Week 2 Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em

Welcome to Week 2 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em.

This game-by-game article breaks down every player that is relevant for fantasy football. As always, please use our projections to make your start/sit decisions every week. The analysis in this piece provides color – and a lot of stats – behind the projections.

Unless stated otherwise, all of the NFL data in this article is from Fantasy Points and specifically curated from our Data Suite. Our collection team has charted every play from every game over the last four seasons, and we have fresh, weekly data imported into the tools on Monday after the games.

The Start’ Em, Sit ‘Em key

• Must Start — Don’t take them out of your lineup, even if there is a fire.

• Start ‘Em — The top-12 at QB and TE, top-20 plays at RB, and top-25 at WR.

• FLEX Plays — All of the best RB2/WR3 plays.

• Stream ‘Em — The best one-week, matchup-based plays for streaming off of the waiver wire.

• Sit ‘Em — Don’t play them in your lineups. This could be due to a poor role, matchup, or performance.

• Stash ‘Em — Step 1: Hold them on your bench. Step 2: Profit.

Good luck this week!

Washington Commanders at Green Bay Packers (TNF)

Must Start

Jayden Daniels – His floor is ridiculously high. Daniels has finished as a top-15 scoring QB on a weekly basis in 13-of-16 full career games.

Josh Jacobs – High-end, bell-cow RB1. Jacobs handled 85% of the Packers snaps (RB3) in Week 1.

Start ‘Em

Terry McLaurin – As expected, McLaurin started slow after missing all of August (holdout). Daniels just missed him on a deep ball that would have saved his otherwise awful Week 1 performance (2/27 receiving). To be fair, there were a number of awful performances by receivers, though. You’re going right back to Scary Terry as a WR2.

Deebo Samuel – Led the Commanders in targets (10) and first reads (36.4% share) in Week 1. I don’t expect that to continue over the course of the season with McLaurin continuing to ramp up, but Samuel’s usage and performance (7/77 receiving and a 19-yard designed rush TD) was about as bullish as it possibly could have been in the opener. Deebo ran 76% of his routes lined up in the slot, which is huge for him. Over the last three combined seasons, Samuel averages 2.45 yards per route run when lined up in the slot. He dips to 1.81 YPRR when aligned out wide.

Tucker Kraft – Led the Packers in routes in Week 1, but he needed a bailout TD to salvage a low-volume day (2/16/1 receiving). Kraft is going to live on the low-end TE1 borderline this season.

FLEX Plays

Jacory Croskey-Merritt – As expected, the Commanders are rolling with a compartmentalized backfield split. Austin Ekeler (46% route share, 3 targets) will dominate the passing down work, and Croskey-Merritt will handle the bulk of the carries. The early-down rushing role for the Commanders just isn’t a super valuable one. Ekeler (7.3 expected Half-PPR points) had a similarly valued role as Croskey-Merritt (7.2 XFP). The rookie is on the board as a FLEX play, but after the Packers dominated the Lions up front, we can’t expect a big game. Green Bay held Detroit to 46 yards on 22 carries (2.1 YPC).

Stream ‘Em

Jordan Love – Diced up the Lions man coverage for 16-of-22 passing, 188 yards, and 2 TDs in Week 1. It’s too bad that Detroit’s offense didn’t show up because Love could have had a much better box score than his QB16 scoring week indicated. I’m back on Love as a lower-end QB1 streamer in this game, where the Packers will have to keep their foot on the gas against the Commanders.

Zach Ertz – If you’re in need of a streamer, Ertz is available in 49% of Yahoo leagues. That should come way up after this week of injuries at tight end (Kittle, Bowers, Engram, and Goedert). Over the last two combined seasons, Ertz is TE9 in PPR points per game (10.5), just one-tenth behind Mark Andrews (10.6). The Packers just gave up 6/79 receiving to Sam LaPorta. Since the start of last season, Ertz is tied with George Kittle for the third-most targets inside-the-10 (red-zone) with 11.

Sit ‘Em

Matthew Golden, Jayden Reed, and Romeo Doubs – Once again, I’m not sure that a Packers receiver will matter in fantasy football this season. I’ve been saying this for two years now. Green Bay is just a full-blown rotation. Matthew Golden is still a long-term hold, but he only ran a route on 43.5% of the Packers dropbacks in Week 1. I expected Golden to run significantly more routes than Dontayvion Wicks, but that didn’t materialize. Jayden Reed led the way in Packers first-read target share (28.6%) followed by Doubs (21.4%) and then Golden (14.3%). The only receiver that we can remotely “trust” for Week 2 is Reed, and he’s still a distant WR4/FLEX option while he plays through a foot injury.

Fantasy Points Data Table: Advanced Receiving

Austin Ekeler – Desperation PPR FLEX only.

Dontayvion Wicks

Los Angeles Rams at Tennessee Titans

Must Start

Puka Nacua – Over his last 10 games that weren’t cut short by injury/ejection, Nacua has racked up 84/1074/3 receiving (16.7 Half-PPR FPG ~WR2). Puka has earned an incredible 107 targets on his 264 routes in this span – good for a 0.41 TPRR. For reference, this would have easily led all receivers in TPPR last season by a massive margin over Rashee Rice (0.35 TPRR) and Malik Nabers (0.32). Once again, Nacua operated as the Rams clear top target in Week 1 with 41% of the first reads, compared to 30% for Davante Adams.

Kyren Williams – By playing on 86% and 83% of the Rams' snaps in back-to-back seasons, Williams is the repeat RB1 in snap rate across 2023-24. Well, guess what? He played on 81% of the Rams' snaps in Week 1. Derrick Henry (30) is the only RB who has scored more rushing TDs than Williams (27) since the beginning of 2023.

