Week 1’s of the NFL season are always interesting. Not only do we have such high expectations for almost each team after a long and tedious offseason, but we’re always surprised at which defenses decide to show up, and which don’t. Which offenses show up, and which don’t. There are a bunch of fantastic advanced metrics and stats to show both offensive and defensive efficiency, yet, after a long offseason full of roster moves, teams are bound to get drastically better or worse on either offense or defense. And over the next few weeks or so, we’ll have a better idea of which defenses we should target, and which to stay away from.

They say never bench your studs, and that’s mostly correct. So let’s talk about who you should bench, and more importantly, who you should start.