10 Things to Know: Fantasy Football Week 1

Welcome to the first edition of my new FTN series, “10 Things You Need to Know.” Every Wednesday through the regular season, we’ll be serving up a weekly smorgasbord of 10 fantasy football topics that’ll include a mixture of starts and sits, trade targets, weekly storylines, and everything in between (from a redraft perspective).

Doing my best Dak Prescott impression, “Here we go!”

1. Set Your Lineups Based on the Schedule

Once you’ve (tentatively) decided on your starters for the week, move those with the latest scheduled games into the flex. As blasphemous as moving Christian McCaffrey to flex may sound, with the 49ers not playing until Monday night, it’s the move to make for Week 1. This allows you to replace him with any position if he were to miss the game, not just running back. The idea is to leave your flex or superflex spots open as long as possible, allowing more potential replacement options in case a player is inactive. The significance of the practice continues to climb, with the NFL seemingly adding games with nontraditional start times to every week.

Speaking of which… 

2. Are You Ready for Sunday Monday Thursday Friday Night Football?

Week 1 includes a Friday night matchup between the Packers and Eagles in Brazil, the first-ever regular season NFL game played in South America. Not only will players have to knock off that early-season rust, but they’ll also have to deal with the quirks that come with playing an international game. The wear and tear of extended travel, unusual schedules, unfamiliar facilities, food and among other things. Some have voiced concerns over player safety with crime rates in Brazil, air quality due to wildfires, and unrest due to the current political climate. Stay calm if any Green Bay and Philadelphia players start off the season slow. 

3. Rams/Lions Slugfest Offers Week 1 Sleepers

There should be plenty of fireworks on Sunday Night Football when the Lions and Rams face off in a battle of two teams that finished top 10 in scoring last season. This game has the highest total on the board for Week 1, and the only one above 50 at the time of writing. You’re not reading this to be told to start Amon-Ra St. Brown, Puka Nacua and Jahmyr Gibbs. But this is a terrific game to target if you’re looking for a flex play or WR3.

• Jameson Williams, WR, DET: boom/bust WR3, solid flex play
• Blake Corum, RB, LAR: boom/bust flex
• Demarcus Robinson, WR, LAR: low-end flex
• Jordan Whittington, WR, LAR: Desperation play only

4. Drop Dead Weight for Upside Plays

You don’t need backups until byes begin in Week 5. Right now, your bench should be used solely to stash upside. There’s no need to waste a roster spot dime-a-dozen waiver wire fodder, the Curtis Samuel and Tyler Conklin types. Fine bye-week fill-ins, but virtually no ceiling. Fill your bench with potential league winners — rookie and backup position players who are a step away from a significant role. Would you rather have had Brandin Cooks or De’Von Achane on your bench at this time last season? 

Some of my favorites who are available in over 50% of Yahoo leagues include:

• Jordan Mason, RB, SF
• Ja’Lynn Polk, WR, NE
• Jaylen Wright, RB, MIA
• Bucky Irving, RB, TB
• Ray Davis, RB, BUF

There are two additional players I discuss later who should be priority adds. Keep reading to find out who. 

5. Keep an Eye on Ambiguous Backfields 

Running back by committee isn’t an uncommon approach in the NFL, but the lack of clarity in the distribution of touches heading into the season seems to be at an all-time high. Roughly 11 teams head into the season with murky backfields, including the Bears, Bengals, Bills, Broncos, Chargers, Commanders, Cowboys, Dolphins, Falcons, Steelers and Titans. Monitor all these situations over the next few weeks. 

The units I’m most intrigued by are:

Pittsburgh Steelers

• What’s the split between Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren?
• Does Arthur Smith pet project Cordarrelle Patterson get involved?

Cincinnati Bengals

• Can Zach Moss stay healthy and hold off Chase Brown?

Dallas Cowboys

• Will one of Rico Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott or Dalvin Cook get a majority of touches?
• Does it become an ugly three-way committee, rendering all three useless for fantasy?

