This season, I’ll be taking you through my favorite wide receiver start/sits using the brilliant Slot vs Wide tool on the Razzball website. This tool is revolutionary in analyzing not just the difficulty of a wide receiver’s matchup but also the success of their opponent against a specific style of player. Wide receiver was my most accurate ranking position last season with the help of this tool. I recommend using it to help you with those tough start-sit decisions though you’re welcome to add your questions in the comments too. Please also check out my rankings at ffdfantasyfootball.com and you can find my long-form videos on the Fantasy First Down YouTube channel and my Slot/Wide analysis on the Razzball Fantasy YouTube channel.
Top WR Starts
- Player(s): Mike Evans and Chris Godwin
- Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Matchup: Washington Commanders
The Commanders had one of the league’s worst secondaries last season and they were particularly susceptible out wide. While they’ve drafted Mike Sainristril in the second round to man the slot and added Jeremy Chinn to their safeties, they can still be attacked out wide.
Michael Davis is the new CB2 next to Benjamin St-Juste but this remains one of the league’s weakest units and I don’t believe Joe Whitt, the new DC, will be able to turn it around this quickly. Mike Evans is an absolute must-start and Chris Godwin is a strong option as well, despite his likely high slot count, as he will still spend a lot of time on the outside.
- Player(s): Jaylen Waddle
- Team: Miami Dolphins
- Matchup: Jacksonville Jaguars
There’s plenty of reasons to be nervous about Jaylen Waddle entering week 1, but his opponent isn’t one of them. The Jaguars have been very poor vs. outside receivers and Waddle spend over 70% of his snaps there. His injury and usage are enough to make anyone squeamish, but in this matchup, you need to start him anyway.
*Editor’s note: Due to timing on the editing side we weren’t able publish this article until today. Ben had his article in before Friday’s game and called out both Watson and Reed as starts. I want to give him Kudos for that call. This article will be available Friday’s moving forward.
Desperation WR Starts:
- Player(s): Wan’Dale Robinson
- Team: New York Giants
- Matchup: Minnesota Vikings
This isn’t the greatest start but if you’re in a deeper league and you’ve been hit by the injury bug, you can do a lot worse than Wan’Dale Robinson. The Vikings are by far the most susceptible in the league to slot receivers and have Josh Metellus once again returning to their slot corner role. Robinson could also be busier given Malik Nabers is on debut and teams will, on occasions, ease their rookies in. Please don’t start Robinson over a stud, but he’s a solid desperation option.
- Player(s): Brandon Powell
- Team: Minnesota Vikings
- Matchup: New York Giants
Funny enough, the Giants are also poor against slot receivers. With rookie Dru Phillips expected to man the slot, that probably won’t improve in the near future. If and only if Jordan Addison can’t play Week 1, Brandon Powell will get a good chunk of snaps from the slot and could feed with most of the attention on Justin Jefferson.
Top WR Sits
- Player(s): George Pickens
- Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
- Matchup: Atlanta Falcons
AJ Terrell has quietly become a very good cover corner. The change in scheme makes it hard to know what to expect stylistically but with an injured Russell Wilson or run-heavy Justin Fields under center for the Steelers, it’s very hard to trust George Pickens in week 1. He’s at best a low-end WR3 for me.
- Player(s): Diontae Johnson
- Team: Carolina Panthers
- Matchup: New Orleans Saints
We have no idea what this Panthers passing attack will look like, though it probably won’t be very good. Meanwhile, we know that the Saints’ secondary is excellent across the board. If I can avoid starting Diontae Johnson in Week 1, I’m doing it. He has solid PPR upside but his floor is so low I just can’t do it.
What’s Changed in 2024?
As we enter the new season, I also wanted to list a few guys who the tool suggests should have particularly weak or strong matchups who probably actually don’t.
- Player(s): DJ Moore and Keenan Allen
- Team: Chicago Bears
- Matchup: Tennessee Titans
The Titans were the league’s best out-wide match-up last season, but they have made some big changes. This off-season they brought in L’Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie. New DC Dennard Wilson also comes in meaning a total scheme change as well.
For that reason, DJ Moore isn’t a particularly strong start and Keenan Allen is a viable option, though his injury means he’s a question mark for now.
