NFL Week 1 Fantasy Start-Em & Sit-Em
By Brian Miller
The NFL kicks off it’s full first weekend of football this afternoon and the question is how do you jump start your fantasy season with a win? Every expert has their opinions and so does every hack like me. I won’t go into my “expertise” when it comes to the fantasy football angle or lack of, but I will give you my picks at each positiion you should start, and .
sit this weekend. What you do with the information is completely up to you.
QB’s:
Start Em – Matt Schaub. It pains me to say that, PAINS ME. It is however the truth. Schaub looked very solid in his return from a knee injury that cost him his season last year. He will be salivating at the poor defensive structure he faces today against the Dolphins. With questions about RB Arian Foster’s knee I fully expect Matt Schaub to attack the questionable and thin secondary of the Dolphins.
Sit Em – Pick any one of the five starting rookies and your safe but that would be a cop-out. Mark Sanchez is a cop-out as well but anyone who starts Sanchez this week has more to worry about with their team that the match-up against the Bills. If Sanchez is your best option…start looking to make a trade.
RB’s:
Start Em – Reggie Bush. LeSean McCoy against Cleveland is a cop-out. Reggie Bush could have a huge day today against the Houston Texans. There is one caveat, it needs to be a PPR league. Bush is going to be the dump receiver and will likely get you more points with his receptions than he will with TD’s. If you do not have a PPR league, sit Reggie Bush and start someone else.
Sit Em – Cedric Benson: Benson is going to have a very good season this year in the Green Bay offense. He won’t find success in week 1 against the 49’ers.
WR’s:
Start Em – Brandon Marshall. Marshall is back with Jay Cutler who will throw the ball to Marshall blindly. Marshall will drop some passes and catch some passes and you should expect a Pro-Bowl performance against the Indianapolis Colts. Marshall should light it up against his former teammate Vontae Davis who will likely line up against him.
Sit Em – Mike Wallace. Wallace missed all of training camp and all of the pre-season. He will play but the money should be on Antonio Brown. Wallace is going to need to get up to NFL performance level and it should take a week or two.
TE’s:
Start Em – Aaron Hernandez. The money man in New England is Rob Gronkowski but the Patriots locked up both of their TE’s with new contracts and word out of Patriots camp is that Hernandez has become the go to target for Brady. Not surprising as teams will try and take Gronk out of the picture for Brady.
Sit Em – Jermaine Gresham. Gresham scored an average of 71 points last year in standard leagues and it’s not likely that he will greatly out perform this year. Gresham faces a challenge this week when his Bengals play the Ravens on Monday night. Coming off a minor knee injury in pre-season, caution should be used.
K’s:
Start Em – Mason Crosby. The Packers are a high powered offense facing a stifling defense in San Francisco. More than likely, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense are going to come up a little short more often than they put it in the endzone. Crosby should be putting points on the board.
Sit Em – Dan Carpenter. Carpenter was money for the Dolphins last season and while he typically slips way under the radar in fantasy circles starting him this week or even the first month wouldn’t be a smart move. The Dolphins are going to have trouble moving the ball with any consistency and it’s likely the team will not move the ball past the 50 yard line enough to warrant starting him any time soon. In fact you should probably ask yourself if he is taking up a roster spot on your team.
Def’s:
Start Em – Chicago. This could literally be a take a pick this week. Chicago will face Indy’s Andrew Luck while Houston takes on the Dolphins’ Ryan Tannehill. Both defenses could easily score more touchdowns than their opponent. (Sorry Phin fans but it’s true).
Sit Em – 49’ers. I know, I said that the 49’er stifling defense could collapse the Green Bay offense. This is going to be a push and shove grudge match and if Aaron Rodgers can find a hole in the 9’er defense, it could go the other way. With so many defenses available in free agency you may be better off picking up a first week dump team and play a weaker match-up. The 9’ers are going to be a great defense this year but starting with the Packers could be a bit much to ask for out of the gate. Besides, would you want to give points back on the foot of Mason Crosby? Me neither.