So the Fantasy Football season has begun and week 1 brought us some great starts (Peyton 7 TDs) & some not so great starts (David Wilson -2 Points). Each and every Monday I am going to bring you the 5 Studs that stepped up and helped a majority of us to victory. ( Dont forget to check out my partner Matt Bell’s weekly DuDs piece as well http://wp.me/p2MUTr-lj )

Week 1 Studs

Peyton Manning – 27/42 with 462 yards & 7 TDs

Well Peyton set the tone for week 1 on Thursday against the Ravens. He didn’t look that great in the 1st half when he was 11/19 for 160 yards and 2 TDs. He threw a couple of ducks that were lucky they didn’t get intercepted. But just like any other Peyton Manning game, they made some half-time adjustments and he came out guns a blazing. He was 11/16 with 3 TDs in the 3rd quarters and 5/7 with 2 TDs in the 4th tying the all-time record with 7 touchdowns in a game. I am sure if you had Peyton on your team this week you were very happy Friday morning but if you were like me and faced him you were thinking of ways to salvage a very likely week 1 loss.

Reggie Bush – 21 carries 90 yards – 4 catches 101 yards & a TD

I stated before the season if Reggie Bush could stay healthy he will be a top 5 Fantasy Football player. He came out week 1 and showed why I thought that was possible. He broke little RB screen off for a 70+ yard touchdown. The Lions also showed that he is the main back coming out of the backfield as well (21 out of the 33 team carries). It also looks as if there is enough touches for Bush’s counterpart Joique Bell, who had 92 total yards and 2 TDs. I think Bell is definitely worth a look on the waiver wire this week. But going forward we know what we are getting out of this 2-headed monster.

Shane Vereen – 14 carries 101 yards – 7 catches 58 yards

I thought Vereen was a fumble or two away from seeing more of Vereen and this happened Sunday in Buffalo. Ridley fumbled for the 2nd time (1 lost) and it was returned for a TD. Ridley was no-where to be found after that. Vereen came out and showed that he wants this job, he averaged 7+ yards a carry and was showered with targets (10) by Brady out of the backfield. He was always the only RB in week 1 to reach 100 yards on the ground (much to my surprise). This is definitely a situation worth monitoring going forward but Vereen has moved up to a RB2/Flex play until further notice.

Victor Cruz – 5 catches 118 yards & 3 TDs

So I guess the foot isn’t going to be a problem for Cruz this year. A 70 yard catch and run by Cruz ended in a Salsa dance, a 18 yard strike from Manning ended in a Salsa dance and a 10 yard catch in the 4^th quarter ended in a Salsa dance. See the trend there? Yeah Cruz was targeted 8 times (catching 5, 3 for TDs) during Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys. A lot of questions surrounding whether he would be healthy for the first few weeks are thrown on the window now.

Side note: Eli showed love to everyone on the receiving core. Hakeem Nicks & Ruben Randle ended up with 100+ yards and Brandon Myers had 7 catches for 66 yards. All 3 of these guys are worth taking a look at heading into their matchup against the Broncos.

Anquan Boldin – 13 catches 208 yards & a TD

HOLY MOLY BATMAN! Boldin was targeted early, often and every other play by Kaepernick. I know this is week 1 but the chemistry between these two was insane. He had 17 targets in week 1, 17! Do you think the Ravens were watching in grimace after watching guy after guy drop balls on Thursday? They practically gave Boldin away (6^th rounder). Well I was shocked by this performance by Boldin and don’t expect this every week but looks like he is the man going forward in San Francisco.

Honorable Mentions: Colin Kaepernick (27/39 412 yards 3 TDs), Adrian Peterson (111 total yards & 3 TDs), A.J. Green (9 catches 162 yards 2 TDs) & Larry Fitzgerald (8 catches 80 yards 2 TDs)

Tell me who were your Fantasy Studs for week 1. Comment below or hop on over to Twitter (@thesportsscript or @rickygangster) and shoot me your answers.