4 fantasy football storylines for Week 1 of the NFL season

After months of meticulous planning, countless hours of mock drafting, and an oceanic quantity of coffee, I was finally prepared. With my sprawling draft plan in hand, I was ready for the return of fantasy football. What could go wrong?

With my first pick, I selected Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot. In the second round, I took Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown. The NFL season isn’t even through Week 1, and I’ve already been through an emotional roller coaster.

Elliot was in the midst of a preseason holdout at the time of my league’s draft, and there was lingering uncertainty around his status for fantasy players.

On that front, I lucked out. He signed a record contract the following morning, and all appeared to be well.

But then Brown, as he has now done to multiple real-life NFL teams, threw my fantasy squad back into turmoil. Reports of a verbal altercation with Raiders general manager Mike Mayock put his future on the football field in doubt. With a jolt, I was back to my post-draft anxiety.

This is the life I quite literally chose in fantasy football this season, and I wouldn’t have it any other way (except maybe that Brown pick, but we’ll see).

Those are only two of the many fantasy football story lines heading into the 2019 season. Here’s a glance at a few others:

■  Are the Browns really good? For the first time in years, the Browns might actually have one of the top offenses in the NFL. The addition of Odell Beckham Jr. plus the expectation of Baker Mayfield continuing to develop into an elite passer means Cleveland may actually have a winner this year. In fantasy terms, this is also good news for running back Nick Chubb, receiver Jarvis Landry, and tight end David Njoku.

■  The status of Todd Gurley: A year ago, the Rams running back was the consensus No. 1 pick across almost every fantasy league. And for much of the season, Gurley delivered, compiling more than 1,800 yards from scrimmage and 21 total touchdowns. Yet he was limited late in the season with an ongoing knee issue, notably missing Week 16 (when many fantasy championships are decided).

In 2019, his capacity to repeat as the top fantasy running back is questionable. Even if healthy, Gurley could lose some touches to other Rams running backs (particularly rookie Darrell Henderson) as Los Angeles tries to preserve his talent for the end of the season and an expected playoff run.

■  The impact of coaching changes: As usual, the NFL witnessed its annual round of coaching firings and hirings toward the end of last season and the start of the offseason. When the dust settled, there were plenty of new faces, with intriguing fantasy repercussions.

Bruce Arians taking charge of the Buccaneers figures to make all members of that offense more valuable. The same is potentially true with the Cardinals, who hired former Texas Tech head coach (and ex-Patriots draft pick) Kliff Kingsbury.

Kingsbury will try out his version of the “Air Raid’’ offense in the NFL with rookie quarterback Kyler Murray. At the very least, expect running back David Johnson to be very involved, though exactly how many points the team scores is still — wait for it — up in the air.

The allure of offensive-minded coaching hires continued as every limb of the Sean McVay coaching tree was picked over. Both Matt LaFleur and Zac Taylor got head coaching jobs, in Green Bay and Cincinnati, respectively. Both offenses stand to benefit from those hires.

■  Will Melvin Gordon play, and where might he do that? Not unlike Elliot, the Chargers running back has been holding out from training camp. Unlike his Cowboys counterpart, Gordon remains at home as the season’s opening weekend approaches.

In this case, the sides appear to be at a standoff, with no resolution in sight. Gordon reportedly has sought a trade but might find that difficult to pull off.

In Gordon’s absence, Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said he will use both Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson.

While Ekeler probably holds the upper hand in fantasy value, Jackson could be worth keeping on a roster as the team figures out its offense in the first few weeks of the season.