The 2021 NFL season is here! (sort of). Each season we begin the preseason with an exhibition matchup between two poor teams who are barely one week into their training camp, resulting in general chaos on the field. However, it's the first live action we have had since watching Brady hoist the Lombardi yet again in February, so let's take a look at what we can glean from the tape.
Final Score: Steelers 16, Dallas 3
Whether the final score of a preseason game matters or not is up for debate, especially the HOF Game as it happens practically in July. In general for this one, no starters actually play. Of course we didn't see Dak Prescott or Big Ben out there, but surprisingly we did see both head coaches Mike Tomlin and Mike McCarthy use their star rookies a little more than expected. Pittsburgh RB Najee Harris had 7 carries for 22 yards and also bailed out QB Mason Rudolph on a dump pass he managed to turn into a 3-yard gain. Do we extrapolate and assume Harris will have 21 carries for 70 yards and 4 receptions for 12 yards each game in the NFL season? Of course not. But it was interesting to see him out there into the second quarter, showing Tomlin wants the young back to get work. Harris looked like he hasn't missed a beat since college and should live up to the lofty expectations set for him, if the small sample is any indication.
On the Dallas end, it didn't take long to see that rookie LB Micah Parsons is the real deal. Parsons flew around the field finishing the day with three solo tackles and also scooped up a Mason Rudolph fumble forced by Dallas teammate Reggie Robinson II. While it's just an exhibition game, and he recovered a fumble rather than forcing one, elite players tend to find themselves around the ball when there are plays to be made, and Parsons showed that already in the ten football minutes he played last night.
Fantasy Takeaways
There isn't much to take away, other than reaffirming several things for both Dallas and Pittsburgh that we already believed. If Big Ben or Dak Prescott go down, we didn't see anything from Rudolph/Haskins that would make us think they could lead the team to success, and same for Gilbert/DiNucci/Rush on the Dallas side. We saw Pittsburgh RB Kalen Ballage take in the TD, but neither he or Jaylen Samuels showed any threat to Harris's projected workload. One interesting thing was WR Chase Claypool out there as much as he was, making a highlight-reel catch down the field, but then going to the tent after landing on the ball and knocking the wind out of him. You always pucker up a little when a fantasy relevant player goes into the medical tent in a preseason game. Obviously Dionte Johnson wasn't on the field, but it's still great affirmation to see Claypool out there looking sharp, especially if you have the young receiver high on your list of mid-round targets.
For Dallas, the ball control was abhorrent. QBs Gilbert and DiNucci both fumbled but recovered the ball, and WRs Malik Turner and Reggie Davis both fumbled and lost the ball. Tony Pollard, the expected RB2, only saw 2 rushes, and anything else offensively was really a non-factor as we weren't seeing anything resembling the actual product we will see week 1. The only real takeaway for Dallas was that they probably have the next NFL superstar LB in Penn State's Micah Parsons, so if you have an IDP slot in your league, Parson just leapt up everyone's draft boards.
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