baltimore Ravens defense at M&T Bank Stadium. Buffalo Bills fantasy football. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

QB Tyrod Taylor – 5 points

Three things stood out to fantasy owners last season with Tyrod Taylor: he loves throwing the ball deep, he can run with ease and he doesn’t turn the ball over often. Those three things are what drove 80% of fantasy owners to drafting him on draft day.

They’re also the reasons I chose him, although he is my backup behind Russell Wilson.

Against the Ravens, only one of those three things was showcased by Taylor: not turning the ball over. Unfortunately, fantasy owners don’t care that he had zero turnovers because he didn’t get them any points anyways.

We agree that Taylor loves to throw the ball deep. However, that wasn’t the case on Sunday. Taylor only managed to average 5.6 yards per pass, meaning most of his completions were to short routes. That’s not a good way to score fantasy points. We also agree that he’s an excellent runner. However, he only ran the ball 5 times and only totaled 11 yards on those carries.

All in all, Taylor finished the game with 5 fantasy points. Statistically, he completed 15 of his 22 passes for 111 yards and was sacked twice.

With a stingy New York Jets’ front seven that sacked a Cincinnati Bengals team 7 times last Sunday, Tyrod will need to bring his A-game to New Era Field.

Let’s move on to the top-two Buffalo Bills fantasy football performers vs. the Ravens.

Sep 11, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Mike Wallace (17) carries the ball in front of Buffalo Bills cornerback Ronald Darby (28) during the fourth quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens won 13-7. Buffalo Bills fantasy football. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

D/ST Buffalo Bills – 9 points

The Buffalo Bills’ front seven — 4 linebackers and 3 defensive linemen — is nothing short of depleted. Going into this season, no one expected the Bills’ defense to be up-to-par. In fact, a lot of people were worried that it would hurt our chances of winning and set our playoff-hopeful year back a little bit.

Then Week 1 came.

The players that needed to step up, stepped up. In the end, the defense wasn’t the problem for the Bills — it was the offense that caused the loss vs. the Ravens.

The defense only had one turnover, but their ability to keep Baltimore from running up the scoreboard and their five sacks proved to be their strength. In regards to fantasy points, the Bills had the 7th best defense in the league. Their 9 points only ranked behind the Houston Texans (10 points), Miami Dolphins (10), Seattle Seahawks (12), Philadelphia Eagles (12), San Francisco 49ers (14) and Minnesota Vikings (21).

Now, it’s time to announce your top Buffalo Bills fantasy football player for Week 1.

Sep 11, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy (25) carries during the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens won 13-7. Buffalo Bills fantasy football. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

RB LeSean McCoy – 12 points

I’m not going to lie, my fantasy football team currently consists of three Bills’ players LeSean McCoy, Tyrod Taylor and Charles Clay. Taylor and Clay are both my backups — behind Russell Wilson and Gary Barnidge — but McCoy is my top running back. I expected big things from him this season and that hasn’t changed.

Looking at McCoy’s stats, this was in no way a productive game for him. With that being said, I feel a lot better about the rest of the season knowing that 12 points is what I can expect on a bad day. Hopefully this is the last bad day because I smell a lot of 18-point games in the near distance.

His 12 points ranked 15th in the league, but only six players scored above 18 points — with 3 scoring 25+ points. He was a part of 88 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, meaning the Bills are ready to commit him as the workhorse back. McCoy gained 5 fantasy points for his 58 rushing yards, 6 points for a rushing touchdown and one point for his 12 receiving yards. He also had 4 receptions, so in a PPR league he would have 16 points.

Overall, not a terrible week for McCoy. However, that’s mainly due to the touchdown he had. Without that, I would have been a much less happy fantasy owner. After scoring just 3 rushing touchdowns last season — yes, I had him last season too — he will need to find the endzone a lot more often this season.

The Bills will be taking on the New York Jets for Thursday Night Football. Get your fantasy lineups straight because Week 2 is coming by fast.

How’s your fantasy football team looking now that Week 1 is over with? I am 0-1, just like the Bills. Leave  your comments below!

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