Start ‘Em

Davante Adams – Buy low, if you can. Adams posted the second-best average separation score and fourth-best win rate on his routes in Week 1. He’s still got it. Puka is the alpha WR1, but Stafford is playing at such a high level that he will easily support two top-15 fantasy receivers. The big games are coming.

Tony Pollard – He’s a full-blown bell cow to open this year. Pollard led all RBs in snaps (89%) in Week 1. In four games without Tyjae Spears last season, Pollard played on 87% of the Titans' snaps (RB1). Play the volume game and roll out Pollard as your RB2 every week.

FLEX Plays

Calvin Ridley – As expected, Ridley was locked up by Patrick Surtain last week. He also dropped two passes, which could have partially saved his day. The good news? This is a significantly easier matchup than last week. The bad news? His quarterback Cam Ward was up and down in the opener. Ward had a few flashes and made some decent plays out of structure, but managed to go only 8-of-20 for 64 yards (-16% completion rate under expectation) when he had a clean pocket. The Rams' front-seven will disrupt this passing attack. Ridley is a boom or bust WR3/FLEX.

Sit ‘Em

Matthew Stafford

Cam Ward

Chig Okonkwo

Tyler Higbee

Tyler Lockett

Stash ‘Em

Elic Ayomanor – Led the Titans in first read targets (37% share) and air yards (49% share) in Week 1. I’m very bullish on Ayomanor’s upside for mid to late season production.

Blake Corum – The handcuff to Kyren.

Seattle Seahawks at Pittsburgh Steelers

Start ‘Em

Jaxson Smith-Njigba – Immediately earned alpha WR1 targets with 67% of the first reads (9/124 receiving). JSN isn’t just working near the line of scrimmage, either. His 13-yard average depth of target is the fourth-highest mark that he’s had in any game of his career. Seattle is going to be a balanced offense, but JSN is clearly the focal point of their passing attack. Cooper Kupp might be dust. I’m treating JSN as a borderline top-12 WR1.

D.K. Metcalf – If you drafted Metcalf in Round 4-5, you have to be moderately optimistic after Week 1. Most importantly, OC Arthur Smith didn’t pull any shenanigans. Metcalf ran a route on 79% of the Steelers' pass plays and led the team in targets (7) for 4/83 receiving. QB Aaron Rodgers was functional, but not spectacular. According to Fantasy Points Data, 60% of Rodgers’ throws were charted as highly accurate (QB13). He lived near the line of scrimmage with the lowest average depth of throw (4.2 yards) in Week 1. Until this passing attack expands downfield, Metcalf is a WR2.

FLEX Plays

Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet – The Seahawks went with a full-blown committee backfield in Week 1. It’s looking like I’ll hold the L on Walker this season. Zach Charbonnet (58%) out-snapped Walker (40%) by a pretty wide margin as the duo split carries (12 to 10, in favor of Charbonnet). Charbonnet also led Walker in carries (3 to 1) inside the 10. This is about as ugly as it gets for fantasy. For now, both of these Seattle RBs are reduced to FLEX plays.

Sit ‘Em

Jonnu Smith – Only ran a route on 53% of the Steelers pass plays in Week 1. If he’s going to become a usable player in fantasy every week, that will need to come up into the 60% range, at least.

Jaylen Warren – The Steelers are hellbent on a committee backfield. Warren will be in play as a desperation RB3/FLEX this season, but I don’t expect much else. If you have to throw him in a lineup this week, the good news is that he took 100% of the snaps inside the 10 in Week 1.

Kaleb Johnson – The rookie played just two snaps in Week 1 while Jaylen Warren (11 carries, 2 targets) and Kenneth Gainwell (7 carries, 4 targets) split the work. Yikes. Look, it usually takes time for most rookies to take on big roles. Patience is often required. But, this is about as bad as it gets. If you drafted Johnson, you were hoping that he’d be the early-down and goal-line RB. Warren took 100% of the Steelers snaps inside the 10 in Week 1. Fantasy Points readers shouldn’t have much of Johnson on their rosters. We projected him below market all summer. If you do have him, continue to stash Johnson for a few weeks to see how this backfield shakes out. It might take an injury to get him onto the field consistently as a rookie. Warren is clearly going to be the lead RB this season.

Ken Gainwell

Calvin Austin – Worth an add in deep leagues with 18-20 roster spots.

Cooper Kupp – He’s droppable in shallow formats. Kupp posted a negative average separation score in Week 1.

Aaron Rodgers – Only in play in SuperFlex/2QB leagues.

Sam Darnold

Pat Freiermuth

Stash ‘Em

Tory Horton – Upside stash in deep leagues. It might be over for Kupp.

Buffalo Bills at New York Jets

Must Start

Josh Allen

Start ‘Em

James Cook – Was quietly a big Week 1 winner. Cook was involved on 46% of the Bills pass plays vs. Ravens – which is a huge uptick from last season (35% route share). It resulted in Cook’s second-largest role in a single game by expected fantasy points (17.8 Half-PPR) since the beginning of last season. If the passing down usage sticks every week, he’ll be a top-12 RB1.

