The Fantasy Footballers’ Week 1 Starts
Happy football season everyone! With Week 1 officially here, it’s time to look at who The Fantasy Footballers have chosen as their “starts of the week.”
Andy’s Starts
QB Carson Palmer @ Detroit
Palmer has a great Week 1 matchup against the Lions. He racks up “free points” with all the targets to David Johnson out of the backfield, and has a healthy John Brown to start the year. Detroit gave up an average of 25.5 fantasy points per game to QBs last year. Palmer should have a great game in Week 1.
RB Christian McCaffrey @ San Francisco
McCaffrey starts the year with a great matchup against a 49ers defense that ended last season ranked worst against the run. He is a weapon in every sense of the word. He’ll have opportunities early and often in Week 1.
WR Terrelle Pryor Sr. vs. Philadelphia
This is all about exploiting a great matchup. The Eagles gave up 38 and 30 points against Washington WRs in their two matchups last year. Pryor is projected to line up against Jalen Mills, probably the Eagles worst CB who doesn’t grade out well on PFF. Pryor should take advantage of that matchup with a strong Week 1 performance.
TE Zach Ertz @ Washington
What player in the Eagles passing game has a familiarity with Carson Wentz and the offense? Zach Ertz. He posted 10 catches against Washington in their second meeting last season as the Redskins struggle to defend the TE. Ertz is the one consistent piece in the Eagles passing attack and makes for a reliable Week 1 start.
Jason’s Starts
QB Tyrod Taylor vs. New York Jets
It’s ok to start Tyrod Taylor with confidence, he has been cleared (concussion) to return to action and gets to play the lowly Jets at home in Week 1. If he wants to run, he’ll be able to, and if he wants to pass the ball, he should be able to. Buffalo will put points up on the board, and they will all involve Tyrod Taylor in some way.
RB Mike Gillislee vs. Kansas City
The Patriots are at home, they’re heavily-favored, and have the largest implied point total according to Vegas. Those are ingredients for successful RB production, and we know that Gillislee will be the Patriots most frequently used goal line back and he’ll be the back used to run the clock. If you wait and see how the backfield shakes out in New England, you could miss out on a great opportunity.
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WR Michael Crabtree @ Tennessee
The Titans defense, especially their pass defense, is not going to be good this year. This game has the second highest projected point total in Vegas this week, and with the Titans focusing on Amari Cooper, Crabtree will score a TD. Historically he has gotten off to quick starts, and that trend continues in Tennessee this week.
TE Delanie Walker vs. Oakland
This game will be a high scoring affair so it makes sense to have some pieces in it. The Mariota-Walker pairing is proven and makes Walker a solid Week 1 start.
Jason’s Honorary SOTW
Dwayne Allen vs. Kansas City
Allen has scored a TD on opening day every season since joining the NFL, a streak that has reached five straight years.
Mike’s Starts
QB Marcus Mariota vs. Oakland
He’s at home, he’s playing the Raiders (a defense that looks to be as shaky as last year’s unit), and the over/under is at 50 points, meaning scoring opportunities should be prevalent. Mariota has gained some offensive weapons, including Eric Decker who will make his Titans debut on Sunday.
RB Ameer Abdullah vs. Arizona
Abdullah faces a leaky Cardinals defense susceptible to giving up big plays, so start him with confidence. He’s a dual threat, so he won’t get game-scripted out of the offense.
WR Davante Adams vs. Seattle
This game has a high over/under, and last year Adams dropped 104 yards with a TD against the Seahawks. The Seahawks attention is on shutting down Jordy Nelson, allowing Adams to have solid Week 1 production.
TE Charles Clay vs. New York Jets
The Jets finished 10th in fantasy points per game to TE’s last season, one of several reasons to have confidence in Charles Clay this week. He has emerged as the top target in the Bills passing game and is essentially the only pass-catcher with experience in the offense, so he should see heavy usage as was the case during the preseason.
Jason Moore’s ironclad, locked-and-loaded, 100% guaranteed, boom-boom kicker of the week
Matt Bryant @ Chicago
Atlanta will move the ball against a struggling Chicago defense, but due to a forecasted (by Jason) Atlanta TD regression this season, they will be kicking some FG’s.