Los Angeles Chargers

• Does Gus Edwards become Jim Harbaugh’s workhorse or just the goal-line back?
• Can J.K. Dobbins stay healthy? Has he lost his explosiveness?
• Does offseason darling Kimani Vidal take over?

Washington Commanders

• Is Austin Ekeler washed, giving Brian Robinson Jr. three-down potential?

6. Don’t Forget to Pick Up Your Ticket to Dortchland

Priority Pickup No. 1 is “The Human Dortch.” Arizona WR Greg Dortch has been one of my favorite late-round targets this offseason. The coaching staff has talked him up all offseason. He had a phenomenal training camp filled with highlight-reel catches and will start the season as the Cardinals’ starting slot receiver. He has an established rapport with Kyler Murray and has averaged double-digit points in every game they’ve played together that Dortch saw a minimum of 30 snaps. The hype has been mainly in the direction of WR Marvin Harrison Jr. and TE Trey McBride. Still, Dortch is widely available and more than worthy of a bench stash. If you’re in a pinch, he’s startable at flex as a Week 1 sleeper.

7. Pick Up Samaje Perine

Priority Pickup No. 2 is recently signed Chiefs running back Samaje Perine. Despite being on the team for roughly a week, he is expected to be active for Week 1 and jump right into the third down role. He was one of just 10 running backs with double-digit expected points added in the passing game, according to FTN StatsHub, and led the NFL in yards per route run (1.9) at the position. He’s an excellent pass blocker and is perfect to be Patrick Mahomes’ newest checkdown champion. Perine should not be on a single waiver wire and likely won’t be by next week. Once up to speed in this offense, he’ll be decent, with the potential for the occasional nuclear game.

8. Dynamic Kickoff Has Sneaky Potential for Fantasy Impact

The NFL has implemented a rule change that has fans excited for once. Could the kickoff format, called the “Dynamic Kickoff,” impact fantasy football? For one, there’s a chance you’ll see star players returning kicks again, a potential boost for DSTs such as Miami (Tyreek Hill) and New Orleans (Alvin Kamara), among others. The most likely influence is from those players a few tiers down, the ones who could return kicks. Guys like Greg Dortch in Arizona, Xavier Worthy in Kansas City and Blake Corum in Los Angeles. Check your league’s scoring; some formats give the special teams touchdown scored to both the DST and the individual player. With more fantasy-relevant players involved in returning kicks, it’s a potentially cheap and easy cheat code for fantasy points. 

9. Two Games to Avoid for Fantasy Purposes

I’m avoiding two games at all costs for fantasy purposes in Week 1: the Atlanta Falcons at Pittsburgh Steelers and the Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Chargers. You’re not sitting studs like (my RB1 prediction) Atlanta RB Bijan Robinson or Las Vegas WR Davante Adams, but temper expectations. The Steelers and Raiders both had offseason quarterback competitions that ended with a whimper. While Russell Wilson and Gardner Minshew are currently the starters of their respective teams, neither has impressed, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see both benched sooner rather than later. These two games are among the lowest projected totals for Week 1, at or under 42 at the time of writing. Avoid fringe fantasy starters in these games if possible. 

10. All Systems Go For San Francisco

49ers faithful can breathe a sigh of relief as three of their top players returned to practice just in time for Week 1.

• San Francisco and LT Trent Williams agreed to a 3-year contract extension.
• RB Christian McCaffrey practiced for the first time since suffering a strained calf in early August.
• WR Brandon Aiyuk returned to practice Tuesday for the first time since signing his restructured contract.

All three are expected to suit up for the Monday Night Football opener against the Jets. Start your standard fantasy-relevant 49ers without hesitation. 

Bonus Thing: Do not pick up and stash Antonio Brown

That’s it for “10 Things You Need to Know” for Week 1. Keep a lookout for my “Dynasty Moves to Make” that drops every Friday, and feel free to hit me up on Twitter/X with any fantasy related question.