Justin Fields – The Steelers still have one of the best defenses in the league on paper, but that didn’t matter in Week 1. Fields and the New York offense absolutely shredded Pittsburgh. Fields went 16-of-22 passing for 218 yards (1 TD) and he didn’t turn the ball over. Once again, Fields is showing much-improved accuracy. According to our Fantasy Points Data team, 64% of Fields’ throws were perfectly accurate and 77% were catchable. Most importantly for fantasy, Fields did a wonderful job at evading pressure and scrambling to keep drives alive. Fields added 12/48/2 as a runner. Fields has finished as a top-10 scoring QB by fantasy points per game in three straight seasons as a starter, and it looks as if he’s on his way to another year inside of the top-10. His legs will do the majority of the lifting here, but this offensive infrastructure looked great in OC Tanner Engstrand’s first game as the play caller.

Garrett Wilson – As expected, Wilson dominated the Jets targets (36% share) in Week 1, and he broke free from the Steelers strong secondary for a stellar 7/95/1 receiving opening outing. His TD was on a gorgeous deep ball from Fields. The Jets did a great job moving Wilson into the slot on just over half of his routes – that’ll be necessary to get him free releases as the focal point of this passing attack. Zay Flowers just waxed the Bills secondary for 7/143/1 receiving.

Breece Hall – He’s back! The burst and explosiveness that we knew from Hall in college and his first two years in the NFL is all the way there. Hall (58%) still split snaps with Braelon Allen (31%), but Hall’s performance (21 touches, 145 scrimmage yards) necessitates more work moving forward. Hall and Allen split work inside-the-10 (red zone) with 3 snaps apiece. Let’s see if the Jets can stay hot in Week 2 against a Bills run defense that just got road-graded by the Ravens.

FLEX Plays

Keon Coleman and Khalil Shakir – Josh Allen may have just set a season-high in pass attempts (46) in Week 1, so we can’t expect this level of team volume to continue. With that said, the opener couldn’t have gone any better for Keon Coleman. At least for now, the Bills have ditched their WR rotation. Coleman (83%) and Shakir (83%) ran full-time routes. Coleman was the focal point of Buffalo’s passing attack, earning 35% of the first read targets. His matchup in Week 2 is significantly more difficult – he’ll see a lot of Jets top CB Sauce Gardner – but I’m treating him as an upside WR3 attached to Allen. Meanwhile, Shakir seems fully healthy after an August high ankle sprain. He’s always on the low end of the WR3/FLEX radar, especially in PPR formats.

Sit ‘Em

Dalton Kincaid – Until Kincaid starts running more routes and getting more involved, he’s going to remain outside of the top-12 fantasy tight ends. Kincaid ran a route on just 56% of the Bills pass plays in Week 1. Shakir is blocking him.

Josh Palmer

Braelon Allen – The hype doesn’t match the play with Allen. He has forced just 11 missed tackles and has one explosive run (15 or more yards) on 98 career carries. I still believe that Isaiah Davis is more talented.

Stash ‘Em

Ray Davis

Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions

Must Start

Jahmyr Gibbs – His 65% snap rate in Week 1 is the third-highest mark in a single game that he’s played with David Montgomery in his career. Some of this was due to game-script – the Lions got wrecked by the Packers – but it’s still bullish for Gibbs overall. In their 13 games together last season, Montgomery actually had the slightly better role than Gibbs by expected fantasy points. In Week 1? Yeah, that was completely different. Gibbs (18.9 XFP) was well ahead of Montgomery (12.0 XFP).

Start ‘Em

D’Andre Swift – The good news? Swift is the Bears clear-cut bell cow RB for now. Roschon Johnson (foot) is still hurt, and Kyle Monangai barely played in the opener. Swift handled 79% of the snaps and had a huge workload by expected fantasy points (18.0 Half-PPR). The bad news? Swift massively underperformed based on his workload. Detroit played great run defense against Green Bay in Week 1, allowing just 3.1 YPC on 24 carries. Swift is a volume-based RB2.

Amon-Ra St. Brown – Over the Lions last 10 games, we’ve seen their target share really tighten up. This was one of my concerns this summer with St. Brown. Detroit is no longer feeding him true WR1-level targets with LaPorta and Williams getting more involved. In these 10 games, Amon-Ra St. Brown has 85 targets (25% share), Sam LaPorta has 71 looks (20.9%), and Jameson Williams has earned 63 targets (18.5%) on 339 throws from Jared Goff. By expected fantasy points, St. Brown’s role is worth 14.6 Half-PPR FPG (WR18), LaPorta is at 13.1 XFP/G (TE5), and Williams is averaging 12.4 XFP/G (WR36).

Sam LaPorta – Set-and-forget TE1. LaPorta ran a route on 88% of the Lions pass plays last week, which is an elite figure for a tight end. Only Trey McBride (89%) was more involved among TEs.

FLEX Plays

DJ Moore and Rome Odunze – Caleb Williams’ accuracy was still scattershot in Week 1. His catchable throw rate ranked second-worst in the opener. Only Russell Wilson was worse. Both of these Bears receivers profile as WR3/FLEX options until we see improved QB play.

Jameson Williams

Stream ‘Em

Caleb Williams – It’s certainly not pretty to watch at times, but Williams does have some upside for fantasy football. His scrambling ability was one of the best parts of the Bears offense in the opener. The Lions stuck with their man coverage tendencies in Week 1, even after the coaching staff changes. Detroit ran more man coverage (52%) than any defense in the opener. This means that their cornerbacks will have their backs turned in coverage, which will allow Williams to scramble.

Sit ‘Em

Jared Goff – I was lower on Goff this season because we had to bake in some scoring regression here. Goff’s 7% TD in 2024 was never going to sustain. His base rate from 2021-23 with Detroit is 4.6%. Goff is back home as a favorite, which always piques my interest. This matchup is way easier than last week, too. He still projects as a mid-range QB2.

