The fantasy season opened up with points galore on Thursday with some owners already winning their week one after Peyton Manning threw for 7 TD’s. The first few weeks of fantasy football are always a bit crazy, and I’m going to ease any questions you may have with starting the best possible line-up for the week. I’ll give you my suit em up and shut em down list of players see having huge performances and others where I’ll pass on for the day. Putting a ranking list together I feel can be misleading due to scoring settings and how many players are in your fantasy football league. Need more answers? Ask a question with the dilemma you find yourself in and I’m going to tell you what I’d do if making the same decision. Scoring settings factor into a players value for the week so make sure you include that neccassry information.
QB’s-
Suit Em Up
Tom Brady- All his weapons are gone, but it’s still Tom Brady. Never doubt what he can do, the great ones are excellent no matter who they are throwing to.
Andrew Luck-No sophomore slump for this former Stanford standout. The Colts are going to run the football more this year and deploy a more west-coast offense. Luck will benefit from defenses respecting the running game and the play-action and screen passes should help with both his completion percentage and interception numbers from last season. A candidate for a top 6 season at the quarterback position.
Other suit em up– Kaepernick, Wison, Rodgers, Brees, Ryan, Stafford
Shut em Down
Cam Newton-he looked iffy throughout the preseason with coaches attempting to have him throw more out of the pocket. Weak run game, a mess of an offensive line and minimum throwing targets are not what you need with your supporting cast against the leagues most talented defense and the Seattle Seahawks.
Michael Vick-If you drafted him as your starter for the season, you are a very brave individual. I think Vick will be just fine but would like to see how Kelly approaches his first NFL game prior to entrusting my starting qb position with Vick.
RB’s
Suit Em Up
Stevan Ridley/Shane Vereen- The Patriots are going to establish an early lead, and pound the rock. Vereen looked great in the pre-season before getting lifted with the fumble versus the Lions. Ridley is a violent runner who will show his fantasy owners that last year was no fluke.
Alfred Morris-The Washington Redskins led the NFL in rushing last season. The Eagles are transitioning to the 3-4, and they showed difficulty stopping the run throughout the preseason. The Redskins will look to monitor how much RGIII is exposed to taking unnecessary hits, so look for the Redskins to feed Morris the ball. 26-30 total touches for 140 yards and a touchdown will lead Morris to a great fantasy stat line, but not enough for his team to be victorious for their home opener.
Steven Jackson-Yes he is 30 and his statistics are not overly appealing from the last few seasons. The Rams bounced around offensive playbooks and Jackson was the primary focus of the offense. He steps into a role with the Falcons that will be a perfect match. Steven Jackson will finish the season as a top 10 fantasy running back in all scoring formats.
Other suit’em up– LeSean McCoy, Adrian Peterson, Reggie Bush, Trent Richardson, Marshawn Lynch, Jamaal Charles, David Wilson, Ahmad Bradshaw, Doug Martin, Matt Forte, Chris Johnson
Shut em down-Jones-Drew, Mathews, Murray, Richardson, Miller, Mendenhall, Gore and any running back from the Saints, Jets, Steelers and Packers until you can better gauge who is actually going to get the touches.
WR’s & TE’s- You start your best wide-receivers and tight-end. We saw Thursday this is a passing league, so put the receivers and tight-end you drafted first in your line-up. There are some players who maybe on your bench that I would consider putting in or leaving out with the defenses they are playing.
Suit em up
Miles Austin-He will have a huge first game to the season.
Jordy Nelson-He is healthy and he will produce as the Packer redeem themselves after that embarrassing loss to the 49ers last year in the playoffs.
Julio Jones-With Roddy White still not 100%, look for Matty Ice to look for Jones early and often.
Jared Cook-With Washington out as the Cardinals best line-backer, look for Cook to find his way in space and earn top 10 honors for week 1 tight-end performance.
Other suit em’up– Dez, Calvin, Green, Marshall, Fitz, Colston, Moore, White, Gonzalez, Graham, Witten, Myers, Daniels, Cobb, Vincent Jackson, Mike Williams, Tate.
Shut em down
Cecil Shorts III-The Jags are going to look very bad the first game of the season, and for most of the season.
DeSean Jackson-Per my earlier take on Vick, allow for Vick and company to show you something before you jump on the “possibilities.”
