It’s finally here. A reason to get out of bed on Sundays and something to look forward to all week for the next several months. Fantasy football is back! It’s time to lock in and buckle up for what’s bound to be another roller coaster ride of a season. Enough chit chat, I know what you’re here for. Let’s set those lineups with our first start and sit list of the season. Here we go!

 

 

This one almost feels like a layup, but a lot of people still don’t like Tampa QB Baker Mayfield even though he’s coming off statistically the best season of his career. He set a career high in completion percentage, yards, and passing touchdowns. Tampa is coming back with basically the same unit as well. What makes him an absolute must start is his opponent the Washington Commanders. Even if you’re a die hard Washington fan, you probably still couldn’t name the guys in the secondary of that defense. As a unit last year they gave up over 4400 yards passing and over 30 points per game; both league highs. If they don’t improve you will see a lot of QBs on the start list against them.

 

After years of dominating in green and gold, Minnesota RB Aaron Jones is going to go off his first week in purple. All signs point to Jones being a focal point in the Vikings offense and what better way to start the year than to play the Giants. New York allowed the 4th most rushing yards last year and gave up 4.6 yards per carry to running backs. Expect the Vikings to pound the rock and Veteran quarterback Sam Darnold to dump the ball off to Jones.  Make sure he’s in your lineup.

 

Packers WR Christian Watson is being taken in the middle to late rounds in most drafts, and whoever has him is gonna feel like they got a steal after Week 1. Watson got the injury bug early in his career but when he’s on the field he’s a playmaker. In his last three games he combined for 186 yards on 20 catches with 4 of them going for a TD. He is the clear WR1 in a Jordan Love-led offense who looked to have really found his footing last season. Expect big things from the duo and make sure he’s in you lineup against an Eagles secondary who gave up the second most passing yards in the league last year.

 

The safety valve of the Caleb Williams-led Bears, TE Cole Kmet is going into his 5th season and fresh off his third straight year of 50+ catches and 500+ yards. The rising TE has the chance to solidify himself as one of the best at the position. In such a weak position group, Kmet really isn’t getting the buzz he deserves. Now with a QB who actually wants to throw the ball and weapons that will spread opposing defenses all over the field, all signs point to Kmet having a huge year as the check down guy for his rookie QB. He could easily finish top ten at the end of the year. It starts off with a bang Week 1 at home against a subpar Titans defense. Make sure he’s in your lineup.

 

Later in this article I’m going to point out some pretty dismal numbers of the Giants offense, more specifically QB Daniel Jones. He was downright awful last year and if I had to stream a defense every week I’d be looking at whoever was playing the Giants. With RB Saquon Barkley gone and an aging veteran running back in Devin Singletary leading the backfield, the Giants will have to lean on Jones. The numbers say this is simply not a good idea. Last year the Vikings were a middle of the pack defense but they will be a top ten unit in Week 1.

 

 

Sits

 

QB - Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (vs NYJ)

The 49ers and QB Brock Purdy should have a pretty productive season this year. That production will start Week two, however, as they play the Jets in their opener on Monday night. The Jets allowed just 168 passing yards per game last season and will no doubt look identical this year due to bringing most of their key pieces back (they re-signed CJ Mosley and Solomon Thomas). Purdy was held under 250 yards and 2 TDs last season 3 times and I see it happening again against a stout defense. The 49ers have arguably the most loaded offense in the league on the ground and if they can’t throw the ball will gladly hand the it off to Christian McCaffrey.  Expect a subpar performance and find a replacement QB if possible.

 

RB - Tony Pollard, Tennessee Titans (@CHI)

Tennessee RB Tony Pollard has found a new home after back to back 1K yard seasons for the Dallas Cowboys. He is now the lead back in Tennessee and currently losing touches to 2nd year RB Tajae Spears. The touches will be there in Week 1 but the yards will not. He needs to be on your bench against a solid Bears front. The Bears gave up the third fewest rushing yards to running backs last season, allowing opposing backs to average just 3.7 yards per carry. Pollard has also seen a drop in production, going from 5.2 YPC in 2022 down to 4.0 YPC in 2023. While he's not worth starting at all in standard leagues, in PPR he could be a risky flex play. However, overall it would be best to keep him on the bench.

 

WR - Malik Nabers, New York Giants (vs MIN)

A lot of hype surrounds the 6th overall pick WR Malik Nabers, and it is legit based on what he did in college. The “but” coming here has everything to do with Daniels Jones. I don’t care how good Nabers is if the ball can’t reach him consistently. I don’t agree with Nabers ADP this year and I also don’t think he should be in your starting lineup Week 1. In his 6 starts last year Jones averaged just 151 passing yards per game, and only 2 TDs to go along with that. So yeah, even if Randy Moss was in this lineup I would downgrade him as well. Keep Nabers on the bench until he shows some chemistry with the Giants QB.

 

TE - Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles (@GB)

The facts are that with the way the TE position is as a whole you could put almost 25 starting TEs in the sit list and have a solid argument for doing so. Hopefully the position improves, but the man making the sit list in Week 1 is actually one of the better TEs in the entire league. If TE Dallas Goedert were on any other team he would be a no brainer plug and play all year. Instead he’s on a stacked offense that focuses on the run. Goedert was held under 50 yards in 9 of his 14 games last year, and had fewer than 5 catches in 6 of those games. With RB Saquon Barkley and WR Johan Dotson on the squad that’s even more mouths to feed in this offense. I don’t trust Goedert until I see his involvement in the offense improve.

 

Defense - Buffalo Bills  (vs Ari)

I’m getting back in the zone this first week. This is probably the hardest decision, as you know what to expect from defenses as a whole to start the year. I do think losing Tre’Davious White is going to glaringly show in the Buffalo secondary against a very improved Cardinal offense, with their biggest addition being extremely hyped receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. I also think veteran Kyler Murray and the rookie connect on some big plays early on. Make sure you don’t fall into this trap game, and have Buffalo out of your lineups.