Colston Loveland – Blocked by veteran Cole Kmet (for now). Kmet (28) and Loveland (19) split routes in Week 1.

Luther Burden – Fully blocked by veteran Olamide Zaccheaus (for now).

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys

Must Start

CeeDee Lamb

Start ‘Em

Malik Nabers – Dallas played zero man coverage in Week 1, electing to keep everything in front of them with zone coverage. This means that Nabers is in line for 15 underneath targets.

Dak Prescott – The box score didn’t show it, but Dak played an excellent game in the opener. His accuracy was fully back (82% catchable throw rate) and he took zero sacks on 12 pressured dropbacks against a great Eagles defensive line. The spiked scoring weeks are coming. Dallas has the eighth-best implied team total (25 points) in Week 2. That’s tied with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Javonte Williams – The Cowboys made Williams their bell cow RB in the opener. He played on 80% of the snaps, took 15-of-22 handoffs, and scored 2 TDs on two short goal-line plunges. Even though he went for 19.4 Half-PPR FP on fantasy football benches across America and might have just had his best game of the year already, this role and the Cowboys team outlook indicates RB2/FLEX value for the rest of the season. Williams wasn’t anything special, but he ran hard, Dak Prescott played a great game, and the Cowboys offensive line held up well (of course, the Eagles didn’t have DT Jalen Carter). Miles Sanders barely mixed in – and he lost a fumble – while the rookie Jaydon Blue was a healthy scratch.

Jake Ferguson – Will flirt with low-end TE1 numbers this season, but ideally, you’re looking for more upside. Ferguson ran a route on 77% of the pass plays (TE9) and earned 23% of the first read targets in the opener.

FLEX Plays

George Pickens – The Giants played one-high safety coverages on 65% of their opponents' dropbacks vs. Washington last week. If that persists, we’ll see Pickens get plenty of one-on-one matchups. By comparison, Philadelphia mostly played two-high (57%) vs. Dallas in the opener. It’s a good bounceback spot. New York’s front-seven is very good, but their corners are weak.

Sit ‘Em

Tyrone Tracy – We’ll be targeting RBs against Dallas this season, but this offense was awful in Week 1. LT Andrew Thomas (foot) is still not practicing. The good news is that Tracy’s Week 1 usage was pretty bullish – he played on 72% of the snaps.

Russell Wilson – It’ll be Jaxson Dart time soon.

Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton

Theo Johnson

Miles Sanders

Stash ‘Em

Cam Skattebo

Jaydon Blue – Hold for a few weeks in deeper leagues. He’s droppable in shallow, 10-team leagues.

Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens

Must Start

Lamar Jackson

Derrick Henry

Start ‘Em

Jerry Jeudy – Remains a WR2. Jeudy has 75/1047/3 receiving (on 117 targets) over his last 12 games since Cleveland traded Amari Cooper midseason last year. That production is worth 13.4 Half-PPR FPG (~WR17).

Zay Flowers – The Ravens will remain run-heavy all season, and especially in this matchup. Baltimore is favored by -11.5 points. With that said, we’ll take the consolidated passing offense centered around Flowers. He was targeted nine times on his 20 routes on SNF vs. Bills.

David Njoku and Harold Fannin – The rookie Harold Fannin (7/63 receiving on nine targets) is immediately a thorn in Njoku’s side. To be fair, Njoku still ran a full-time route share (79%) and played more than Fannin (60% route share), but the rookie earned 24% of the first read targets. Njoku saw just 8% of the first reads. With Jerry Jeudy (28% of first read targets) highly involved, Cedric Tillman back healthy, and now the rookie Fannin in the fold – Njoku is downgraded from a mid-range TE1 to a lower-end TE1, at best. With both players operating as short/intermediate targets, it seems like these two are going to cannibalize each other’s production all season.

FLEX Plays

Cedric Tillman – In his last five full games as a starter, Tillman has earned 12, 9, 11, 8, and 8 targets. He’s produced 29/354/4 receiving (14.8 Half-PPR FPG). He’s currently the most underrated player in fantasy football.

Dylan Sampson – By expected fantasy points, Sampson’s role was more than twice as valuable as Ford in Week 1. Sampson doubled up Ford in carries (12 to 6) and the rookie caught all 8 of his dump off targets for 64 yards. This will soon be Quinshon Judkins’ backfield, but Sampson is in play as a PPR FLEX option for Week 2.

Sit ‘Em

Mark Andrews – I’m out. Andrews was a TD-dependent TE1 last season, converting all nine of his end zone targets into TDs last season. That’s unsustainable and bound to regress. I was hopeful that he’d play more this season after being a year removed from tight rope ankle surgery and a motorcycle accident that limited him in 2024. Even without Isaiah Likely (foot), the Ravens barely used Andrews. He ran a route on just 59% of the Ravens dropbacks vs. Bills. That ranked TE24.

Quinshon Judkins – After signing his rookie deal, Judkins will return to practice this week.

Joe Flacco – He’s a great DFS play (again) and a Must Start in SuperFlex/2QB leagues.

Jerome Ford

Rashod Bateman

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints

Must Start

Christian McCaffrey – What calf injury!? McCaffrey was immediately loaded up with 31 (!) touches in Week 1, turning his 22 carries and 10 targets into 142 scrimmage yards. This performance was classic CMC. He scored 20+ PPR points without scoring a TD because he’s a bell cow to the highest degree. Based on his role, McCaffrey’s role was worth a whopping 30.1 expected Half-PPR points. This was RB1-worthy on the week, by a mile. Bijan Robinson (22.8 XFP), Jahmyr Gibbs (18.9), Jonathan Taylor (18.9), and Chase Brown (18.2) rounded out the top-5.