Steve Smith-He is the #1 in Carolina, but the Seahawks have tall, physical cornerbacks and safeties which will minimize any real production.
Antonio Gates-He will need to stay home and block, the Texans have a great pass rush and former Eagle King Dunlap won the starting role to protect Rivers blindside.
Other shut em’down- Garcon, Greg Jennings, Finley, Bennett. Any WR from the Jets, Jaguars and Raiders.
Waiver Wire Players Who Are Worth Playing
WR-McCluster (KC)- if you get points for return yards, McCluster returns both kicks and punts and will be used as a slot receiver this season.
WR-Sanders (Pit)- Looked really good in the pre-season and will benefit from Brown getting the better coverage cornerbacks versus the Titans.
WR-Darius Heyward-Bey- Behind Wayne on the depth chart is Heyward-Bey and not Hilton. I love all three receivers versus a mess of an Oakland secondary.
Backfields which are crowded and confusing
Pittsburgh Steelers
New Orleans
New York Jets
Miami Dolphins
Green Bay Packers
San Diego Chargers
Players Who Will You Took Hoping Not to Regret Later On
Foster-injury was a concern so hopefully you also have Ben Tate stashed away. Foster has been a full participant this week, and the Texans will run the ball plenty Monday Night.
Maurice Jones-Drew-New coach, fullback gone and new blocking scheme and returning from a major surgery. I don’t see Jones-Drew as a top 15 running back this year.
Darren McFadden-You knew what you were getting when you drafted him. As an owner of McFadden both his rookie season and last year, it’s an awful feeling starting a guy that you know will be injured at some point and who is on a bad team.
Players I’m looking for
RG3-is he fully healthy? He will have the home field advantage and a mediocore defense to test out his surgically repaired knee.
Chris Johnson-Steelers don’t have the defense of old, and the Titans really improved their offensive line. I think Johnson is in for a very nice season, if Greene doesn’t eat too much into his workload.
Jamal Charles-How will Reid use this versatile back?
CJ Spiller-How touches will it take before Spiller pukes?
David Wilson-Once Brown went down, his stock rose very quickly. How will this second year explosive back do with a full workload?
Sudfield/Thompkins-Two rookies with the Patriots who people had to draft after the preseason.
No way am I sitting Shorts, Garcon, or MJD. With Blackmon suspended Gabbert’s only option is to throw the ball to Shorts. Jags are going to be losing and forced to throw the ball and Shorts will get his yards and a possible garbage time TD. He has mid 2/high 3 WR potential. MJD falls under the same circumstances, he’ll get over 100 total yards and TD and be a good RB2 play this week. Absolutely no way you can sit out Garcon against this Eagles defense. RG3 is going to have to throw it some in this game and when he does he looks to Garcon. After Garcon returned last year from injuries he was top 20 in the NFL in targets. Plus, he is a guy that’s dangerous after the catch.
Also, I feel sorry for anyone who owns Antonio Gates, and even worse if you have to actually play him. There’s 13-15 tight ends I’d consider before Gates even comes into mind.
Otherwise, solid article. Although, you start list has obvious candidates that shouldn’t even be mentioned. No one is going to even think about benching any one of the Saints/Falcons with the shootout that is going to be, nor are they going to be on the fence on whether to start Johnson, Green, Bryant, Marshall.
Another player to watch Markus Wheaton (WR) for the Steelers. It won’t be long before he replaces Emmanuel Sanders to start opposite of Antonio Brown and becomes the replacement for Big Ben on the deep ball.
I look at KC’s secondary and they will shut down Shorts, forcing Gabbert to throw to rookie Ace Sanders who I like a lot in tis game, filling in for the suspended Blackmon. I see MJD getting his touches, but not finding the end-zone. As for Garcon, I see cary Williams on him, and redskins will run the ball, a lot, so I expect a boxscore for garcon to only be a modest 5 catches for 63 yards but no td. Agree with your call on Wheaton, Steelers will have to throw until the o-line and rb’s show they can sustain a decent rushing game. As for the “obvious” starters, I completely agree, and will look to change how it’s worded and presented to the readers moving forward. Appreciate the feedback, best of luck with your FF game(s) this week.
Maybe go by start % of the player. Find guys in that 60-70% start that you think are going to have good weeks. Just an idea on how to find guys to list. Not sure if all leagues openly post that number, though.
Best of luck to you, as well.