Here comes your week 1 disclaimer! Individual roster talent has everything to do with how you use the information in this post. Different folks have different strengths and weaknesses on their roster. If I say that I don’t like JuJu Smith-Schuster this week and you are in a 14 team league and your next best option is Sammy Watkins, that doesn’t mean that you should take “sit JuJu” as gospel. It just means that I like other players in a certain player’s tier more. I’ll specify if I think a player is going to put up a donut. Let’s sort through the rosters and find the plays for week 1.
Start
Shout out to Homer’s got the Runs who is a Razzball commenter. He asked me about Jimmy G vs. Cam this week and pointed out how well JG did against the Cardinals in 2019. I remembered the 49ers scored a lot in those games, but didn’t remember JG specifically. I told him I felt safer with Cam against the Dolphins, but then I took a look at JG and my lord, he pounded the Cardinals last year. In their two matchups last season, Garoppolo combined for 741 passing yards and 8 touchdown passes in their two games. I moved Garoppolo to QB12 for the week.
Rookie running backs are going to be tough to project in week 1, but I’ll be starting Taylor in both of the leagues that I have him in. Marlon Mack is the “starting running back” in Indianapolis but we should expect a 50/50 split right off the bat. This is a great spot for Taylor because of the matchup. The Colts have the Jags and I expect the Colts to gain a sizeable lead with a lot of time left on the clock. This should give the Colts an opportunity to get a good look at their prized running back for an extended amount of time. I think Taylor gets 15+ touches in this one and he has the talent to do a lot with that workload.
Everything that Bruce Arians has said this week leads me to believe he will see a boatload of snaps on Sunday. This isn’t the week to get a look at Leonard Fournette. You have to give the ball to your back that has done all of the offseason programs and knows the playbook. This will be a tightly contested divisional battle and Leonard Fournette will have been a Buccaneer for a little over a week when this one kicks off. Jones is a great flex option this week or a RB2 in deeper leagues.
DeSean Jackson may be an idiot off of the field at times, but when he is healthy and on the field, he is still dynamic. Jackson played two games last year and one of them was against the Washington Football Team. In the game against Washington he caught 8 passes for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns. Outside of Ertz, Jackson is by far the best option for Carson Wentz. There is a new coaching staff in Washington, but looking back to 2019, Washington was outside of the top half of the league against the pass. I like Washington to keep this one closer than a lot expect, but I also expect Jackson to have a big game.
The injury news for Brandin Cooks led me to move Will Fuller up to WR18 this week which is well within WR2 territory. Will Fuller is all that is dangerous and awesome when he is on the field. When the Texans played the Chiefs in the playoffs, Fuller caught 5 balls for 89 yards. Now without Hopkins in a Texans uniform anymore, Fuller is the guy. The Chiefs are going to score and the Texans are going to have to try and keep up.
I also like Preston Williams this week but there is no need to bend your ear about him anymore. If DonkeyTeeth, Boof, or myself haven’t gotten you on the Preston train at this point, nothing will. But I also like Gesicki a lot against a Patriots team that had a lot of starters opt out. Gesicki is listed as the #2 tight end on the depth chart and was a limited participant in practice, but if he is playing, I am starting him. He’s the 3rd best pass catching option in this offense and can and will play snaps out of the slot. With Ryan Fitzpatrick under center, I expect the Dolphins to unload in the passing game to try and upend the Patriots.
Sit
I don’t hate Roethlisberger this week, so don’t get it twisted. The Steelers have a pretty good matchup against the Giants, so don’t go scouring the waiver wire for Mitch Trubisky or anything. But I do have Roethlisberger outside of the top 12 QBs this week which would make him a QB2 in my book, although a high end one. My outlook on the Steelers is that they are going to try and win games with their much improved defense and preserve Roethlisberger to the best of their ability because he’s old and seemingly hurt all the time, even though he has played through said injuries often in the past. Big Ben admitted to having nerves heading into the season and will have to shake off the rust after missing last year. The Giants also did improve in the offseason by adding James Bradberry to the secondary. I’ll gladly take the contrarian side on this one.