Start ‘Em

Ricky Pearsall – Showed well in the opener with 4/108 receiving on seven targets. Purdy should have hit Pearsall for a TD near the pylon, but the ball floated a bit on him a bit. Going from Purdy to Mac Jones is a downgrade, but don’t forget that Jaguars WR Brian Thomas erupted with Jones under center in Jacksonville to close last season.

Alvin Kamara – Played on 81% of the Saints snaps in Week 1. That ranked RB5. You’re rolling out Kamara as a volume-based RB2 all season.

Stream ‘Em

Juwan Johnson – Was a welcome Week 1 surprise. Johnson’s usage was bullish and very repeatable. He ran a route on 79.6% of the dropbacks, which is the third-highest involvement rate for Johnson in a single game since the start of 2023. Johnson got legitimate first-read usage, too. His 28% first read share ranked TE5, just behind Sam LaPorta (29%).

Sit ‘Em

Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave – Over the last two seasons, this Saints WR duo has played in 19 full games together. Olave has 100/1191/5 receiving – 10.5 Half-PPR FPG (on 157 targets). Shaheed has 66/1045/8 receiving – 9.8 FPG (on 109 targets). Based on their production, Olave is the WR35 and Shaheed is WR41. They’re WR4s in fantasy and only in play in deep leagues with multiple FLEX spots.

Brock Purdy – It’ll be Mac Jones under center. Purdy is likely out multiple games. He’s dealing with a toe and left shoulder injuries.

Jauan Jennings – Questionable to play (shoulder).

Jake Tonges

Spencer Rattler – He did show some marginal improvements in the opener. 52% of Rattler’s throws were highly accurate (47% last season) and 74% of his throws were catchable (71% last season). The Saints aren’t going to be a good offense this season, but I’m not seeing this team as “league-worst” levels of bad.

Stash ‘Em

Brian Robinson

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins

Start ‘Em

De’Von Achane – His quarterback played a terrible opening game, but I am feeling really good about Achane’s usage. He handled 7-of-9 RB carries and ran a route on 53% of Miami’s pass plays. All of Achane’s upside comes from his role as a receiver. Achane ran a route on 55% of Miami’s pass plays last season (RB6), which was a huge uptick compared to his rookie season (39% route share | RB24).

Drake Maye – His Week 1 opener wasn’t great… but it wasn’t bad, either. Maye’s +8.5% completion rate over expectation ranked QB10 on the week, and it was just a few ticks behind Matthew Stafford (+9%). The Patriots just don’t seem to want to use Maye as a runner. He had just one designed carry in Week 1. Until he starts running more, Maye will remain a low end starter in 1-QB leagues. We’ll be targeting Miami’s trash secondary for QB streamers all season. They just got shredded for 272 yards on 29 attempts and 29.5 FP by Daniel Jones. New England was the most pass-heavy offense in the league in Week 1 (+14% PROE).

FLEX Plays

TreVeyon Henderson – As expected, the Patriots went with a backfield committee in Week 1. Henderson still earned six targets, and his role was worth significantly more expected fantasy points than Stevenson’s, but this situation is still worth monitoring early. Henderson’s role will continue to grow as the season goes on, but it might be until Week 8-9 until the rookie fully takes over. Just be patient.

Fantasy Points Data Table: Bell Cow Report

Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle – Tua’s performance warrants a downgrade for Miami’s offense. The Colts secondary is nothing special, but Tua was terrible in the opener, and it dragged down Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in the process. Tua’s two INTs were totally on him – an overthrow and a misread – and he lost a fumble. The hope with Miami is that they’re still a good fantasy offense despite not being a good team overall, but we need Tua to play a lot better for that to happen. If defenses take away Tua’s first read, he panics. That can’t keep happening. This duo looks like WR3 options, once again. In their last 10 starts with Tua Tagovailoa, Waddle averages 60.2 receiving yards per game. This barely trails Hill (66.9 YPG). Patriots top CB Christian Gonzalez (hamstring) missed Week 1 and he’s still not practicing ahead of this game vs. Dolphins.

Stream ‘Em

Hunter Henry – If you’re missing Kittle, Engram, Goedert, or Bowers (potentially), then Henry is a streaming option for this week. I prefer Zach Ertz and Juwan Johnson, but Henry is still in play. He and Boutte co-led the Patriots in targets (8) in Week 1.

Sit ‘Em

Stefon Diggs – I fully faded Diggs this season, and that is looking like the right call. He posted a negative separation score (-0.031) and a pathetic 3% win rate on his routes in Week 1. Diggs is 32, coming off a torn ACL, and has declined by separation score for now three straight seasons. This is not good news for Drake Maye.

Demario Douglas

Rhamondre Stevenson

Tua Tagovailoa

Malik Washington

Stash ‘Em

Kayshon Boutte – I’m buying that Boutte can break out and be a consistent WR3 in fantasy this season. Over the final 12 games of last season, Boutte led the Patriots in routes (83% share) and yards (45.2 per game). He’s earned at least five targets in 11 straight games. While Stefon Diggs might be dusty, Boutte posted a solid separation score (0.10) and win rate (15%) on his routes in Week 1. There is a huge opportunity here. I think there’s a 50-60% chance that he straight-up outscores Diggs this season.