- Player(s): Terry McLaurin
- Team: Washington Commanders
- Matchup: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Ordinarily, the outside receiver facing the Buccaneers would be a clear start, especially given their CB2 is the weak Zyon McCollum. But I think the Commanders’ lack of strong receiving options could lead Jamel Dean to travel with McLaurin and that would be very bad news for his fantasy output.
Jayden Daniels is a cautious quarterback at the best of times and I think on debut he’ll be wary of attacking this matchup. The Commanders will need to scheme McLaurin on some good deep shots to make this work and I’m not willing to bet on that so I’m avoiding him this week.
- Player(s): Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk
- Team: San Francisco 49ers
- Matchup: New York Jets
The Jets cornerbacks are elite but it really helped their slot/wide stats that teams rarely needed to throw on them last season. It’s just too hard to sit the 49ers wide receivers despite the tough matchup so I’m still firing up Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk.
Good luck in Week 1 and remember, every player will be a sit in some leagues and a start in others so if you have any start-sit questions, drop them in the comments below or hit me up on Instagram @TheFantasyFirstDown
| Download Table as CSV | |||
| Note: Filters and sorting in the table below apply to the output | |||
| # | Defense | Total PPG Allowed | Slot PPG Allowed | Wide PPG Allowed | Slot% | Wide% | Next Opp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAS | 46.6 | 21.5 | 25.1 | 46% | 54% | CLV | |
| DET | 45.8 | 23.2 | 22.7 | 51% | 49% | BYE | |
| MIN | 43.9 | 18.4 | 25.5 | 42% | 58% | NYJ | |
| PHI | 41.6 | 22.2 | 19.4 | 53% | 47% | BYE | |
| JAX | 40.6 | 14.7 | 25.9 | 36% | 64% | IND | |
| NE | 36.9 | 18.2 | 18.7 | 49% | 51% | MIA | |
| HST | 35.6 | 16.3 | 19.3 | 46% | 54% | BUF | |
| LA | 35.3 | 9.1 | 26.2 | 26% | 74% | GB | |
| IND | 35.1 | 12.6 | 22.5 | 36% | 64% | JAX | |
| GB | 34.6 | 9.8 | 24.8 | 28% | 72% | LA | |
| BLT | 34.3 | 12.8 | 21.5 | 37% | 63% | CIN | |
| ARZ | 34.1 | 14.9 | 19.2 | 44% | 56% | SF | |
| CAR | 33.7 | 8.1 | 25.6 | 24% | 76% | CHI | |
| LV | 32.7 | 17.7 | 15.0 | 54% | 46% | DEN | |
| ATL | 31.8 | 16.8 | 15.0 | 53% | 47% | TB | |
| NYG | 31.7 | 5.7 | 26.0 | 18% | 82% | SEA | |
| NO | 31.6 | 8.8 | 22.8 | 28% | 72% | KC | |
| DAL | 31.4 | 9.3 | 22.1 | 30% | 70% | PIT | |
| NFL Average | 31.4 | 12.7 | 18.8 | 40% | 60% | ||
| SF | 31.2 | 16.3 | 15.0 | 52% | 48% | ARZ | |
| CIN | 30.8 | 11.3 | 19.5 | 37% | 63% | BLT | |
| CLV | 27.8 | 9.2 | 18.6 | 33% | 67% | WAS | |
| KC | 27.8 | 13.5 | 14.3 | 48% | 52% | NO | |
| TB | 26.9 | 9.9 | 17.1 | 37% | 63% | ATL | |
| PIT | 26.8 | 12.4 | 14.3 | 46% | 54% | DAL | |
| CHI | 25.0 | 8.6 | 16.4 | 35% | 66% | CAR | |
| SEA | 24.8 | 8.7 | 16.2 | 35% | 65% | NYG | |
| MIA | 23.3 | 9.1 | 14.2 | 39% | 61% | NE | |
| LAC | 23.0 | 8.5 | 14.5 | 37% | 63% | BYE | |
| DEN | 22.3 | 7.9 | 14.4 | 36% | 64% | LV | |
| NYJ | 21.5 | 10.8 | 10.7 | 50% | 50% | MIN | |
| BUF | 19.9 | 9.7 | 10.2 | 49% | 51% | HST | |
| TEN | 18.1 | 9.9 | 8.2 | 55% | 45% | BYE |