I like Cam Akers for the year, but I’d like to wait and see him pull away from the other backs that L.A. has before putting him in my lineup. Sean McVay admitted that Malcolm Brown, Cam Akers, and Darrell Henderson will all see work on Sunday. Unfortunately in SFBX, I have to start Akers, but I’m hoping that you have a better option.
Earl Thomas is gone, and that is certainly a big hit to Baltimore’s secondary, but it is still very good if not great. Baker did have a great game against Baltimore last year, but it was Jarvis Landry who caught 8 passes for 167 yards. In 2 games against the Ravens last year, Beckham caught a combined 6 passes for 64 yards. Stefanski probably won’t want to shake Baker’s confidence in week 1 and have him try to unload to Beckham down the field right out of the gate. Chances are that Beckham is pretty quiet in this one.
A lot of analysts like Chris Herndon to have a nice breakout season and I’m not opposed to the idea. But Buffalo has a pretty stout defense, especially when it comes to defending tight ends. In fact, the Bills allowed the 3rd fewest fantasy points to tight ends in 2019. I’d pick another week to run him out.
12 team standard keep 3 league
Just traded Ruggs and my 2021 5th for ertz
Do I drop Hayden hurst for one of these wr?
Bourne, MVS, John Ross, Russell Gage, Van Jefferson, Steven Sims, Cobb, Stills, JJAW
Or hold until I can flip ertz for a better WR?
My WRs Davante, Moore, Lamb, Edwards (we start 3)
You’re probably going to want to hang on to Ertz this year. Makes Hurst expendable. I’d stash Jefferson
wouldnt hurst have value in trade? i would go down that avenue first before dropping him.
It’s A good point. Was going from the angle of not needing to roster 2 tight ends making him ”expendable”.
My draft prep consisted of going down the Top 100 ranking list in my 12 team league. This is the team I came out with – .5 PPR:
QB- Kyler Murray
RB- Saquon Barkely
RB- Kerryon Johnson
WR- Cooper Kupp
WR- Chris Godwin
TE- Hayden Hurst
FLEX- OBJ
Bench-
RB- James White, JK Dobbins, Tarik Cohen, Joshua Kelley
WR- Golden Tate, Emmanuel Sanders
Should I try to swap out Tate for Preston Williams?
Nice looking team, and yes I have PW>Tate
PPR Keep 4 League
Start 1QB, 2RBs, 2WR, 1 TE, 2 Flex
Keep the first 4? Ridley over Fournette?
CMC, Drake, A.Jones, Fournette, Ridley, and Fuller are my top 6.
First 3 and Ridley>Fournette
Would you start Desean Jackson over Tarik Cohen at Flex – ppr?
2nd question relevant to tonight – Mecole Hardmann over Preston Williams? – also PPR
Yes, DeSean > Cohen.
Hardman is so hard to gauge. You never know when it’ll be his night. He has a higher ceiling but PW probably has a higher floor
Potential trade in my ppr dynasty league.
I give Dalvin Cook, Davante Adams, Aaron Rodgers, and Alexander Mattison and receive Nick Chubb, D.K. Metcalf, J.K. Dobbins, and Patrick Mahomes. Also relevant I have Mark Ingram so Dobbins would lock up the Baltimore backfield. Thoughts?
I would definitely take that trade if I were you
Who to start at RB2 this week in PPR?
Darrell Williams v HOU
JK Dobbins v CLE
James Robinson v IND
Thanks!!
I’m leaning Dobbins
12 team standard 2 flex spots….
JK Dobbins, Gibson, Chris Thompson, Malcolm Brown, Bryan Edwards
also 14 team std
Gibson or Kerryon at flex
Dobbins and Edwards
Kerryon
Standard league 10 team
Fuller,Mack,moestart,or desean Jax in flex??
Help
Thanks
Fuller and if you don’t have him in at kickoff, Mostert
Tthanks for the shout out!!! now a question. I have both Diontae Johnson and Courtland Sutton who were both going to start in my flex spots. With both now questionable my replacement options are Antonio Gibson, Joshua Kelley, Chase Edmonds, Parris Campbell and Irv Smith (very high on him this year). which to replace the injured if necessary?
Anytime!