Ollie Gordon

Jacksonville Jaguars at Cincinnati Bengals

Must Start

Ja’Marr Chase

Chase Brown

Joe Burrow

Tee Higgins

Yeah, I can’t explain why the Bengals start slow every year. Myles Garrett lived in the backfield last week (2 sacks, 4 tackles for loss). The Jaguars have a decent pass rush, but their cornerbacks are going to get roasted by Chase and Higgins. Cincinnati has the fourth-highest implied team total (26 points) on the slate.

Start ‘Em

Brian Thomas – Just three of Thomas’ 7 targets in Week 1 were catchable. Welcome back to the Trevor Lawrence experience. This will take some patience for Lawrence while he learns another new system.

Travis Etienne – Just shredded the Panthers bottom-5 run defense for 16/143 on the ground. Etienne operated as the Jaguars lead ball carrier and dominated snaps (67%) over the recently traded Tank Bigsby (14%) and Bhayshul Tuten (6%). After we expected a committee here, Etienne put his early stamp as the clear starter, for now. Jacksonville gets another easy matchup against Cincinnati here. Etienne is an RB2.

FLEX Plays

Travis Hunter – Led the Jaguars in targets (8) while running over three quarters of his routes from the slot. This is going to be a super valuable PPR role all season long. Hunter is an awesome buy right now after Lawrence looked rough in the opener. He’s an upside WR3/FLEX play in the game with the highest total (49.5) on the slate.

Stream ‘Em

Brenton Strange – This is a decent spot to stream Strange if you’ve missed out on Ertz, Henry, or Juwan Johnson off of the waiver wire and you desperately need a streamer. The Bengals might have the least-talented LB/S corps in the league.

Sit ‘Em

Trevor Lawrence – Has finished as a top-12 scoring QB on a weekly basis in just 10 of his last 26 games (38%). This ranks QB19.

Dyami Brown

Noah Fant and Mike Gesicki

Stash ‘Em

Bhayshul Tuten

Carolina Panthers at Arizona Cardinals (4:05p ET)

Must Start

Trey McBride – This is a blow-up spot for McBride. The Panthers deployed the most Cover-3 in Week 1 at 55%. McBride ranks second-best by fantasy points per route run vs. Cover-3. Only George Kittle is better.

Start ‘Em

Kyler Murray – As always, Murray is on the low-end QB1 radar. Arizona has the eighth-best implied team total (25 points), tied with the Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas.

Chuba Hubbard – Saved his day with a garbage-time TD in the opener. While we could never expect the high-end bell cow usage from last season now that the Panthers have actual backup RBs in Rico Dowdle and Trevor Etienne, I still thought Hubbard’s overall usage was bullish. Hubbard took 16 of the 20 carries and tripled up Dowdle in expected fantasy points. He’s a volume-based RB2.

Tetairoa McMillan – Yikes. Bryce Young’s Week 1 performance was reminiscent of his rookie season. It’s Young’s third year, and he’s still making first-year mistakes. Against a subpar Jaguars defense, Young completed just 18-of-35 passes for 154 yards, and he committed three turnovers. Tetairoa McMillan (5/68 receiving) survived on volume (9 targets), but Young is going to have to play significantly better if the Panthers are going to be really fantasy relevant this season.

Marvin Harrison – Just like last year, Harrison was the Cardinals second target in the opener. McBride (8 targets) saw more volume than Harrison (6 targets), and the tight end earned 30% of the first read targets. Harrison saw 22% of the first reads. Talent is not a question with Harrison. Scheme and quarterback play are. Kyler Murray delivered Harrison with five catchable targets, which is a positive. I’m treating Harrison as an upside WR2 in this plus matchup.

James Conner – I expected that Trey Benson would mix in more this season, but not to this degree, and not this early. Conner (12/39 rushing) and Benson (8/69) split the work to start this year. Conner did salvage his day with a designed screen TD from Kyler Murray, but this usage is certainly worthy of a slight downgrade. Benson cutting in severely hurts Conner’s upside for the rest of the season. Instead of being a high-end RB2, Conner looks more like a low-end RB2/FLEX play.

Sit ‘Em

Xavier Legette

Bryce Young

Stash ‘Em

Trey Benson

Denver Broncos at Indianapolis Colts (4:05p ET)

Must Start

Tyler Warren – The rookie’s Week 1 performance (7/76 receiving) could have been even better if Miami did anything offensively to push Indianapolis. Warren led the Colts in targets (9) and tied Michael Pittman for the team-high in first reads (30%). Among all tight ends, Warren’s 0.39 targets per route run led the position. He’s a set-and-forget TE1.

Jonathan Taylor – Even though he only played in three quarters in last week’s blow out, Taylor’s role was worth 18.9 expected fantasy points (RB4).

Start ‘Em

Bo Nix – There was a lot of bad offensive play on Opening Day, but Nix’s reckless play was surprising. Let’s hope it was just a Week 1 weird thing. Miami was harpooned by their quarterback last week, but I still see this as a good matchup. The Colts secondary is burnable. They’re going to play a ton of zone this season.

Courtland Sutton – Over his last 12 games (including playoffs), Sutton has piled up 66/865/7 receiving (on 97 targets). That’s worth 14.5 Half-PPR FPG (~WR10). He’s basically Must Start. The only thing holding me back from treating him as such this week is this matchup. The Colts can’t trust their corners in man coverage. Sutton shredded man coverage to the tune of 3.1 yards per route run last season, but dipped to 1.9 YPRR vs. zones.

FLEX Plays

J.K. Dobbins

Sit ‘Em

Michael Pittman – He’s looking like he’ll be a strong WR3 value this season. Pittman was never healthy last season after dealing with a back injury. He looked great in Week 1. His season long arrow is pointed up, but this is a brutal matchup. Pittman will likely draw shadow treatment from Patrick Surtain.

