Welcome back to our weekly fantasy start/sit articles!
The weekday games are behind us, with the Kansas City Chiefs edging out the Baltimore Ravens by a literal toe in the Thursday nighter, and the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers overcoming the terrible field conditions to turn a sloppy start into an amazing matchup in Brazil.
While there were plenty of fantasy points to be had in those two games (especially if you were bold enough to start the likes of Worthy or Likely), the majority of matchups will be decided during Sunday’s slate of games.
If you’re new to this series, the goal here is to highlight must start players who you might be debating about, as well as which starters who are facing a tough situation might have to ride this one out on your bench for at least this coming week.
Again, the best advice you can give to fantasy managers is to start your studs, so they won’t be highlighted here. We’re here to help you with those fringe decisions that can give you an extra boost to win a week.
So without further ado, let’s dive into it.
Start
Quarterback
Jared Goff – Detroit Lions – vs. LA Rams
The Sunday nighter brings the LA Rams to Ford Field in Detroit to take on the Lions. Jared Goff has taken massive strides since being shipped out of Los Angeles, and now is in charge of one of the most explosive offences in the league. He excels when playing indoors, and is facing a Rams defence that’s going to look much different this season following the retirement of Aaron Donald.
Wide Receiver
Andrei Iosivas – Cincinnati Bengals – vs NE Patriots
Ja’Marr Chase is “likely” to suit up for the Bengals this weekend despite missing almost every single team practice this offseason. But with the news of Tee Higgins being listed as doubtful for the Bengals matchup against the New England Patriots, Iosivas is in line for a major role on the offence. If Chase plays, the Patriots formidable defence will have to focus on him, leaving half the field for the second year Iosivas. The Patriots are without Christian Barmore (PUP) and just traded away Matthew Judon, so their pass rush will be heavily depleted. Joe Burrow should have plenty of time to get the team’s passing game going. And with rookie Jermaine Burton as the only other true competition for targets, Iosivas is in line for a huge game.
Running Back
Chuba Hubbard – Carolina Panthers – @ New Orleans Saints
Hubbard has a very good matchup in week one – the Saints defence was average against the run last season, and are entering this game with four of their six linebackers on the initial injury report. Hubbard dominated the snaps with the starters in the preseason for the Panthers (albeit in an extremely small sample size), but with rookie Jonathon Brooks on the PUP list to start the season, Hubbard will be the lead back in a favorable matchup.
Tight End
Taysom Hill – New Orleans Saints – vs Carolina Panthers
I didn’t come into this article thinking I would have two players from the Carolina New Orleans matchup as must starts, but fantasy football is weird. Hill’s usage in the preseason should lead us to believe that he could become a must start every week. Hill played 20 out of 31 snaps with the starters in preseason – four at halfback, five at fullback, eight at tight end, two in the slot and two out wide. The versatility that Hill provides is seemingly something that new offensive coordinator Clint Kubiak is looking to take advantage of, and the Saints are favourites in their week one matchup. It might not feel good to do, but Hill might be a must start going forward.
Sit
Quarterback
Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys – @ Cleveland Browns
Prescott is facing some stiff competition in week one, heading to the Dawg Pound in Cleveland. The Cowboys have some new additions on their offensive line, starting rookies at left tackle (Guyton) and center (Beebe). Guyton in particular will be in tough as he’ll likely be facing Myles Garrett for the majority of the game and the Browns look to dominate the game on the defensive side of the ball. There’ll be plenty of other weeks where Prescott can feed Lamb for major fantasy points. But this game has the makings of a low scoring, grind it out affair which makes Prescott irrelevant for fantasy purposes in Week 1.
Wide Receiver
Tank Dell – Houston Texans – @ Indianapolis Colts
Dell had a fantastic rookie season prior to breaking his leg. Despite being a full participant throughout training camp, he’s still in line for a down week in week one in Indy. The Colts defensive backfield isn’t very good, but they do have a more than capable slot corner in Kenny Moore, who’s likely to be matched up against Dell for the majority of the game. The last time these two teams played in week 17 of last season, Nico Collins went off for 9 catches and 195 yards. With Stefon Diggs set to line up outside as well for this Houston offence, Dell might be a victim of circumstances in week one.
Running Back
Najee Harris – Pittsburgh Steelers – @ Atlanta Falcons
The Steelers couldn’t have had a worse preseason in terms of their offensive line. For week one they’ve already lost two starters in Isaac Seumalo and Nater Herbig, with the latter headed to injured reserve. With Harris’s backfield mate Jaylen Warren seemingly healthy for week one, Harris will both be dealing with a makeshift line and a split backfield against a Falcons run defence that’s better than one would expect. Arthur Smith is also likely to rotate in Coraderelle Patterson, someone who he clearly trusts, so if you have better options this week try and keep Harris on the bench until things are more clear in Pittsburgh.
Tight End
Brock Bowers – Las Vegas Raiders – @ LA Chargers
The Raiders showed some promising things with Bowers in his frst preseason game and his usage rate was fairly high for a rookie tight end. But he’s entering week one of the regular season with a foot injury. His usage to kick off the regular season is questionable at best on an offence that doesn’t inspire much hope. With second year tight end Michael Mayer set to go for the Raiders, it wouldn’t surprise me if Bowers sees a very limited amount of snaps this week as they slowly work him back into a more impactful role.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
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