Week 1 Preseason Fantasy Winners & Losers: Tory Horton Rises, Ashton Jeanty Falls

The first night of NFL Preseason Week 1 kicked off last night with three games. We had the Baltimore Ravens hosting the Indianapolis Colts, the Cincinnati Bengals at the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Las Vegas Raiders hitting the road to play the Seattle Seahawks. After just three games, we already have some strong takeaways. These are the winners and losers from preseason Night 1.

Fantasy Football Winners

The Bengals Offense

Anyone who has invested in the Bengals' offense the past couple of seasons has felt the frustration of early-season struggles. It looks like the coaching staff has taken notice and is committed to addressing this issues. After holding out their starters from playing in the preseason in the past, this year they are letting all their starters get significant work. While it is scary watching your fantasy stars play in the preseason, this could be best for their regular-season production, and they did not disappoint last night.

Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase both played 16 snaps while Tee Higgins and Chase Brown played 12 each. In that span, Burrow went nine of 10 for 123 yards and two touchdowns. He heavily targeted Chase, who caught all four of his targets for 77 yards and a TD.

JA'MARR CHASE HAS 15.7 FANTASY POINTS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF A PRESEASON GAME.

THAT'S WHAT A NO. 1 FANTASY PICK DOESpic.twitter.com/ND3Zu3DqyQ
— Yahoo Fantasy Sports (@YahooFantasy) August 8, 2025

Another great sign was Brown making plays in the passing attack. He carried the ball five times for 23 yards at 4.6 yards per carry, which is good, but more importantly, he caught all three of his targets for 25 yards. It's a small sample size, but this kind of PPR volume could drive his fantasy value well inside of the top 10 running backs.

RB Keaton Mitchell, Baltimore Ravens

There have been a lot of negative reports coming out lately in regards to the Ravens running back's knee injury that he suffered as a rookie in 2023. It had been sounding like he wasn't close to being the back he once was and was behind Justice Hill on the depth chart and becoming a fantasy afterthought. Last night, he revived his fantasy value. He was given nine carries that he took for 68 yards and an electric 23-yard TD. His 7.6 yards per carry average was reminiscent of what we saw out of him as a rookie. It was great to see for us, Mitchell truthers.

WR Tory Horton, Seattle Seahawks

Granted, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp were not a factor in this game, but it is already clear that rookie wide receiver Tory Horton has not only locked up a spot on the Seahawks' 53-man roster, but he is going to be a major contributor on this team as a rookie in 2025. He was far and away the team's top wideout in this game.

Horton led the team in every significant receiving category, catching three of his seven targets for 31 yards and a TD. No one else saw more than three targets. It's also important to note that he served as the team's primary punt returner, something that we've heard about coming out of training camp.

The drum beat continues for Tory Horton.

Career stats and rank since 2020 (186 players):

2.46 YPRR (57th)
3615 yards (5th)
27 touchdowns (20th)

Don’t miss out on Horton in dynasty and is a decent late round flier in 2025

pic.twitter.com/FqqIaoTf7H
— Jeremy (@PopesFFH) August 8, 2025

Fantasy Football Losers

QB Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts

The Colts' dual-threat quarterback simply can't stay healthy. We have been hearing good things out of camp, and he got a chance to show if he has improved in the game yesterday, then promptly dislocated his pinky. It's not an overly serious injury and should only cost him a few weeks. Nevertheless, it's becoming a continuous issue and essentially kills his chances of being the Week 1 starter. It would not be a major surprise if Daniel Jones is under center in Week 1.

Anthony Richardson is OUT for the rest of the game with a finger injury

Unfortunate news for the Colts pic.twitter.com/iwk1aJpJAO
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 7, 2025

RB Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders

Take this one with a grain of salt. The super-hyped rookie rusher opened up his career getting the Raiders treatment. He carried the ball three times for -1 yard and didn't see a target in his NFL debut. Again, this isn't something we are panicking about or impacting our rankings in any way, but it would be negligent not to at least mention it. If this happens again, then it may raise an eyebrow or two.