R.J. Harvey – The rookie ripped off an awesome 50-yard run in his debut and displayed great vision running up the middle on a few separate runs. His burst and elusiveness was on full display in the open field. However, much like TreVeyon Henderson, this will require some patience here. Harvey played as the RB2 behind J.K. Dobbins in the opener. Somewhat promisingly, Harvey (11) did run more routes than Dobbins (8).

Fantasy Points Data Table: Bell Cow Report

Daniel Jones – Just played the best game of his career last week and is absolutely worth a waiver wire pickup in deeper formats. This is a totally different test against the Broncos elite front-seven and 2024’s defensive player of the year.

Josh Downs – Any hope that Downs would play more in 2-WR sets was quickly dashed in Week 1. Downs ran a route on just 49% of the Colts' pass plays in the opener, and he earned just three targets (2/12 receiving). Michael Pittman (85% route share) and Alec Pierce (76%) operated as the Colts clear top wideouts. Tyler Warren leading the way in targets also blocked Downs. Hold on to Downs on your bench for a few weeks to see if the Colts play more 3-WR sets moving forward. Downs missed a few weeks in August due to a hamstring injury, and his usage in Week 1 could have been due to injury.

Evan Engram – Questionable to play (calf).

Alec Pierce

Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims

Stash ‘Em

DJ Giddens – The clear handcuff to Jonathan Taylor.

Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs (4:25p ET)

Must Start

Saquon Barkley

Jalen Hurts

Start ‘Em

A.J. Brown – Philadelphia will have to drop back to pass more this week since Kansas City still has a top-tier run defense. They were one of just a few teams to hold Barkley in check – he ran for just 57 yards on 25 carries in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs allowed three different receivers to go over 60 yards last week.

Patrick Mahomes – The volume will be there because the Chiefs refuse to try and run the ball with any level of consistency. Mahomes just ran for 6/57/1 last week. That was just the fifth time that he had 40 or more rushing yards in the last three seasons.

DeVonta Smith – The Eagles WR duo played eight games without TE Dallas Goedert (knee) last season. In those eight outings, Brown led Smith in targets (59 to 47). However, their production was very close. Brown put up 41/611/5 receiving (14.0 Half-PPR FPG) while Smith was actually slightly more productive with 41/551/7 receiving (14.7 FPG). You’re dialing Smith up as a WR2/3.

Marquise Brown – I mean, where else is the ball going to go? Brown ran the majority of his routes lined up in the slot last week, so he’s going to see a lot of Cooper DeJean. That’s not great. Brown is a short-term, volume-based WR3 until Worthy and Rice are back.

Travis Kelce – The Chiefs will have to rely on Kelce with Worthy and Rice out for the next few weeks. I’d be looking to bail, though. I fully faded Kelce this season, so maybe this is my prior creeping in. In his last 12 regular-season games in which Rashee Rice has played more than 55% of the snaps, Kelce has just 53/528/1 receiving (on 74 targets). That’s worth 7.1 Half-PPR FPG (~TE17). Kelce turns 36 years old in October. The only tight end in NFL history that has averaged more than 40 yards per game at 36 or older is Tony Gonzalez – who did it twice in his age-36 and 37 seasons. Kelce has fallen from 78.7 yards per game three years ago to 65.6 YPG in 2023, and he averaged a career-low 51.5 YPG last season.

Sit ‘Em

Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt – The Chiefs are always pass-heavy, but Pacheco’s Week 1 usage was incredibly disappointing. Pacheco played on just 48% of the snaps and split work with Kareem Hunt. What’s most concerning is that Hunt out-snapped Pacheco by a 5 to 0 margin in short-yardage situations (1 to 3 yards to go), and Hunt out-snapped him by a 4 to 2 margin inside-the-10 (red zone). Until his role improves, Pacheco is an RB4 bench stash.

Xavier Worthy – Brutal. Worthy was taken out by friendly fire from Travis Kelce on the Chiefs third play of the game as he dislocated his shoulder when he and Kelce collided on a crossing concept. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said that Worthy is week-to-week with the injury. Kansas City is “hoping” that Worthy can return and play with a brace. There is still a small chance that he needs season-ending surgery. The Chiefs will have to roll with Marquise Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Tyquan Thornton at WR until Worthy can return. Rashee Rice is eligible to return from suspension in Week 7.

Dallas Goedert – Dealing with a knee injury.

Atlanta Falcons at Minnesota Vikings (SNF)

Must Start

Justin Jefferson – Was absolutely cooking in Week 1. The August hamstring injury is clearly not a concern. Jefferson posted the fourth-best average separation score among wide receivers in Week 1.

Bijan Robinson

Start ‘Em

Drake London – Returned to a limited practice (shoulder) on Wednesday. The Falcons called a conservative gameplan in the opener for Michael Penix, and it’s a part of what limited London to just 8/55 receiving (on 12 targets). London injured his shoulder late in the game while trying to come down with a TD catch in the end zone. I remain lower on London in fantasy than consensus. He has a really high floor, but I am still wanting more of a ceiling. London has finished as a top-12 scoring WR on a weekly basis in just four of his last 32 games (13%). That’s the same rate as Christian Watson.