Gibson and Campbell or Irv if you like Irv a lot
.5 ppr league
Which two you starting out of this bunch?
Amari, Phillip Lindsay, E Sanders, Ronald Jones, and Mecole Hardman?
thanks man
Amari and Jones
Hey MB,
My 12 team draft full PPR didn’t go as planned for me especially regarding my RBs. I have a stable of WRs with a few that I am planning on putting on the trading block. Some sort of Boyd/Lamb or Woods/Boyd for some mid tier RB. My team is below:
QB: Goff
WR: Godwin
WR: DJ Moore
RB: Ekeler
RB: T. Cohen
TE: Gesicki
Flex: Woods
Bench: Kupp, Kareem Hunt, Tyler Boyd, Ceedee Lamb, Joshua Kelly
My question seems like an obvious and easy answer for a short term fix with my RB shituation. Sony Michel and James Robinson are on the waiver wire. Would you drop Joshua Kelly for Sony or James?
Thanks
Hate dropping Kelley but yeah, grab sony
Hey bud, would you try to move Mattison to the D Cook owner? 12 team standard…I start Chubb & M Gordon & have Fournette, D Henderson, Duke Johnson & Mattison on bench. On WR side I start Julio. aJ Brown & Metcalf with Crowder & D Samuel on bench. I suppose I have more WR strength but we start 3 of them & 2 WR & flex 1, so this might not make sense? The owner is my friend so I could casually bring it up to feel it out…
Feel it out but Mattison could have a ton of value later in the season. Feel like it’s a sell low right now with cooks injury history
Crazy to bench Devante Parker for Emmanuel Sanders? There’s a lot of narrative of Parker talking smack to Gilmore. IDK, but on paper it’s not a great matchup and Bucs v. NO seems like it could be a shootout
I’d rather play Sanders against Tampa
Full point PPR, would you start Kareem Hunt or Tarik Cohen in the flex?
Hunt
.5 ppr keeper league
Lose Hardman or Kirk for Desean Jackson or hold?
Grab DeSean
Hey, MB. I think ryanoger was asking who he should drop for DeSean: Hardman or Kirk?
Thanks
I’d drop kirk
Hey MB!
10 team / H2H / 0.5PPR
Since I do not trust Fournette in week 1 and Sutton just went down, which one of the below would you start in the FLEX?
Tyler Boyd
Sony Michell
DeSean Jackson
Thanks in advance!
I’d go with Boyd
MB! I hope you are doing well. Could you please help me out this week? I am in a ten team .5 PPR league. We do have big play bonuses in my league. Can you help me figure out who to start for week 1? My biggest questions are at Defense, RB2 and flex. I really do appreciate it.
QB- D. Prescott OR D. Lock
RB- M. Sanders OR Moss OR Montgomery
RB2- J. Taylor OR L. Fournette OR P. Lindsay?
WR1- M. Thomas
WR2- M. Evans
Flex- Fournette OR Marquise Brown OR J. Taylor OR Jonnu Smith OR Moss OR P. Lindsay?
TE- Fant OR J. Jonnu?
K- Zuerlein
D- Vikings OR Colts OR Eagles?
Hope you are well too!
Prescott, Sanders, Taylor, Brown, Fant, Colts
Better have a backup plan for Evans, and possibly Sanders…
True for Evans, a lot of people will be in big trouble if Sanders sits. The Eagle have been really weird about it
Sanders OUT!
Mike Evans maybe IN as well
Who do I start my flex in 1/2 ppr James Robinson, Devin singletary, Paris Campbell, or Preston Williams?
Gotta go Singletary here
Hi,
12 team PPR Keeper league..
1) please pick 3 of these players for week 1
L.Bell, Preston Williams, J.Crowder, G.Tate, B. Edwards, T. Cohen, H Ruggs, T. Boyd
2) I did not draft a backup QB or TE. I drafted M.Ryan and M Gesicki. Do I need to go get one? If I do need to get backup, who will you drop out of above players? Thanks
Football is HERE!
Hi!
Boyd, Bell, Ruggs
Nah, in a 12 team league there is no need to draft a backup before week 1. See how things shake out for a bit before you consider one