J.J. McCarthy – It wasn’t pretty through three quarters, but McCarthy ended up as the QB12 with 21.2 FP in Week 1. The Vikings were the second-most run-heavy in Week 1, which I don’t believe will sustain over the course of the season. However, Minnesota is going to absolutely shred teams off of play-action. You don’t have to have an amazing run game for play-action to be effective, but this is easily the best Minnesota’s rush attack has looked under HC Kevin O’Connell. Star T Christian Darrisaw seems like he’s ramping up to make his debut in Week 2.

TJ Hockenson

FLEX Plays

Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones – As expected, the Vikings rolled with a compartmentalized backfield split in Week 1. Mason (15 carries) led the way on the ground over Jones (8 carries) while Jones saw more passing down usage.

Stream ‘Em

Michael Penix – Has finished as QB31, QB23, QB6, and QB10 in four career starts. Penix can really spin it. You shouldn’t need a streamer on this full slate of quarterbacks, but I’m buying Penix long-term. He’s been awesome against the blitz so far in his young career. That’s huge this week against the aggressive Vikings defense. Penix killed the Falcons blitzes last week (10-of-14 passing for 151 yards and a TD).

Sit ‘Em

Kyle Pitts – Will be the Falcons third or fourth target with London, Robinson, and Mooney on the field.

Darnell Mooney – After missing all of preseason with a shoulder injury, the Falcons played it safe and sat Mooney for Week 1. He seemed legitimately close to playing after practicing in a limited fashion all week in the lead-up to the game vs. the Buccaneers. It seems there’s a decent chance that Mooney suits up in Week 2 at the Vikings.

Adam Thielen

Stash ‘Em

Tyler Allgeier

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Houston Texans (MNF Game 1 – 7p ET)

Must Start

Bucky Irving

Start ‘Em

Nico Collins – We knew that the Texans offensive line would be really bad this season. We also knew that the Rams were one of the worst possible matchups for Houston at this early stage before their line gets a chance to gel. But… woof. QB C.J. Stroud was pressured on 53% of his dropbacks in Week 1, which was the second-highest rate of the week. You can’t operate a passing offense with this level of poor protection. This is the main reason why Collins (3/25 receiving on five targets) got off to such a slow start.

Mike Evans – Most impressively, Evans led all receivers in average separation score (0.21 A.S.S.) among players with at least 250 routes last season. Well, guess what? He’s still got it. Evans ranked third-best by separation score and second-best by win rate on his routes in Week 1. Who would have thought that the future Hall-of-Famer is still a baller? The spiked scoring weeks are coming.

Emeka Egbuka – He’s the real deal. Egbuka went 4/67/2 receiving (on six targets) in his debut, catching the game-winner on a beautiful post pattern. The runway is clear for the rookie. Chris Godwin (ankle) has yet to practice this year, and he may need a multi-week ramp up period. At worst, Egbuka is looking like a weekly WR2. Even with strong target competition, there’s a chance he takes over as the Bucs’ #1 receiver this season.

Sit ‘Em

Baker Mayfield – I do expect that Mayfield will regress a bit this year, but not enough to take him out of QB1 consideration weekly. Mayfield’s 7.2 TD% last season was a career-high and well above his base career rate (4.6 TD%). This is a downright scary matchup without LT Tristian Wirfs (knee), though. Houston’s front can eat Tampa alive. The Falcons generated pressure on 49% of Mayfield’s dropbacks last week.

C.J. Stroud – Has finished as a top-12 scoring QB on a weekly basis in just three of his last 17 games (18%).

Nick Chubb – As expected, Chubb took the majority of the early-down carries while he lost passing down work. Behind the worst offensive line in football, I just don’t have much interest in playing him in fantasy. Tampa Bay held Atlanta’s run game in check in Week 1 (2.2 YPC).

Jayden Higgins

Dalton Schultz – Has some low end streaming appeal with Cade Stover (foot) out.

Cade Otton

Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders (MNF Game 2 – 10p ET)

Must Start

Ladd McConkey

Ashton Jeanty

Brock Bowers

Start ‘Em

Justin Herbert – Buy, buy, buy. Herbert had the most impressive performance by a quarterback in Week 1. Herbert typically struggled against the Chiefs, but he was electric in Brazil. Herbert threw for 318 yards and 3 TDs while adding 7/32 rushing, most of which came on his game-icing scramble. Beyond his performance, what’s most encouraging is that the Chargers went extremely pass-heavy (+13% more than expected | second-highest). This is a continuing trend. Los Angeles was the sixth-most pass-heavy team over their final 12 games last season after Herbert got back to 100% health after foot/ankle injuries early in the season. The Chargers schedule until their Week 12 bye (at LV, vs. Den at NYG, vs. Was, at Ind, vs. Mia, at Ten, vs. Pit, at JAX) is filled with burnable matchups.

Omarion Hampton – The rookie didn’t fill up the box score in Week 1, but his usage was overwhelmingly positive. Don’t panic here. This role looks perfect. Especially with Justin Herbert balling out, Hampton’s big fantasy scores are coming.

Jakobi Meyers

FLEX Plays

Keenan Allen

Sit ‘Em

Ouentin Johnston – Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Johnston just massively outperformed his expectation (12.6 XFP) with a random blow up game. Yeah, the Chargers are extremely pass-heavy now. They can support multiple fantasy receivers because their tight ends and running backs are not really involved in the pass game. Johnston earned a target on 19% of his routes in the opener, which is right in line with his career. McConkey (24%) and Allen (28%) were targeted at a significantly higher rate. He’s absolutely worth a waiver wire pickup if you’re thin at WR, but I’m still treating Johnston as a boom or bust WR3/4.

Geno Smith – SuperFlex start only.

Najee Harris

Tre Tucker

Dont’e Thornton